Maybe Better In Seattle

Coach Belichick has often said that you can make a decision on a player after two years. They either get better in your system of they don't.

Apparently, they felt that way about TE Jacob Hollister and traded him to the Seahawks for a conditional 7th round pick.

It was like giving him away as the team didn't even use all four of their 7th round picks this year.

With the retirement of Rob Gronkowski, it said volumes that they chose to part ways with Hollister.

The Highlight of Camp

Pats fans were left wondering why Coach Belichick traded with the Eagles to move up in the fifth round and select punter Jake Bailey from Stanford.

The team sent their 167th and 246th picks to the Eagles to move up four spot to #163 and select Bailey. This was done, in spite of having the accomplished Ryan Allen on the roster who is also a left footed punter

Player Personnel Director addressed this during a press conference. The team wanted to have some competition in training camp and decided to bring in Bailey who kicks with his right foot. He also said the team didn't want to waste picks on players who had no shot at making the team.

Fans will now be able to watch this competition once practice begins.

It Won't Be Easy

We are already hearing from disgruntled Giants fans over the team's 6th overall pick of QB Daniel Jones from Duke.

He has a long road ahead of him after being anointed Manning 2.0.

Will he replace Eli or be known as the 6th overall pick who was suppose to replace him?

Let's see what happens. He will be under a microscope with the Giants and the New York media.

Forever 199th

Every team makes mistakes during the NFL Draft. It happens every year. Back in 2000, Tom Brady went as the 199th selection. Who could predict his future?

For the last several years, the draft coverage has highlighted that fact and done a little extra coverage on the pick.

That slot will always be infamous.

Rounds 2 & 3

Day 2 of the NFL draft is about to begin. The Pats have two 2nd round picks and three in the 3rd. They can do a lot with that.

Will they select players or trade down for additional picks? Is there someone they want badly enough to move up?

It should be a very interesting evening.

2019 NFL Draft

Only the NFL could turn their draft into the three day spectacle that it has become. There will be plenty of awkward moments as players slide down and are left waiting.

They bring in the top picks and have them wait until their name is called. Every year, someone twists in the wind until a team picks them.

Tonight is the first round. The money between the first and 32nd pick is pretty significant. Some will lose a lot of money tonight while others will strike it rich.

Some of these picks will be stars while others will be a total bust. Some will have their career end prematurely from injury.

Every Game Matters For Josh

WR Josh Gordon will be back with the Pats after signing a restricted free agent contract. It remains to be seen when he will ever be able to play again because of his numerous drug suspensions.

He was having a great season last year once he got traded from Cleveland. In 11 games, he had 40 receptions for 720 yards and three TD's. He had great chemistry with Tom Brady. Fans got to see what a gifted talented he is.

The Pats got him for cheap money with a base salary of $2,025 million. He has great incentive to make it back as he also has a $119,000 per game roster bonus.

Kicking Gould

Many players are not big supporters of the franchise tag. It's a great pay day for one season, but everyone wants security.

The 49er's placed the tag on kicker Robbie Gould who then demanded to be traded.

It remains to be seen how this plays out.

Get Ready For Trades

Coach Belichick is very consistent in whatever he does. He has always made a draft day trade other than in 2004.

It doesn't matter if it's to move up or down or into a future year. He is always willing to listen to any trades.

I think fans really enjoy this.

Don't Worry About TB

Tom Brady has been absent for the start of the Pats off seasons workouts. The NFL CBA prohibits so many things. There is no point in him being here right now.

Fans and sports talk will try to read into this, but it doesn't mean anything.

Brady will show up when he needs to. Things are good so far.

Getting Their Guy

The Pats are noted for wanting a certain player and eventually getting them even if it takes several years.

They tried to trade for WR Demaryius Tomas in the past. He was drafted by the Broncos in 2012 when Josh McDaniels was their head coach.

His numbers have been outstanding with five 1,000 yard seasons between 2012-2016. He has also been injury prone as he is recovering from a torn Achilles suffered last season.

He isn't expected to be available for their first several games. They hope he is able to have an impact.

Will It Be Jones?

Nobody can predict how the NFL will unfold. You could probably get the first ten picks right, but not the teams.

One New York Post writer did a mock draft for all 32 teams. He had Duke QB Daniel Jones going to the Pats.

There is no doubt that they need to find someone to eventually replace Tom Brady.

Will it be Jones or will they even draft him?

Same Thing Next Year

When the AAF suddenly folded, it left players, coaches and team staff in a precarious situation. It took another step today when the league announced it was filing for bankruptcy protection.

This is not good news for creditors of the league. They might never get the full amount of money owed to them.

How will the XFL be different when it comes to the bottom line? It sounds like we might repeat this same process at some point next year.

Seymour's Time

The Pats Hall of Fame announced their three finalists for induction. The fans will choose between Richard Seymour, Mike Vrabel and Rodney Harrison.

They are all worthy candidates, but Seyomur should get in because he was a finalist for the Hall of Fame in Canton.

Once again, the selection will be from Coach Belichick's Super Bowl era. It makes a lot of sense, but so many great players from the past are being forgotten.

It was great to see the veterans committee select OL Leon Gray who played on the left side along with John Hannah.

The Pats Dozen

Nobody really has a clue of what the Pats will do in the draft. They have 12 picks, but won't use all of them.

I have no doubt they will trade some of them for the 2020 draft.

In the end, they will have some undrafted player who will have an impact on the season. They always do every year.

They Blame Manning

This is not the way Eli Manning wanted his career to wind down. He is taking a lot of heat for posting a 8-24 record over the last two seasons. At 38, he will be a free agent next March.

The Giants have no plan in place to address this issue. They could look to the draft or a possible trade. Losing Odell Beckham Jr was a big loss to their offense.

They are in a rebuilding stage. Eli doesn't have time to wait. What will his situation be next year at this time?

AAF Nightmare

We are hearing more about the disaster that was the AAF. San Antonio GM Daryl Johnston said that he and others were under the impression that there was a two year business plan, but instead, the league lasted two months before shutting down abruptly.

The final day was rather chaotic as teams were told to cease operation in the middle of practice in some instances due to injury liability. To make matters worse, there are many creditors who are concerned about being paid.

Will we see this same scenario next year with the XFL?

Just Picking Fights

The Raiders should have known what they got when they traded for WR Antonio Brown. They ended up with a gifted receiver who can't keep from acting like a fool on social media.

He continues his feud with former teammate Juju Smith Schuster and anyone else he feels like fighting with.

His time with the Steelers ended badly because of how he handled himself with everyone.

GM Mike Mayock knew what he was getting the team into. It was a bad idea to give Brown another $11.2 million to accept the trade.

Torching McCarthy

It's getting pretty messy up in Green Bay with comments from Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre over former Coach Mike McCarthy. Favre said that they should have won more games during McCarthy's tenure.

There are all sorts of comments about the working relationship Rodgers had with his coach. With a new one on board, everyone needs to put this behind them and move on.

Why is Favre criticizing at this point? He is already in the Hall of Fame. What more does he want?

Hogan Holding

Many NFL free agents have been on the end of big money contracts. The dollars are out there, but not for all.

Former Pats WR Chris Hogan was hoping to be one of lucky ones, but he has no offers and little interest from other teams.

Players like him are often looked at being very easily replaced in the draft and for less money.

He could end up back with the Pats for less money than he made in previous years.

Time To Make The Money

The NFL is best at coming up with new revenue streams. It light of the league's 100th anniversary, every team is coming up with a new uniform design.

Fans may or may not like them, but they will be available on line and at pro shops.

Once fans have one of something, it's time to come up with a new design so that they can be sold new stuff.

No Time To Sit

A local high school star quarterback jumped at the chance to attend Boston College on a scholarship. He graduated high school early to enroll at BC and get a head start on the program. He elected not to take a red-shirt freshman year.

He will be a junior when the season starts and is fighting for a starting job. He has played well when given the chance, but this coming season will be a critical point in his career.

What will he do if he sits on the bench? He could graduate early and transfer to another school without waiting a year.

He will only get one chance to make the right decision.

Can't Run Without Money

The story continues to unravel about the failure of the AAF. They had huge financial problems back in December to the point where they asked Vince McMahon about merging with the XFL.

Now we are hearing reports that the league needed at least $750 million over the next few years in order to operate. The revenue streams never matched he expenses.

Will the XFL be around to play a second season? That's so far away.

Hold The Gold Jacket

Predicting the NFL Draft gives analysts jobs and something to fill the air time.

The NFL Network tries to predict the order of the first 50 players. Nobody can seriously think that they will get it right.

Their craziest thing is to predict who in this draft class will end up in the Hall of Fame. That is such a reach. Players never know how it will end up. Opportunity and injuries are the wild cards.

Try It This Way

When the AAF folded, players were left hanging. Many no longer had a place to stay. In some instances, players at hotels had their things cleared out of the room.

The NFLPA made a great point about liability issues with using players from NFL Practice Squads, but in the end, made their own decision.

Apparently, the XFL will be the ultimate free agent league. It might work out better.

Firing After The Game

The NFL is often cold and heartless in the way that players and coaches get released.

Former Packers Coach Mike McCarthy had interesting comments on the NFL Network. He said his firing was handled in a poor way.

He was let go a few minutes after a loss during mid-season. Taking such action like this doesn't usually change the product on the field.

The majority of coaches get to wait to the end of the season before they get fired. They know it's part of the job, but at least it can be done in a dignified manner.

End of the AAF

The AAF suspended operations earlier today. The league said they are not shutting down, but it could be inevitable.

One of the sticking points has been the lack of cooperation with the NFLPA. They are letting the CBA effect the movement of players.

It looks like the league has burned through $250 million with nothing to show for it.

How does the XFL expect to survive next year?

Moving On Up

It's hard to predict what the Pats will do on Draft Day, but there is a glaring need at tight end. Iowa has two projected first round picks in T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant. Coach Kirk Ferentz was on Belichick's staff in Cleveland.

It's a good chance that neither player will be available when the Pats pick at 32nd. If they want to move up, they will need to package some of their twelve picks and find the right trading partner.

They really need to fill the gap created by Gronk's retirement.