Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Patriots Crossover Wednesday - Who Dat, Why Tom? - 3/25/2020

Episode Date: March 25, 2020

In a twist on the Crossover Wednesday concept, host Mike D’Abate welcomes Ross Jackson of Locked On Saints to discuss the similarities and differences between Drew Brees’ negotiations with the New Orleans Saints and Tom Brady’s negotiations with the New England Patriots. Ross also offers his insight on seeing Brady in at least two divisional matchups in 2020.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, you are now locked in to the Locked On Patriots Podcast. I'm going to show you how to make a beautiful and beautiful flower. I'm going to use a small flower pot. I'm going to use a small pot Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful. Welcome to Crossover Wednesday here on the Lockdown Patriots Podcast, your daily home for news notes and analysis, infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions,

the New England Patriots. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which of course is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, your comments, your feedback, always welcomed and appreciated. And you can share that feedback by reaching out to me

and following me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there roaming around on that Twitterverse, be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Patriots fans, it's been a little while since we've done a crossover concept here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. And today I'm happy to bring back that concept with a little bit of a twist. You may recall that earlier this year, Ross Jackson, host of the Lockdown Saints podcast right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, joined me for a little Tom Brady-Drew Brees

crossover, and at the time, both Ross and I were supremely confident that each of them would find their way back to their respective teams, and we were even holding out hope for a Brady-Brees Super Bowl in Tampa this coming year. Well, as you know, since Ross and I shared the microphone, a lot has changed. Drew Brees will be back in New Orleans, and it appears that the Saints are loading up for a Super Bowl run. But as we all know, folks, your New England Patriots and Tom Brady have mutually agreed to go their separate ways.

Tom may still end up in the Super Bowl in Tampa, but it might be as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, because that is the team that he will be quarterbacking in 2020. So why am I asking Ross about this? Well, in addition to us wanting to come full circle on our conversation from earlier this year, Ross's New Orleans Saints will now have to face Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice. Don't forget, these are two teams that are members of the NFC South, and with Brady in the fold, folks, you have to imagine that the Buccaneers have their sights set on a division title. But even with Tom in the fold, does Tampa Bay have what it takes to

unseat New Orleans? Well, today I will be asking Ross those questions and more as we take a little bit of a deeper dive into the crossover concept. So settle in, folks. Ross is one of my favorite people to talk football with, and I sincerely hope that you enjoy what we have in store for you today. But before today's podcast officially becomes a crossover, there is still some news filtering through Foxborough when it relates to your New England Patriots. And we start with the departure of a player that most of us expected to exit, but I think the Patriots will miss, and that is wide receiver Phillip Dorsett. On Tuesday, ESPN's Josina Anderson, after a text exchange with Dorsett, reported that Philip would indeed be signing a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks.

Now, financial terms of the contract have not yet been reported, but it's certain that Dorsett is going to a great organization and has the opportunity to play with yet another Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback in Russell Wilson. And for all the criticism that Philip took during his tenure in New England, he really was one of the most professional players I've ever covered, and really did his job, I think, to the best of his ability. Don't forget that he arrived in New England as a result of the Jacoby Brissett trade. The talent was always there.

Philip Dorsett was a former first-round pick. His speed always has been, and probably will continue to be his best asset. And I think he performed admirably during his three seasons in New England. Last season, he finished the year with 29 catches, 397 yards and five touchdowns. And in the Patriots home playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans, he had one catch for six yards. So the Patriots roster continues to lose familiar faces. But one face they were determined not to lose is that of Devin McCourty and his brother Jason as well. And with the departure of long-tenured Patriots like Nate Ebner, Kyle Van Noy, Steven Gostowski, and of course Tom Brady, decision to bring Devin back seems more valuable by the day. His presence in that locker room this year, along with guys like

Matthew Slater, is going to be such an important part in helping the many new faces we're going to see in Foxborough this year adapt to the Patriot way and learn from one of the most knowledgeable and best on-field teachers in the game today. On Wednesday, Devin spoke with the media via conference call, and he sounded legitimately excited about the new phase in Foxborough football coming up in New England this year. Devin is always a true professional, and on this call, you wouldn't expect anything less. He continued to say that his Patriots goal next season is exactly the same as it's always been, to win as many games as possible, and that that is going to stay the same. He did say that the opportunity to get a chance to play alongside his brother Jason once again

was a factor in his decision to return to New England, but that wasn't exclusively the reason. Ultimately, Devin did strongly consider the possibility of leaving the Patriots. However, this has been the only professional home he's ever known, and that ended up being the deciding factor for Devin remaining in Foxborough. He's always one to set an example, and Devin did say that he remains committed to staying in shape. In fact, he did buy an exercise bike, and he's been working with his trainer via FaceTime, doing exercises and things that he can do around the house. But ultimately, just like people all over the world, Devin is also concerned about the COVID-19 crisis and what it might mean for football, what it might mean for humanity.

He continues to remain positive and take the best care of himself and his family as he possibly can. And perhaps what will be his most publicized comments came with regard to his former quarterback and what looks to be his current quarterback in New England. When asked about the piece that he recently wrote in the Players' Tribune lining a new beginning in New England, which if you haven't read, folks, I highly recommend checking out, the conversation quickly turned to Jarrett Stidham.

And McCourty has been one of the more vocal Patriots in support of Jarrett, in a lot of ways heaping praise on him. But in today's conversation, he kept his comments very even-handed and didn't place too much pressure on Jarrett's shoulders, other than to say that he has confidence in his ability and is really looking forward to seeing what he might be able to do under center when the Patriots start the season in 2020. And last but certainly not least, Devin was asked about Tom Brady and his decision to leave New England. Now, over the course of the last couple of days, it has come out that Devin actually learned of Tom Brady's departure the same way we all did, via social

media and Tom's post last Tuesday morning on March 17th. But anyone expecting Devin to say a bad word about Tom Brady is going to be waiting a long time. He went on to say that it wasn't a big deal to him, he supported his friend's decision, and has since been able to talk to Tom about his future and wishes him nothing but the best. And I believe that Devin's sentiments adequately sum up exactly what most of us are feeling

here in Patriots Nation. Most of us wish him the very best of luck. But folks, I don't think I'm overstepping my boundaries when I say that he's going to need it this year. Because when you look at just the division that Tom Brady will be playing in, the NFC South has some loaded rosters. The Atlanta Falcons have made some additions. The Carolina Panthers have made some additions. And last but not least, the New Orleans Saints,

the reigning division champions, have made some big-time improvements on offense and even on defense. So for those of you still carrying a torch for Tom, he's going to have his hands full in his own division this year. And in just a moment, Ross Jackson of Locked On Saints will join me here on the hot seat

and we'll talk about those additions, what it means for a potential divisional battle between the Buccaneers and the Saints, and why it is that the Saints were able to bring back Drew Brees when the Patriots weren't able to do so with Tom Brady. However, before I proceed with that, if you've been a listener of this podcast, I'm sure you've heard all of the great advertisers working with Locked On to reach sports fans. But you may not know that Locked On Patriots is a great way for your local business to reach passionate Patriots fans, just like you.

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then let's put your company right here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Local fans love to support local businesses. Text the word advertising to 33777 or visit LockedOnPodcast.com slash advertising and let us know who you are. We'll get our team to help your team achieve Locked On advertising success. Once again, text the word advertising to 33777 or visit lockedonpodcast.com slash advertising. We look forward to hearing from you. Patriots fans, back in January, my guest and I shared some thoughts on the synergy between your New England Patriots and a hoodat nation of New Orleans Saints.

From some problems with a certain commissioner to the numbers 28 and 3 never getting old and never stop being funny and being led by two legendary quarterbacks that despite being a bit long in the tooth, they still have more to give on the gridiron. And today, we bring our conversation full circle. It is my honor to welcome in a phenomenal writer, analyst, editor for the Canal Street Chronicles of SB Nation and Section 600, just to name a few. And of course, he is the host of the Locked On Saints podcast here on the Locked On Podcast Network. He is my good friend, Ross Jackson. Ross, welcome to Locked On Patriots, bud, and thank

you so much for joining me today. Oh, buddy, always, always a pleasure to be here with you. Thank you so much for welcoming me back. Very excited to be able to talk to you, to Pats Nation about everything that's been going on between, you know, these two quarterbacks and just love it, man. So thanks so much as always for having me on. Love all the work that you do and just grateful to be here with you. Oh, my pleasure. My pleasure. And as I said to introduce you, there's a lot of synergy between these two organizations again there is the uh not so much of a love loss relationship with the commissioner of the nfl that saints fans and patriots fans have uh i don't care 28 to 3 will never stop

being funny in patriot nation i know new orleans loves it as well and of course two quarterbacks that are legends future surefire hall of Famers in the GOAT discussion without any question. And you still have one. I no longer have mine. So we will get into that in just a little bit. But first, the Patriots and the Saints had a crossroads this offseason, Ross, and the Saints did something that the Patriots didn't do this offseason, and that is retain the services of their future Hall of Fame quarterback. And a lot's been made of Tom's decision and who's to blame, whether it's the Pats, whether it's Brady, whether there's no one to blame, and it was simply just time to move on.

But seeing how the Drew Brees decision seemed to be very systematic, very easy flowing, perhaps you could walk us through how both sides approach this negotiation. And in essence, what did the Saints do that the Patriots just couldn't do here? Yeah. So, I mean, when it comes to, first of all, I mean, humongous, humongous shift in the culture of the NFL to see Tom Brady go away from New England, not just the culture of New England, but really does kind of cause a ripple effect across the entire NFL. So what you're dealing with in terms of Tom Brady leaving and what the Patriots fans are dealing with is no small task, first of all, but I'm very excited to see what the future of the organization,

the future of what you're able to bring into this situation continues to be because you've been a very, very outstanding voice of sort of calm and collection in the midst of all this. So kudos to you. That has been tested over the last 24 to 48 hours. No, I'm kidding. More so than that, over the past couple of weeks it has been. But, no, I am blessed to be in a great fan base, and for all the lumps that Patriots fans take they do take a level-headed approach i know there's a lot that are upset

about tom's departure and i don't blame anybody for for that there's you don't develop a 20-year relationship with a beloved athlete that i think is the most indelible athlete in the region's history and not be sad when you have to watch him put on another uniform. And Patriots fans are going to have to do that. But I give a lot of credit to the New Orleans Saints for handling this very well, for having a dialogue with Drew, for them being able to work out a scenario where these two sides could come together. Because they did have Teddy Bridgewater waiting in the wings. And it is theoretical that New Orleans might have said,

look, Drew drew we appreciate everything that you've done but teddy's proven that he can lead this team as well and he's a little bit younger um i think the new orleans saints made the right decision so take us through a little bit of the timeline as to what happened there uh and why drew breeze ended up remaining saint yeah so let's start back at the pro bowl uh during the pro bowl is sort of when the the idea from drew brees or really the sort of reality started to set in that drew brees might retire this offseason he did that interview during the pro bowl it was very you know it was mixed emotions too because you also had the the you know this was right around the the kobe bryant everything that went on with kobe bryant that situation everything as well and so it was just

it was a tough time all together but one of the things that he talked about was his future with the team and saying that he was going to take and sort of gave himself a self-imposed deadline of a month to mull things over and figure out, is he done here? Is this the end? And for him, even from the very beginning, the conversation or the question for him was, do I retire or do I return to New Orleans? There was never really from that point moving forward, there was never really any hint, suggestion, or even inkling of an idea that he might end up with another team. And so that's one of the things that I think made this a very sort of level-headed sort of situation for everyone that was involved because there was no threat of

him going to another team or taking his services elsewhere. There was always the possibility, of course, because you can never rule out the possibility of something like that happening. But it had also had just recently come to light that Drew Brees had turned down a two-year, $60 million offer in 2018 from the Arizona Cardinals to stay with the Saints. And in that year, I believe he took a $23, $25 million deal with the Saints. So he had already proven before that he had no intention on leaving, as he mentioned in the Instagram post that he later posted, you know, the Houdat Nation and wanted to give it one more ride. So when you look at starting at the Pro Bowl, that's sort of when this timeline begins. Now, there's some rumor and speculation that during his time at the Pro Bowl,

that he actually told the team and players that he was retiring. And then over the course of that next month, it was really about 23 or so days that he decided not to. He took a trip, went on vacation with his family, and then came back to the mainland because he was in Hawaii. A day later, then posted on Instagram that he was coming back for another ride with the New Orleans Saints and the Houdat Nation. And I think that's one of the things that made it so easy in terms of getting the contract settled, getting the team and player in the same place, they were both very, very outwardly showing the mutual expectation and the mutual desire to have him return and be a New Orleans Saint. When he announced that he was not retiring, he didn't just announce, hey, I'm coming back to

the league. He announced, I'm coming back to the Houdat Nation. I'm ready for one more ride, things like that. And then getting the contract worked out was a little bit complicated, more complicated than it needed to be because of the CBA. We know that Mickey Loomis and the Saints love to use their void years, their ghost years. They love to dramatically increase and play with base salary. And if the CBA had not passed, the new CBA had not passed, the Saints wouldn't have had any of those tricks at their disposal. And they basically would have ended up having to contract him on top of the $15.9 million that they already owed him for the season, or the 21.3 that they

would have owed him in terms of paying him out for the rest of his time in his career with money that's already been kicked down the road. So now with the CBA in place, they're able to figure out a new deal to get him to come back to New Orleans and essentially continue to play this year by year. Yeah, it's a two-year $50 million contract, but only $25 million of that contract is guaranteed and a majority of that guarantee has already been paid off in terms of signing bonus. So you can really look at this as a one-year deal. And the synergy was there between player and club simply because they were openly conversing outwardly through media, through press, that there was mutual interest from both sides of him returning to New Orleans. And there never seemed to be any type of hostility from Drew

Brees or any type of even a threat or an alien, as I mentioned before, an inkling that he might go elsewhere. And so I think that helped to keep everything really amicable and really smooth as they decided to iron out this contract and get him back in New Orleans for at least one more season. And I think you made so many great points, and I do want to expound upon a few of them. But one of the big reasons why that I had you on today, Ross, is because of the fact that you can lend the insight that I think our listeners will find interesting, and I think they'll find enlightening in a lot of ways. You mentioned the synergy between the two sides. You mentioned never really having an inkling

when it came to Drew playing for another team. It was always either the Saints or retirement. Obviously keeping the door open for any possibility, but it didn't seem likely. As much as Patriots fans wanted to believe, myself included, I beat the Brady's coming back drum like you can't imagine from the time that the season ended right up until March 17th when he announced he was no longer going to be a New England Patriot. I believed right up until that moment that he was going to come back.

I think in a lot of ways, when you talk about the synergy, the outward openness between the two sides in terms of coming to an agreement, that was never there in New England. And hindsight being 2020 now, we can look back on it and say they went through the entire season without much dialogue, without much of a buzz. Every time the subject came up, it was deferred both by Brady and by the team. So in I think a lot of ways, the handwriting might have been on the wall a little bit more than we wanted to see here in New England. Getting back to the retirement issue, Tom never really dropped any hints that he was seriously considering retirement. In fact, just the opposite. Anytime he'd comment about his future playing days, it would always be, I want to continue playing. That's my plan to continue playing. So I don't think the Patriots ever really looked at his options as being retirement or bust. I think they did realize that if they weren't going to re-sign him,

it was highly likely that he was going to go elsewhere. And last, it was the ability for the two sides to come together. We thought, much like you described with the CBA and the Saints, that that was all that was holding up the negotiations with Brady and the Patriots. Apparently, that wasn't the case. There was the ability for two sides to work out a deal, and they chose to go on their separate ways.

So I think it's interesting to see the dichotomy here. There was an open dialogue. There were a lot of signs that Drew Brees and the Saints would come together and that it didn't seem like there was any type of inkling that that outcome that ended up occurring was going to either be in jeopardy or possibly really not be able to come to fruition. In New England, I think there were handwritings on the wall. So it's interesting to see the Brees and the Brady comparison there because a lot of people and a lot of my listeners have sent me messages saying,

how did Drew Brees and the Saints able to work it out and Tom Brady and the Patriots couldn't? Well, that's the reason why, folks. There was a continuing dialogue. There was an evenness in the negotiations and I think a willingness on both sides to come together. Unfortunately, we didn't see that in New England. And we can play the blame game all we want to, but it's a new era and a new dawn and a new day here in Foxborough. So we continue on. But, Ross, it isn't just Drew Brees making headlines in the offseason

for your New Orleans Saints. They've added some impressive pieces, including Emmanuel Sanders, a wide receiver who really has long been coveted by the New England Patriots. He's been one of those guys that Pats fans would love to see here in New England. And obviously he's going to be in the black and gold of the New Orleans Saints this year. When you look at the roster that New Orleans is building, what do you see as the potential for this team, especially with a lot of other teams in the NFC South building up and really becoming formidable?

Yeah, the NFC South is definitely becoming quite the gauntlet over this offseason. But in terms of what I'm seeing from the Saints so far, one of the biggest things that Saints fans have wanted and needed and that the Saints team has needed over the past few years is a running mate for Michael Thomas. We saw him break the record for receptions in a year with 149, which is fantastic. Don't get me wrong, but also you don't necessarily need your number one receiver to go out there and catch 149 passes these days. Uh, that way they pass, you know, not with the pass heavy offense for every offense usually has two or three wide receivers that can

give you a thousand yards in any given season, maybe not, you know, multiple thousand yard seasons, but with the way that this NFL is now structured and spread offenses and things like that that we see a lot of 11 personnel a lot of three wide receiver sets it's unusual to see somebody gather that much of the wealth of targets let alone actually reeling them in and registering those catches so that was a fun thing to watch over 2019 but Saints fans also kind of felt like okay eventually like this is great and all seeing him rack up all these catches and break this record it's exciting to have that in New Orleans and to have that in the black and gold however is anybody going to help this guy eventually and so finally the Saints with

bringing in Emmanuel Sanders immediately addressed that wide receiver to position concern that's been you know i'll say it again that's been a concern for quite a while over these last few years you know the saints brought in tedgan jr in 2017 and he had a nice season when he first came in but then never really lived up to that again in 2018 2019 trae kwan smith has just taken a little bit longer to develop than expected. He's now going to be going into his third season, which makes a bit of a difference. So we'll see if this ends up being him taking that next step, whatever that ends up being for him. But you can't rely on that to be the guy that ends up lining up opposite Michael Thomas and being a difference maker in the passing game. So now you get a guy that can run every route. You get a guy

that can line up on the inside and the outside and that creates massive amounts of separation just with his veteran savvy understanding of his leverage and understanding of how to utilize his uh his route tree and how to come out of stems and how to stack uh stack cornerbacks and stack defensive backs and so he does such a fantastic job that doing that emmanuel sanders does that now all of a sudden you have that opposite michael thomas and i think that that is perhaps the biggest upgrade that the Saints have seen so far this offseason and that really helps with the offense because otherwise everybody's coming back on the offensive side they maintain their offensive line which is very important Saints fans are not a big fan of Andrus Peet but honestly the cohesion and the continuity and familiarity with the

offensive line and Drew Brees is more important than, you know, a couple of missed blocks in a playoff game. And I get it. Those happened at a big time and on the national stage, and therefore they're under a magnifying glass. But what can't be taken for granted is the fact that the Saints have been near the bottom of the league every year over the past few seasons in sacks allowed, tied for third least in the NFL this past season with

that same offensive line so they bring that back they've got michael thomas alvin camara the same weapons that you saw last year and then simply add emmanuel sanders so that's huge for this offense over on the defensive side you know they lose vine bell who just signed with the cincinnati bengals but they bring in a guy like malcolm jenkins who of course started his career in new orleans brings a veteran leadership that the Saints secondary hasn't had for the past few years. The sort of most veteran most, or I guess you can call him an elder statesman, if you will, would have been Patrick Robinson, you know, Patrick Robinson. And that's it. You know, they haven't had much veteran presence back there in the secondary at all. And then they started to add it late last season when injuries started to sort of take apart the secondary that brought in DJ Swearinger,

brought in Janoris Jenkins, who they've continued to retain, renegotiated his contract to lower his cap pit. The usual New Orleans Saints were building cap space out of places where you shouldn't be able to find cap space type moves. But then they bring in Malcolm Jenkins to actually add a leader, a developer and a mentor, as well as a playmaker into that secondary. So I love seeing that I just would love to see them address the linebacker position in the draft in particular, maybe that's where that number 24 pick goes. But the expectation should be pretty high for the Saints because, again, they went 13 and three that each of the last two seasons, which ties the franchise record for best record that they've had so far all time since they came in in 1967. But when it comes down to what they've been able to do and what they've been able to add here, they've only continued to build this team.

And I think that that's a really, really good step forward for what you're going to see from the New Orleans Saints, which is kind of crazy because here we are talking again about you know a 41 42 year old quarterback coming into here but the weapons that they put around this team and the way that they've continued to improve and build upon what they had and have found success with over the last three seasons can't be ignored absolutely and if there's one thing my friend that can tell you. It's that quarterbacks in their 40s are not necessarily over the hill. They have some stuff left in the tank, and they can play this game. And you're going to see that twice per year at least. Because as I stated earlier, Brady and Breeze are going to go head-to-head matchups this year at least twice a year in the NFC South unless they meet in the playoffs.

And these should be great games, bud. I can tell you from personal experience, Tom has a bit more than just a little bit left in the tank. He's highly motivated. And you see the Saints and also the Falcons and the Panthers all game planning to be able to keep pace and try to be able to stop a Tom Brady-led offense. And he's going to have a lot of offensive weapons in Tampa, whether it be Mike Evans, whether it be Chris Godwin, whether it be O.J. Howard and Cameron Braid at the tight end position. These are types of receivers and tight

ends that Tom Brady has not really had in the last couple of seasons. And albeit, I know that last year was the only year in the first year that he hasn't had Rob Gronkowski or he couldn't rely on Rob, but let's face it, the last couple of years of Rob's career, he really struggled with health, injury, and he just wasn't the same type of player. So when you look at the two matchups, particularly between Brady and Breeze, what are you looking forward to most

and how do you see the you looking forward to most? And how do you see the Saints being able to game plan for a Tom Brady-led offense? Yeah, this is going to be a really, really fun competition. And the thing about it is that the Saints and Bucs games are usually already extremely competitive. Of course, they're divisional games, but there's something specific that happens in Saints and Bucs games. They're usually kind of weird.

There's usually a special team touchdown, a type of a fluke touchdown or some type of a comeback win or something like that late in the game they're usually really really entertaining and really really competitive games they're never really you know uh the division blowout the division blowout the saints usually save for the carolina panthers doesn't usually happen with the uh with the tampa buccaneers and then of course the saints love a good blowout of the atlanta falcons on thanksgiving day too so that's always a lot of fun but when it comes down to what they can do with this Bucs team man this is this is really big and and I'm loving seeing this you know we've talked multiple times about how lucky we are to be able to watch Drew

Brees and Tom Brady at this point in their career two of the greatest of all time you know and getting to do that and being able to see it within the division at least two times a year, as you astutely point out, because there is the potential, especially with an additional playoff team, any team in each conference that they can also meet up again for a third time in the playoffs. And while we won't get, while they're in the same division, the Brady breeze Superbowl that we've always wanted, I'll happily take the concession prize of a Brady Breeze divisional playoff game. I will happily take that and then see the way that that rolls. But the thing that's really nice about this is that it advances both of these games have

the potential of advancing both of these quarterbacks legacy as well as they get to go head to head with one another and get to go head to head with the other best in the NFL. So I love seeing that in terms of preparing for this. It's tough because you can't just look back at Tom Brady over the last couple of seasons because, you know, you mentioned him having Rob Gronkowski in recent years. But even as we just talked about Michael Thomas, you can't just rely on one player to be your target guy, to be the guy that you can go to. You have to have multiple options. And boy, does Tom Brady have multiple options in Tampa Bay. Because it's something really, really impressive and something that has always been a very key part of any Saints and Bucs matchup is the matchup between the Saints secondary and then the Tampa

Buccaneers wide receivers and Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and so it's a fantastic list of additions that they've been able to make we'll see what they also do in the draft the big thing that separates these two teams is going to be the defense right now the Tampa Buccaneers don't have much of a secondary but they still have a draft to continue to improve upon that. They still have late potential late cuts and free agency to where they'll be able to address that as well. So you can't sleep on necessarily what they're going to look like in 2020 at this time. But for the saints, the biggest thing is be aware that the deep ball is still very much a possibility for Tom Brady. He can still, he can still sling the ball down the field. And with a guy like Chris Godwin,

with a guy like Mike Evans, who has the catch radius of, you know, you might as well just open, you know, throwing a football to Mike Evans is like throwing the ball between the crossbars. You can just kind of put it in any range and you're going to get it right. And that makes it a really makes him a really, really important target for Tom Brady. And then if you're able to get a run game going in that offense as well with Rojo, Ronald Jones out the backfield, he can also be a receiver out the backfield. So you can play a little bit of that James White role.

You can play a little bit of that. Yeah, I guess it's of that, that, even that Sony Michelle role as well. And then you look at him having OJ Howard, the safety valve outlet at the tight end that can also be a threat down the seam then you have cameron bray that can do the exact same it's a ton of weapons out there and so for the saints a lot of it is going to be getting pressure because the offensive line there still misses some big pieces and the saints usually play saints pass rush usually performs very well against tampa bay's offensive line but it it's just going to be one of those matchups that you can't sleep on at all just because it's the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

These are not the same Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As you mentioned, this is a Tom Brady-led offense with Bruce Arians as the mastermind as well, who of course is one of our offensive geniuses of our generation that we've been able to watch and a real, real quarterback developer. Not that he has to do much work in developing, quote-unquote, a Tom Brady, but still the two should work in a pretty simpatico relationship in terms of what Bruce Arians wants to do and what Tom Brady has the ability to contribute. Absolutely. And again, great, great points. And I happen to agree with you when it comes to

the secondary play being key. And I don't think that's just unique to the Saints. I think the Panthers and I think the Falcons have to really understand exactly what type of dimension Tom Brady adds to this Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense. He's not an interception machine, which albeit due respect to James Winston, who I think had a lot of talent and I think actually did a pretty good job as the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He threw 30 interceptions last year. I mean, you can't ignore that. That has to be addressed. And Tom Brady will not even approach even a 10th of that this year, most likely because of the fact that he is very deliberate and he has the ability to put the ball where only his receiver can find it. And now he has the receivers that can make those receptions. One piece of advice that I would give to the Saints and I would give to any team in the

NFC South right now is be very mindful of safety play and who you're going to get to be putting on these two tight ends when it comes to OJ Howard and it comes to Cameron Bray. Tom Brady was so effective in being able to run a two tight end set. Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. These two were able to make such damage on the field. And it made one. A lot of that in his ability to be able to do it. I'm not necessarily comparing Howard and Bray to Gronkowski and Hernandez talent wise.

I don't think it's a it's a like for like but this gives tom the opportunity now to utilize the tight ends maybe more than he's been able to in a lot of years and that to me also opens up a lot when it comes to the uh the wide receivers and don't forget he's at his best in play action so i think he's going to utilize that as well ross what can i say i appreciate you taking the time out of your day today to come on, lend us a little insight as to why Tom Brady is no longer in New England, but no, all kidding aside, letting us know exactly what happened between Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. I think we can see a lot of the parallels. Giving us a little update on

Houdat Nation, because there are a lot of members of Patriots Nation that have an affinity for for the Saints, for the reasons that we've gone over several times. And also just to give us a little preview of how you're looking forward to seeing Brady and Breeze at least twice a year and battling him in the NFC South. Before I let you go, my friend, please let everyone know where they can find you, your great work and where they can subscribe and download Locked On Saints, which I cannot recommend highly enough. It is such a great listen, folks. Ross does an amazing job, and I encourage you to check it out as much as you can. Hey, I appreciate that so much. Always, always, always a pleasure to be here with you and to be

able to share the mic and be able to just kind of rap about this you know, this thing that we love so, so, so much. And it's one of the things that I feel very, very fortunate that we have the opportunity to do. And one of the things that solidifies that are moments like this to where two friends can get together and put out some content and create something that, you know, really sort of shed some light on these situations that, that do affect us, right. That, that affect us very, very much.

So love being able to do this, love being able to share it with you that affect us very, very much to our court. So love being able to do this, love being able to share it with you. Uh, and I thank you very much. And of course the affinity from the new England Patriots fans to the new Orleans saints fans is returned from the who that nation, because we understand the struggle, my brothers, we understand if y'all are interested, you can check me out on twitter at rosh jackson n-o-l-a of course nola i'm a little annoying about where i'm from but i love it so much so rosh jackson nola on twitter and of course you can find all the write-ups and everything at canal street chronicles.com and of course the podcast which you so uh so graciously complimented and i thank you and uh highly

recommend to my listeners all of your work as well as often as I absolutely can. Yes, absolutely. Thanks, my friend. Much, much appreciated. Thanks again. We look forward to having more conversations throughout the season with Ross. On a personal note, buddy, take care, stay safe, stay well, and thanks again for joining me today.

Have a great week. You as well, my friend. Anytime. And so, Patriots fans, I hope that you've enjoyed today's twist on the Crossover Wednesday concept. Ross and I always enjoy talking football together, and I hope that you've enjoyed his insight and a little bit of an opponent's perspective on what we can expect out of Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.

As for me, I will be back tomorrow to continue to bring you the latest news notes and analysis from Foxborough. And as always, please be sure to join me here on the Locked On Patriots podcast each and every day. Subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider. And don't forget, you can always listen on your smart device by just asking it to play the latest episode of Locked On Patriots. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate.

I thank Ross Jackson for his time, his insight, and his appearance today. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for staying locked into Locked On Patriots. And if you've enjoyed today's podcast, now tell your smart device to play the latest episode of Draft Dudes. Stay safe, stay well, and have a great day, everyone.