Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Swan Song For Patriots Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater? — Jakobi Meyers, DeAndre Hopkins and More

Episode Date: January 11, 2023

The New England Patriots are on to new beginnings in 2023. However, two long time captains have some decisions to make on their future in Foxboro. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Clare ‘ClazzyClare�� Cooper, as the duo discuss the emotional end of the season for Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater. They also provide their thoughts on the rumors surrounding re-signing wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, potentially trading for Cardinals wideout DeAndre Hopkins and the offensive coaching staff.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONUltimate Football GMTo download the game just visit Ultimate-GM.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.TurboTaxCome to TurboTax and don’t do your taxes. Visit TurboTax.com to learn more.Tommy JohnWinter mornings are brutal. So here’s my tip for tackling the day in comfort: Grab new Tommy John Loungewear and take cozywherever you go. Get TWENTY PERCENT OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER at TommyJohn.com/LOCKEDON. BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is it the end of an era in Foxborough for Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater? Or is another era just about to begin? The Countess and I discuss that and more. Stick around. You're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful.

Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. So smash that subscribe button, download, subscribe to follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, today's episode brought to you by PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy. Pick two to five players, and if they score more or less than their PrizePix projection,

you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. First time users can receive a 100 instant deposit match up to 100 with the promo code locked on that's prizepix.com promo code locked on that's fans once again thank you for joining me here today on the pod i'm your host mike debate i cover your new england patriots or patriots country of sports illustrated let me know what's on your mind reach out to me on the bird app at mdabatenA-B-A-T-E-N-F-L. And while you're out there showing some love to the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at L-O underscore Patriots.

Well, the 2022 season for your New England Patriots might be in the books, but it's not stopping the Pats from making news in so many different ways. And there is a lot to cover. And here today to kick off the off-season coverage here on Locked On Patriots is our resident Wednesday guest. She is the illustrious Claire Klazik, Claire Cooper, columnist extraordinaire from Pats Propaganda, and also the host of her very own podcast, A Claire Perspective.

You can find that on full press coverage, Patriots. Countess, thank you very much for joining me here today on this Wednesday. You're more than welcome, Michael. I mean, seriously, though, offseason, there is no such thing as offseason when you cover the Patriots in any way, shape, or form, be it fandom, writer, media, beat reporter. There is no offseason season the NFL has just done away with the off season because we have to talk about so much stuff during the off season

that there just isn't one for us anymore the guys may get to kind of fill their bags and go off home and have a rest but we do not we suit up and boot up and we carry on bringing you that Patriots career do you lovely lot I career. Do you love it? I love it. I absolutely love it. And, you know, bottom line, if we had a soundboard here at Locked On Patriots, Bill Belichick chanting no days off would be chanting behind Claire's inspirational speech. That was very inspirational, Countess. I got to tell you, you know, that definitely it motivated me.

It gave me extra, you know, a little bit more, you know, to go ahead and to say, okay, well, you know what? It is the offseason, but it's not the offseason in New England. We're just getting warmed up. We're just getting started, and it's a lot to cover. I'll tell you, it really, really is Patriots coaching staff in flux, potentially. Potentially, the Patriots may be involved in talks with one of the top players at his position that might be available by a trade. What about their top player at that position? We're going to discuss all of that today

here on Locked On Patriots. But Claire, we talked about off seasons and we talked about, you know, new beginnings and moving on and the season coming to an end. And one thing that I think a lot of Patriots fans are thinking, especially when they saw the aftermath of the Pats' 35-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, is that the dynasty era is slowly beginning to erode from our memory. A lot of the players that played in those years have gone on to greener pastures in retirement, or they've gone on to greener pastures in retirement or they've gone on to greener pastures down in south florida not going to get into that right now but we're going to get into two players that we've both had the esteemed privilege to cover as members of the patriots media um two of the great guys in this business devin mccourty and matthew slater um if you looked at the tea leaves and we're going to read the tea leaves today folks so don't get ahead of ourselves but if you look at the tea leaves, and we're going to read the tea leaves today, folks, so don't get ahead of ourselves. But if you look at what these guys had to say at the end of the game, just their facial expressions, their mannerisms,

it's looking more likely than I've seen it in years past that this may be the swan song for both of these guys and tremendous careers. Their red jacket, folks, has probably already been tailor-made I don't think there's any question I will make the argument that I think both of these guys deserve a shot at Canton but again conversation for another day when you look at Devin McCourty when you look at Matthew Slater first of all what was your reaction to their game-ending demeanor and what do these guys mean to you and all Patriots fans really see a little bit of it is the thing with me is obviously there's a lot of emotion when it comes to kind of a climactic situation in this respect it was sort of the end of their season and there's been plenty of kind

of players that are sort of I don't want to say getting getting older shall we say once they're getting old because all these guys are still kids really, but they're getting older. And so, yeah, I mean, when you look at in particular Matthew Slater, he was drafted by the Patriots in 2008. You know, the guy is 38 now. He's playing at a position that sort of age does still matter. I know quarterback is in,

it's in like a separate category now with Tom Brodie and things like that. so you just have to kind of put a pin in that one and sort of move it sort of further away but yeah he's he's been in the he's been in the system he's been in the Patriots system for a long time but when these when the emotions are high as I was trying to say at the end of a season decision they don't want to make the decisions but they want to say the things that they're feeling and at that point I think both of these guys, as you said, weren't sure if they were coming back, particularly in Matthew Slater's case. So they want to embrace the emotion that is of the moment.

And that's kind of what I think that they did. So I think it invoked emotions in everyone. And I think it was David Andrews that I think left the podium because he was sort of a little bit overwhelmed with his emotions so the thing with that sort of situation is give them a little bit of time now I'm not saying that that means that I've got any aspirations that they probably won't retire I don't know I've got no inside knowledge I'm just sort of saying that the emotions run high at this point when things are concluded when it's all climactic give it a few months and sort of see where these guys are at see how they're feeling to me that more sort of drops in line with the likes of Devin McCourty than Matthew Slater and

I think some of it is because of the age difference because you know Matthew Slater he's kind of coming up he's 38 and as I said he's always been in the system with new england and the one thing that sort of it's a bit of a catch-22 for me when it's in regards to stater because it sort of feels like a good time for him to leave the special team situation because of the kind of the poor performance the fact that we think that there's going to be some changes at coaching so it sounds like special teams maybe needs a bit of a shake-up so maybe this is the prime time for him to leave the special teams because of that situation so he doesn't have to come back into a different system now i'm not saying he can't cope with it please don't misunderstand me just the situation of he wouldn't have to come back to anything that

is different now you can flip side that and say, well, the Patriots would benefit to that veteran presence returning because the special teams does need a shake-up and it would be good to have Matthew Slater there. Now, I think a lot of people are really resigned to the fact that he is retiring mainly because of how he has been. I mean, I think there was talks of him retiring last year. I don't think it's sort of a new topic

when it comes to to him Devin McCourty as I said I put in a slightly different category partially because the age difference um but he's kind of come off one of his sort of better performances now it's really unfortunate that the the loss at Buffalo was there because I I mean, he still, he may be slower. And this is funny because I'm going to get in trouble for doing a 180 on this because when he came out and it was like, oh, we're probably going to retire. It was like, you know, it's not too bad. We need to put the new guys in.

He's older and he's slower. You know, let's give them a chance to put the young guys, the fast guys on the roster. Then I wrote my game recap. Then I went and did one Patriots place and I find myself sitting here championing for for Devin McCourty to come back because he you know he read the field really well there was the the end zone knockout of the ball that kind of stopped the Bills having a touchdown at that point the interception you know there was those kind of things are the fumble

recovery it's like when you look at the Bills game it was like this guy played so well even if he's the interception, you know, there was those kinds of things. Oh, the fumble recovery. It's like when you look at the build game, it was like, this guy played so well, even if he's older and slower. And being the veteran, being in New England since 2010, you know, he's been in the system for so long. He almost is the system now that you can't help but imagine that they would benefit from having him come back so now I've done my 180 and I'm like oh he's gonna come back don't let him retire just because we

could do with that sort of veteran presence I know we're going to talk about coaching later so I won't really sort of go into it there but because there's been or there's potentially going to be a lot of shuffling when it comes to coaching. Having someone that is from the dynasty era, if you want to say that, or just a guy that's been on the Patriots for a considerable amount of time with Bill Belichick, I do feel would be of an advantage. The only thing that sort of hit me before I did my 180 was that this team has started to get younger and quicker. And that is something that has been being called for for several years. And the draft last season, well, yeah, last season's technically draft

in regards to like Thornton, Jack Jones, Marcus Jones, was a real, real, even Cole Strange to a degree in regards to his athletic ability, was a real push at getting this team younger and quicker and the thing that goes against that grain is bringing back a guy who's close to retirement age who is slower than he was you can't deny that in a sport that everything is getting quicker um so it it is one of those well he won't hit they kind of thing but that's the thing that i wanted to see that's what i'm trying to kind of portray in this big long-winded um message that i have here is let's not be concerned just just yet

if he is retiring simply from the fact of it, as I mentioned at the beginning, the emotions of running high. I mean, how long did Brady retire for? The second, was it the second time Brady retired? No, the first time Brady retired, he retired for what, 40 days or something? When a sport is ingrained in an individual the way that it is for the likes of Matthew Slater and Devin McCourty,

and that's not a slant against any other player, please don't get me wrong. But when it is, particularly because they've been in New England from draft period, they have been with this team since they were drafted. This is their home. You know, these are their brothers. Yeah, the emotion's going to be running high at the moment.

They need to take stock of what they want to do, give them a little bit of time, and they may decide that sort of coming back who knows about sort of I know there's been things thrown out there about coaching opportunities in regards to Matthew Slater and things like this who knows kind of thing but in regards to it yeah my top comment on it at the moment is kind of just chill your briefs as I like to say hold your horses wait a minute we don't necessarily know yeah if they retire it would be it would be a very sad day because they are such stable

positions in the locker room on the team and they've been Patriots for such a long time how can you not want them to be Patriots still but the one thing that I think if it does happen if they do retire the one thing to take solace in is the fact that it ultimately means that the Patriots have that opportunity to continue getting younger and quicker you aren't utilizing the roster spot for a guy that is an ultimately amazing veteran to be there but an old an older slower player and kind of not to sound heartless but that's what it comes down to but yeah let's check the emotions at the door just yet and see what happens oh i think you make a great point about emotions emotions are always going to run high

and look there was a lot of emotion on the field on sunday all the issues that were going on with tamar hamlin and just the just the overwhelming emotion in the building and in the arena at Highmark Stadium on Sunday was enough to make you emotional coming off the field, whether you won or lost anyway. So I think that's a very good point to make in that you can't read too much into the tears, the breakdowns at the end of the game. That's part of it. That is part of the game and it will continue to be so not necessarily indicative of what may happen with Slater or McCourty's future something to monitor as the days go on but if in fact these guys did play their swan song on Sunday you can't really think of a better way for these two players to go out on a physical standpoint logistically on the field McCourty you know

there's no question about it. He made the most of his appearance. Two total tackles, interception, fumble recovery, big breakup of a Josh Allen pass intended for Shaker. I think that was really, I think, his best play of the game. So you've got to give a tip of the cap and a nod to the gods with him because this is something that I think McCourty has done all along, just always involved in forcing turnovers and getting other teams to make mistakes.

And that really, to me, spells everything that you need to know about Devin McCourty. Matthew Slater, same way. He's going to depart on a final high note of that one impactful play at the end of the game that really, for all intents and purposes, should have given the Patriots an opportunity to cut further into the lead and kept them of the game that really for all intents and purposes should have given the Patriots an opportunity to cut further into the lead and kept them into the game the fact that you have the wherewithal in that moment to push or nudge Tyjuan Jones into the bouncing punt and allow him to touch the ball giving the Patriots an opportunity to recover it big key for Juwan Bentley being able to do that that's vintage Matthew Slater,

right place, right time, not happenstance by design. The guy is just completely heads up. And on a personal note, I've had the opportunity to not only interview both of them one-on-one, but cover them several times, several press conferences, two of the classiest athletes I've ever met. Um, and probably my two favorite covers here in New England. So personally, I will definitely miss them if they're not in the locker room next year. But I know Patriots fans all over the country will absolutely miss these guys. And hopefully we haven't seen them take their final snaps yet. We want to see Matthew Slater and Devin McCourty back here in New England. But I think you make a great point in that you can't read too much into the tea leaves just yet when it comes to Matthew Slater and Devin McCourty. So good stuff, Claire.

And unfortunately, life moves on. Even if these guys are ready for retirement or considering retirement, or they do, New England Patriots have a lot of personnel decisions to make, folks. Who's coming back and who might they go after? Well, Claire and I are going to talk about that subject when it comes to the wide receiver position, a position I know a lot of you have concerns about, and they're justified. Talking top options at the wide out position

when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, Claire, right now it is tax season here in the States. And you know what, folks? You go to DurboTax and don't do your taxes. Meet with an expert who will do them for you. DurboTax experts can relieve you from the stress of taxes and file for you so you can do not taxes. Show your eyes things that are not taxes. Unpack a moving box of not taxes.

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Video meeting while expert does your taxes required. See guaranteed details at TurboTax.com slash guarantees. Claire, I don't know about you, but lately I've been continued to be geeked out by our new partner and sponsor of today's episode. And that is the mobile game Ultimate Pro Football GM. Ever dreamed of becoming an NFL GM and managing your football franchise, folks? Judging by the Twitter comments that I read, I know a lot of you are doing just that. Well, your dream can come true, and this game is definitely for you. Especially as your favorite team heads into the offseason,

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Ultimate Football GM. Start your dynasty today. Patriots fans, the illustrious Claire Classey, Claire Cooper of Patriots, of Pat's Propaganda, and of course, full press coverage Patriots, where she hosts her very own podcasts. One of my favorite listens in the business. Definitely smash the subscribe button, folks. You will not want to miss this. Check it out. One of the best in the business, a Claire perspective, a Patriots podcast. And Claire, in the previous segment, we were talking about moving on. Players that may indeed no longer reside in foxborough next year and of course devin mccourty matthew slater if they do decide to leave foxborough it would be for the greener

pastures of retirement but patriots have several free agents right now that they need to make a decision on whether to resign or whether to move on from and probably at the top of everybody's list is wide receiver jacoby myers 59 catches 729 yards in his 2021 and his um excuse me in his first season 83 catches 866 yards in his 2021 seasons this year 67 catches 804 yards still climbing the ladder when it comes to the patriots top wide out position he was unquestionably their top player at the position this year but it's not a guarantee that he'll be back in New England he is a free agent reports out there that he is going to be offered a good substantial amount of money wide receivers usually are on the open market and it leads you to believe

whether or not he may have played his final game in boxborough when you look at the situation do you think jacoby is their top priority when it comes to internal free agents that have to be re-signed so this is really difficult because the wide receiver is always such a kind of a touchy subject when it comes to it we did see them drop big money if you like for want of a touchy subject when it comes to it. We did see them drop big money, if you like, for want of a better phrase, on Nelson Aguilar last season. And I know that that's something, you know, the finances of it are much better discussed when it comes to Miguel Benzano. So when he comes on to Lockdown Patriots, that's the time that you think

about all the figures, folks. So that's when you're listening for that bit. But yeah, the one thing in regards to Jacoby is, as you said, you threw out his stats there. I'd got his stats for sort of like this season that we've just had in regards to kind of like the 93 targets and the six touchdowns and one drop. I haven't seen any statistics myself,

but I have heard on a very reputable Patriots web radio show that he has had some severely kind of some not very great penalties that have hurt the offense this season. As you said, he's a good receiver and he is a great guy. And I've always been a big Jacoby fan. He was an undrafted free agent with a general statistical improvement year on year as you just alluded to before the thing is like you said wide receivers demand big money kind of last season it was I think it was Christian Kirk who went to the Jags they just like smashed it out of the park and just ruined it for everybody else, giving them kind of like

obscene amounts of money. So when you look at the wide receiver position, you are looking at dropping a lot of dollars. And like I said, Miguel's going to really kind of help you kind of touch on that much more. But if Jacoby is to demand big money, I would imagine he isn't going to be seen in New England. And some of it is going to be the fact that they've got other holes that they

need to plug. There's more, you know, there's money that they need to spend in other places. You know, they don't want to utilize too much draft capital because we need to get a tackle everybody. So unfortunately, so we need, you know, tackles need to be on that shopping list quite significantly. So I think we're looking at tackle, tackle, tackle. But anyway, that's another conversation. If he is to demand big money, as I said, I just, he's really good.

I don't know if he's good enough to stay in New England for a lot of money when there's that wide receiver one that I have to put in in air quotes because I'm not a major fan of it but I know a lot of people are that wide receiver one that is needed it it's one of those things that Patriots have never really significantly had or over time they haven't had a wide receiver one. It isn't been something that has been top of their list, but it's looking like maybe this is something that they should be dipping their toe into now. You know, are they going to develop Matt properly? Does he need that serious WR1 binky?

In that case, if this is where we're going, if that's where they're looking at pushing it i can't really see them spending a lot of money on jacoby myers because it's great and as brilliant and he is and as much as i want him to be a patriot i don't know if he is that wide receiver one and if that's not the case are they going to be throwing are they going to do kind of the mistakes that i want to call it the nelson agalor you know i want to call it the Nelson Aguilar you know I want to call it the Aguilar issue of throwing a lot of money on a guy who isn't your

top receiver throwing top receiver money on a non top receiver performance and like I said this isn't me slating Jacobi Myers I do think he's great I am of a yeah pay the guy sort of thing but I just don't think the pay the guy in New England is going to add up

particularly when you want that wide receiver one and you've got individuals now such as i know we discussed it at the time but in regards to the rumors that are going around in at the moment with the likes of deandre hopkins you aren't going to get a kid like that come into new england with the money that they've got and then dropping another big dime on Jacoby Myers. I think if they're looking at, if they are, now this is all speculation because we're early in the week. It's only Wednesday. It's all just hearsay, ifs, buts and candy and nuts,

as I like to say. But if they're looking at that, say that's the scenario that they're looking at, I can't really see how they can make it add up to drop a lot of money on jacoby when that when they need that wide receiver one when they when they need to pay for example deandre hopkins don't forget you've got um unfortunately you've got a patriots team that's coming off not going to the playoffs it's not greatly successful at the moment it's not got

much stability at oc and i will talk about that in a minute so how are you going to entice an individual to your establishment granted I do believe that the Bill Belichick way has a lot of pull but there isn't much else when you look at it on paper in regards to the Patriots that is going to entice individuals you're going to have to look at money and it'll still work so you know there's not to be too concerned about it but it might be that you're going to have to pay that premium you aren't able to waive the we've got a greatest of all time quarterback or we've got an a brilliant we've got a brilliant offensive coordinator that's super successful you haven't got those little tickets to wave in front of people to get them to come you're going to have to wave the dollars and I just don't think

long story short I think that Jacoby will be a sacrifice of that if they are to bring in like a wide receiver one you know as the speculation mentions in regards to Hopkins so I think it's it's unfortunate and I don't really want it to happen because I love Jacoby Myers and I love him being a Patriot I the numbers just down as a yeah I think you make an interesting point about whether or not the Patriots are going to pursue kind of like a Mac Jones binky or whether they're not going to go out and pursue a bona fide wide receiver one now there's no way a disrespect to Jacoby Myers, who was the Patriots top option at the position, and I think can be an extremely productive wide receiver, no matter

what situation or system that he's in. If the Patriots are going to go that binky route, then Myers is the guy that you want. Mac Jones went on record after the game stating that he believes that Myers is arguably the best teammate he's ever played with. I mean, he really, really has a very good relationship, a very good synergy with Jacoby. So the Patriots would be wise at least to cater to that if Mack is their guy for the future. Now you look at the options there that might be beyond if they want to go in a wide receiver one situation.

You mentioned DeAndre Hopkins' name. The report's coming out from john from jordan schultz on tuesday night that the patriot that excuse me that the cardinals are going to explore trade options for him and you have to think the patriots are going to be involved bill belichick absolutely loves this guy i mean there's no question about it he has gushed over him uh just effusive praise every time he talks about deandre so you know the patriots are going to be interested in that regard can they make this work financially folks they can make it work financially and our good friend miguel benzon is going to drop by here

on locked on patriots this week in order to show you exactly how feasible this trade would be for the new england patriots from a financial standpoint so from that respect from the fiscal uh end of this the Patriots can make it work it's just whether these two sides could agree on compensation what is DeAndre looking for a lot of teams out there looking for wide receiver help that have bona fide top flight quarterbacks does he see Mac Jones in that regard I think the argument could be made that he sees a lot of potential in Jones, but it's going to be all about what DeAndre wants to do because bottom line, folks, he's the one with the no trade clause.

He does have one in his contract, and he can dictate where he wants to go. Is Bill Belichick going to be the X factor here in playing for Bill? DeAndre has said several times that he respects Bill among all coaches right up at the top of that list. Could that be enough to bring him here? That's going to be the question this offseason. And I hate to add fuel to the fire and kind of up the speculation because I do kind of hate that hype it because we don't know anything at this point. But the last player that he was seeing kind of that Bill Belichick was seen to be kind of

in love with and to be talking with and and have that little code with was hunter henry and hunter henry yes so yeah so yeah i probably really shouldn't say that because people are going to be like oh yeah so claire said that they're gonna get deodra hopkins because they got hunter henry no no no no i'm not saying that folks don't know just i'm just saying i'm just speculating i'm just throwing it out there that the last guy he showed that kind of love for was hunter henry and he finally got him in so we shall see writing it down here wednesday january 11 claire said henry equals hopkins okay Okay, folks, it is read, it is set, it is, I am kidding. I am absolutely kidding. No, that's a good point.

I mean, when Bill Belichick goes above and beyond to praise a player the way he did DeAndre Hopkins, you heard it in Henry, talked constantly about him growing up in Arkansas, going to high school in Arkansas and playing for Coach Kelly there and just so much that Belichick would give more information than you really needed it led you to believe in it led you to know don't forget Hopkins was he had a workout for the Patriots when he was coming out of the draft process tried to trade Jamie Collins for him a few years ago this is not a guy that the Patriots are unfamiliar with Bill Belichick when he he has his eye on a player, you know that there is definitely some interest,

and I expect there to be some interest. The question, folks, is, is it going to be enough? Claire and I are going to discuss a little bit about whether or not it's going to be enough in another subject because after a little bit of an absence, it is back. That's right. The tea leaves have arrived in West Midlands in the UK, and we're going to give you a little clairvoyance when it comes to the Patriots' offensive coaching staff

when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up. But first, today's episode brought to you by our good friends over at PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy. Let me give you a little example as to how it works. You pick two to five players, and if they score more or less than their PrizePix projection, you can win up to 10 times your money on any entry there's no competing against other people it's just you versus the projections available on any sport that you watch the entries can be made in 60 seconds or less that's right folks it's that easy

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Patriots fans, once again, I am honored and humbled as always to be joined by the illustrious Claire Clasiclair Cooper, columnist extraordinaire for Pets Propaganda and the host of her very own Patriots podcast available on full press coverage Patriots. And that is a Claire perspective.

Claire, we've talked a lot about comings and goings in the New England Patriots lore right now, but probably the most important question is the offensive coaching situation. Whether or not it's the most poignant is another thing to discuss, but it definitely is on the minds of every Patriots fan and just about every media member that you can imagine. So because this offseason will be an important one for the future of the franchise, folks, we need some tea leaves. We need some direction. And because of that, we are going to our offensive guru. We are going to our very own famous sage, our famous soothsayer, the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-omniscient Countess of Clas.

That's right, folks. Claire Voyance is back here on Locked On Patriots, and you can definitely tell that Claire is ready to read these tea leaves. They've been hermetically sealed, kept in an ancient ceramic kettle on the shelf of Wikipedia headquarters for the last, oh, I don't know, few hours or so. I think they've been there for a little bit. They're

ready, they're primed, and they're all set to go. No one, not even the illustrious Countess of Clas herself knew the contents of these tea leaves until now so claire i leave the question to you we want to know what the pats are thinking is the offensive coaching situation the biggest concern for the patriots this offseason i'm really sorry mike doesn't need tea leaves for that and it's pretty much a yes because we have seen how things kind of fell apart when it came to not having great kind of offensive coaching

offensive calling the guy was spread too thin I'm not there isn't the time to kind of go into everything anyway because we could do several shows on coaching alone and I'm not here to do a load of Matty P bashing because that's not really kind of my style anyway yes he deserves some criticism but a lot of people deserve a lot of criticism and right now I don't really think that playing the blame game is going to get us anywhere what we've kind of got to do is look forward and see hopefully what's going to happen now the only thing is the the coaching carousel as we kind of got to do is look forward and see hopefully what's going to happen now the only thing is the the coaching carousel as we kind of tend to call it in the off season air quotes there um yeah it seems it's massive isn't it the carousel is just significant it's just yeah

the one thing at the moment in regards to the patriots now i know there's been lots of speculation and at the moment that's all we've got as we record this on Wednesday all we've really got is speculation is the you know the subject of what could happen what we think might happen what makes sense the one thing that's really been thrown out there quite significantly um is Matty P to a defensive situation put him in the booth that kind of thing because we know that this guy has got a really good football mind nobody's disputing that he just doesn't really seem to do well in offense let's put it that and kind of move along he was spread thin he was the offensive kind of coordinator play callery kind of guy and he was the o-line coach i think we discussed this yesterday

with carrot with a great karen g Garrigian on One Patriots Place, that there isn't any other team that has their O-line coach have to do something else or has their play caller have to do O-line coaching duties. There isn't another team that stretches their coaching staff that thinly and surely that should say something to you. And I know Bill likes to go against the grain and stuff like that and prove that he can do better.

But to me, it just seems a little bit like if I can see that it's kind of crazy if this if this not amazingly sports mind can kind of see it's not great surely you know the great minds of Bill Belichick et al can see that it's you know it's not really working if they move Matty P over to the defense which I feel makes a lot of sense. They put him in a defensive situation, particularly if there is an exit of the wonderful Gerard Mayo, because I know that he's going for interviews. If they lose Mayo in that respect, it makes a lot of sense to filter Matipi back down to the sort of defensive situation.

There's been a lot of talk of moving Joe Judge to special teams because he was successful before. And heck, they haven't been very successful for the last couple of years on special teams so his experience would go down quite well whether or not it would fix fix what's what's wrong not quite sure if he's on coaching but you know looks at that the one thing in regard to that is and um I'm quite happy to champion those two um those two moves Bill if you're if you know just so you know my opinion on it that's fine you know go ahead and do that if you're if you know just so you know my opinion on it that's fine you you know go ahead and do that if you like because i know he listens all the time um is that it opens

up your need for oc o-line coach and quarterback coach so you've made three gaps there however if mayo does exit you're already there's gaps happening anyway so you you're not necessarily can control that the thing that i think is important is that they address those three gaps as three separate gaps don't look at it as this is an oath this isn't an offense thing this is a we don't have enough coaching thing we need some guys who know what they're doing and they need to be able to have the time to do it not stretch them thinly throughout different departments, that kind of thing.

So I think it is very key at this moment. It's not just OC that needs to be at the top of the list. I think it's offensive coaching staff, S on the end of that. I think you need to address the several situations. Now, there's loads of current head coaches vacancies at the moment. As we record this on Wednesday, the broncos the cardinals who also need a gm the colts the panthers the texans the titans are the ones that need the gm you've got um sean mcveigh not knowing what he's gonna do so you've got the rams potentially you've got him telling his staff

that they can um seek jobs elsewhere if they so wish i believe is something like that that i saw on social media the coaching carousel in the nfl itself is going to be all over the place this offseason but the as far as the patriots are concerned i believe it's very important to as i said those three positions if they do what i sort of said in regards to moving special teams and moving just to special teams if they do that then it is really make sure that you get through those three guys in don't get compromising it don't get kind of oh he can do this and he can do that kind of let's not do that now you had to go at it for a year you didn't maybe it was because you wanted to get Joe,

Bill O'Brien, sorry. And you couldn't, ifs and buts, as we've said, regardless of that, we've seen kind of how it doesn't really work. We've seen that you've got some guys in that are good,

but maybe in slightly different areas, maybe they're specializing slightly different. What's the taken quote that I'm after? I have a very special set of skills. specialising, slightly different. What's the taken quote that I'm after? I have a very special set of skills. These guys have very special sets of skills, but in different places, maybe. Put those in the different places in regards,

like Patricia and Judge, as I said, and fill these offensive coaching staff. Get some staff. This is, I'm sorry, it sounds so basic and you're surprised that kind of the likes of Bill Belichick sort of need to be told it. Not that it needs to be told it, but you know what I mean? He's got some staff. They need staff. They need numbers. They don't have the numbers. It's like trying to play a defence with two less linebackers or something or one less defensive lineman or something. It's not going to work because you haven't got enough to fill all the holes that you've got.

At this point, it's fill the holes. But the important thing is enough to fill all the holes that you've got. At this point it's fill the holes. But the important thing is they need to fill the holes with the right people. And that's what as Patriots fans, I understand we're going to hope that they do is that they get people that make a bit more sense. And it doesn't have to completely make sense to us because we're not the ones running it, but let it make a little bit more sense than it did in 2022.

Yeah. What better way to end a show folks than Claire channeling her inner Liam Neeson from Taken. Yeah, I got to love that. I have a particular set of skills. I'm not going to do the impression, folks, because Liam Neeson owns that. That's something I can do. But no, all kidding aside, I think you're absolutely right.

I think that there's a clear need for the Patriots to upgrade at this position and they need to be able to get competent bodies in their competent minds that know exactly how to dictate and be able to run the given departments that they are Matt you know Matt's um Matt Patricia excuse me I got Matthew Slater on the brain Matt Patricia Joe Judge competent coaches very good at what they do they looked a little bit like fish out of water this year, and I don't think that's a stretch of the imagination. So the Patriots have decisions to make there. Bill O'Brien is still a name that a lot of people are hanging on,

but folks, keep a sharp eye on Cliff Kingsbury, who was recently let go as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. DeAndre Hopkins' connection there as well. And also, don't forget, he played for bill here in new england as a backup quarterback so he's very familiar with his tendencies and his abilities bill has been very complimentary about cliff in the past that could be an interesting fit on the offensive side of the coaching staff but once again claire your clairvoyance has gone beyond tea leaves folks i don't have to ship these things out and use amazon any longer she has

the brain and she knows the postal services are available people folks. I don't have to ship these things out and use Amazon any longer. She has the TVs in brain and she knows what she's doing. All the postal services are available, people. Well, the good folks over at Amazon always do a great job. But bottom line, you know, it saves me the opportunity of having to pack everything up and keep these guys, you know, on their toes. One less, one less for our good friends over at Amazon. But bottom line, folks, Claire, what can I say? I appreciate you always taking time out to lend your wisdom and counsel the way only you can here on Locked On Patriots. You are our Countess of Class here every Wednesday, and that will continue to happen.

Folks, check Claire out on Twitter at ClassyClaire. You can always read her written work over at Pets Propaganda, and you can also check her out on her very own podcast, The Claire Perspective of Patriots podcast on full press coverage Patriots and anywhere you get your podcasts. And you can always catch her each and every week alongside our good friend Thomas Murphy on

One Patriots Place, courtesy of E2G Sports. And most importantly, don't forget, you can check her out here every Wednesday on Locked On Patriots. So on behalf of the esteemed Countess of Clas herself, I'm Mike DeBate. Continue to stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see

in the world. You've made us your first listen. Please make your second listen. Our good friends over at Locked On Sports today, all the sports news you need, all the sports, and even the take of the day you can't ask for better. Download, subscribe to, follow Locked On Sports today after you

download, subscribe to, and follow Locked On Patriots, of course, on Odyssey app, on YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you, Foxborough faithful. Have a great day. We'll see you tomorrow right here on Locked On Patriots.