Jones & Keefe: How the Patriots can lure Free Agents to New England

WEEI-FM / WEEI

Watch Jones & Keefe: How the Patriots can lure Free Agents to New England - WEEI-FM / WEEI on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00How do you sell players to come play in New England?

00:02I think the easy answer is just pay them more money, which we can get to,

00:06because I have questions about that with Kraft.

00:08How do you sell them? Is it as simple as Drake May?

00:11So I think, to put money to the side, because I think money is the number one thing everywhere.

00:15I know like Miles Garrett was saying it isn't the most important thing, but whatever.

00:18It is for almost every single player.

00:20Maybe you can find like 1% of guys that isn't.

00:23So I think you can sell them on a few different things.

00:25One would be Drake May.

00:27I think another would be Mike Vrabel.

00:29I think both of those guys are pretty easy sells, to be honest.

00:33And then depending on the player and the position,

00:36don't you also sell them on their role and how important they're going to be to the turnaround?

00:40Like I think if you brought in...

00:41Right, it's like we have Vrabel, we have Drake May, we have nothing else.

00:45You guys can be part of it.

00:46We're set at coach quarterback.

00:48Yeah.

00:48You guys can be part of the turnaround,

00:50and you're going to be the best player at your position.

00:52You're going to be a leader at your position.

00:54Yeah.

00:54You're going to get a lot of play.

00:55If you're a receiver or running back, there's tons of playing time for you.

00:58Yeah.

00:59Yeah.

00:59And the NFL is different than the other sports, too,

01:02because actually maybe the NBA is even becoming this way, too.

01:06They're really market-proof.

01:08You don't have to play in New York.

01:09You don't have to play in LA to be on every commercial and super famous.

01:15And if you're winning and you're really good, you're going to be there.

01:18You see Rob Gronkowski everywhere you go, right?

01:21You can do that.

01:22So if that's something that any of these players that aren't familiar

01:24with New England are worried about,

01:26I don't think they need to be worried about that at all.

01:28And just the nature of the NFL, bad teams can become good teams overnight.

01:32You know, it happens all the time.

01:33You could point to a million examples.

01:35You could point to Washington this year, Houston last year, on down the line.

01:40Be like, hey, we could be that.

01:42Why can't we be that?

01:43We have a coach that knows what he's doing.

01:44We have a quarterback who is at least arrow pointing up.

01:49So yesterday when we did our top 10s, we didn't have him starting the year in the top 10,

01:53but it doesn't mean he can't jump into that conversation at some point.

01:56They at least know who their guy is, which is a leg up on 10 other teams.

02:01No, for sure.

02:02So I think Vrabel is a good one.

02:03I think selling a player on their role is always a big one.

02:07And I think Drake May.

02:08I mean, you hope guys want to play with Drake May.

02:10I saw an interview with Miles Garrett yesterday.

02:12Maybe this is what you were referencing.

02:14But he was asked, I think by Mina Kimes,

02:16would you want to play with a guy like Jaden Daniels?

02:19I mean, would that be a big factor?

02:20And it's like, well, yeah.

02:21You want to play with a good quarterback if you're a defensive player.

02:24You want to play with a guy on the other side of the field.

02:26He doesn't want to play with more Jameis Winston, Deshaun Watson, DTR.

02:30Bailey's happy?

02:31Yeah, he doesn't want to play with those guys.

02:32And so, of course, you want to play with a young, up-and-coming quarterback.

02:36Now, is Drake May viewed that way?

02:39I'm starting to wonder if we've even undersold it to a degree, Keith,

02:42given how popular he's been, just interview media wise,

02:47coming out of the Pro Bowl and into the Super Bowl.

02:49And these interviews, this is a local one,

02:51but there's been a bunch of national ones as well.

02:53And on top of that, just watching some of his popularity

02:56at the Pro Bowl with other players.

02:57He's going around interviewing guys,

03:00you know, poolside, leading up to the Pro Bowl.

03:02And so maybe there is more of a draw with him than even we give it credit for.

03:06Yeah, I think, you know, when these guys come into the league as really high picks,

03:10you know, like Matt Jones was a first-round pick, but he was 15th.

03:13There was four quarterbacks taken ahead of him.

03:15It was like maybe a little bit different.

03:17But Drake May, like all his, all college year,

03:20there were thoughts about him being like the number one pick in the draft.

03:23So he came in with a little bit of hype and then he didn't start right away.

03:27But then once he started playing, I think,

03:30you know, just what other teams were saying about him.

03:32Remember when they played the Rams and you heard like what

03:34Sean McVay had to say about him.

03:35That's true.

03:36Like there's definitely something that other players and coaches take notice of.

03:39Yeah, and I'm trying to remember how many of it was players.

03:42There definitely were coaches.

03:43McDaniel did it.

03:44I mean, McVay did it.

03:45Those are two great offensive minds.

03:46Very complimentary.

03:47Josh Allen might have played the Bills.

03:50So he might be an even bigger selling point than we prop it up to be.

03:55What's your confidence level Kraft is going to spend?

03:56Because I think that's the biggest.

03:58It's lower than any of the other things.

04:00Like convincing someone that it's okay to play in New England and, you know,

04:05selling them on joining a team that just won four games,

04:10a second year quarterback, Mike Vrabel, like all of that stuff.

04:13I think it's a lot easier to sell when you have the money behind you.

04:16The fact that Robert Kraft is going to do it.

04:18I don't know.

04:19I was shocked.

04:20He didn't do it last year.

04:21Now, maybe did he learn his lesson?

04:23Right?

04:23I think he may learn his lesson from just giving the job to Drodd Mayo.

04:26He at least changed that.

04:27That's true.

04:28So that's maybe a positive sign.

04:30I don't think you can be super cheap with it.

04:33I just wonder would Mike Vrabel have accepted the job?

04:38So last year, different story.

04:40Drodd Mayo wouldn't have gotten any other job.

04:42So Drodd Mayo got the job, wanted to spend money,

04:44but I doubt he was given any assurances that they were going to do it.

04:48And so that's sort of different.

04:49Would Mike Vrabel take this job?

04:50I think he might have thought he had some assurances early on.

04:53He earned some cash.

04:53I understand.

04:54But they quickly told him, we're not doing that.

04:57Yeah.

04:58But does Mike Vrabel take this job?

05:00And, hey, we're going to bring back some of our own guys.

05:03We're going to cut corners here and be dead last in cash spending for the third straight year.

05:09I would like to think Mike Vrabel would be like, well, what are your expectations then?

05:13How many games do you want us to win if we're not going to spend on players?

05:16So I have a confidence that they kind of have to spend.

05:19I mean, Kraft made reference to this at Vrabel's introductory press conference.

05:23They kind of have to spend.

05:24They look at it, three years rolling annually, the money out.

05:29So they kind of have to spend.

05:31But are they going to get uncomfortable for big ticket free agents?

05:35And I think you'll know that when you see it.

05:37Are they going to outmaneuver, outbid people for T. Higgins is a prominent name

05:42or Ronnie Stanley on the offensive line?

05:44Are they really going to go all out for some of these players like a big ticket item?

05:48It's kind of how we talk about the Red Sox here and there.

05:50And the Red Sox spend no money.

05:52I think the Patriots will spend some money.

05:54I think they kind of have to spend some money.

05:56Yeah, right.

05:57I think it foreshadowed that.

05:58Are they going to, again, outmaneuver other teams for a big ticket free agent?

06:04Can you land that big fish and not turn around and say, well,

06:08this guy wanted to sign there because of his girlfriend and that guy wanted to sign there?

06:12It's not about finance.

06:13No, it is about finance.

06:14It's mostly about finance.

06:15And so are you going to make it about finance and go get players this offseason?

06:19At the top of the market, I still don't have confidence Kraft is going to do it.

06:22I hope he does, but I'm not confident in that at all.

06:24So they have signed big free agents post Brady.

06:28They haven't signed any big free agents post Belichick, right?

06:31You can be like, well, Belichick was the one signing.

06:32I'm like, in 2021, there was no Tom Brady selling point

06:35and they were coming off a missed playoff year.

06:38And you can argue about how good any of these guys are.

06:42But right away, they signed Matt Judon.

06:44They signed both Hunter Henry and Johnny Smith.

06:46They signed Jalen Mills.

06:48They signed a few other guys.

06:51They were very, very active.

06:53Devon Godchild might have been part of that wave.

06:55They signed a ton of guys and some of them were good.

06:58Some of them obviously weren't.

07:00But that's not the thing.

07:01The thing is, they spent a lot of money.

07:03They needed a tight end.

07:04We thought they needed one.

07:05They went out and got two.

07:06Now, whatever you want to say about those guys.

07:08But they were two of the three highest ranked tight ends in free agency that year.

07:11This would be my hope.

07:122021, it's great.

07:13They spent a ton of money.

07:14Yeah, whatever it was.

07:15Quarter of a billion dollars.

07:16I don't remember.

07:17But they went out and spent like crazy.

07:19I'm not going to complain about that.

07:21But can you, beyond just Matthew Judon, who was a premium player,

07:26a premium position rather, can you spend at some premium positions?

07:30Not, let's double up at tight end, which is, I'm sorry, not a premium position.

07:34Well, they got Kendrick Bourne that year.

07:36I know, but that wasn't a top of the market player.

07:38I know it wasn't.

07:38They spent on receivers, but the receivers they spent on were Aguilar and Bourne.

07:42They spent at the top of the tight end market.

07:44Drafted a quarterback.

07:45Flip that.

07:45Why don't you spend on the real premium positions?

07:48I'll give them credit for Judon that year.

07:50There wasn't much else.

07:51So spend it tackle, spend it receiver, spend it corner if you want to.

07:56Like, those are the spots to do it.

07:57And again, I don't really have faith they're going to do that.

08:01I think they're going to spend more than they spent last year.

08:03I think they'll spend more because they have to.

08:04They haven't really spent in three years.

08:06But are they going to get those big ticket players at premium positions?

08:09If they do, I'll feel much better about the Patriots moving forward.

08:12Don't you feel like that should be the case?

08:15I just feel like Bill was pretty unique in that where you would spend money.

08:19You'd have the highest paid long snapper.

08:20You'd have like two of the highest paid gunners.

08:23You would kind of prioritize these weird things.

08:25Even in the years before they got rid of Joe Tooney and Shaq Mason, they had like two of

08:30the four highest paid guards in the NFL.

08:32And you're like, what about wideout?

08:34What about pass rush?

08:35What about corner?

08:36Like, what about these guys?

08:38And I think, I don't know.

08:41I like to think Vrabel would look at that.

08:43Like I said, if he does, then I'll feel much better going forward.

08:45If every time will tell if it's more of the same, they're spending money.

08:48But they're like last year, they technically spent money.

08:51They just brought everybody back off their crappy team.

08:53So not just spending the money, which would be good.

08:56How are you spending it?

08:57And who are you spending it on?

Category

Transcript

Recommended