This is Patriots Playbook. The legend Russell Baxter at Backs Football Turu on Twitter. Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna goof on my my good friend here. All right, Russell has sometimes a tendency to rely on crutches. Have you noticed his pension When he's in the middle of an explanation, We're saying, okay, they should let the players decide it. Yeah, okay, grow out the time numbers. Okay, okay, okay, yes, okay, we're gonna have to invent a Russell Baxter drinking game. You will be faced. We'll get loaded. Now. Here's your host of Patriots Playbook, John Rook. Oh my goodness, yeah, we probably will. I've forgotten all about that's that's that's why when we're only here for you know, once a month of this time of year, forget that we all the good stuff happens, you know, always happened last month. Welcome into them. What month is this March edition of Patriots Playbook Here on Patriots dot Com Radio, I'm John Rook. It is our monthly offseason edition. We go once a month with the Playbook until we roll back around again with the regular season coming up in September, but it's going to be here a lot sooner than you possibly can can imagine. It's you know, and already things are kind of ramping up a little bit. We had them, we had the uh, the owners meetings this week, and um, you know, I'm not sure. I mean, I have to admit I tuned in and tried to pay attention a little bit to what was going on because first of them, foremost, I'm interested in rule changes. I want to know what what what's gonna happen, what's gonna transpire, what's what are they gonna actually change some things for the better as opposed to nonsense, which is really kind of what we've seen I think of late. And we just have to get to more. We have to get back to more practical way of thinking. We have to be real. So we'll talk about the owner's meetings and a couple of the major stories, with Evan Lazarre coming up in just a couple of moments. Russell Baxter will join us an our number two of the show, so will Zach Cox, who covers the Patriots fornesson dot com. So it's a sort of a regular routine Wednesday, if you will here on the program. I know normally we go at noon noon o'clock on the in the offseason show, but we pushed it back to the regular time at two pm today because college basketball won't go away from me, so I had some duties to take care of earlier today. So we're in the more familiar time at two. But for April, May, June, July, likely August, we'll push it back to the noon start time. When's the next one? August? Excuse me, April twenty six, right, So, And the thing about it is, I I haven't even done this one yet. We're already talking about the next one. But it's draft. It's the day before the draft, and we've done this the last couple of years, and so what we've decided we think we're gonna try to do for this year is have a sort of a pre draft draft show in the playbook and bring in a couple of the real draft nicks. See if we can't, you know, combine some of the talents of both Evan and Alex Barth, and we're gonna go through everybody we think that the Patriots should take, everybody that we think the Patriots will take, and we're gonna let you get involved, and we're gonna come up with a way again because we've done this in the past. Now. The winner of the Patriots Playbook Fantasy Football League co hosted the show last month. Okay, I think what we need to do is if somebody pegs the first pick right for the Patriots, we need to offer them another opportunity to come be on the show, right, I mean, you know, if why not, this could be the start of something big. Might also be away from me to back out gracefully let somebody else take it over. I don't know. We'll hold on to it as long as you feel like I can you know, still hold on to it. But I you know, nevertheless, why not let's throw it out there. I would love to have you in studio if you're close by, and even if you're in Where was he He was in Switzerland. He's from Greece, but he's Switzerland, right, Okay, that's what I was thinking. So, which is amazing to me that we pardon, wasn't it Luxembourg? Oh it was Luxembourg. Yes, he was in l I'm wrong. No, no, no, well, whether it was Switzerland or Luxembourg. No, you're right, it's Luxembourg. We've never had a co host from Luxembourg. We had a caller from Luxembourg before, so I thought that was actually pretty cool. We'll do that and then shows the power I think of the Patriots globally here and really appreciative of everyone who takes the time to contribute to the show one way or the other. So yeah, I think we might have to put that on the agenda for you know, next year, next month. Well, you've got to pick the first pick, and if you get it right, and the first person to go on the show and pronounce that, whether it's email or or whether it's a phone call, or whether it's social media or what have you, I'll have the time clock on it if we have multiple people get the first pick right, because something tells me we're all gonna say what we think we know it is, and it ain't gonna be that. It never is. I mean, I'm already thinking it's gotta be off. It's a tackle, right, It's already gotta be off. It's a tackle. And then I had an impassioned argument from a student yesterday in class who said, I don't know how the Patriots can think about anything else other than defensive back. They need a corna. They need a corna. Okay, well, I mean I agree, I think they need a corna, but I think they need some other things too. I'm not sure which one they need more, but I would tell you, Look, if you're really gonna make a go of this with Mac Jones, and I'm gonna get to that in just a second here, but if you're gonna try to rub out year two, which was let's all admitted, it was an abomination. It was terrible. It was a gross miscalculation by the Patriots coaching staff and hierarchy over the people that you had here in the fold. And I know we talked about it over the course of the last year. Ed Nause him, Hey, you know what Bill deserves to have. You know, he deserves to be able to do things his way. He's paid his dues, he's earned it. And it just goes to show you even the most brilliant football minds can have bad moments, bad years. I mean, I'm sure there were still some development going on, but I just I cringe every time I think, Wow, what a wasted year for Mac Jones. It was just a complete waste and I can't believe that you. Well, yeah, I guess I can't because it happened. Trying not to dwell on the negative. I'm trying to move forward here, but this leads me into question number one that I have for you today. By the way, Evan will join us here in about ten minutes, Zach Coxe will join us at the top of the next hour. Russell's going to join us at his normal time an hour two. So right now it's me and you and we're talking about the Patriots at eight five five PATS five hundred. Toll free number is eight five five p ATS five hundred. You can hit me up on email, web radio at Patriots dot com, or find me on the Twitter machine at JR Broadcaster, or post on my Facebook page John dot Rook. Ready, set go. I've got a couple of things that I want to kind of throw out to you. And the things that I really kind of want to throw out here I have to do with the major story lines that have been prevalent in the media over the course of the last week to two weeks. The first one has to do with coach Belichick. Okay, now, we've talked about this many, many, many times on this show before in season, out of season, offseason, whatever Bill should, Bill will get the opportunity to finish on his own terms. Nothing's changed my way of thought on that one, no matter how bad it gets, no matter what happens. You know, I've heard both Robert and Jonathan Kraft say, you know, I think coach Belichick has earned the right to call his shot, and I agree with that. You don't win six Super Bowls and you know, hold onto some cache, Okay, you do. However, three straight years without now a playoff win. The last couple of years I think of the draft have been better, but there were a couple of middling to poor years in the draft. I think we can all agree on that, so we can't ignore that. So I want to ask you, you know, a really a kind of a simple question. Okay, are you ready to move on from Bill Belichick? Should this team win seven or eight or even less than that? Did you see what the overunder was? I saw a couple of Vegas books the overunder on Patriots wins in the last day or two, and I know local radio here in Boston was talking about it as well, the over under unwins with the Patriots next year. Is seven and a half. I'm like that, actually, wow. That caused me to stop and say wow. Now, I also realized the Patriots may have one of the more difficult schedules on paper based on the opponents that they'll be paying playing. We don't yet know when those games will be, and we won't know until right around draft time, about a month or so for now, when the NFL releases the schedule. So we're still about a month away from dates, and you know, bye weeks and back to backs and you know who do you have a two game homestand against and you know all that kind of stuff. But the way that I look at it, there's maybe one or two games in there. There's one or two teams in there. You know that you'll probably play here at Gillette that you're kind of like going, yeah, that's definitely win, and yeah, that's definitely win. And then the rest of it's like, well, I don't know, and yeah, there are a few of them that are like, you know know what, They're not gonna win that game. And it's so incredibly early to start talking about wins and losses. And I know everybody likes to play that game, and we will undoubtedly, we'll play it. When we get a little bit closer to it, we'll play it. But I'm trying to let this free agency process play out, trying to let the draft play out, and I'm just wondering, can this team in your estimation? Here's a question number one? Can this team? Can this team? I can't believe I'm being about to say this can this team? Fire Bill Belichick After everything that's transpired over the last twenty he said, I think the most owners meetings this week twenty five years, which I actually thought was probably not the smartest thing to say, because I think you have to realize, you know, in this game, it's always what have you done for me lately? You can't live on twenty five years of laurels. And you know, Mike Reese asking Bill at the owner's meetings this week, you know, so what would you say to the fans? You know, and I'm paraphrasing year to give them hope for next year? Well, you know, last twenty five years? Was his answer, And I'm just like, wow, that's just really sort of myopic. I Mean, I think Bill understands the pr game about as well as anybody, But is this basically a sign that modern day football has passed him by. You know, I watched Belichick and Saban on NFL Network again the other night, and and I and I wanted to watch it because of some of the criticism that Bill is taking. Some of it certainly is warranted. I can't argue that point when you have three straight years of not winning a playoff game, two of them losing seasons. Yes, I know we all kind of dismissed the COVID year, but hey, somebody had to win in the COVID year. It just wasn't New England. So what we've seen transpire here over the last three years, after you know, a solid dynastic two decade run here in Foxboro, nobody's we're getting used to a new world. And the Patriots are becoming the butt of a lot of jokes around the NFL. And and here's the here's the unkindest cut of all I saw. Oh gosh, was this NFL. I don't want to I don't want to misquote the wrong source here. It was either NFL dot Com or it was Oh, it was the Athletic. I saw a line in the Athletic. I was reading the athletic and the Patriots. Somebody called the Patriots an afterthought, and the response was, who see, There's nothing worse to me than being irrelevant. There's nothing worse than being irrelevant. The Patriots have always been relevant. They are a relative relevant entity in the NFL. But when people look at you and they go, or they'll look at you at all because you've given them no reason to look at you, that's when you need to concern yourself. And that's where I fear the Patriots are slipping now. I hope that Bill is sufficiently charged and ready to go. The man has forgotten more football knowledge than you and I combined, all of us combined, whatever possibly know. And I think we all realize that. But can you apply that football knowledge to what will make a team, what will make an athlete, what will make a scheme, what will make an organization successful in twenty twenty three? And beyond? I know it, you know it. I've said out on this show for several years now. Bill is not stepping away on his own until he breaks Don Shula's record. I don't think the Crafts want to let him go before he breaks Don Shula's record, because undoubtedly, if that were to happen, somebody's gonna pick Bill up and they're gonna reap the benefits of that. You know that that pr fine? Now I'm not sure. I can't believe. It feels like I'm speaking heresy here almost it really does. But I think these are conversations that we sort of have to have with ourselves here to understand that, Look, you snooze, you lose. Can I really get it more simplistic than that? And I think last year was a big fat snooze. They thought they had the pieces in place and they thought wrong. Now, I'm not gonna I didn't never expect to build a stand up in front of a podium and say, hey, I fed up last year, I'm gonna say, fffed up. I fed up. You know, pull the whole Jim Calhoun thing from you know, ten fifteen years ago in college basketball. You know, I want to be to recruit Ryan go You want you think I should have recruited Ryan Gomes. Okay, I'll say it. I'll admitted I fed up. I should have recruited Ryan Goes. Oh that's what go back google at just google Jim Calhoun tantrum. You'll see that I don't expect Bill would ever, ever, ever do that. He would never issue a maya culpa. He's just gonna put his nose to the grindstone and consider it part of the price of doing business in the NFL. That's what he's gonna do. That's what Bill is all about. But what Bill needs to realize, though, is that this is a different day and age. When you are used to dominating, you need to expect to dominate. Other teams are always shooting for you. And guess what one, two, maybe even three teams in the AFC East have shot for you, have passed you by, or are getting ready to pass you by. Now? Is that not a siren? Is that not a warning? Is that not you know, a gunfire in the distance? What is that? That's something to me? And if you are in the process of, you know, trying to be competitive and you realize that your opponents have already passed you by, yeah, yeah, I think you need a little bit of different attitude. And I think that's part of the reason behind why we've seen, you know, the crafts you know, Robert and Jonathan get involved and suggest that we need to be a little bit more transparent with some things, and hallelujah for that, but it still disturbs me a bit. It still bothers me a bit that maybe there's a chance to build. Doesn't see that himself. Let's bring in our friend Evan Lazar, Patriots dot com writer, broadcaster, podcast hosts. Hey, ev how are the owner meeting? I wasn't at the owner's meetings, actually, but it was interesting to hear everything coming from there. Yeah, I would think to Deuce and Tamarrow were out in the Arizona for us this week, but I was monitoring as all of us. A very interesting day, as I'm sure you've talked about already. Yeah, and my thought process behind that was how do you think they went? I should have been a little bit more specific, No, no problem, it's look, I think that just listening to what you were saying just now. The part that worries me is mixed messaging. It feels like we're not on the same page here right where ownership has motivations to make the playoffs and win now as we would expect, and the head coach is preaching patients and flexing. Is twenty five years of a resume with six Super Bowls and all that type of stuff, and I don't know, it just seems to me like there's a disconnect between wanting to win, yeh, wanting to spend, and not going out and aggressively doing any of those things as it appears right now. Yeah, I would just get the word I was going to use is disconnect. And I feel that after seeing the news and listening to the news conferences. I mean, Bill was ever there in front and center in the coach's picture this year. He never does that. He never does it. I mean he hadn't done it in a few years anyway, but he was there, and he was a part of the gang, so to speak. I wonder if you feel pressured to do that this year, because he's usually pretty aloof if he goes at all. Yeah. I don't know about the picture. I just I keep coming back to the same thing with this, and that is along with some of the concerns that I had about what was said about the quarterback position, which I'm sure we can get into. But the main thing is is that we have mister Kraft standing there saying we want to win now, we want to make the playoffs and be competitive. The budget is not the football budget is not a non issue, right. And then on the other hand, you have the coach who's sitting there saying we have no fear of going out and making a splash move or aggressively pursuing a player, and yet we have him also saying it's a long way to go. We're being patient, being methodical, We're letting this all play out. And I'm not somebody that overreacts and wants to see them immediately jump on a free agent or trade the world for DeAndre Hopkins just to get it done for headlines and March. I'm not. I don't feel find that's important. My concern is that Bill Belichick still used team building the same way that he did when he had Tom Brady, which is that build the middle class, get good depth pieces built through the draft, which I think is still important even even in the post Brady years. But at the same time, that's a slow burn. And if you don't have those guys at the front of the bus really driving the ship or driving the bus, then you're not going to be able to just build the you know, a Super Bowl contender with mid tier players. Yeah. They The problem that I think that they have right now is a there's maybe a a brain gap here in looking at what actually made them super Bowl contenders year in and year out during the Brady era. Right, what got them over the top when they had Brady might have been Brady along with all of the other things that Bill has preached, But what made them a contender every year was top of the rock count, right, Brady, Gronkowski, mccordy, high Tower. Like all these guys that are starting to retire now from the Second Dynasty era, those are the guys that made them, gave them a puncher's chance every single year. That's why we always thought every single year we're gonna be playing in the AFHC Championship Game with a chance to go to the super Bowl and the chance to win the Super Bowl. But because of those guys, Yeah, the death pieces, that was all part of the program, but it was really the other guys that were driving. Right. That's exactly right. And I and I asked the question because I think it's fair now that if there is this kind of this disconnect between ownership in coaching. I mean, Bill's got to be on the hot seat, doesn't he. I mean, if this team wins, you know, the over under us, I was talking about before you joined. The over under for this team I've seen in Vegas and a couple of books is seven and a half for wins, seven and a half. I don't remember the last time it was that way. It was probably that way in the mid nineties. So it's been probably close to thirty years since there's been that low and expectation from the bookmakers of America, you know, And that's extraordinary. And I gotta admit, if this team goes to you know, battle with what they have and they don't coach them up and they only win seven games, I mean, this is a results oriented business. It will have been four years since this print franchise would have, you know, one a playoff game and only one playoff appearance in four years. Who in the NFL keeps their job with that kind of a standard this day, whether you've won six Super Bowls or not. I mean, we're starting to tread an uncharted territory year. And I gotta admit, I can see the end of the I can see the light of the end of the tunnel, and I think it's a train getting ready to run all of our butts over. Yeah, it's a lot of good points. I think the biggest thing that you look at is this. And again, I'm not about I keep on. I want to keep preaching that I don't care about the headlines, right like I don't care about making a splash. Yeah, I don't think that that's how you win super Bowls. I think you win super Bowls through the draft and through really developing players that are home grown players. You know the names that I just mentioned, Brady Gronkowski, Eyetower, mccordy, like those guys are they all have one thing in common. They were all drafted by the Patriots, right. None of these guys were free agents. Now, maybe a Darrell Reeves might have put them over the top one year, or you know, something like that might have happened that you know, Corey Dillon coming year. You might have put them over the top in different years. But in terms of the foundational pieces of the franchise, they've been players that they have drafted and they got to get better at drafting. And that's the scary part is from a perspective of Bill's job security is in reality, as we both know, John, they could draft well in April, but they might not necessarily see the results of that good drafted for another year or two. So how much patience do you have if you're going to build through the draft, which I think is the right thing to do in terms of longevity, But how much patients are you going to have with the head coach? Because if they let Bill go at the end of the year because they only won seven games and they missed the playoffs again, and then in two years this draft class ends up having a lot of really good players in it, then we're gonna end up looking back and saying, oh, well, you know these are Belichick's guts, right, you know this guy that they drafted in the first round, that that's now the next guy here, that that was a Bill pick. So it's it's a tough it's a tough line to dance because you want the instant gratification of being successful now, but you know the right way to build your team is to be methodical and free agency and built through the draft. So how much rope does he really have at this point? It's getting shorter. But if that's the game that you really want to play in terms of rebuilding your roster, it's a tricky it's a tricky, tricky dance. Yeah, I don't know. I just don't know which I'm with a role. I think you're right. So you know, here, here's the thing. If you're I'm gonna put you in Robert Kraft's shoes for just a second. I know those were big shoes to fill, but I'm gonna put you into shoes for a second. This team goes seven and ten next year and does not make the postseason, what are you doing? I think it depends to me. It depends on the reasons why they don't make the postseason. So I know that's top out answer. But if the reason if the main reason that we can all look at this team and say that the roster talent was probably why I didn't make it right and last year, I think it was a combination with few things. I think more of the blame pipe goes to coaching. Yeah, I think that that's where more people point to as the reason why they weren't more competitive for the playoffs. They were one game out of the playoffs, And if you have a little bit better coaching, you're probably in right. That's that's sort of the thought. I would agree with that. I would agree with that, you're you're really closer than you may think you are. But what happens if you don't get there? There's a there's an inherent amount of pressure now that really hasn't been there either the last couple of years. Yeah, and I well, I come back to how Bill looks at constructing the roster. And if he's going to be your head coach, he's also going to be your GM. And that person is gonna have this same kind of thinking of, like I guess said earlier, middle class right through your middle class, depth value and free agency in the veteran market, right and you know what do we keep hearing about? Yeah, they're in on DeAndre Hopkins and Jerry Judy, but they don't want to overpay for either players. Well, in order to get receivers of that caliber to look around the league, you might have to overpay a little bit, right, Like you know that that's the reality of this situation. Now. I'm not saying that they should go trade the fourteenth overall pick for DeAndre Hopkins, but if the sticking point is the Patriots are looking in, you know, a mid round pick or I get in a fourth rounder or something like that, and the Cardinals want the forty sixth overall pick. This their second round pick. That's probably what's gonna end up going for it. It's probably not going to be the Patriots, right, Like you know, it's at some point you have to look at it and see what the rest of the league is doing. And this is the one thing I think the receiver position is skill talent is the one thing that really they have some sort of blinders on about that position group because they've struggled to draft it. We know that they can't get it in the draft or they've struggled too and then they don't want to pay for it in the veteran market. And I think that they're really on an island on how they've ed that. I think the other thirty one teams in the league it's an arms range, right, everybody's trading for receivers left and right, everybody's drafting them early. Like that's just the way that these things go. Now and now the Patriots are in a different operating in a different world than everybody else where a receiver they draft Hyklon thort in fiftieth overall and then they trade basically pick swap for DeVante Parker blast Off. These like those are their big moves. Meanwhile, aj Brown was available, Tree Hill was available, right, you know, these other bigger commodities were out there, and even in the first round there was other options. You know, they I don't want to go and play you know, revisionist history on the draft, right right right. Yeah, they sit there and they draft cold Strange and Christian Watson goes six picks later. Yeah. Yeah, well let's let's let's stay in this area for a moment, because be that as it may. I kind of like what they've done thus far in free agency. I mean, I love I like the pick of Juju Smith Schuster. I think it's a slight upgrade no matter you know what you think about Jacoby Myers, and I loved Jacoby when he was here. I think Smith Schuster clearly as the ability for yards after the catch that this team has been missing that element, So I'm buying in on that one. I also like to pick up of Mike Gisicki because they couldn't defend the son of a gun when he was playing for the Dolphins, and I think he's going to be a great target over the middle. So to me, I think they're doing some of the things that they needed to try to do to make sure that Bill O'Brien has the weapons to set in front of Mac Jones. But what we're also doing here at the same time is that we're still sticking to some of the same principles that you talked about, and I you know, I don't know if anybody understands maybe except you know, as I've talked about, and maybe a few more are starting to catch on here the sense of urgency that really needs to be in place here now nobody's panicking. But if you don't connect this year and take this team where you know, let's let's call that as it is, where fans think, you know, their birthright is, and that's to be in the postseason. If this team doesn't get back there this year, it's I think it's time to move on. And like I said, I feel like I'm committing heresy here by saying that, But I'm trying to look at the long term best interest of the organization. You've had three years, you know, to kind of short things up, you'd have had a fourth year, and if you're still treading water, where the heck are we going with this thing? And I think ownership has a right to ask that question. As like I said, they're the ball, and regardless of what kind of you know, sweat equity, Bill Belichick is put into this situation which he has way more than anybody else. I'll give you that. It's hard for me to argue against the hardware. But we all know professional sports, collegiate sports, hell sports period such a huge freaking business. Now It's always has been and always gonna be what have you done lately? And lately it would have been squat And that's why you have to kind of hold yourself to that standard. Am I off base with that assessment? No? No, And I agree with you wholeheartedly with the free agency haul that they've put together. And I think what I like about it is is that they haven't chased the market, right. They haven't gotten out there and given out a Johnny Smith's level contract or Nelson Aglore contract even which was you know, for shorter term and everything, but still a contract that took some people by surprise and really overpaid in the market. They they've found good value and this, to me is the way that you build longevity. Is the league it is you find value in free agency. To phill holes, and you build to the draft. So where's where's the disconnect now, though, Evan, Because this is a philosophy we know, and this is the biggest question that I really have when it comes to considering what Bill has done lately, all right in the past, is he's built his franchise up. He's taken the you know, the guys with the chips on their shoulders, right, the lower price free agents that want to come and improve themselves. Where has that philosophy gone off the track? Well? I think ultimately it comes back to what I was saying at the beginning about having those top of the end roster guys. Like if if Judrew smith sister was coming in to be your wide receiver too I hate that term, but to come in and be your your complimentary receiver to a star receiver, then he fits in nicely into the puzzle. But I think what the issue is is that sometimes I feel like this organization and this football operation, you jud Smith Schuster as enough that that's that he can be. We you know, we don't look at it like you guys do with wide receiver one wide receiver too, right, We just look at he plays a role. He plays a role he plays a role, right, But at the end of the day, star power is star power in any league, in any sport. And I think they's done a nice job in free agency setting themselves up in certain respects with their death. But we went into free agency and we said wide receiver, offensive tackle, an outside corner for their three biggest needs. Right we are coming out of free agency and their three biggest needs there's still while absolutely right there, and I'm just like, what what what, what are we doing? What are we doing here? And and I can only assume that they're going to try to amend those in the draft, you know, or they still got something cooking, And I think you're right. The nail on the head here is that they don't have the star power and either A they don't want to pay for the star power or eat b and even scared they don't feel they need the star power. They had star power before here on short money. How many times Tom Brady restructor his contract, you know, for goodness sake, we know all these stories. These are well documented, but we all know Tom Brady's not walking through that door tomorrow, so you know, and nowhere is Rob Gronkowski or Dante Hightower or Devin you know, mccordy, and you know, just those guys are are done. So you've got to replace that star power with star power rather than the next man up. The next man up philosophy does not work in this regard. Yeah, I don't even know. And this is I think something that I'm starting to to really think hard about is I don't even know if the philosophy is that they built the dynasty with are really I don't know if they're they're applicable anymore. You know, some of the things that they really went out and did for twenty years, the methodical free agencies, the value played, the searching for those hidden gems, you know, an undrafted free agency, and things like that that that really we're building out the depth and the supplementary pieces and keeping that pipeline fresh and you know, next man up, like you put it right, Yeah, I just don't know. If you don't again, if you don't have a game changing quarterback and elite Tom Brady level quarterback, I don't know if the rest of the pieces can fall into place the same way like they used to. And I look at a guy like like Mac Jones, and I see you know, first of all, I really didn't like the things that have been that were said between both coach and the owner, to be honest with you about the quarterback position the other day. But besides that, I look at a guy like Mac Jones, and I see Jalen Hurts, and I see two uh, and I see you know, to an extent, I know that most of those guys are draft picks as well, but Joe Burrow and I see the way that their organizations are setting them up to succeed, and they're not saying you need to be on your own this. You know this guy, right you, You need to do it on your own because we're not going to pay for it, We're not going to invest in it. Whatever the case may be. The Dolphins were in a very similar spot with TWA after two seasons. The Patriots are now with Mac Jones. Has some good moments, has some good stretches, but really was a middling quarterback in his first two seasons, and they looked at him, they said, let's go out and get Tyree Hill, Let's draft Jalen Wattle early, Let's get an offensive minded guruin here, and Mike McDaniel and yeah, he got hurt at the end of the year, but for the first ten weeks of the season last year, the Dolphins had one of the most efficient OPI league. So this, this brain trust, is this for off of the Patriots. Did they view it that way? Do they see that we can build the roster around the quarterback to be the driving force and not necessarily have to have the superstar quarterback, or if they don't and they feel like they need that level of quarterback. And like I said yesterday, don unfiltered, go get Lamar Jacksons right right right if you feel like the quarterback. And this is what I go back to what the photos said about Max the other day. If you don't believe in the quarterback and you're not going to invest in the skill talent to help prop up this quarterback, then change the damn quarterback. Then what are we talking about? Yes, I agree with that, and that leads me right into the next thing, the next big topic. Over the last couple of day, he's in addition to the owners meetings and and mister Kraft basically saying what he's said already, and this apparent disconnect now between ownership and coaching in New England is the whole Lamar Jackson issue. Now we know for those that are uninitiated, somehow you may have had your head buried in the sand. You know, we find out apparently we think Lamar Jackson wants to come to England, but I don't ever see that happening, nor do I really think it should if it were left up to me. However, However, as we've just been talking, if you feel like quarterback is still your major issue, why wouldn't you spend the money to go get the guy? Yeah? Well, I mean I just to me, these are unexplained, like you know, philosophical instances that I'm like, okay, So if Mac is not gonna do it, and you're convinced now that Mack is not going to do it, in hell, if you looked at last year as a single entity, you know, as a standalone entity, you'd have to say Max's not gonna do it because they didn't treat him right. And I think we know that and that was a huge mistake and we're never gonna get that maya culpa, but it's it was. It was a big mistake. So if he's still the issue and you're not going to surround him with a kind of talent where he can really be successful. Why don't you get a guy who's got superstar written across his forehead, even if it's going to cost you twenty five million a year. Yeah, it's a really fair point. And that's sort of where I'm That was the whole thing as well, is like you just put it. If you don't feel like mac Jones is good enough to drive the bus himself to elevate the people around him, but you also don't want to elevate the people around him, then you got a problem. Yeah, right, Yeah, because now you're going to be a middling team because it's a middling support talent, you know, skill talent from mac Jones supporting cast, and you have a middling quarterback, so you're you're going to be eight nine. Right. Middling is not going to beat the Bills, not going to beat the Dolphins, and probably won't beat the Jets. Right. And the biggest issue that I've had really since the day that Josh McDaniel's left is whether, regardless of what you think of a mac Jones, whether you think he's got franchise quarterback potential or not, mac Jones was this organization, and I still think this organization most prized assets. They have a young quarterback who the head coach has already admitted it the best compliment he could possibly give him of it appeared, is that he can play in the league. They have a young quarterback that can play in the league. That quarterback the national champion in college, that made the playoffs as a rookie. And since the day that Josh McDaniels left, they have ruined him. They have taken him and they've played. They they hit Bingo with how to ruin a young quarterback? Right? They Yeah, they put him in a middling support talent offense, skill talent offense, and they won't go out and upgrade the skill talent significantly to help him. The coach then, like I just said, the nicest thing that Bill Belichick will say about mac Jones that he can play in this league. And then he was asked at the owners meetings this week about mac Jones and he says that basically he's in an open competition with Bailey Zappy in the summer, not even you know a draft picker, Lamar Jackson. He basically said, we're gonna let the best player play, which I think was implying that Bailey has a chance to start right. That tells me if it's open, then this is truly an open competition, which is why why are we even doing this? That's what was my first reaction when he said it's an open competition this week of the owners meetings, and I'm like, well, then, if it's an open competition, why the hell aren't you throwing to Lamar Jackson's name into the mix? Yeah? Yeah, And then the owner says the right thing initially about Mac right, good kid, hard worker. I believe in him. And then he goes out and he and he throws out this this you know, smoking gun about Lamar Jackson. Oh yeah, I'm just that's it. Now the owner is flirting with another team's quarterback who's available, by the way, right of course he is right, And oh look, I hope that Mac Jones has the mental toughness to say it. You know what, f you guys, I'm just gonna do it anyways, Like I hope that. And maybe that's what Bill's thinking is, is that that's how he's going to motivate Matt kill Sure, instead of coddling him like he did last offseason a little bit where he said, oh he looks physically, he's you know, much better and better shape, and he's so far along compared to last year. And he's a lot of verbal bouquets from Bill last offseason and they got the season that they got. So maybe he's trying tough love with him. Well, I guess, yeah, that's one thing they really haven't tried with him yet. So okay, I'll buy that to an extent. But man, you are cutting it close. There's got to be some results here. Yeah, And it just feels like they're really cutting down the kids confidence. And mister Krab who at least went out there and said, we experimented with something on the coaching staff last year that that didn't work out and didn't put him in a position to succeed, and we need to put him in a better spot to itself. Right. But these things that they've done, those those things that I just lifted off, you know, the the jobs through the media, the coaching situation that they set him up with last year, just unwillingness to go out and get receiver talent help him along. These are things that we used to make fun of other organizations. For ruining quarterbacks over Yeah, and now we're making fun of ourselves. M all right. So the third person that I wanted to end, the third question I really had is still another free agent issue, but it's it's the key name that it's popped up here. And by the way, we should before we end up any discussion here on Lamar Jackson. She said. There have been several reports out there, not the least of which came from I think Boston Sports Journal, also Jeff Howdy Athletics saying that the Patriots are not interested in Lamar Acson. Do you think that they are? Would they change their minds? Have you been led to believe anything one way or the other? No, I don't think they're interested in Lamar Jackson either. To this point, I think that what you look at, there's a lot of different complicating factors here that probably shouldn't exist that do exist, right, one of them being this Lamar's health and his ability to stay healthy exactly the style, Yeah, what are you concerning for a lot of owners? And then I think the other thing is is the Deshaun Watson contract and giving out guaranteed you know, fully guaranteed deals, And I think a lot of I don't want to use the word. I don't want to go as far as to stay collusions. I was just saying that. I was just thinking that, I'm like, this is gonna be collusion, you know it is. It's gonna happen. Yeah, it's gonna happen. No one wants to pay that kind of a contract anymore. Right, And you go to these owners meetings in the off season, and Robert Kraft is obviously a very prominent owner with a good reputation with the rest of the ownerships groups. And if he goes in there and he's he's the outlier, like the Browns are currently kind of get shunned from those circles. Right, you know that that's how you make them enemies is by going out and you know, doing something like that. Now, Lamar is a totally totally different on and off the field equations that Deshaun Watson, and I think that that's where the frustration lies for me, the narrative with him, because he has none of the off field baggage that Deshaun Watson came with. Right, That's what made the Browns contracts so poor in such a poor taste because of the baggage that came along for the right, right, Yeah, yeah, absolutely, all right? You know what the third you know who the third person is. It's DeAndre Hopkins. Does he have a better chance theoretically of coming in New England than Lamar Jackson? And would the Patriots, you know, if the price keeps coming down, would the Patriots take a shot at this. We know that there's a mutual admiration society between he and Bill Belichick. I mean, could this thing possibly happen? And would he even be the one that the Patriots really need to make the offense more formidable. Look, I'm not gonna sit here and say I don't want DeAndre Hopkins, because I think that's crazy talk. But I do think that there are some football concerns that I would have with DeAndre Hopkins, mainly his age and at this point his playing style. They would be very they would be very reliant on possession type receivers if that was the acquisition, right, you know, DeAndre Hopkins, the tight end Juju Smitch who chooster DeVante Parker still on this team? Like, they don't really unless Taekwon Thoran hits you, or maybe they go back in the draft. Still even if they do trade for Hopkins, which I doubt they would invest all that end receiver, but maybe they do, and they get another guy that can run and can separate and create explosive plays down the field and things like that, and maybe it opens up the offense a little bit. But I think you are still very very flow offensively, and that's something that I would be a little bit concerned about stylistically with DeAndre Hopkins, but he's such a talented player that I would never say no in terms of the price. I think that the Cardinals have been extremely frustrated with the market for DeAndre Hopkins. They look at his age, they look at his production in the league. Even his production last year when he came back from the suspension was off the chart. I mean, he was top five in the league and receiving yards per game. You would have been well over a thousand yards if he played the whole year. So he hasn't dropped off in terms of that production, in terms of you know, at least last year, but he hasn't played a kind of games the last two seasons, and he's just not getting the market that they expected. Arizona thought that they were going to get a haul for DeAndre Hopkins. I think the Christian McCaffrey package. I think Jeremy Fowler from ESPN through that that the parameters out there, right, they thought they were going to get at a hall for the player, and the hall is not out there. You know. There's a lot of teams like Buffalo, like Kansas City, and I think like the Patriots that are basically saying, if you want a stalary dump DeAndre Hopkins, then we're more than willing to be here to catch him. Right. If that's what you want to do, then we're we're here to make that to facilitate that trade. But they're the teams that are interested in him are looking at the Brandon Cook steal with Dallas and saying that that's closer to what we're willing to give up for DeAndre Hopkins than let's say, what the Raiders, you know, gave up for DeVante Adams, or what the Eagles gave up for a J. Brown right, a first and a third or something along those lines. And I think that that's been frustrating for the Cardinals side of day. They got a new GM, Monty Austin for we know him well in New England, and I think the last thing that he wants to do is trade the Andrew Hopkins, this superstar player for the Cardinals for pennies on the dollar. It's not a great first big move to make as a new GM, right, So there's been a little bit of a sticking point. I think they're with the price and if it comes down, and I think the Patriots will be interested. I also think they'll be interested in Jerry Judy, or are interested in Jerry Judy. But I think the similar thing with that is that the Broncos are are a little bit you know, different circumstances, certainly because of the age and everything. But the Broncos are not in the market now with Jerry Judy where they have to give him away, right, Yeah, I get blown away with an offer then, Yeah, I think they would trade him to recoup some of the draft picks that they gave up for Russell Wilson and John Payton. Yeah, but they're not in the market of just handing out receivers. No, I actually think I actually think Judy now is less likely than Hopkins. Should be quite honest with you, Yeah, I just think that the Broncos we're willing to listen to calls about Jerry Judy, and also to a lesser degree, I think, in terms of the Patriots courtless side as well, to try to get a first round pick back so that they could still in the gaps from those two trades that they made. But they're not desperately trying to get rid of either player, right, So that's that's an overpay. You're gonna have to overpay to acquire Jerry Judy. They're not. They're not going to come down, and I don't think there and I don't think the Patriot's gonna do this, so ultimately, Evan, my thought is that I actually believe my thought right now today is that the Patriots do not make a move on Hopkins or Judy and they look for a receiver in the draft. That's my thought based on what they've already brought in, and as far as free agents are concerned, I think the Patriots are gonna hold pat I think they're going to try to build the risk of it through the draft, and I sure as heck hope that they do a good job at it. I think that that that's the sound thinking now. I think that at this point, I look at receiver. And there's two receivers in this draft that I would take in the first round, and that's Jackie Spits and just Bun day Flower. I don't know if I would take day Flowers at fourteen, but I think he's a first round talent. So I say, maybe they trade down, you know, five to ten spots and take them a little bit later or whatever. Right, you know, at that point we're splitting hairs. I think those two guys are worth it in the first round. I think again, it comes back to what I was saying about investment at that that that position still position. You can't just wait till the fourth round and take a receiver. No, right, no, no, you're right. You gotta do the draft. You got to take one of the guys. Yeah, you got to make the investment in one of the guys. Whether it's like you said, trading down a few spots and taking day or you know, taking the kid from sc or whatever. You know, if you've got to go up to get him, I mean, who knows right now. And this is what we'll be talked about over the course of the next month. Hey Evan, thank you so much for taking a little time today. Really appreciate it, even though I know that you're off busy doing other things. You you, you actually took the time to come on the show today and you're working from home today. I am. Yes, I'm plugging away on draft stuff right now. We're gonna release underway talking to you a draft guide, so it'll be good. Well. No, I'm working on the finishing touches of that. I knew that you were busy, so at any rate, I appreciate your willingness to do this for us and engage in a little a little pre draft banta, and I'm hoping that we can that we can try to combine for uces a little bit to get closer to draft time. I let him, I'll let Marine talk to you about that, but we'll look forward to talking to you again when we get closer to draft time. Yes, absolutely, anytime, John, Thanks, I appreciate you. Evan Lazar, the one and only at Easy Lazar, Patriots dot Com writer, co host here on Patriots Playbook, has his own pod here on Patriots dot Com Radio, frequent contributor to Patriots Unfiltered. Yeah. Yeah, we've turned him into just about everything that we can possibly turn him into. You know now we need to turn him into you know, you know, the no all Sea at all, you know football guru himself. There's no guru like Russell Baxter. But we need a Patriots guru, and I think Evan is certainly a huge candidate for that particular honor. Right, speaking of that, and Russell will join us here and about uh whence he drew three thirty three thirty three through? Okay, so forty five minutes or so awayat Cox from ness and dot comsall is going to join us in the meantime, it's up to you. Eight five five pats five hundred. Eldred, my man, Eldred. Thanks for hanging in, brother. How you doing it, mister Legends. Good to talk to you, bro. It's always it's always good to talk to you. Weldren. Where's where's our route taking us today? Where you at? I'm in Charlotte. I just gotta drop this big old takeoff. I guess you just look like it's just a home Yep. Yeah, I'm done with that. I hope I'm done. That's good. Yeah. Hey, I was in your neck of the woods last week. I was in Greensboro. I wish you'd let me know too. Oh damn, well all right, yeah, all right, well my bad. I mean I was kind of working, Yeah, I was kind of working. So but you know, all right, well you like you was only like an hour and a half away. Oh let's you know that. Do hit eighty five, go back, get forty and go around the right right to Greensborough. That would be the that would still be the experience of my lifetime to drive in the cab as your swamper. Oh yeah, it has been all right when but now I came out, I came and got you to Camaro wouldn't have been. Oh okay, okay, you're not gonna pick me up an eighteen wheel? Are you gonna pick me up in the Camaro? Camaro? All right? All right, all right, all right, we'll wheel. All right. Well that's my bad. I gotta I gotta work on that. My my sense of timing is off. Trust me on that one. Donn and Eldred in the Camaro watch out, ladies back, Yes, oh yes, I like it. I like it, all right. So you you even you even uh you would DM to me yesterday saying you couldn't wait for today so we could talk. So tell me, tell me, why you're you're so hot and bothered here. I've been hot about the fifteen years for that confound GM we got you know, I knew we were. I've been saying it for fifteen years. I know it. Yes, And everybody keeps saying they Bill Belichick apologist. Well he didn't had the players. There was right there. He went right by. He was doing bargain basement bargain basement shopping instead of getting the right grocery, you know. And everyone was right though you had Brady, you had you know, uh, Bruce Key, you had had had a hot tower accordy and he had some corners on the side that would you know, helped guid the ship while you built the middle class. And sometimes the middle class have stopped. But mainly I'm gonna say it again, it was keyb number twelve. Yeah, he was the coach. He was twelve years But like I said, I ain't never heard nobody said it's trying to stop Bill Belichick. It's always Tom Brady in that offense and the defense carry you know, i'mt he picked the players. He did that, But rest of that stuff is, you know, that was twenty years ago, and like everyone said you can't shop like that. Now you can't do that. And last year, like I told you, last your draft elf and we why I give it the elf. You gotta you gotta guard. You had corners sitting there there, You had Abet, you had Watson, and if each one of them doing better than than uh Tyrod right down, you had some corners. Yeah, you can start building from now. And this year Ramedy was going for a third round draft pick from the ram and the guy you know, Gilmore went fourth fifth. Then you're two starting corners until you get get one through the draft or whatever to start off because the offense and then in our division it's getting better and you ain't doinghing to stop him. You know, you just lost McCardy. I thought mccordy was the average safety anyway, but I understand he was the blue back. Then that's getting the coverage and all that. You know, I finally found that out, So I gotta get him a little propis on that. But you keep thinking back in the eighties. This is not the eighties. Twenty three. Things change. Prices goes up, caps goes up, and you're gonna have to get with the program. And Bill won't get with the program. The biggest problem is Bill Belichat and death death him in the draft. So tell me what, tell me what Bill specifically hasn't done that you think he should be doing. He always going after the bargain basement guys instead of going after the confound halflete. And that's kind of what Evan was just talking about. Yes, I've been saying that for you before he ever came on you did, I know. Listen, Well, that's why I'm setting you up here. I'm throwing you a big fat softball. It's time for you to smash it out of the park. Okay, I totally look. I get that. The the the the lesser expensive, less expensive free agents aren't squad unless you have top of the line guys anchoring your lineup. And that's where the Patriots have aired over the last three to four years. It's pretty simple. And if nobody can see that, then you ain't looking. That's right. And I get it all the time on I get it all the time on pats Facebook page. Yep, lead back to you. I'll tell you what. Like I told mister Kraft one time on your radio show, let me draft for you one time. You ain't got a damn payment draft bet in your GM, bitch. I you know, listen, as long as we've talked, as long as you and I have known each other, and as long as and as much as we've talked about it, I honestly and this is this is no word of a lie. I honestly believe you could probably do a very representative job Eldrid for GM. I would be on board with that. I'd be on board with that. If you want to save want to save money, here you go. Eldred says he'll do it for free. Do it for free. You ain't gotta paymy because I'm not good about ill tired being a bed into the jokes with my team now, all right, I mean and I and I am too, and I am too as a fan, I understand that, and you're right. And part of what I talked about to open up the show today was was the fact that the Patriots are sliding ever precariously closer to irrelevancy in the NFL. And that's not something that I think anybody is really prepared for. You know, it's always been you know, all I love the Patriots or all I hate the Pages. But now it's kind of like I don't give a crap about the Patriots, and that's what really stings. So here's here's what I want you to do, Eldrid, over the next month, because well we're gonna do the show. The April show is going to be the night of the day before the draft, okay, So I want you to come up with a plan. I want you to, you know, pay attention to what's going on in the media as best as you can. You know, make sure though that you're not you know, driving the rig or anything like that, because we want to, you know, make sure that everybody's healthy and save anything. But I want you to make I not not the whole draft, Okay. I want you to make the first three picks of the draft for the Patriots. Okay, well I can tell you this now, all right. Tell me then, if you're ready to do it, to make the first three picks the Patriots need to make, I'll take them and put a third wood of a fourth, move up to the number of six, and then get a gun dollars. Okay, get guns dollars. Okay, I'm not I keep seeing these mock drafts where we getting at fourteen being Gene Robinson okay, for we're running back, but I don't want to running back at fourteen robins and and he he is, he is a special back. But I would tell you I think four teams too high for a running back. Yes, sir, give me, give me a corner. I want, uh, I want to. Christen Johnson is an outside receiver. Threat me and AVI keep going back and forth on him, but I still say that could be best receive. Okay, all right, dancey ain't gonna be okay, but that's gonna be the guy in the class because he gotta. I think we just want and hanger. Yeah, now we got your back, Helder, go ahead. You're you're fading in and out and sucking. And I and I put together a sucket and something to move back up and about about or whatever about to use a future draft pick. Then I gonna get get Quinton Johnson. Okay, and definitely be my first two moved, first three move. Okay, because you need a corner and you need a wide receiver. Well, there's no question that you've you've hit both of those areas. And I and I happen to like those picks. My problem is, though, is that you're talking about you know, dealing in in uh areas that are not absolute. When you are hoping to move up, you gotta find you gotta find a dance partner. And if the Patriots are moving up, I'm just not sure that the Patriots are gonna be able to find a dance partner. You can find a dance partner if you want to move back a lot easier, which is quite frankly. Why I think the Patriots do it a lot is because they liked that draft capital and so that's what they'll do. So I think you're more likely to move back. Well, yeah, they moved up, got tow and they moved up. Got U think was it Chandler Jones? Was it Chandeler Jones? Yeah, yeah it might have been. Yeah, they moved up and they got both of them. Yeah, so yeah, moved up. But mainly he'd been doing a two steps backwards, you know. But you know, we just get mad about me and getting man start fussing about that while you moving backwards. You know. But like I said before, sir, that's what I would do, Try to move up and get those two. If I can't get both, I'm which I hate. I love my haire receivers, but I gotta go get the best corner and to me, that's gonna be done. Tied. Porter's gonna be suck it. And that guy from I remember, Eric or Rick something whatever. Okay, he might be okay, But I like Gonzalez because he's moving and he's playing own off press drop, you know, the way they way they'd like to play. And I've moved. When I go get that guy, I would bill. But then again, like I said before, get the same guy ticket. Yeah, and that's the problem. Okay, Okay, Well, you know, I kind of like what they did, uh for the most part, with with some of the picks in last year's draft, and I think you're not gonna You're not gonna score on every one of them. So I'm willing to again cut him a little slack for this one, uh and hope that they can put together a second consecutive strong draft because I think they are going to need to. That's my biggest issue right now. I think they're going to need to because I really believe the pressure is on and it probably should be. I think we need to all be playing and I'll be operating around here with a little bit of you know a little bit of getty up in our hindset because quite frankly, we've been too complacent for too long. Round here, somebody needs to play like somebody's head, you know, their their their pants, legs set on fire. Yes, I think those two. But then again, like I said, I'm not gonna give them a breakful thatshit because that was I'm sorry. I know you needed a guard, and then other guys you know, well you do need that you need, but you but you could have got that guard thirty fourth round. Yeah you probably could. You probably could have. But that's again. I try not to deal too much in revisionist history only because there's nothing you can do, really do to change it. You can only take a step forward now. So based on what you've experienced, hopefully you've learned something about the moves that you've made. My biggest issue is is are we going to make the same type of changes or make the same type of moves again? And our argument here is yes, that's the whole argument here. We've seen what's happened three straight years of not winning a playoff game. When are we fixing it? When? When are we changing the philosophy? When are we going to go out and get the guy, you know, depending on the on the on the position and the amount of money to be paid for that position. Because in this day and age of the NFL you have to be able to do that. The Tom Brady days of taking you know, pennies on the dollar are gone enough, gone over, and if you want to be relevant again, you got to bring in the man. Whoever the man is. You got to bring the man. That's the way the game is played, It's the way other teams are doing it. I don't disagree with the basic philosophy that the Patriots have you know, used over the last twenty years. It's gotten them six super Bowls. I get it, But the game changes and you failed when you failed to change with the game. Yes, sir, let's see, that's just the problem. Bill don't think. Bill think is the players and uh, you know, not getting on board. And what do you think? He don't think? You know, maybe what I'm doing is wrong. You don't think that, Well he's not. Actually I'm getting and keep paying special teamers, which I can't understand why you keep paying them with teams, well, because because games are I agree, I agree with the basic premise. The games wonning lost in special teams and the patient special teams last year were horrible and if the Patriots special teams were any better last year, I don't think that they're eight and nine. I think they're probably at least nine and eight. They might have been ten and seven. I think special teams could have made the difference in at least one and we know which game that is, or two games. So if you combine special better special teams with an actual offensive coordinator, you know, a couple of decent receivers, maybe a little bit of improved in depth on the offensive line, and if the defense can continue to be what it has been, and that might even be a stretch, but I'm just gonna say, if, if, if, then I think this team is a ten win team. And I think you're talking about, you know, postseason, and it's right there for the tanking. Now that may or may not be good enough, but this team needs to reach the postseason and it needs to win a game in the postseason. That anything short of that, I'm gonna pull in Eric Skallavino on you here. Okay, anything short of that is a failure, yes, sir, But like I said, The main thing is do Bill Belichick think that, Oh do you think, well, I can just get this guy. We're getting ready, We're getting ready to find out. We're getting ready to find out. Because if he thinks the status quo is okay and they go seven and ten or eight nine again this year, uh, we might be having a different conversation exactly one year from now. Yes, sir, Gerard Mayo might be thrust into a role that he is or isn't ready for yet, you know what I'm saying, Yes, sir, Yes, sir. Maybe, But like I said, the only thing you gotta do is just realize, Okay, I screwed up, didn't do this. And uh, I'm worried about Matt Jones, psyche. Like I said, I don't want to. I wanted Justin Field. Yeah I know. But again yeah, yeah, well we can't. Yeah, we can't do anything. Yeah, we can't do anything about that. You know. Now, what do we do with what we have? That's the biggest thing. And I think that, you know, Bill O'Brien's inclusion here is certainly a step in the right direction. It's not a panacea. It's not gonna cure everything, but it will be better, I think for the mindset going in the right direction. And let's give him a chance to work with the kid, and and and and see how it transpires. I just hope they can surround him with you know, enough talent. That's my biggest issue. Eldred, Thank you so much for the phone call, buddy. It's good to hear from you, and I do hope to hear from you next month when we do the draft show. Zach Cox covers the Patriots for nest Essen dot Com kind of enough to join us here for a few minutes here in the playbook, Hey, Zach, how goes the battle? The battle goes? Well, John, how are you? Yeah, we're battling, as you can probably tell. You know, the major issues that we, you know, have kind of sitting before us today are things that we we've known them been lurking, and they really haven't been working. They've been front and center, and I think the owners meetings this last week sort of brought them to the four. But I just I wanted to get as somebody who covers the team from clearly an alleged unbiased era. I mean, you don't know who's coming from, which direction? Are they is? I'm not accusing you, Zach Okay. First of all, let me get this straight. I think you do a very good job in covering the team. Some slants are different than others. So let's just consider this an unbiased look forward and what your opinion is looking forward and if you feel this great, If you don't, that's fine, let's talk about it. There is a huge disconnect between Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick. Do you see that? Do you feel that? Have you long thought about that? And is it fixable? It's an interesting question because on one hand, I do feel like there was a little bit more I guess alignment this offseason maybe we've seen in previous offseasons or previous months, with Belichick seemingly acknowledging that, yes, the offensive coaching situation was a mess last year. They needed to go out and fix that and remedy that, and they did. We don't know exactly what the behind the scenes kind of discussions were about that, but the fact that they were so proactive in going out and kind of booting out Ma Patricia and Joe Judge getting in somebody who actually knows what he's doing in Bill O'Brien. I think that was a big step in the right direction. But the comments that we've heard from from Robert Kraft, really it's interesting because the only time really reporters get to talk to Robert Kraft each year is at this Owner's Meeting press conference, and you just you kind of see the evolution of his comments over the last three years or so. From two years ago, it was all right, well, we clearly haven't drafted well enough. We need that to change. Last year it was, you know, I was really bothered that we didn't make the playoffs or we didn't win a playoff game this year. And now it was pretty much seems like a mandate that if the Patriots aren't at least back in the playoffs this year, then things are going to change, perhaps significantly, which was a probably the clearest sign yet that I've heard that Bill Belichick could have his job be in jeopardy if the Patriots not necessarily or back to Super Bowl contention, but aren't at least back in that playoff mix this season. There's clearly got to be a step taken forward. To me, that was the starter's pistol right there. Bang, Okay, we're often running right now, and we need to be focused on one thing and one thing only, and I'm glad that it was. You know, from a fan's perspective, we should all be glad for that to happen. But I've said a couple of times already, Zach, I almost feel like, you know, it's heresy for me to say Bill Belichick should be removed from his position, because I don't think that right now. I'm still hopeful that Bill, you know, like we said, he's forgotten more football than you and I combined, we'll ever know. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. That's why he is who he is. That's why he's still going to go down is perhaps you know, the greatest too I've ever coached this game? Is he hanging on too long as the game passed him by? Has his philosophy of building a dynastic franchise is it no longer applicable to twenty twenty three football? Well, I think this year is really going to tell us that. I think this is a massively important year for the Patriots as a team, obviously, but but also for Bill Belichick in and I don't want to say legacy, because his legacy is already obviously cemented, but as you mentioned, they have not been able to build a successful kind of championship caliber team and roster without Tom Brady. Everything that they have done since then just has not worked, even though there have been some positive draft pick, some positive signings, some positive editions. But I think if you see progress this season, then you can say, all right, well, they're kind of back on the right track. It was a weird couple of years, but maybe they're building something here. If they continue to kind of stagnate and they go eight and nine, nine and eight again this season, then it does seem like Robert Kraft is getting close to the point where he's saying, all right, like this just isn't working. We're going to need to do something else, which obviously would be a major franchise shaking decision. And I don't think they're at that point right now, but this is going to be a very important season for that entire discussion. I think mister Kraft wants to win again. I think Bill to win again. So that's why I've just I've actually been mildly surprised at what I perceived to be this fissure between the two, This this this disconnect us we've talked about already, because I would think of anything, these two guys would want to be on the same page because they both have a like goal in mind. They want to you know, win another one before you know, sailing off into the sunset. And and and you know, I can't believe that they wouldn't be in agreement on how to get there. And and I'm just I'm scratching my head on this one, you know, I guess. And maybe I'm still jaded somewhat by what transpired last year with the whole you know, Patricia Judge experiment and Mac Jones regression and just the miserable feeling that last year kind of gave so many people around the organization. And yeah, I think they're taking the right move so far. I liked a couple of free agent moves that they've they've made thus far. I really like to pick ups of both Smith Schuster and Giziki because those are two guys that I think the Patriots have had troubles with in their own right defending when they've had to defend them. So hey, I'm very much in the camp off you can't beat them, join them or haven't joined you. I like that thought, and I think they're doing that. But is it enough? Yeah, I mean that's the big question. I think if you look at them on the whole from a roster perspective and a coaching staff perspective, it's there's really no denying that they're in a better shape now than they were this past season. And I think there is reason for legitimate optimism about this team this year. I mean, even if they had just brought back the exact same roster and switched out Patricia and Judge for Bill O'Brien, I think that team could have easily won ten games, if not eleven games twelve games. Last year. I think the dysfunction on offense really just destroyed anything that they were trying to do as an overall team last year. So I think having somebody who does that experience too, again just simply putting knows what he's doing in that role is going to improve this team, maybe more than some fans are expecting right now. And I'm in agreement with you. I like the Gisticky signing. I like the Smith Schuster signing. I didn't love it at first. I didn't love getting rid of Jacobe Myers and bringing in Smith Schuster, but just when you dig into the numbers a little bit. As long as he can stay on the field and he can kind of gel with mac Jones relatively quickly, the upside there is just so much higher than it was with what we've seen from Jacobe Meyers. So I think that was a smart move, and there are still holes that need to be filled. I think it's going to be very interesting to see what they do through the draft because they still need a cornerback. They couldn't really use some both depths and kind of future considerations at tackle because they don't really have much of either of those right now. We don't know who's going to be replacing Devin mccordy, so there are the questions that are still to be answered, and looking at them right now, I don't think that this is a team you say, oh wow, Patriots are going to contend for the AFC title or anything like that. But I do think they are in better shape than they were last year. I don't think this is a team that has currently constituted sucks like a lot of Yeah, yeah, I kind of think right now I agree with that. I don't think they suck. No, but the problem here is is that you know you might have not one, not two, but all three of your brethren in the AFC East who have passed you by. If the Jets actually do complete the trade to bring Aaron Rodgers to New York. Holy Moley, you know now you're talking all right, now, it's serious. Now you'd best come up with some kind of a game plan to beat these guys, because there's no way that you can go to the postseason, no matter how much you've improved, no matter how much you think you've gotten better personnel wise, but you aren't getting the postseason unless you split with the Dolphins and the Jets minimum and probably with the Bills too. You're gonna have to figure out a way to go three and three against that lineup. And I'm telling you a won't be easy. It may be damn near impossible. Yes, it's kind of interesting, just how everything, how drastically everything has flipped. I mean, we can remember even a couple of years ago, it was the Patriots and then everybody else was down in the bottom. Yeah, and and the director of the NFL. You've got yeah, yeah, now you've got three pretty I mean, I mean, if the Jets do end up getting Aaron Rodgers, which all signs are pointing to. Now you've got three teams that will be expected to make the playoffs, and then you have the Patriots at the bottom. There. I think there is potential for chaos and dysfunction with Rogers in New York. I'm not sold on them kind of instantly becoming a super Bowl type team this year, but they should at the very least be significantly better than they were this year. And that the team that only finished I believe, two games out of a playoffs. Yeah, I know. Yeah, it's a tough run. This is the days of kind of the FC East cupcake schedule are very long gone. And I agree with you. The Patriots are going to have to at least split at least be very competitive in those AFC East games to be in that playoff mix. And yeah, it's it's just a different landscape than it was even a couple of years ago. The two free agent names, Zach, before we let you go, the two free agent names that have certainly come up over the last week or two. You know, obviously Lamar Jackson and DeAndre Hopkins. You know, I know that there are several reports out there that say that you know Jackson's not gonna have the Patriots aren't interested. Okay, fine, But if you're not sold on mac Jones and you do what you did to him a year ago, why aren't you in on a guy like Lamar and DeAndre Hopkins? Should you be in on a guy like that even though he's got some injury issues and probably is lost by half a step over what he had just a couple of years ago, And is it really that important to get him or can you find somebody who can separate in the draft. But yeah, I'll start with Hopkins because I've been saying for months that they should get DeAndre Hopkins, and that was back when his price tag might have been I don't know, a second round pick and a player. Now, at this point in free agency, with him still kind of lingering out there, it sounds like he's going to be significantly cheaper than that to acquire. Maybe not quite as cheap as someone like Brandon Cooks was the Dallas in that recent trade, but doesn't sound like it's going to take a ton from a compensation standpoint. He's older, he's banged up. I still think he's a guy that can provide something that the Patriots just haven't had in the receiving corps in years now, just someone that going into every game opponents are going to have to say okay, whereas Hopkins going to be on every snap. I think even at age thirty one, he's still someone proved this year that he's still someone who can kind of threaten defenses in a way that the Patriots just haven't been able to do. So I'd still be on board with Bring and DeAndre Hawkins. As for Lamar, obviously he would help the Patriots, so obviously he at his peak is miles better than mac Jones. I think miles better than even mac jones ceiling, but just from a price standpoint, just with having to give up most likely two first round draft picks, having to pay him whatever it is that he's going to end up being paid forty five fifty million dollars a year, all the guaranteed money for a guy that has those injury concerns hasn't played. I think he's missed eleven games over the last two years. Running quarterbacks like that, you never know how your body's going to hold up long term, all things being equal, Yes, of course, I think they should have Lamar Jackson over Mac Jones if they had that choice, But at that price, I can see why they wouldn't want to do it. Yeah, I certainly can understand that too, you know, Zach. The funny thing about it is, when are we bringing on the show? I think we agree too much, but but I think it's time. Well no, no, it's not necessary. But I'm just saying I think that's part of the reason why I, you know, I tell Marine, I said, hey, see, if Zach Cox is available, because I like the way you think, we think alike, what can I tell you? You know, I don't think Yeah, that's good. Yeah, I'm glad you said that, not me, because then I would be you know right. Thank you Zach for the time. I really always appreciate your coming on and sharing your thoughts and opinions with us, and hopefully we get a chance to do it again soon. Absolutely, John, We'll talk soon. Thanks Jach Cox at Zach cox nesson where you can find him on Twitter eight fifty five, Pat's five hundred, Patty and Aguam's been hanging on forever. Hey, Patty, thanks buddy, appreciate you. Hey, no problems on what's going on, how are you? I am? Generally I'm doing pretty good, but today it's been a little bit of a rough rough patch at work for me. But hey, I'm I'm talking Patriots now. Sorry, yeah, good, No, Hey, I get it. I get it. We all go through spells like that. I totally understand that. So I wanted to give you what I would do, what cousin pat please do if he was in charge. Please, Cousin Patty, please please preach. The more I think about it, the more I think it is inherited to get a playmaking receiver, whether that's trading the number fourteen pick for Jerry Judy or staying put at fourteen and taking a guy like the guy that my draft crushed this year is a Flowers. And I know he's not he doesn't have the ideal size, he doesn't have the size of a Quintin Johnson. But he's a guy that, much like Julian edelman Um and to maybe a little bit lesser extent, Kendrick Bourne, that you can move all over the formation. He's not just a what you would call just a typical like slot receiver. He's a He's a guy that he's separate two I mean, that's to me, that's the biggest thing. What Evan was saying about DeAndre Hopkins. I'm totally on board with his opinion, which is, yeah, you might be a little bit better in the receiver department, but you're still very slow. And we need guys that are that are fat. We need quicken. Yeah, we need speed, we need quicks. I agree with that. That's why, you know, I mean, look, if you're telling me that, Okay, Max our guy at quarterback, then I'm fine with that. And you know, thanks, Lamar, appreciate your interest, but we're going in another direction. Plus, I also think that running quarterbacks are injury proneer, I think he's starting to show that as far as the receiver thing is concerned. Look, uh, DeAndre was great in his prime, but he is a half a step ahead of that. And I don't think that's what New England is a franchise, or is a team that's trying to remain relevant in its own division needs right now. They need more. So I don't think either guy is the way to go, right And you, I mean you heard you heard coach Saban Belichick's best friends stayed a few years ago that at a certain point where you know, we just have to we're gonna need to score points. The game has changed, and I don't think Belichick should change just for change stake, you know, like anybody that goes for anybody in pond this world. But when things start to evolve, you have to be cognizant of it, and you have to you have to be malleable, You have to adapt, you have to evolve and say, well, you know what if everybody in our division forget about the conference. The conference is frigging loaded too. But if everyone in our division has guys that are fast, that can, that are going to put up point, you know, that have these quarterbacks, these good quarterbacks, are these unbelievable skill players like Tyreek Hill, Stefon Digs, Garrett Wilson, we're to berely lacking in that department. And I know, I hey, listen, I know you've been covering the team long enough and you're smart enough to know that you see it too. Well, yeah, we can see a lot of things around here. Doesn't mean it's going to get done that way, but but I just hope it doesn't. Well, I know, I mean, I I have turn hope like every other fan that listens I do. I you know, you can't work for a team an organization for you know now going into a fourth decade like I have without being a fan. You just can't. I mean, And it's sometimes it's very difficult to separate the two hats that you know that you have to wear. And so, yeah, why wouldn't I root for him? It's always better when you win than when you lose. But when you see effort, it can be appreciated. But when you see effort that's misconstrued, that's misdirected, that's like it doesn't have to be this way. That's when I start to kind of get that that pit in the bottom of my stomach. I'm like, going, what are we doing here? And I said that through it all of last season, you know, and we're putting up the good face, and you know, we're you know, we're making good and we're talking football and having fun here during the course of the week, and you know, talking pregame stuff and all the matchups and everything. And I knew, good and damn well that this just wasn't going to turn out the way that anybody wanted it to. And I can admit that now It's easy to admit now and not so easy admit during the middle of the year, because you always have hope and everybody has hope. But when you see the way things are constructed, and you see the way things you know, and you've been around the game, as you suggested, Patty, long enough to where you're like, Okay, I don't know that I'm familiar with this thing yet, and I don't think we've seen success when somebody's done this previously. And of course when it turns out that way, and you want to scream I told you so, but you really can't because nobody's listening anyway, it's kind of like, well, okay, it happened. Now what do we do. What's the next step? You know, I you know it's it's um somebody was today earlier mentioned to me, you know about you know, there's nothing that you can do about what happened, all right, It's like what's next? So what happened is irrelevant, what's next is relevant. We don't want to make the same mistakes again. And that's my biggest fear, if there is such a thing as fear, My biggest fear is making similar mistakes over and over and over again, which is, of course, as you know, uh, that's that's certainly a sign of craziness. Yeah, insanity, craziness, bunkers, whatever you want to call it. You know, funny farm, you know it is, that's what it is. You keep doing the same thing over and over again. And look, I'm not talking about little ina and habits. I'm talking about basic sound fundamentals that cause people to act and react the way that they do. It's what you learn, It's what you've taught, It's what you teach, it's what you absorb, you know, it's it's it's education, it's it's everything that goes into it. It's knowing that the game itself has changed over the last twenty years that you've been a dynasty in the NFL. It's changed. It's not the same. It's not the same. Anybody who says it's the same, everybody says it's the same. Not paying attention. Okay, they're just not. And that's my biggest fear where you know, Coach Belichick is concerned. You know, he's got enough people around him that are always saying, yes, right, coach, you got a coach whatever you need. Coach he needs some people. And I think this is one of the reasons why Bill O'Brien is back here and needs people to say to him, say Bill, I don't know, or Bilt, Nope, that's not the way I'd go. And here's why. That's what he needs more than anything else. That's why when sometimes we use the old, you know adage of you know, the Emperor's you know, not wearing any clothes you know, Well, okay, that's that's what we mean by that, and so we need to get by that. I want the Emperor to go down as the all timer and we want to feel good about that around here because it's something that will be unique to New England. And I think, you know, this franchise and what the Crafts have done and bringing this franchise here, and what the fans have done to support this team in this organization and this franchise is remarkable and the franchise deserves this, but the franchise also deserves a winner. And I hope that the coach and the franchise are all on the same page here. Yeah, me too. A couple of things. Then I'll let you go. Russell's probably gonna be calling in or waiting on waiting on me to shut up and get off the phone. You're good. What I would do with that second round pick two is I would I would, um maybe move up and get one of these younger right tackles like Dwan Jones or Darnell Right out of Tennessee. Um, that guy that could sit down, sit for maybe a few games. While Um, I can't think of that. Riley Reef man man the position until one of those guys are ready, you know. And if they're ready out of camp, then then help like let them start, Let Riley Reef back them up, you know, because you're gonna need that. You need to replenish the talent on this team often. I agree with that, and I've got a very unpopular take here. I want to see him take a tackle at fourteen. I do, And I wouldn't mind that, John. I'm as long as they're filling a big hole that that that that's there, you know, I'm alright with it. Yeah, And I've come to realization we need it because we saw what the swinging gate was like on both sides last year. So I don't you know, we need to give Mac the absolute attention to detail on this, you know, forget the targets, and I think they've improved the targets. He just he's got to be confident. We don't need to see happy feet. I don't want to see him step up and flutter around in the pocket because he's afraid of what's coming in from behind. And we had that some last year. So we need him to be confident more than anything else. You need to protect and value your assets as you have them before they become devalued. And I think this is the way to do it. And I'd be all set with somebody like that at fourteen, Yeah, I wouldn't mind. But and the last thing I'll I'll the last thing I'll end with is I said this last year too, and it came down to the final week of the season. Three and three in the division isn't going to get it done. No, I'm not gonna. It's not gonna get you a playoff for it's not. They have to find ways that they have to steal a game against Buffalo this year, Yes, they do. Even if Rogers goes to the Jets. You have to find a way to beat the those guys, at least White. Yeah. Yeah, Miami's send their way well forever, you know, so they I mean, they have to find a way to try and beat that team and beat two because to h you're everyone knows it's undefeated against Belichick. Right, you do that, you might actually make the playoffs. You're right, and once you're in, that's right. It's a zero zero game. That's right. Thanks Uncle, Patty, cousin Patty, you got it, Auntie, Patty whatever we call you. All right, Thanks buddy, appreciate you. Trey and Memphis Tray. Thanks for hanging in. Brother. How are you today? Hey, John? How's it going. It's going, it's going. How are you doing? Um man, I'm doing well. No, we uh, you know, we had a a lot of bad weather. I'm in the area last on these past weekends. So I mean, I mean, but you knowing you know the spide all, did you know I'm still here? Are you okay? Your family? Okay? Well? I had um. I had a cousin UM, his wife and his son UM dating that they were killed an attorney on Friday. Lord, I'm so sorry. Actually comes with it, man, that's terrible. Oh, Trey, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Brother. O. Man, It's okay. Last thing you know he's okay, then he just come with him party. I know. Yeah, it makes you appreciate what you have a hell of a lot more than it. Sure do it, sure do well. Yeah, you know I made no listen to the end to the counties and uh, you know, I can understand the frustration that everybody have. I mean looking around the meg and you know, see all the big moves everybody's making and and et cetera. I mean, but you know, I'm just you know, it's it's still March. So um, you know we uh the training camp that started to what the end of July, we got a lot of time to improve. Um. True, you know I don't have to play a football game that means anything for several months. So that part of that part, I'm it's believe me, I'm glad for yep. So um, I mean you know I wanted I definitely agree on with a lot of the college. As far as seeing you know, the Pagers haven't done anything the draft. I mean, um, you know, as far as the corner, you still got a young young guys that I think that this is gonna get better than Jack Jones. You know, he m made a few players on last year. I mean, he's a rookie and then you know tag Quana authority. I mean, you know, we still gotta see you know this, we still gotta see you know, the outside is there. We did kids, so I mean, you know I'm not ready to close to do on them yet. So I mean, you know, you know, listening to what you didn't said as far in the ompics of line, I think you know, they bringing bringing in a lot of ny you know, whiches are pretty big and so um, I really don't want a tackle with the fourteen peak. I mean, but if there's the route they go, you know we're having the role we didn't. I love to you know, get one of those young safeties or something that's coming out. Well, I was just gonna ask you, Yeah, I'd like to see him get one of those safeties or you know, get one of those tight ends. I mean, but you know, I just don't know, you know which route Bill Bill Chick with take. I mean, so you know, he's very he's unpredictable, and you know I wouldn't have to agree. You know, they do need you know, Bill dude, um he needs to damp you know to the new NN film and I mean, but you know, a lot of people they've been complaining over the years, you know, saying that you know, being and that would been a good GM and never been a good never been a good coach. I mean with him, I mean, with him being a GM and the head coach of paying twenty years. Man, you've never seen a run but Pat that kind of run again, I mean, what do you think? Yeah, I mean, honestly, look the whole Bill GM versus Bill coach. I mean, look, yeah, I tell you how you have to say, the trick cracker is still pretty good. We can separate it because we live with it every day, but when you look at it from the outside, no one's gonna agree with us on that regard. Okay, Now, you can certainly nitpick the heck out of the draft picks and the trades and the free agents and all that stuff. And and and yes, you know he does have I think, the final say on all these moves. But you know, part of it is is that, you know, I think he needs to listen a little bit more to the people that that they've hired to man these positions. And I think that was a step in the right direction with Matt grow a year ago, which is why you saw some of those names that popped into the draft there like going, what are they getting them for? They could have head him in the fourth round. Well, okay maybe, But when you identify a guy that you think that can adapt to who you are and what you do more easily than others, and that's why that guy moves up in your standing. And look, I don't think they made mistakes last year. I don't think you can judge a draft until you get two or three years beyond the draft. You can't do it. That's what That's why when you know, you know, and I love guys like mel Kiper to death because they're they're friends of mine. But I you know, when we talk about draft grades, well, look, we know we have to grade draft because you know, fans want immediately, they want results, they want to know how you think they did. You can't truly grade a draft for at least two years, sometimes three. And I would ultimately drade a graft. Uh grade a draft? Drade a graft? Did I say that I did um this this water in this bottle, by the way, not vuck or anything like that. Okay, but Trey, I would I would grade a draft based on how many of your you know, rookie draft picks signed second contracts, right, right, because that means you you've done well for yourself. You've done well for yourself. Yeah, So what's john when you look at the past, I mean even the early years with Brady Man, Brady did become what he really was until what I was started within two thousands in seven seas. But look at the players that the Patriots head. Yeah, they didn't have a bunch of househole name in the early two thousands. Man, they had Troy Brown, m David Patton. David Patton, your main weakness, you know what it whippens like that, you know Dan that they had, you know, the Dion Branches, the Charles Jones is the best of Johnson. I mean, so you know, people are acting like the Patriots have always had, you know, all of these big name guys. And when you look at the early Super Bowls, they had the best team, but they didn't have the best damning right it had the best standing in the special office, the side of the football, right, I mean, so that so once they brought the two thousand and seventeens came in Okay, the weapons were Random Moss, Jaban Gaffney, don't take star wards then then you know, then did up and behold, well you were subscribing, you were workers. Worker, worker gets rejuvenated. Yes, okay, so you know he becomes something bind. I mean, so the only difference is offensively, Brady's just happened to grow and mature. I mean, so those players wasn't I mean I said the patients didn't have I mean, Random Moss is the only one that's in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Hall of Fame, and we got him veal train right right, So you're thinking about it, just think about it, John, all those as I'm called I mean, man, the patris to win the Super Bowl not because of the big talent they put together the big teams, right, but you still have to have front light talent, frontline talent to go with that team. You gotta have. I mean, every every you know, you know, every organization's got you know, uh, leaders and followers. Somebody's got to lead, somebody's got to follow, and every good team has has that on the team. And I think we've gotten away from leaders on this team and star players on this team and we've gone with more you know, underlinks if you will, And I think you've got to go back to getting you know, A types rather than B types what the thing gets, John, I mean you know that just there season to be what they are. I mean, like I said, you know, and you can't. You're gonna go through some bumps and bruises. And I mean so like now it's just the patrio's time to just not be talked about at the moment. I mean, yeah, I think it's gonna change. And so I've never been one of the old guys. I mean I don't care about all the all the season hype. Yeah, I really do, not mean because they you know what I mean, you know many teams ahead the off season, Hypen, and you haven't won a Super Bowl? Yeah, a lot of them, A lot of them. Ain't a lot of them, John, I mean sold. Do you know you think the man the gents would have loved the Golden is one that the pages a right know that the Cleveland Browns would have loved it. He wouldn't have loved it, yea. Yeah. And I don't care about the gents getting there in Rosman here and he's feeling getting old he's old. He's old. I mean, they can't have it. He's old and he may man, he may retire. Now he's old and he's old and he's cranky. Get off my lawn. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I agree with that, Trey. You're a good egg. I hope everything turns out well for you, my friend. All right, and uh, god speed to you and your family. Peace. Peace. A real woman could stop you from drinking. Yeah, that's a bit real big woman. It's time to go around the NFL with football guru Russell Baxter. Now on your name is Flounder on Patriots playbook. Russell, thanks for hanging in there, my friend. How are you this fine day? I'm good. I'm fascinated to hear how you're gonna drede a graph. You know, what's the first thing I thought of when I heard that? What you'll you'll you'll know that? No, No, obviously, Jackie Gleasa and the Honeymooners with the classic yeah right, okay, and one of one of the best episodes we thought was the sixty four thousand dollars answer um when he went Ralph went on the game show and uh, I'll cut to the chase the whole thing later, but they asked him what he did for a living and he said that he busted to drive. Yeah, he busted drive. Yeah, I remember that. I'm scary part is I'm old enough to remember that. Oh, but that was that was one of the best episodes, remember ed Norton. Oh yeah, kept on playing Swanny River every time he twinn and and Ralph figured it out every thong. So the first question was who wrote Swanny River? And they played it and he said, ed Norton and he was out exactly and he was gone. He was done. He was out. Hey, Russell, Um, you know one of the things that we really haven't gotten to today that I was hoping I could kind of pick your your brain on because I don't think there are any huge moves here, but I just kind of want your your thoughts a little bit on the rule changes that were you know, voted on and enacted by the uh the owners this week at the meetings. And again I don't think there was anything. The one that actually stands out to me is the fact that the number zero is now eligible on the field, which is kind of strange, you know, in terms of you know, NFL standards. But if you follow college football at all, you know that the zero has been at least around for a little while. What did the NFL miss an opportunity on here to bring into play that you feel like maybe they should have done well? I don't. That's tough to say because you try to figure out, you know, what their agenda is, and you know everybody's got their own agenda when it comes to this. I mean, if you know to me that they continue to push the ball forward in terms of safety and so on, I think it's very very important. I like you got kind of a chuckle out of the out of the zero thing, especially considering we have a man in the Pro Football Hall of Family wears doubles there, Yeah, right, Jim Otto, Jimato. And we also had a very prolific wide receiver back in the day for the Heaton Oilers named Kenny Burrow, Right, I forgot that? Yeah, funny, I remember the old guy. I remember the I can think of right off the top of my head who was involved in an NFL game preseason game, and I think he wore a zero? Was George Plimpton. Did he wear zero? In paper Lion? I'm trying to think I might be dead wrong. No, I think you're right. No, no, no, no, I think back on it, and I'm not I'm not in front of the Google machine or anything right now, but I gotta tell you, I think you're right. I think he wore zero in the movie Paper Lion, Yes he did, which was an a terrific movie because they got a lot of the Lions to play in the one, and they actually got Joe Schmidt, who was the head coach. By the way, Joe Schmidt a guy who's in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And I don't think people will realize what a great middle linebacker he was being him so one. But you know, I again, I think it's kind of tough to figure out. You know, this was not a year. Let's put it this way. This was not a year where something happened during the year where everybody was kind of screaming and yelling he did where zero? He did whear zero. I just checked it right. There wasn't anything like, you know, like the overtime with Buffalo in Kansas City, Okay, so you know that was like a point of contention the whole time. So there wasn't anything like this offseason or anything in the playoffs unless I'm forgetting something where you know, teams were hemming and holing about something and somebody like threw it on the table. I know, you know, we you know, there was controversy and talk about the Eagles and pushing the pile and you know, pushing you know, put grabbing players in someone and and I believe they kind of let that go and so on. So you know, I think it's tough sometimes because the NFL, whether you like it or not, has a very very successive product, and you try not to topple the apple part. And but again, the Buffalo Kansas City one stood out so much for people because it was actually it was it went back to Brett Carve in two thousand and nine and they tweaked Dad and now you know, tweet tweeked tweak. Sometimes I think the NFL kind of caves in a little to the like the bad attention and the bad publicity and so on. And I don't know about you. I was fine with studden death over time. Yea, the way it was one of the most famous games in the NFL history was made famous because of sudden death, and that was the nineteen fifty eight NFL Tago game between the Giants and the Cold Cults. Right, yeah, absolutely, although it's you know, it's funny John to trivial. When the NFL finally decided to go to regular season overtime, it was nineteen seventy four. The first teams that had to play that game where the Pittsburgh steel is in the Denver Broncos ended in Italian anyway, Yeah, so they didn't solve anything, right, that's right, by the way. As the overtime war, it's you know, the two point conversion has added to that. Um, you know, we have a ten minute overtime set of a fifteen minute overtime, so I think you know, they tweaked along the way and so on. But um, you know it's it's I think playing line you know here, I'll just throw this out, Okay. The biggest problem, as you know, with the league, and many people will say this has nothing to do with the rules and more about the guys who are supposed to be in charge of the rules. In other words, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Well there's no doubt about that. We we we leave we leave the vagaries of the game too vague, you know, And and there needs to be more specificity. I think I said that right, uh in some of these you know things that are out there, and I think that's where and I'll give you a good example. Here's a good example. One rule that didn't get past this week, but I guess it could be under review based on everything that I've read this week is the rugby scrum, where guys push a ball carrier over across the line of scrimmage or whatever. And there's no rule against that, but apparently that could be reevaluated because yeah, and so you know, I think common sense says that, look, uh, it's probably not the safest thing to do, and if you're gonna be really trying to emphasize the safety of the game, the rugby scrum probably needs to go. And this is where common sense should come into play, and yet sometimes it doesn't. Oh, I couldn't agree with you more. Yeah, I think I probably said that wrong when I was talking about it early and so on. But you know, you literally see instances where players, you know, literally pick up their teammates, yeah, and just carry them across the line. Hell you can't do it, I'll do it for you. And just you know, look, I understand that. And I'm not talking about quarterback sneaks or anything else like that. I'm you know, because we saw how effective Jalen hurts, you know, was it that I think throughout the course of the year last year, you know, Yeah, you gotta line up on the line. You got to stop the son of a gun. And I think that's the biggest thing. But when you get from behind and you push him forward, it's almost unstoppable. And I think that's part of the reason why this rule will probably still come up for review if not changed out right, because yeah, there's a safety factor, but number two, you're creating an unfair advantage. And for a league that absolutely is lock Stock and barrel In on parody, this flies in the face of it. Yeah, oh yeah, well it's you're really kind of changing the game in the name link someone to do that. I think. I think the first time I remember it happening was not in an NFL game. I believe it was usc playing a game, and I think I when I say Reggie Bush was involved, and I'm trying to think it was the year, the year they win the title, or the year they lost the Texas in the Rose Bowl. One of those seasons, but that's the first time I was like, whoa, you know, can you really do that? And you've seen it more and more common now in the NFL. So you know, if if listen, if you pick up your teammate can carry him across the line, isn't that holding? Yeah kind of yeah, you just holding a different person, but it's still holding. Yeah, you're holding your teammate. Yeah. Right. Well, the other one that I kind of wanted to get your thoughts on is the fact now that teams can play more than once on Thursday Night football. I don't really see how that's good for anybody other than the league making money, which I know is what this is all about. But again, if we're talking about players safety and all that kind of stuff, is that really the way we should be going Well, I think I think it's an attempt to bolster Thursday night Football, which, of course last year was on Amazon Prime for the first time, and even though it seemingly representatives from every football network ESPN, NFL Network, Fox, NBC, we're all doing the games and so on, so it kind of had it a primetime feel to it that we're accustomed to at least, But the schedule didn't exactly knock you on your socks, And you know that's why there's there was the early discussion about flexing Thursday night games, which I think is a horrific idea for people who can't wait to get the NFL schedule in their flight three and four months in advance so they go to your their favorite team. I hope we never get to that point where you actually start changing the day of the game, because I think that's very, very unfair to the fans. Yeah, that's my biggest issue, my bag. I mean, I realize they're gonna give fifteen days notice or whatever, and I think that's fine. But still the people that can only buy fans that can only buy one or two tickets if that, you know, for a year, and they buy it for a Sunday and then the thing gets moved to a Thursday, and I keep thinking of how many people probably get knocked out of the box because they got work or they got work the next day or whatever it may be. And that's just that's just not fair to the rank and file. It's just not well. And here's the other here's the other thing, John, As you well know, um, I think it's less significant now to have to flex game. One of the reasons, uh, you know, back in the day in the seventies and eighties, and you know this from Monday and they football, when Howard Coastell used to do that, the halftime highlights. He did those halftime lighlights because people did not have access to their favorite teams like they do now. Okay, you can watch a game on their computer, you can watch a game on the phone. You can go to sports bool and watch every game at the same time. That was not the case now twenty thirty, maybe even forty years ago. Okay, so it's you know, unless you have you know, a real, you know, big thing about it. Who's announcing your game? And it has to be in prime time. I don't understand why. I mean, I get you wanted to think about this. First second, let's just throw out the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboy and I think you know why I'm going to do this. Okay, what if you just thid that they have to they'll each play two Thursday games. Okay, well, actually three Thursday games for them because they both played in Thanksgiving. Yeah, so you're going to tell me that one fit that their schedule is going to be on Thursday. Thursday, I mean, and that's like, wow, that's that's like a crime against humanity. Well, I mean, I mean think about that. I mean, we're already to the point where we have stretched out the playoffs. We've added two playoff teams. We're not playing a playoff game on a Monday, okay, which means the teams that play on Monday are going to be short changed no matter when they play their next game if they play, and it's usually Sunday, but it's still a shorter week, okay. So we're already stretching the product out that way. Again, if you're talking about safety and you're having less recovery time, and that's that's the most important thing. These guys are recovering from a three hour car collisions to last. As some players have described it, right right, what are we doing? What do we do? Literally loves football more than I do. I understand what to see games every day and so on. But you know, that's get it, that's why you have a DVR. Well again, part of the part of the part of the fun of football is the anticipation of the battle on the on the gridiron, you know. I mean, that's part of it. And if you've got it every day, that anticipation is gone. Now, I believe me, I love me some football. I will watch it anytime I can ask Miss Robin she knows that all too well. But I got to tell you, part of the lure of the sport is the fact that you gear up for this one game a week and there is a sense of anticipation that builds, and and then you put it all out on the line as a fan, as a player, as a coach, as an administrator, as a broadcast or whatever it may be, and then the game is over, and then you do it all over again the next week. And that's part of the fun of the game, is the anticipatory nature of it. But when you're doing it every night, and now you've got a long work week, or now you've got a short work week, or now you've got seventeen weeks, and now you're injured more often because you got more games you gotta play, that sucks the fun right out of it. It just does. And now you're making it more difficult for your hardcore rank and file fans who don't have season tickets, who really can't afford them. You're making it more difficult conceivably for them to get to the games that they love to get to. I just, I don't. I just we're getting too greedy, all right, yep. And and I understand it because the appetite for the NFL in this country is and even worldwide, it's insania. Don't believe. Yeah, you can't. You know, you know we are now Free agency is now in its fourth decade. Yeah right, you know, since nineteen ninety three and so on, and before that when I first started writing professionally and some one I wrote college football in the off season. Now you're write football every day. You're right, you can, you absolute kid, and it's much different. I'll just throw this out. I even one of those people who have talked about for a number of years an eighteen game schedule, and I would like to see that, man. I think we will see it, because you know, if the NFL is kind of set up in a twenty game window, it was fourteen regular season, and I've been six preseason, then sixteen and four. Right now it's seventeen and three. I would like to see it eighteen and two, just to balance it out. You are going to go eight If you are going to go eighteen games time, then I think you might want to consider eliminating Thursday night football. Yes, if you tell me, I mean, eighteen games sounds like a lot, but it's really not. You're already playing, as you said, it's a twenty week schedule. But yeah, Thursday nights should should you know, we got to figure out a way to do something about that, right, And I just you know, And no, I don't mean go to Friday because Fridays should belong to high schools. They just should. That's why, you know, I almost refuse to watch college football on Friday nights because I'm like, that's high school football night. Yeah, you know, And I don't want to. I don't want to see the preps get destroyed by, you know, money making entities on the television. I can appreciate why if a league, you know, he has a chance to be on television on a Friday night, why they do it because someone's going to pay them to do it. Because they have product that they need to sell, and they have inventory they got to fill. But high school football is Friday night football. It always has been, it always will be. And They're just some things that should be you know, sacrosanct in that way, in that way, and we shouldn't be playing pro football on Thursday nights. I'm good with Monday. Monday's fine. We established that back in nineteen sixty nine, did we not nineteen seventy Okay? I thought about in sixty nine into play, yeah, and put into play in seventy. Absolutely, Okay. I'm okay with that because it's been ingrained and it was something that we look forward to for years. And I actually thought Monday Night Football got a little bit of a boost this year because of the announced team that they moved in you know when they when they when they hired you know, the former Fox guys. So I'm okay with it, and I think we can continue to build that back up. Thursday night football has just gotta go. That's a money grab and it's it's just finding somewhat distasteful. So but we we can opine about that another day when the opportunity comes out. Russell, I really appreciate the opportunity to check in with you from time to time during the offseason. My friend read you all the time that I see your stuff come out, so anything you're working on that you want to plug before the draft. Well, I've been due doing some basic stuff for fansided. You know, number of draft picks, draft needs that I get, you know, be a pro football focused yep, and so on. It's just kind of, you know, it's more factual information. Let's opinionate in information. But you know, you never know when I'm going to throw out. I'm currently working on a piece on the Texans, who have had an amazing off season in terms of what tomko Ryan's and that team and the kind of players they've been able to attract. And you know what, it's not like a couple of years ago when they were just signing everybody. You and I were signing by the Houston Test a couple of years ago. We didn't make the cut. No, she'll tell you something. But just some of the quality guys they've been able to break bring in and they have quite a few draft picks to use as well. We'll leave you with this. We saw four team that finished last in twenty twenty one make the playoffs in two twenty two. That's half of the last place team. The year before was three, this year this past year was four. It doesn't take long to flip the switch. Well, let's hope that that flip that switch gets flipped, or that flipped gets switched, whichever way you want to put it. For the Patriots or drive abroad. I love it. I love it, Russell, Thank you, my friend. We will talk soon. You got it. Got the one and only pro football guru Russell Baxter at Backs Football Guru on Twitter. I want to end the program today with a couple of emails that I received that I think are all worth mentioning here based on what we've been talking about today. Our friend Howard writes in from Connecticut. He's been in here in studio on the show. He has truly missed the playbook when it's not on. I appreciate you, Howard, Thank you. I don't think there's any I don't think there is the disconnect that everyone sees between BK and bb Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick. I do think mister Kraft is any good CEO does sets goals for the season and let it be known that there are consequences for not achieving them. The difference is from what the talking heads and the press are alluding to. BK is that he will not micromanage BB and how he achieves those goals. As for BB having the game passing by then it has passed his entire staff by BB does not operate into vacuum. He has staff that gather information, perform analysis, and provide him the best options on which he makes the final decisions. That is the way good organizations operate, and the Craft Organization does a well run organization about the football and the non football sides of the house, you know, I think that is well stated, Howard. You're right, it's quite possible that the people he works with are given him bad advice. What I mentioned earlier in the program, however, is is that I think what Bill has had, unfortunately is too many people saying yes, sir, Yes, sir, I'll do that, yes sir, whatever you want, sir. And you need more people to say no, I think this is the better route, and let me explain to you why it's the better route. And ultimately Bill's got to make the choice. And if he says no, that we're gonna do it my way, okay, then he's got to own up to that. And I don't think we've seen that really either. But you're right about mister Kraft, he does allow the people largely to do their jobs. There has to be, however, some sort of consequence when it doesn't turn out the way that you hope, Linda from Boston. During his tenure of the New Orleans Saint Sean Payton had a number of losing seasons, including three seven or nine seasons in a row from twenty fourteen to twenty sixteen, he was not fired. Count me among the tiny minority of your listeners who believe that Bill Belichick should not be fired even at the Patriots have another losing season. If Sean Payton could have five seven or nine seasons and a single Super Bowl ring with the Saints and still be considered an excellent head coach, then surely the Patrons should give the man with six Super Bowl rings a chance to have passed on Shula's record. He's the best there has ever been. Thank you, Linda, and I think you make some very good points there. Christian, first time listener, Thank you Christian for taking the time. Not sure if you read emails. I'm going to read yours. They need to get rid of Bill because his gmwork is disgraceful. God forbid. If somebody finally calls him on his bs. They get killed by the fan base. We all need to wake up and realize Bill as at GM is awful. You cannot run this organization with mid level talent without TB twelve. Do what the rest of the league is doing. Get some stars. Pay him. Craft needs to step up and make the move. If we're not or if not, we're going to be the bottom of the league for as long as he's the coach. He says, I see us last place in our division, six wins at most as this roster stands well. The beauty of this is that the roster isn't going to stand this way for too much longer. You're gonna have rookies, You're gonna have a few other free agent moves that are certainly going to trickle in and be made. You know, as we've talked throughout the course of the program. Yeah, DeAndre Hopkins could still happen. Jerry Judy could still happen. Whether it's likely or not, that's up to debate. I supposed, but I think the team recognizes that moves need to be made because the other teams within your division are making them, have made them, and they're night, stepping back, It's up to the Patriots to step forward, and that's where we go from here. Thanks to our good friend Russell Baxter, Zach Cox from Nesson Evan Lazarre for joining us in the program today, Marine Matt, thank you for tolerating me for another month, and we'll come back and do it, same patch time, same patch channel next month. It'll be Wednesday, April twenty six, that's the day before the first night of the NFL Draft, and yeah, we're gonna do a pre draft show and we're gonna have a lot of fun with it and stay tuned for details back at the normal time period. But we will be back normal time, right, So we'll go noon to two, all right, noon to two on Wednesday, April the twenty six for the next edition of Patriots Playbook. See you then. Thank you for downloading this podcast, Subscribe on Apple, Google Play, and everywhere else you listen. Like the show, Please rate and review us. Listener comments and ratings help keep us high in the podcast rankings so new listeners can find us. Be sure to Checkpatriots dot com for more news and more podcasts.