The Patriots Continue to Get Younger

The Patriots signed 19 rookie free agents after the conclusion of the NFL draft. This number was closely examined by Yahoo sports writer Brian McIntyre and as he compared the contracts of the Patriots to that of the rest of the league and he found that the Patriots have dropped the most in guaranteed money in this year’s rookie class than any other team in the NFL. The Patriots have spent 140,000 in guaranteed money to their rookie free agents so far.

According to McIntyre’s source the Patriots, Rams and Cowboys have each dropped over 100,000 guaranteed dollars on undrafted rookie contracts this offseason. According to the rules of the NFL, teams could spend up to 78,170 dollars in signing bonuses for undrafted free agents, but the league did not set a ceiling on guaranteed dollars. So far seven teams have gone over the 78,170 dollars with the Patriots leading the pack.

So, what does all of this mean? To me, it means that the present day Patriots are even younger than the youngest team Belichick had coached in his career in last season’s team. Does this inexperience help or hurt the Patriots? I think we have seen in recent years that inexperience has helped the Patriots to good regular season records and statistics, but has ultimately hurt them late in the season and into the playoffs when the game becomes more mental. There is no better example than the mental breakdowns in the secondary from the end of the season 49ers game right on down to the AFC Championship.

Maybe I am reading into this too much, but another little tid-bit I find interesting in this whole story is why in the heck Belichick would want to get younger. Media has been floating it around for quite some time saying that Belichick might want to go out when Brady does. To me, that’s in three to four years and the signing all of these young guys could be a sign that Belichick’s reign here could be ending in the near future. Signing young guys is a true investment in time, unless you’re signing talented guys to set up the future of the organization for someone else like oh say, Josh McDaniels.

Belichick loves McDaniels and everyone knows it, so could the signing of young talent be Belichick’s way of getting McDaniels off to a good start here in New England? It’s interesting because for a coach that is trying to grab another championship before he retires, going out and getting inexperienced guys doesn’t seem like the best approach for short-term success. Guys like Abraham and Revis seem like short-term success players, which the Patriots apparently have no interest in. This is more than about grabbing one more title to Belichick; it’s about setting up his friend and heir to the throne, Josh McDaniels.

Josh Brown
@TitleTownTalkSB

original piece by McIntyre: click here