La Canfora: With Brady And Belichick, Patriots' Championship 'Window' Remains Wide Open
BOSTON (CBS) -- Over the past five-plus seasons, whenever the Patriots' season ended short of winning a Super Bowl, the conversation fired right back up from where it left off the year before: Has the championship window closed?
Well, this year, CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora is getting out ahead of that story with a resounding "No." In fact, he thinks they'll be better next year.
La Canfora wrote a column for CBSSports.com in which he laid out the reasons that the Patriots will be right back in the mix to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl next year, and perhaps longer.
"A portal, perhaps. Or a specious veranda. Maybe a large, ornate garage door. But a window? Uh, no way," La Canfora wrote. "Not when a team is this well constructed, with seemingly all of its key components still in their prime, and Brady coming off yet another MVP-caliber season and there are no concerns about having to apply the franchise tag or lose anyone to the open market. Not when the Patriots enter 2016 with ample cap room, and not a single player in the NFL's top 50 in terms of cash to be earned next season (let that sit in for a moment). Not when reserve running back LeGarrette Blount (who missed the second half of the season due to injury) and in-season waiver claim Akiem Hicks are literally the top two free agents the Patriots have on their roster. Not when extending rising defensive stars Jamie Collins and Dont'a Hightower -- oh, and that Brady guy -- amount to the offseason priorities, leaving New England to explore at least one flashy trade or signing while continuing to maneuver the draft board this spring."
Not only are the Patriots in line for success themselves, but La Canfora noted that it's hard to look around the AFC and find legitimate threats to take them out.
"Sorry, but the salad days of the Patriots are not over," La Canfora wrote. "New England will be very much in the Lombardi Trophy discussion again next season, and, barring serious injury to Brady, well beyond. To the legion of football fans who hate them, you'll still have to deal with them for years to come. They aren't going away. There won't be any drop-off. In fact, their 2016 roster will quite likely be better than this year's model."
La Canfora really cut to the chase in a video accompanying the column, saying, "I don't want to hear about the New England Patriots and windows closing or anything like that. They've got Tom Brady, who's still in his prime, they've got the best coach in the league in Bill Belichick, and they have one of the best rosters in the league ... that's not losing anybody!"
La Canfora's full column can be read at CBSSports.com, and it's likely a welcome read for any Patriots fans who still may be feeling the sting of Sunday's loss.
