Felger & Mazz On: The Patriot Myth
Tom Brady's potential new contract has Felger re-assessing how effective the Patriots' resistance to big contracts in the Belichick era. The guys examine the Pats' drafting and salary cap management system and how well it actually works compared to teams like the Colts.
Felger: "There was a time here when the Patriots didn't do that kind of thing, and we said 'Good for them. That's why they win championships. That's why they have their success. I believed it at one time. But now I think we can definitively say: it was a myth. It's not why they won their championships. When [Peyton] Manning signed his deal in 2004, Brady took markedly less. At the time, the Patriots had won three Super Bowls in four years. They owned the league. They owned the Colts. And when Brady took less, all of us said 'That's why they win championships.' Five years later, we all were wrong. Since those deals were signed, the Colts have won more Super Bowls, they've been to more Super Bowls, and they've taken five out of six against the Patriots. The Colts were able to pay Manning all that money and still passed the Patriots. The fact that Brady is now going to be the highest-paid guy in the league for now, is not going to hurt the Patriots' ability to build a roster one iota, just like it didn't affect the Colts."
Mazz: "If you were going to be careful about re-signing guys and overpaying them so you can spread the money around, well that only works if you have players to spread the money around to. Where do you get those other players? You get them through the draft, or you go out and you spend money on free agents. Ultimately, if you're letting talent go, you've got to replace it. It really comes down to the drafts and free agency. Generally speaking, they've been in the latter part of the first round, and we know their affinity for trading down and getting quote-unquote 'value picks' in the second and third rounds. They're taking the money they would've given to Asante Samuel and spreading it out among two or three defensive backs over the course of two or three drafts -- which is fine, as long as those guys can play! If they can't play, now you've got a major problem. Now you've paid for nothing. Now you've paid half the money you might have paid another guy and gotten nothing in return, so it's costing you more rather than less."
