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EPISODE 73 - PATRIOTS OFFSEASON BREAKDOWN!
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Transcript
Introduction & Podcast Overview
00:00:00
Savage Boston
Alright guys, welcome back to the Savage Boston Podcast. We're here with, I'm Scott, host of the pod, here with my co-host Brett. And we got a guest tonight, friend of the pod, Pete Collins from the Foxborough Fellows Podcast.
00:00:13
Savage Boston
Check him out. Always coming out with new Pat's content. Appreciate him coming on tonight.
Post-Super Bowl Reflections
00:00:19
Savage Boston
Snooty couldn't make it. So yeah, man, i appreciate you guys coming in. This is kind of like the first real off-season pod.
00:00:26
Savage Boston
you know Last week we did Super Bowl hangover and got kind of like an angry yelling pod because everyone was just frustrated. but But this is more like, you know, more hopeful, more planning for the future. you know, I think we all like a bit of like playing GM and and talking about what you think the team needs to do, what kind of moves they should make. So so I'm into it, man. And this is like, i think just to get over the Super Bowl, I think if you go back, they did this exercise on the radio.
00:00:56
Savage Boston
and like ranked the Super Bowls at of which ones were the most painful, which losses were the most painful. This somehow might, is not towards the top of the list. And I don't think that's even debatable.
Analyzing the Patriots' Season and Future Outlook
00:01:09
Savage Boston
Like you could even say this is even at the bottom of the list. You know, maybe you want to say like, cause in 85 when they lost, yeah, they played the 85 bears. They had never won a championship 96. They had never won. we We're disappointed. So like this one, hopefully we can all kind of,
00:01:24
Savage Boston
move beyond a little bit and just say like, let's, let's build it. Let's, let's do this thing. So, um so yeah, any, ah do you guys have any other final thoughts on the Superbowl or anything you want to get, out get across? Are you guys fully done with that chapter?
00:01:38
Peter Collins
I feel like we have to move past that chapter, but Patriots fans that are mature, I think, are just disappointed and sad. Like, you know, your parents were in you if you made a mistake. like I'm not mad at you. I'm just disappointed. That's exactly how how I felt about the Patriots because what a season they had. And I think that has to be the takeaway is what an amazing overperforming season that they had.
00:02:00
Bret
Yeah, I'm in the same way.
00:02:00
Savage Boston
Yeah, it was true.
00:02:01
Bret
I think the further away I get, the more I appreciate the fact that we had a great season and far exceeded anyone's expectations, which it was amazing to have a team go on the run like they had, go on the deep run in the playoffs like they did.
00:02:18
Bret
Obviously, yeah, not the showing we wanted the the Superbowl, but yeah, looking back on it, I mean, I remember that Green Bay Packers game, like that one devastated me, Desmond Howard.
00:02:29
Bret
Like I still hate just because of what he did in that game.
00:02:30
Savage Boston
Yeah. Yeah.
00:02:31
Bret
And then obviously the two giants losses, like those sting to me way more than this previous one. So yeah, it sucks, but i think as you process it and get removed, I get more and more appreciation for what we had and excited about the possibility of what we're building towards because we were ahead of the schedule.
00:02:38
Savage Boston
yeah
00:02:51
Bret
And to put ourselves in position and get that kind of experience, now can we build on that? And that that's what gets me a little bit more excited.
00:02:59
Savage Boston
Yeah. And I think it's like, so again, I just get people online looking for angles to try to like take a dig at Drake May or Patriots fans. I think it's really weird people having the angle saying it's somehow a bad thing that may made the Superbowl and didn't do that well, whatever, as opposed to just not even winning like a playoff game. Like I had people online telling me they would have rather him just like not even make the playoffs and getting to the Superbowl and losing. and I think that's just an insane person's take.
00:03:29
Savage Boston
I've never believed in the whole like... you know Every team that didn't make the Super Bowl lost earlier than Drake May did. They lost earlier than the Patriots did. I never got the whole, like it's just about your record in the Super Bowl. I think that's fucking ridiculous. like I don't think it's a fault. that like you know Tom Brady is 7-3 in the Super Bowl. It doesn't make him worse than Joe Montana, who's four and o So I find it, frankly, stupid and ridiculous.
00:03:58
Savage Boston
People get really caught up in that record thing. Anyway, just want to get that out there. So let's move on. We'll move into more positive.
00:04:03
Peter Collins
you have to You have to be putting yourself in a real pretzel to be thinking like that.
00:04:07
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:04:07
Peter Collins
like Come on. like It's better to lose earlier? No, it's better to win more playoff games.
00:04:11
Savage Boston
Well, have you honestly.
00:04:12
Peter Collins
see Drake May now has a 3-1 record in the playoffs.
00:04:15
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:04:15
Peter Collins
that's that's that's the That's what he's established, right? So he's won in the playoffs. He knows what it takes to win the playoffs. And the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl are super hard to navigate. And he's already navigated it once, right?
00:04:26
Peter Collins
So when we get back there, and I'm saying when because I fully expect this team to get back there at some point, They are prepared. The coach has been there. The quarterback will have been there. The DC will have been there now that we know who our DC is. You know, our OC has been there.
00:04:39
Peter Collins
can count them on two hands. You know, he's going to go to his toes pretty soon. So, you know, this team, I think, is set up for a lot of future success. I know that's what we're here to talk about tonight is the offseason and how they get back there. But. it all started with last season. And I think that's the foundation that they build on. And that's super bowl is super helpful for identifying how to approach your off season. If you didn't get exposed in those ways throughout the playoffs, you might be wondering what to attack this off season.
Coaching Changes & Defensive Strategies
00:05:04
Peter Collins
There is a zero question. I think amongst Patriots fans, what we need to do with this off season. It's Plug the holes. And we know what the holes are.
00:05:11
Peter Collins
Should you not know what the holes are, you're plugging everything, wondering what to do. So the Super Bowl was quite revealing, but also I think very important if you're a front office for the Patriots going, OK, clearly we need to improve our O-line. Like that's obvious, right?
00:05:24
Savage Boston
Yeah, I think it's weird that, you know, yes, they're we know the holes they have. It's going to be interesting how people want to do it. um Let's touch on really quick. So Zach Kerr just and it happened like an hour ago, like he's. Officially the Patriots defensive coordinator. Congrats, Zach Kerr.
00:05:40
Peter Collins
All right.
00:05:40
Savage Boston
um You earned it. Did a great job. Had a great play calling this past season. Stepped up when he had to. You know, honestly, that's a tough job, man. You think you're the linebackers coach. And then, like, they're like, sorry, buddy. Like, you're you're calling games. And he and he was ready for the challenge. And i thought he I thought he was great, man. I thought his postseason was great between him and Vrabel. Even the game plan they had against Seattle, although they didn't play perfectly, the plan was good.
00:06:05
Savage Boston
I thought the plan was fine and and I liked coming.
00:06:06
Peter Collins
They played great defensively. they They limited Seattle to their lowest success rate the entire year.
00:06:08
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:06:12
Peter Collins
That's excellent.
00:06:13
Savage Boston
It was a good plan.
00:06:14
Peter Collins
That was a great plan. Yeah, they got run all over. Five yards a carry. They handed it off to him 27 times, right? So a lot of that's volume-based, but he ripped it off. If you watch the game, you saw him run all over you. But the D.C. had a five—he had—that defensive performance could have won you the Super Bowl.
00:06:31
Bret
Yeah, I mean, it kept them in the Super Bowl. And it even before that, they were one of the hottest teams going through, which was crazy to think about. Because, again, going into the playoffs, we would have thought it would have been the offense because they carried us for like two thirds of the season.
00:06:44
Bret
But the defense got healthy and they started playing really aggressive, but they mixed it up.
00:06:44
Savage Boston
Mm-hmm.
00:06:50
Bret
They disguised things like crazy. and Curd did an effective job to put him in a position. So to me, this was a spot where they didn't want to lose a guy like that. They needed to offer him something because he was probably going to get pretty well shopped around and he was going to have his options if he wanted to pursue. And then Vrabel being a loyal guy moved Terrell Williams into kind of an advisory to like the head coach spot, whatever the position is.
00:07:17
Bret
um which probably helps him out from a health perspective. You know, maybe it's keeps him a little bit more local and he helps scouting.
00:07:22
Savage Boston
He's not yet. He's not right yet. he's not he's not right yet
00:07:24
Bret
Yeah. It helps them scout, build the plans, things like that. So I'm sure it's probably like win-win across the board um for what we're doing. and And, yeah, I'm glad we were able to lock up a guy like her because I wouldn't have been surprised if some other team said, hey, we want to offer you a D.C. spot. And a guy like him, young guy, he took his shot. He obviously excelled in the position.
00:07:46
Bret
He's deserving of trying to get and getting the full role and getting the title and the pay bump with it.
Off-Season Challenges & Team Building
00:07:51
Savage Boston
Yeah. No, congrats to him. and And obviously I think most people believe he earned it. I think there's a small section of people that were interested in like Jim Schwartz.
00:07:59
Peter Collins
Yeah.
00:07:59
Savage Boston
It was an option that people were like looking at.
00:08:00
Bret
No. Yep.
00:08:01
Savage Boston
And I just think like, you know, continuity sake, he had a good season. You know what i mean? There's just too many good vibes there coming from that defense that.
00:08:10
Peter Collins
Schwartz is excellent, though. Schwartz is like, let's not downplay Schwartz.
00:08:12
Savage Boston
Yeah. Yeah. yeah
00:08:14
Peter Collins
Schwartz is a proven, very good commodity, excellent commodity and would have fit in brilliantly with the Patriots, has a connection with the Browns, with Rabel.
00:08:14
Savage Boston
Yeah. He's a good DC. Yeah.
00:08:22
Peter Collins
He's under contract with the Browns and the Browns and them have a sticky situation where they didn't hire him. And so he raged quit. So like, I don't know if you can really get involved with that.
00:08:29
Bret
yeahp
00:08:30
Peter Collins
they would have to release them and they don't seem too apt to release them. So It's kind of best to keep the continuity, send a message to your organization, too, that if you prove yourself on the biggest stages, you're going to get promoted and paid.
00:08:41
Peter Collins
That is a healthy message to send throughout the organization.
00:08:41
Bret
Yeah.
00:08:44
Peter Collins
Now, the other coaches, the other players are looking at that going, OK, we promote from within. We don't hire from the outside, you know, and take my job. Right. Zach Kerr would feel like his job might have been taken if they hired someone from the outside.
00:08:55
Peter Collins
So I think it's a brilliant decision.
00:08:57
Savage Boston
I mean, by the way, i love love basically love every move variable is made into this point. i I don't know. I don't think there's been. one major choice or decision or personnel choice, or like, I think they've made great decisions from day one. And as you said, is it was 307 days or whatever, you know, coming off the field, which makes it 300 and whatever 19 days now or whatever.
00:09:21
Peter Collins
math's hard
00:09:21
Savage Boston
you Nine days, Matt's hard, you know, do the math 316. Um, but yeah, so, but long story short, yes, I think ah it's a great decision. Let's, let's jump down. So, you know, here's the free, we'll jump into the Patriots free agents off the bat. So I think we've, we've all, I'm sure seen the list.
00:09:38
Savage Boston
Um, so just to go down the major ones, Austin Hooper, Caleb on chase on Kyrus Tonga, Jalen Hawkins, Jack Gibbons, Viderian low, uh, Taylor Munford, uh, Alex Austin, Jack Westover. Those are kind of like the bigger, the bigger names from it.
00:09:54
Savage Boston
Um, you know, and, and we, we said this before the end of the season, like they have most of their important pieces locked up. And this is why you think like this, this could be something to really build on.
00:10:06
Savage Boston
Most of the big pieces are, are still under contract, which we love. I mean, the, the biggest piece here, you know, just to go through them, like, Caleb on chase on is the big name. In my opinion, I think he's probably played himself into too good of a contract with a different team.
00:10:26
Peter Collins
Yep.
00:10:26
Bret
Mm-hmm.
00:10:26
Savage Boston
think that's fair. Like he's played re he had a really good postseason. He played hard. Can he set the edge really well against the run and stuff? No, it's not. He's not to me. He's really not that like every down guy. And I think they asked him to do a lot.
00:10:41
Savage Boston
And he did pretty well, right? So good for Chason. I think he'll get, who knows, like $12 million a year. I don't know what Chason's going to get. But, like, I don't think know if we want to pay him that, right?
00:10:52
Savage Boston
um So, yeah, Chason, know, I don't know. Austin Hooper, I'm looking forward to to changing the tight end room. Like, I'm not – I think Hooper can go to me.
00:11:03
Savage Boston
I think you can upgrade there, change that. Tonga, I would like to – bring back on some short money. Jalen Hawkins, I'd like to bring back if he's not too expensive.
00:11:15
Savage Boston
don't know.
00:11:16
Bret
Those are the two guys.
00:11:16
Savage Boston
Brett, why don't you kick it off?
00:11:17
Bret
Yeah, those are the two guys that I would say, Tonga and Hawkins, because they played some key roles in spots.
00:11:18
Savage Boston
What do you think of
00:11:25
Bret
ah I think it showed when we didn't have the depth on defensive tackle. Durden obviously stepped up big, but like when we were struggling to get bar and more healthy, Tonga was struggling to get healthy and we lost Milton Williams for weeks, like it showed.
00:11:40
Bret
So you lose a guy like potentially chase on, which I agree. I think he's going to go elsewhere and good for that guy, you know, here in this spot to get paid. And I just don't think it's worth us doing it because we got more needs to fulfill.
00:11:54
Bret
uh it's to me it's hawkins and tonga and a for the depth like i said on defensive tackle and then same thing goes with safeties like we don't have a ton of depth at the safety level and hawkins did pretty well next to woodson throughout the entire year which is crazy to think about going into the year because You know, I was one of the guys that was pretty pissed off about what we're doing with the safety position and felt like, why are we, you know, getting rid of peppers ah when we got rid of peppers by the trade deadline? When I'm like, we don't have depth here. We need NFL caliber guys.
00:12:27
Bret
But to Hawkins credit, like he stayed healthy. He worked alongside Woodson and by and large, they had a really good season. So I would like to get those two guys locked up. After that, I mean, take it or leave it, right? I mean, i think it's okay to sign a guy like Lowe if the contract makes sense because he's a swing tackle that can be a backup, but I wouldn't be crushed if I lost it. Yeah, Hooper, same thing. Like, what's the big deal? So to me, it's really just those two guys. After that, I could care less.
00:12:57
Peter Collins
I have very, very similar thoughts to you gentlemen.
00:12:57
Savage Boston
what do you think What do you think, Pete?
00:13:00
Peter Collins
Chason's gone. He's going to go get a bag somewhere else. And to be honest with you, I would resign him if he wanted to take look at a very team friendly deal. But his skill set is completely replaceable. I'd like to go to the draft for my edge and start developing there. um You can't move on from Landry to from the because of the cap hit. He was pretty much useless the second half of the year, but the first half of the year was brilliant. Right. So what half of the season are we getting out of Landry
Offensive Line Improvements
00:13:24
Peter Collins
could be important of how you attack the other edge. We mainly run three D tackles. Right. That's why Milton Williams and Barmore. And then you also add Tonga. So you don't.
00:13:33
Peter Collins
have two tackles and then two edges on this thie defense, right? It's usually three interior linemen with an edge, right? So the Landry position and the chase on position become duplicative at some point. So I think we move off of chase on and and attack a younger, you know, a younger player there. Hawkins is, would be my priority out of the list that we have um to re resign. Reason being is the amount of nickel we play and the amount of nickel that we're going to want to play with three safeties coming into next year. And you can't,
00:14:00
Peter Collins
remove one safe. You can't add two safeties. That's hard to do. Right. But if you add one safety to the mix, that's a little bit easier to to pull off, especially pulling the safeties into the box a little bit more often, like we did with Woodson because Woodson was brilliant. Like you, Brett, I did not anticipate this to be the final safety room. view If you asked me back at training camp, but would have given you a much different answer than I would have given you now. But the, but Woodson season speaks for itself. It was brilliant. starter. starter. And if Hawkins is back, he's the starter right next to him. Tonga would be my second priority. I just, for some reason, think he's going to get paid by somebody else. Like somebody else is going to want the Tonga experience on their team and bring them in. I hope that's not the case because I really like him on this team. And like I said, the three interior alignment is a thing that we do with Tonga, with Durden, with those types of guys. So I want him in that rotation.
00:14:50
Peter Collins
he he He had 15 run stuffs, but he also had 17 pressures, which is like a nice little added bonus. Like he's not completely useless when it comes to the pass rush, although you know he's a nose tackle. That's one a game. That's not great. Gibbons would be the guy I think we're not talking about enough um because he wore that green dot when Spillane went down. When Spillane went down, you noticed the difference too, which would be the counter to that argument, right? Like there was a huge drop off, but he held his own in that position. I think it'd be worth a depth piece. He is a restricted free agent. which is a little bit different than the unrestricted free agent there. Hooper's gone. I don't even think we even need to talk about him. The amount of 12 personnel we did dropped thirty one from 31% to 19%. We just didn't use it. And when we used it, it wasn't good. So we need to bring in, in my opinion, a likely and a draft of tight end. That's what I would like to do. Or give me a Njoku and draft the tight end. i want to add I want to bring in a second tight end that can play immediately and draft someone for the long term.
00:15:46
Peter Collins
Lowe and Munford, I mean, are they even worth talking about? Like, sign him, don't sign him. It doesn't matter to me. Vidarian Lowe is not a swing tackle. I'd rather have a swing tackle on the team as opposed to a guy is purely positioned on the left side while we are committed to left Campbell. Left Campbell.
00:16:01
Peter Collins
you You got what I was...
00:16:02
Bret
I like that.
00:16:02
Savage Boston
Yeah. yeah
00:16:03
Peter Collins
Everyone knows what I meant by that, interestingly enough.
00:16:05
Bret
I like it.
00:16:06
Peter Collins
But Thayer Munford... played on when we went jumbo. So I think he, he could, he could get a look, but really swing, tackle guard. Those need to be addressed in the, in the draft.
00:16:16
Savage Boston
I wonder if, so this is like a tangent before we get into just continue with the list. I wonder how many teams are going to keep trying to adopt and do what Seattle did. You know, and I know teams, this is like what people do and what teams do is they emulate the best defenses. And Seattle's defense was, i don't know if you want to say historic, but technically their team itself was the seventh best team in history in DVOA.
00:16:40
Savage Boston
Literally, that Seattle team. Like they were, by DVOA, a historic team. That's how good of a season they had. And they did the Nick Manwari, you know, again, they play their nickel the whole game and he's coming down as the linebacker, as the big, he did it all, right?
00:16:55
Peter Collins
Big nickel. I think it needs to have an asterisk on it.
00:16:56
Savage Boston
Big nickel, big nickel, whatever you want to say. But like how many teams are kind of doing that? You know, the Patriots would go into like five DBs, right? But they would have like Marcus Jones on the field or something. Like they didn't have that same it wasn't quite the same as like what Seattle or or the Ravens do with Kyle Hamilton or, you know, we all talk about it right? Like, so how many teams are going to emulate this, this style? And then not just the personnel package, but,
00:17:26
Savage Boston
how confusing they make it. And the Patriots do this again, very well too. It's not just Seattle, but like pre-snap movement, post-snap movement, like confusing quarterbacks.
00:17:36
Savage Boston
Like this is the future and the now really of defense is like, you can't just line up I mean, this is why it's so crazy with the Texans.
00:17:43
Peter Collins
The Texans, right?
00:17:43
Savage Boston
Cause they're too good.
00:17:44
Peter Collins
Yeah, i was going to say the Texans did exactly that and they were great.
00:17:46
Savage Boston
They just go in a base defense or like whatever.
00:17:49
Peter Collins
What you see is what you get.
00:17:50
Savage Boston
And they're just nasty.
00:17:52
Peter Collins
Yeah, they were nasty.
00:17:52
Savage Boston
Like,
00:17:53
Peter Collins
So I think there's arguments on both sides to your to your point, right? You can be the Texans or you can be Seattle.
00:17:56
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:17:57
Peter Collins
You have to pick an identity and lean into it fully and go after it. Now, one of the things I think is interesting about our defense, all regular season we struggled, all playoffs we were dominant, really.
00:18:07
Peter Collins
We were fire. Yeah. Kerr is a linebacker's coach. So when it comes to secondary play, fairly unfamiliar would be my guess, right? I'm not positive of that, but I think that's a fair assumption.
00:18:18
Peter Collins
With a year under his belt, now being the defensive coordinator, I think we're going to see more disguise in our secondary just because it wasn't his forte. And I think he leaned into what he was good at before, right? that Which was front seven play.
00:18:29
Peter Collins
So you're going to see a lot. He saw a lot of line effectiveness. I think that maybe you bring in a assistant coach that can help him with that secondary disguise. Cause you mentioned it, Seattle did it brilliantly.
00:18:41
Peter Collins
And I think we're more the type of team that's going to want to disguise our secondary.
00:18:41
Savage Boston
Mm-hmm.
00:18:45
Peter Collins
We have an elite secondary. We're going to want to disguise the way that they're playing as opposed to just you cover that guy, you cover got that guy, let the defense know what's coming and and beat them. I don't think that's our style of play necessarily.
00:18:57
Peter Collins
So I'm interested in Kerr's development there and how he develops more secondary disguise in the defense. But you're right. It's a copycat league. So teams, other teams are going start copycatting the Seahawks or maybe they copycat the Texans and just go get you know People who can pin their ear back and go after the quarterback, and that's what they do, rush four all game long.
00:19:18
Peter Collins
um
00:19:18
Bret
Get Will Anderson on the roster.
00:19:19
Peter Collins
yeah But that helps to have elite talent on the roster.
00:19:20
Bret
Yeah.
00:19:23
Peter Collins
What defense doesn't have elite talent on the roster is kind of my point. Defenses need to come with elite talent. We have Christian Gonzalez, Milton. We have that elite talent. We can execute those things like Seattle, like Texans. You just have to pick a lane and kind of stick to it.
00:19:37
Bret
Yeah, to me, i look at it and say for the offseason, I would prioritize on the edge because I think Jason's gone. um You know, I think we obviously talked Crosby. I would love Crosby, but I'm not going to trade away multiple ones to get him. So I don't think it's a realistic possibility.
00:19:57
Bret
ah But there could be some potential guys. We just need edge. So I agree. Draft edge, sign edge, never enough edge guys. And then after that, I think we've got to continue to look at that linebacker position because, to your point, Gibbons, I mean, we'll see what happens there.
00:20:11
Peter Collins
Thank you.
00:20:12
Bret
But we struggle from the linebacker position and coverage when we drop back. And you talk schematically disguising and maybe sending a DB off the corner edge for a blitz. Well, if you're doing that, you usually dropping a linebacker back in coverage to try and pick up on the hot route or pick up on, like, a quick slant or whatever.
00:20:28
Bret
And we don't really have that. And we'll see Spillane did a pretty effective job, but obviously with the injury that he had kind of hamstring him through the playoffs, he wasn't as effective there. i would like to see a little bit better with what we were able to do.
00:20:43
Bret
I thought Ellis could be potentially that guy. Cause he's pretty freaking fast, but he didn't really do that much ah from what I could tell. So that could be an area I could see them trying to find someone in the draft, but I would assume most of this offseason is going really predicated around the offense.
00:20:59
Bret
We still have way more holds on the offensive side. Last offseason, we spent heavily on the defensive side and invested heavily on the defensive side, less on the offense. This year, I think it's offensive side.
00:21:11
Bret
So, I mean, just to kind of spin it, what would be your like one through three priorities for the for like roster built going into like what is your priorities?
00:21:19
Savage Boston
well well let's let's do let's do offense first because probably people to hear about it more i think and and the fact that it is feels like huge need right so let's do offense first and i think there's there's so much here to How they're going to do this team and and especially with the offensive line.
00:21:39
Savage Boston
So we know O-line feels like priority number one, right? And you might have some people argue you need the number one weapon. That's actually priority one. But like, I think the majority of people would suggest that fixing your offensive line is number one.
00:21:50
Savage Boston
We want to build the team out through the inside out, right? O-line. then wide receiver weapon, then like ah a tight end weapon, I would say. I think your back room is fine right now. You could use a fullback, but they got that other kid, the Lampy or whatever, that's probably going to be on the team. Maybe he'll play fullback. Westover, we don't have a need for really.
00:22:11
Savage Boston
so ah but So for O-line, here's the problem. Like Nwenu, unless he retires, like he's still coming back and he's been fine. He's okay.
00:22:18
Peter Collins
Moen is not retiring.
00:22:19
Savage Boston
I mean, no, no, no. I mean, i'm Morgan Moses.
00:22:20
Peter Collins
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:22:21
Savage Boston
Morgan Moses.
00:22:21
Peter Collins
Yeah, I don't think he's retiring either, though.
00:22:21
Savage Boston
Okay. Yes, Nwenu's not retiring. Okay. Pardon that.
00:22:25
Peter Collins
28.
00:22:25
Savage Boston
ah However, when, who does have an interesting contract situation, which we can touch on if we want to hopefully restructure and extend his contract.
00:22:29
Peter Collins
They'll restructure.
00:22:33
Savage Boston
Cause he's in the last year at like a $25 million. Yeah.
00:22:36
Peter Collins
They can save 16 million on the cap if they restructure and turn it into a bonus.
00:22:38
Savage Boston
yeah
00:22:39
Peter Collins
It's a layup. They're going to do it.
00:22:40
Savage Boston
That feels very easy. feels like something they should absolutely do, but like, so, but this only, here's my point. This leaves like you've been can basically only change according to variable. Cause he's going to play. Will Campbell at left tackle.
00:22:54
Savage Boston
So you can basically only change left guard and center. That's what it feels like right now because Moses is going to be there. And when it's going to be there, Will Campbell's going left tackle. So if you can only change two of those positions, you can ask the first question is Jared Wilson going to keep being a starter, right look at stern gets better
00:23:10
Peter Collins
No. Well, not not left guard. Center.
00:23:13
Savage Boston
right?
00:23:13
Peter Collins
Center.
00:23:13
Savage Boston
Like you bump Jared Wilson to center and say, okay, bet Bradbury, thank you.
00:23:14
Peter Collins
Yep.
00:23:17
Savage Boston
Like we're going to, we're going to release you and we're going to roll with the, the youth or keep him if you want.
00:23:20
Peter Collins
Keep him. Why not? You could. Yeah.
00:23:22
Savage Boston
He might not want to. He might want to go play for your own, right?
00:23:23
Peter Collins
He might not want that. Yeah. Yeah.
00:23:25
Savage Boston
But you or you look whatever. So let's say you started with Jared Wilson's your starting center. So, okay, that leaves one slot to really upgrade. And is just signing a new left guard enough of an upgrade for you to feel confident in this offensive line?
00:23:42
Peter Collins
That's two upgrades.
00:23:44
Savage Boston
if you But do you really count Jared Wilson as that big of an upgrade now?
00:23:44
Peter Collins
Because
00:23:47
Peter Collins
moving him to his natural position is upgrading his talent, in my opinion. So that would be a half an upgrade. I would say one and a half upgrades if we're being fair.
00:23:54
Savage Boston
But we got to see. It's like he hasn't done it yet, right? So we just got to see. It's more like I don't know. ah we could get We could get there and Will Campbell could be shit all summer at left tackle and people could be fucking beating the drum all offseason like move move him.
00:24:00
Peter Collins
Yeah.
00:24:08
Peter Collins
They already are, man.
00:24:10
Savage Boston
move right so and it's going to be aggressive it's going to you know that's that's how it's i know how people are that's how it's going to be all summer anything he does shitty he's going to hear about it and that's how this goes right but as of right now brable's committed him a left tackle so you know i i just yeah i'll pete i'll throw it to you is that if you really feel like you're having a true upgrade just at left guard is that enough for you on offensive line
00:24:34
Peter Collins
I mean, ah to be seen. And I don't think that's all I would do, though. like So shameless plug. I wrote an article today as Will Campbell, a left tackle or left guard. And I outlined the pros of why he could be a guard and why he could be a tackle. Ultimately, I land on he's a left tackle. The coach says it. His peers say it.
00:24:51
Peter Collins
Dante Skarnickia says it. That's enough for me to call him a left tackle, right? So you move Wilson and inside to center in his natural position. That's upgrade number one. Then you add a veteran.
00:25:02
Peter Collins
Key word here, veteran, as the left guard. Not draft. You don't have three rookies from center, left guard, to left tackle. That's a disaster. You put a veteran stabilizer. in between two second-year players in Campbell and Wilson, right?
00:25:15
Peter Collins
So what what what did Wilson struggle on? What did Wilson and Campbell, frankly, struggle on? Communication, stunts, picking, you know, all the things that we saw on tape all year long. You put a veteran next to both of them, and that helps both of them.
00:25:27
Savage Boston
Thank you.
00:25:28
Peter Collins
Also, with Wilson at center, he now has Anwenu to his right side, right? A veteran stabilizer piece. The other thing I would do that I think is key, that would be the up the unseen upgrade, would would be add a swing tackle that is better suited for a right tackle, but threatens Will Campbell at training camp, his snaps and his reps. I want Will Campbell to come into camp going, coach said I'm the left tackle, but looking at how this offseason went, I think they're preparing if I don't work out and and moat and light that fire under his ass, because I think Will Campbell's the type of person who gets a fire lit under his ass and motivates him, as opposed to some people
00:26:07
Peter Collins
get dejected if you start lighting fires under their ass. So I think Will Campbell needs to ah have a fire lit under his ass so that he elevates his game. The veteran comes into left guard. That elevates the entire offensive line. Wilson goes to center. That elevates his game play. And then you just run it back with on Wenowin Moses because, frankly, they were fine on the right-hand side of your line. I don't have complaints with them. But the reason you bring in that swing tackle is Moses could retire at the end of 2026. He could get hurt miss significant time. He's old. So you got to start planning for the future there. So I think planning for the future while while using it as a backup plan in 2026 would be the way to go. But I just don't agree to move him at guard. Left tackle is too much of a coveted position to give up this quickly.
00:26:51
Savage Boston
what do you What do you think about the line, Brett?
00:26:54
Bret
I tend to go draft with the guard. um I think you could probably get a really solid guard depending obviously how things shake. I just think that's probably where you're going to get a good spot to make a draft pick and get a solidified guy.
00:27:09
Savage Boston
But is it enough of an upgrade, though?
00:27:09
Bret
select wash up
00:27:11
Savage Boston
Like, is that enough of an upgrade for you? After watching that postseason...
00:27:15
Bret
i mean, the the reality is, is like Jared Wilson was not good all year at left guard. Like he was always a problem at left.
00:27:23
Peter Collins
At one point, he was the worst lineman, in my opinion, the entire NFL. That was starting.
00:27:27
Bret
Like it was, it was non-existent.
00:27:27
Savage Boston
Yeah, he had a tough go.
00:27:30
Bret
So, you know, Pete talk about like, do we really know if he can play center? I don't know. And I'm a little bit skeptical on that. So that's why I'd say draft.
00:27:41
Bret
And then i would say you can get some guys in free agency that could be kind of a plug or move through. She may not be like plugging the rookie in, but I wouldn't do like a crazy investment in the left guard or looking at a right tackle.
00:27:54
Bret
I'm okay. Getting a guy, that's just a veteran guy like a Morgan Moses where you can find them towards a lot of part of his year or Bradbury where they can kind of plug in, fill in some time while you build it up from there.
00:28:08
Bret
um I just think you got to keep building through the draft. And that's another position that I look at and say, it's a key spot that I would like to see them go. I also think we need to get a tight end that can block.
00:28:22
Bret
You know, we talked about Hooper. Henry also was not good at blocking. He's showing his age and he struggled with catching the ball down the stretch. And yeah.
00:28:31
Savage Boston
The postseason was bad for him.
00:28:32
Bret
And then, you know, you, you look and you're like, well, okay, maybe we can throw West over in or whatever. No, me to me,
00:28:38
Peter Collins
Oh God, no.
00:28:41
Bret
We got to get that tight end that we can go through and actually set, you know, help set on there. We don't need to go jumbo and bring in an extra tackle. Let's just use a fucking tight end that knows how to set a block or, and then potentially runs the risk of going out and running a route because, know, When we send Mumford out and we're going jumbo set, they're like, well, he's not going anywhere. But if we put a tight end out there that can actually throw a block on an edge guy, then we could be doing something. So I'd rather us like get a guard, find some serviceable veterans, but nothing like breaking the bank because I'd like to invest our cash dollars elsewhere and get a tight end.
00:29:22
Bret
And that could be an area where from a cash end, I'd rather invest in a good tight end than invest in a guard.
00:29:22
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:29:28
Savage Boston
Well, I kind of like, I mean, I'm interested to see what leaks out soon. Cause after probably about the combine, I think you'll get some articles, some leaks from people talking to people at the combine, like what the Patriots actually want to do from the inside.
00:29:40
Savage Boston
And that'll be nice when we get some actual like reporting and information. of yeah the rats we to We'll see how much, cause a couple of years ago with Mayo, there was a lot of chat and what they're going to be doing.
00:29:44
Peter Collins
The rats, as Vrabel refers to them as.
00:29:52
Savage Boston
And Lesko, their regime was rats on the ship, dude.
00:29:53
Peter Collins
male regime should not be referred to anymore. it' just irrelevant to everything.
00:29:57
Bret
ah Agreed.
00:29:58
Savage Boston
That was that was rough. They had a lot of rats. um But, like, I kind of – so you mentioned the idea. I kind of like the idea. First, I would sign a a free agent left guard, like Elijah Veritaka I've mentioned multiple times just because he was a stud.
00:30:10
Peter Collins
You love him.
00:30:12
Savage Boston
He was just a stud. He just got hurt. He, like, tore his tricep.
00:30:14
Peter Collins
like The counter is he never plays because he's hurt, right? But that
00:30:16
Savage Boston
Yeah. So you take a risk.
Draft Prospects & Strategy
00:30:18
Savage Boston
You know what mean? Yeah.
00:30:18
Peter Collins
I think it's a good high risk or low risk, high reward.
00:30:22
Peter Collins
He's one of the people I listed as a high upside gamble.
00:30:25
Savage Boston
Yeah, and then there's that dude from, what, the Bills? I forget his name. Kid from the Steelers.
00:30:28
Peter Collins
David Edwards, is that the right guy?
00:30:30
Savage Boston
Yeah, Dan.
00:30:30
Peter Collins
that who you're thinking of?
00:30:31
Savage Boston
I forget. There's there's two others.
00:30:32
Bret
McGovern?
00:30:33
Savage Boston
There's one from the Steelers, one from the Bills. Anyway, like you should be able to find a veteran that you plug there. That's all i'm saying. Like that shouldn't be too bad for me.
00:30:39
Peter Collins
They're out there.
00:30:40
Savage Boston
Like get a sign of sign of fucking guard is a guard.
00:30:40
Bret
Yeah.
00:30:43
Savage Boston
And like you need someone who's a good player, not a medium, but like a good guard who can communicate, who's a veteran. Okay. Then I really do like the idea of drafting or bringing in, as you said, you said like a swing tackle. Like I'm cool. if There's a few tackles in this draft that might fall to you at the end of the first round if you don't trade that pick.
00:31:03
Savage Boston
It could be like Caden Proctor, Caleb Lomu, Monroe Freeling, Blake Miller. like These are all tackle prospects that you could even say, if you draft one to compete with Will Campbell, like Monroe Freeling could be better at tackle than Will Campbell.
00:31:19
Savage Boston
You don't know that?
00:31:19
Peter Collins
What if they're both really good though? do you get stuck not playing a really good tackle?
00:31:22
Savage Boston
Well, then – no, no. What what you do in that in that regard is you have him sit right behind Morgan Moses right there and be like, hey, Morgan.
00:31:28
Peter Collins
The Drake May? The Drake May behind Brissette phenomenon?
00:31:30
Savage Boston
And like – like ah you know – because you know Morgan's not – it's going tough for him to hold out.
00:31:33
Peter Collins
You get better by watching?
00:31:37
Savage Boston
You train him. You sit him. Or even like you could even bump him to guard. You know, if if you don't sign that veteran guard and you don't have a good answer, you draft the tackle. You can even push the tackle down a guard.
00:31:48
Savage Boston
So you have Campbell and Caden Brock.
00:31:50
Peter Collins
we're getting real maddeny here, though.
00:31:50
Savage Boston
Yeah. fuck around with it.
00:31:52
Bret
mosness Moses would be such a huge fucking guard. This guy is so big.
00:31:56
Savage Boston
Yeah, not mos not Moses.
00:31:57
Peter Collins
think that was your suggestion, right, Moses, to guard?
00:31:59
Savage Boston
No, not Moses.
00:32:00
Peter Collins
But the person you draft, if they if they were very good enough that they had a start and they had a potential to play guard, yeah, that could...
00:32:00
Savage Boston
But yeah. but Yeah. like
00:32:08
Peter Collins
I like i like Brett's idea of of drafting a guard, too, but I think you need to sign a veteran and draft a guard.
00:32:10
Savage Boston
yeah
00:32:14
Peter Collins
like Both should happen.
00:32:14
Bret
Mm-hmm.
00:32:14
Savage Boston
You got you gotta to send him, but but let's let's talk about the elephant room for just like one second. just We'll spend like one minute on it with the Will Campbell tackle guard scenario. I just think like they're not going – Vrabel is clearly going play him at left tackle, and I'm not debating the merits of this and that. I'm just saying like that's where he's going to be this year.
00:32:32
Savage Boston
But, man, it would just solve problems, I feel like, if he was just – if you bumped him to guard and he was like a nasty guard –
00:32:40
Peter Collins
It creates a problem.
00:32:42
Savage Boston
And then you you basically have to – well, this is why he's not going to do it. There's no answer at left tackle. Like there's – Yeah, yeah.
00:32:47
Peter Collins
That's why it creates a problem. Would you ever have a problem at left guard or a problem at left tackle? I'd rather have my problem at left guard.
00:32:51
Savage Boston
But then you you have to sign and improve at the left tackle position. But I think they put themselves in a pickle where – you I think Campbell has given you, gave you really serviceable tackle play the majority of the year, as we all agree with.
00:33:04
Peter Collins
yeah
00:33:06
Savage Boston
Anytime you went against elite talent or long arm guys that can bull rush, he got fucking wrecked. And part of it was ah after his injury, which again, the options are if he was still hurt, he shouldn't have been playing.
00:33:18
Savage Boston
You know, low should have been in there. He shouldn't have been in the game. Like, I don't, like if he's hurt, they shouldn't have played him. And he said, he's not.
00:33:25
Peter Collins
He said he was hurt. he said it He said it was hurt, but he's not using as an excuse. Why say you're hurt if you're not using as an excuse?
00:33:31
Savage Boston
but To be honest, I think that's that's that's a good point. It's not just like a Felger and Maas point. like That's a real point. like If you were hurt and you didn't have power in your knee, you should not have been playing because borderline a parking cone could have given you more at left tackle in the Super Bowl than he did. And like, cause maybe they would have tripped over the parking cone and I'm not even trying to be a fucking dick.
00:33:53
Savage Boston
I'm sure he's not going to listen to this, but it was a horrific performance. So clearly something's wrong. And everyone said, Oh, technique. Oh, this, like, I just think it's maybe his knee was fucked up.
00:34:03
Savage Boston
And then that's on the coaching staff.
00:34:05
Peter Collins
That's on the coach. That's what I'm getting.
00:34:05
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:34:06
Peter Collins
Yeah. Yep.
00:34:07
Savage Boston
So not, you know, we don't have to rant.
00:34:07
Bret
Yeah. so
00:34:09
Savage Boston
We'll be talking about all off season, but there was a fucking problem with how that all went down and you cannot come in in the Superbowl, get knocked on your ass multiple times and get bull rush like that.
00:34:22
Savage Boston
It just was appalling. Anyway.
00:34:25
Bret
I'm going to jump in on what Pete said though, because moving him to left guard just creates a problem. And that's the thing that pisses me off so much is people are just so quick to jump in and say, Oh, we can just put the Darian low at left tackle and move him to guard.
00:34:38
Bret
We'd be better suited.
00:34:39
Savage Boston
no no he he's no
00:34:39
Bret
That's a flat out. No, that's, And that is one of those things where you're being so short-sighted, you're not remembering the shit show that was last year.
00:34:43
Peter Collins
Wrong.
00:34:50
Bret
And again, Campbell, by and large, in its totality, had a very effective rookie left tackle year. And yes, there is technique to go with it.
00:35:00
Bret
There's also the level of experience. Like, he's going against guys that he's never gone against. And when it comes to the offense versus the defense – the The defense is the one moving around. The offense is trying to react to what they're doing when he's trying to do pass pro. And you're not going to pick up on these guys' techniques until you start to play them. There's only so much you're going to get away with film before it's like, hey, I just got to get in there and play with them.
00:35:25
Bret
And you talk to all the guys that are veteran left tackles. Like, other than the Hall of Famers that came out from, like, the beginnings, and you're like, oh, this is a Joe Thomas of the world. Like, Those guys had to learn how to play offensive tackle against these elite-level defensive end guys. So to me, i look at it and say, Campbell earned another year, and I'm annoyed by the amount of people that still are beating the drum saying, we got to move him in into left guard. Like, that's a viable option because then the follow-up is, okay, well, what the fuck are you going to do at left tackle? And please don't start with Vidarian Lowe.
00:36:00
Savage Boston
Yeah, no, i I totally hear your point, and I think that's very true. There's no good option to left tackle, and it creates a massive hole. So you basically do have to play him there unless you had an answer, and there's no good free agent answer either. So there's basically like no – there's like the Packers tackle who apparently can't run block. Like there's – you know what i mean? Like I'm cool with running Campbell over signing a free agent you don't really believe in.
00:36:22
Savage Boston
um You know, I just think – we just we'll see what happens it's going to be the talking point for this whole next year and i hope i hope i'm wrong and i hope other critics are wrong and that i think he's built like a guard and he would be a tremendous guard and i hope he's good at left tackle i just i hope i'm wrong because the problem is you've created real a real issue for yourself spending that pick like people would have been right to trade down and take multiple picks or trade down and get Membu or whatever the fuck people said. Like, it just, it would be a tough use of that fourth overall pick if he doesn't translate into at least a good tackle.
00:37:04
Bret
So to me, it's a um moot point. I don't think it's even worth discussing because like we said at the top, Vrabel already said where it's going to go. So we're good. I think the interesting conversation is the wide receiver position and a lot of talk about who's available, who's on the trade block,
Wide Receiver Acquisitions & Offensive Enhancements
00:37:19
Bret
stuff like that. What are you guys' thoughts on the wide receivers? Because that's another area where we could potentially either get through trade or free agency.
00:37:26
Bret
Like who would be your number one guy to target? Because I think we all agree we should target someone and in either trade or free agency.
00:37:34
Savage Boston
Pete, you go for it.
00:37:35
Peter Collins
yeah I think you definitely need to add to the wide receiver room. And I think it all comes down to how you're going to handle the Diggs contract too. is like Is he a wide receiver in the room or is he not a wide receiver in the room? The $26 million dollars cap hit is not something you're going to carry into 2026. So you've got to figure a post-June restructures on the table or just a flat-out cut could be potentially on the table. Trade with Diggs involved is definitely not on the table unless some team wants to cut the line in free agency. if but I just don't see that happening. So you do need to acquire a wide receiver. um
00:38:05
Peter Collins
ah all the All the sexy names that get thrown out there, I'm in on them. These guys are proven commodities in the wide receiver. You're A.J. Browns, all the all the names that get tossed out there. Pickens. I'm in on all of them. I think all of them are are elite talents. I think Drake may needs like a go to guy. You saw digs slightly he disappear at times in the playoffs. um Hunter Henry, I thought was his second go to guy and he slightly disappeared in the playoffs. So you need someone who's going to show up in those big moments. Oddly enough, Hollins seemed like the guy that stood out to May, like willing to make the plays. He's huge. So I'm excited about running Hollins back next year with with ah you know an upgraded core. I like Booty.
00:38:48
Peter Collins
um I think Douglas has to go given his cap hit and limited production. And hopefully Kyle Williams takes a step up. So really how the coaching staff is evaluating the wide receivers progression, I think is important.
00:39:00
Peter Collins
But yeah, adding a big name wide receiver needs to be on the table. I wouldn't mind taking another flyer in the draft to just add another one that can either work out or not work out. It seems like. We have no luck in the draft.
00:39:11
Peter Collins
But I don't want to use history as a way to decide what we should do in the future.
00:39:12
Bret
I just want to get back to you.
00:39:16
Peter Collins
just because we haven't had luck drafting wide receivers doesn't mean our future success is dependent on that at all. So keep taking your shots at wide receiver. But you need to upgrade the rope.
00:39:25
Savage Boston
So I don't love, so wide receiver obviously is a massive need. I don't love drafting wide receiver. I know that it's so funny, dude. People are like immediately, I think Phil Perry's latest draft.
00:39:36
Savage Boston
had him taking like Casey Conception 31 overall. And he seems like a great name and he seems like a good ride receiver too.
00:39:40
Peter Collins
Awesome name, by the way.
00:39:44
Savage Boston
But like he had him slaughtered in as their wide receiver one. I saw today, I was like, wait, you're going to get a rookie and he's just magically, i was like,
00:39:51
Peter Collins
Some things are for impressions, though. We all know that, right?
00:39:53
Savage Boston
I was like, but I like Phil.
00:39:54
Peter Collins
For engagement. like that's not Come on now.
00:39:56
Savage Boston
phil I think Phil's good. Like, I like Phil.
00:39:57
Peter Collins
Feels excellent. Feels brilliant.
00:39:59
Savage Boston
I think he's a nice kid.
00:39:59
Peter Collins
Don't get me wrong.
00:40:00
Savage Boston
I was like, why are you, what? I was like, is that good? not And he had Diggs leaving the team. So was like, that your team's not improved. I'm going to screenshot it and put it out, but I was like, I don't want the people getting on that.
00:40:09
Peter Collins
The smoke. Yeah.
00:40:10
Bret
Thank
00:40:10
Savage Boston
So, but basically like, long story, yeah. So for the wide receiver room, here's what I want to have happen. And I'm now have doubts about it because of, contract timing but i think it was valid that they could trade for aj brown and i and i think there's not just because of brable's relationship with with brown and history there and the fact that he's requested trades they wanted to move him there's a report an hour ago from some i think philly guy that they want to keep him it's like who knows this is who knows but here's the problem they need to wait till after june 1
00:40:19
Peter Collins
you
00:40:43
Savage Boston
because his cap hit like the dead cap, there's a $20 million dollars difference by just waiting till after June one, when you trade him and by over the cap. And so the problem is if you don't like the, you're not going to trade him. So like that means you're just going to wait the whole spring on the hope that you can trade for AJ Brown.
00:41:03
Peter Collins
And that means you can't use this year's draft picks and you have to use next year's draft picks, which is a better draft.
00:41:03
Savage Boston
Cause correct. Correct. So it's like all sudden like, oh, okay, like that might not work. So um that was a little discouraging because I really thought AJ Brown would be good. People say like George Pickens. I just can't see that happening. I think Pickens is is excellent, but he's just – I don't know about the locker room fit, and um I just don't know if that's a guy Vrabel wants to bring in. But, yes, I think Pickens is supremely talented. Don't get me wrong. He was amazing this past year. So ultimately –
00:41:36
Savage Boston
you got restructure digs. I think I would bring in Alec Pierce. I think like, let's go Alec Pierce, dude. This kid gets crazy. His, his 20 yard ah reception. He's excellent deep ball guy. He's not a true amazing X where it's like, he can do it all, but could he be dynamic with Drake may? Yeah, I think he could.
00:41:57
Savage Boston
So that would be, but,
00:41:58
Peter Collins
Who comes off the field? who Who comes off the field if you have Alex Pierce?
00:42:03
Savage Boston
So my top four would be right now would be Pierce be like your ex, your one. I would restructure digs and you can play play him on the slot or the inside. And then um I would have booty maybe in like out at like flanker. I would have booty there. And then Matt Collins as your four. And then like everyone, then people go, what about Kyle Williams? Kyle Williams needs to earn his fucking role.
00:42:26
Peter Collins
Yeah.
00:42:26
Savage Boston
I don't like earn your role. People online just assume he's magically going to be this well-rounded. He did not have a good season.
00:42:35
Peter Collins
They want to see it. They want to see it. Remember last year with the Baker and the Polk? People want to see it.
00:42:39
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:42:40
Peter Collins
But sometimes when you see it, it looks like Polk and Baker, right? And then you go, oh, that's why i didn't that's why they didn't put it out there, right? And Kyle Williams at times looked like he was running the wrong route, so it's not on the same page as May, has struggled to get open.
00:42:48
Savage Boston
He didn't.
00:42:52
Savage Boston
yeah
00:42:53
Peter Collins
And then there was moments of brilliance. And you're like, whoa, put him out there. He's making 30-yard touchdown catches, right? So I think he needs to show it more consistently at practice, and the coaches will put him in at the right time. So everyone who's begging for him, just wait.
00:43:03
Savage Boston
so So if your top four is ah this has been Alec Pierce, Stephon Diggs, Kayshawn Booty, Matt Collins,
00:43:14
Savage Boston
To me, I like that group. To me, that's a really good group. I like that group. I'm more concerned still about how you really significantly improve the O-line. that That is like my opinion. If the O-line gets fixed, Drake May is going to find a way to win you football games, period. And I believe in Drake May improving.
00:43:30
Savage Boston
So like that to me, I think is a really, really good group. And then go sign fucking Chigakonkwo. from Tennessee as another weapon at tight end, right? Like, boom, let's get a more dynamic weapon at tight end. Anyway, so that would be kind of my, like, general approach the offense.
00:43:47
Peter Collins
Wide receiver, O-line, tight end. are your three.
00:43:49
Bret
would go I would go Pierce. I know we've talked about Snooty. He thinks it's a Ducal, like him and Booty essentially shared the same position on the X.
00:43:56
Peter Collins
They're exactly the same. Yeah, I was going to say that that they're exactly the same.
00:43:58
Bret
Yeah, I get that, but it doesn't mean they can't work opposite from each other and put Diggs and work him underneath. And Holland showed that he could work underneath. So if you're trying to flex him out or go like that, You can use those guys, just put them opposite or maybe have them cross up on the same side.
00:44:12
Bret
I think what we need to do is just try to find ways to stretch guys open because that was a real issue that we had. We just couldn't get open. So, yeah, I hear you. I'd love to show up the offensive line because that could help May on not feeling like he's all sped up and always under pressure because he was. But I also think we got to get some more guys open.
00:44:32
Bret
And as much as we loved what Booty was able to produce this past year and Diggs showed up and down flashes throughout the year, ah those guys struggled to really get truly open.
00:44:44
Bret
And I think if you potentially have a guy like Pierce going opposite with booty or just kind of alongside, it's going to help to stretch those safeties out.
00:44:52
Peter Collins
Thank
00:44:53
Bret
They're going to to figure out where they're going to go and how it's going to do. And if you can pull those guys off, now things open up underneath and then you could potentially have a tight end get spots or digs be where he truly is at this point, which is an inside the line slot guy in the numbers.
00:45:07
Bret
Cause that's where he had the most amount of productions. It was pretty much on those, you know, 10 yard digs or like those quick slant i routes. He wasn't doing anything big, long, I think a guy like Pierce is reasonable.
00:45:19
Bret
I think everyone else on the availability, you know, Tyree killed. No Mike Evans. No, I think Pickens not likely. think AJ Brown, not likely.
00:45:31
Bret
I just think when you look at the overall landscape of available wide receivers, he'd be a guy I'd go for. I don't think a guy like Shahid is going to get out of Seattle. I don't think they let him go. He'd be another guy.
00:45:41
Bret
I'd be interested if they did. But I don't. So I do think Pierce with the contract situation that he's going into because he's going to earn a higher salary. Indy probably can't pay him that salary. So he's likely going to hit the market for us.
00:45:55
Bret
He's a guy i would circle.
00:45:57
Savage Boston
Yeah, I think this is like, there's a lot of elements to this. It's be interesting who they actually sign an offense. But um I do, I feel like they're really missing. I said this the other day, too. They're missing a good yak wide receiver with having digs led your team in yak with like 300 yards, him and like Hunter Henry.
00:46:16
Savage Boston
Basically, they don't have and Drake may gets all the yards.
00:46:17
Peter Collins
Thank you.
00:46:19
Savage Boston
like throwing through the air, like it's all through the air yards. Like they don't have a yak guy. It should have been pop Douglas and he just, and and he's been a good deep thread and he's done a couple things well, but like just never translated quite how you wanted.
00:46:25
Bret
Anderson.
00:46:32
Savage Boston
Like there hasn't been a true great yak guy since like Julian Edelman. Like you need someone to get yak. You need someone to make a play for you. Like if you do a slip screen, like my home's whole offense for four years has been throwing screens.
00:46:46
Savage Boston
Like he is like, he hasn't, like It's just been like orchestration and the scheme and like having guys make plays after the catch. And you need that. And they didn't have that against Seattle.
00:46:57
Savage Boston
They couldn't do a screen. They couldn't maintain a drive.
00:47:00
Peter Collins
Stevenson was their best bet. Stevenson led all receivers in the postseason in Yak. So, I mean, Stevenson had an excellent post-buy. From coming out of the buy through the Super Bowl, he was tremendous.
00:47:09
Savage Boston
Yeah, he was tremendous. Yeah. yeah He was. He great.
00:47:13
Peter Collins
But that's also a problem when you're when you're highlighting your running back as yeah as your Yak god on your team.
00:47:13
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:47:19
Peter Collins
Yeah, approving... the playmaking ability of the wide receivers is because if you throw it to booty he's pretty much getting tackled on the spot right not many of these guys are able to catch the ball and do something with it even digs was ah mainly an underneath zone beater right we saw him then take it and turn up field every once in a while but yeah i agree with you the wide receiver should provide that alex pierce is a deep guy doesn't provide any of that though So if we're going to line it up with our discussion, you don't want Alex Pierce if you want a yak guy, right?
00:47:47
Peter Collins
Like you want somebody else. So I think you do have to take a good look at the free agent list before you start going. of course, you're going to start the top of the list. The top of the list has your pickings, your your pierces, your Tyree kills.
00:47:59
Peter Collins
But let's you know move down the list a little bit sometimes and you can find some gems. had a much better, like Romeo Dobbs is out there. You know, like, could he be a little underneath replacement from an improvement on Pop Douglas, so to speak, right?
00:48:12
Peter Collins
So I think scrolling that list and figuring out who's worked with Vrabel before might be the map to who's going to come here. Vrabel loves bringing in known commodities. So like who's who's been on the Browns and who's been on the Titans?
00:48:25
Peter Collins
That's a free agent. I haven't done that work yet, but I'm sure there's somebody and I'm sure that's who we bring in.
00:48:28
Savage Boston
well didn't didn't brable draft chaga conqua
00:48:31
Peter Collins
There you go. That's exactly who they'll bring in, at least for a conversation.
00:48:34
Savage Boston
That's why I mentioned Chica, who, by the way, is is quite had a good season. He's quite dynamic. He ran like a 4-5-40, smaller tight end, but McDaniels could use him like fucking Aaron Hernandez, you know, in like that that very athletic role.
00:48:46
Peter Collins
Van Jefferson, is he was he with them? Oh,
00:48:49
Savage Boston
i ah might Someone said Michael Pittman might end up getting getting free.
00:48:52
Peter Collins
that's an interesting name.
00:48:53
Bret
I doubt that.
00:48:53
Savage Boston
Interesting name, right? there's But there's a bunch of names like that. There are mid-tier names. You just need guys – that compliment each other too. And I do think like maybe booty and Alec Pierce are, are a little redundant.
00:49:04
Peter Collins
They are.
00:49:04
Savage Boston
um And that's, that's tough. You know, you can't, how many guys you have to just like run straight, catch a ball and fall down.
00:49:10
Peter Collins
Those two.
00:49:10
Savage Boston
And like, you need guys.
00:49:11
Peter Collins
but Literally the top two in the league.
00:49:11
Savage Boston
and
00:49:13
Peter Collins
Those two.
00:49:14
Savage Boston
Like, like we need guys, we need guys to do more. Like I watched highlights of you in Pickens last year. and I was like, this dude is dynamic. Like I was surprised how dynamic Pickens was.
00:49:26
Savage Boston
And like, then you watch AJ Brown and you're like, this guy's a monster. Like there's some, there's people that are monsters at this position and we just haven't had them in a while. And I, and, and I think, i think again, the philosophy is you, you could have an elite number one. Do you need an elite number one? No, like you need a good crew and you need solid tight ends and you need a really good old line.
00:49:50
Savage Boston
And that is what I'm back to. And I'll end the pod soon because otherwise we'll just keep going forever tonight. And i don't want it to go too long. Cause we have lots to talk to this about this off season, but. Long story short, you need – you've got find way to significantly improve the O-line. And maybe Campbell beefs up, gets healthy, and truly has a much, much better season.
00:50:11
Savage Boston
Get that veteran left guard, solid right side, Wilson at center, and all sudden, bang, you you have enough time for May to make it happen.
Predictions & Off-Season Speculations
00:50:19
Savage Boston
And then I think your offense can function at a pretty high level again.
00:50:22
Savage Boston
The problem, again, is when it gets tight and you get to the postseason and you're playing tough defenses, confusing defenses – How do you respond? And I think we talked about it. The offense was really not good enough the entire postseason between playing the Chargers, the Broncos, even against the really dynamic Texans. Like they did enough, but it's because that they still punted eight times against the Texans.
00:50:47
Savage Boston
They, by and large, had a pretty rough game. They just they made enough plays to win in the end. So like the offense all postseason really struggled. So they really did. I mean, go look as again, the EPA per play, you know, like the whole, it's, it's not good.
00:51:01
Savage Boston
So.
00:51:01
Peter Collins
Pick a stat. Pick any stat that's on offense.
00:51:02
Savage Boston
background in their report
00:51:04
Peter Collins
They did worse in the playoffs. Almost guarantee it...........................................
00:51:05
Savage Boston
So I expected more from Josh McDaniels, period. I expected more. I expected more creativity, more wrinkles. And don't want to keep going on about it. Just let's we'll move forward. But um but I'd say any we'll end it in a minute. When do you guys give me what's your what's your one big splash prediction? Give me one. Like, what's your big one? Pete, you start. What's your big splash prediction?
00:51:26
Savage Boston
One thing, one move.
00:51:26
Peter Collins
ive big splash prediction ah i See, I don't think they make a big splash, I'll start there. But if i since gun to my head, they trade for a wide receiver one that everyone's pleased with.
00:51:37
Savage Boston
Okay. Very good. Brett, what do you got Big splash.
00:51:43
Savage Boston
What are they going to do?
00:51:44
Peter Collins
You got to prepare us for this.
00:51:45
Savage Boston
No, I can't say it's going to be enough.
00:51:46
Bret
I know.
00:51:46
Peter Collins
for those know This is on the spot.
00:51:46
Bret
Let
00:51:48
Peter Collins
This is hard.
00:51:49
Bret
let me just put it. Yeah, I agree. We don't splash. I mean, i was shocked we got Milton Williams.
00:51:54
Savage Boston
You guys big splash move is both. No splashes. You're like, what's your splash?
00:51:57
Peter Collins
Whoa, that's how you cop out of an answer right there.
00:51:57
Bret
No splash. We're just...
00:52:01
Savage Boston
splashes.
00:52:01
Bret
thisly This is how you know you're a New England, Boston sports fan.
00:52:06
Peter Collins
ah
00:52:06
Bret
We are not splashy. um I mean, Milton Williams came out of freaking, like, the clouds.
00:52:11
Savage Boston
That
00:52:13
Bret
We were like, holy fuck, we signed Milton Williams. ah
00:52:16
Savage Boston
was great.
00:52:17
Bret
I mean, i I think swinging big, I think it's going wide receiver, too. No.
00:52:24
Peter Collins
It's the only sexy addition.
00:52:24
Bret
Oh,
00:52:25
Peter Collins
If we add a big name safety, a big name linebacker, a tight end two or no line, you're going like, huh?
00:52:28
Bret
um huge big name guard. A big name guard.
00:52:31
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:52:31
Peter Collins
Huh? That's how it's going to fit.
00:52:32
Bret
Everyone's going to like, who?
00:52:33
Peter Collins
Yeah. Yeah.
00:52:34
Bret
Like, everyone's like, oh, you you got Edwards from the Bills.
00:52:34
Peter Collins
if you But.
00:52:34
Savage Boston
Thanks so much, God.
00:52:36
Bret
And we're like, that's fucking amazing. And people like, I don't even know what that means.
00:52:39
Savage Boston
Let's go. Let's go.
00:52:40
Peter Collins
Us three are amped about it, but nobody else is going to care as much about the guard.
00:52:41
Savage Boston
Let's go. All right. Yeah, yeah.
00:52:43
Peter Collins
So the big splash has to be wide receiver. It kind of feels like I just don't know if that's going happen.
00:52:48
Bret
Either that or tight end. I mean, i don't I don't know if there's anyone splashy. I know like some people floated out out like pits like pits as a guy for a tight end potentially.
00:52:53
Peter Collins
No splashy.
00:52:57
Bret
See what happens. I think that would be not fitting on what we're trying to do because I just don't think he's – he'll be blocking or whatever.
00:53:03
Savage Boston
he'll He'll just be, he'll be tagged. You know, the problem is like, the problem is dude, there's too much money in the league now. So everyone, good players get tagged. Good. Like it's rare that good players truly get released unless their teams just want to be done with them.
00:53:15
Savage Boston
Cause you have options now.
00:53:15
Bret
Yeah.
00:53:16
Savage Boston
And it's like, it's, it's hard to deal with. So like, you know, they they're even talking about they might franchise tag like Trey Hendrickson again. You imagine being Trey Hendrickson. I know you're getting paid a lot per year, but like the dude just wants to get out of there so badly and the Bengals won't fucking let him leave.
00:53:33
Savage Boston
They won't, even though he's been hurt, like he's just like, let me go. And they won't.
00:53:37
Peter Collins
Return on investment.
00:53:37
Bret
I'm glad
00:53:38
Peter Collins
I don't blame them. Get something for all of your, this is a business.
00:53:39
Savage Boston
That's true.
00:53:42
Peter Collins
This isn't a charity. This isn't friendship. If you have a, if you have a commodity or like ah something that is in your possession, you don't just give it away because you feel sorry for the commodity, right?
00:53:44
Savage Boston
That's true.
00:53:46
Bret
it looks really bad.
00:53:52
Peter Collins
Like you get something back for it, even if it's a diminished return, but and I don't expect anybody to give anything away in the NFL.
00:53:56
Savage Boston
i who yes it No, but I would say, okay, so in my big splash, I'll just, I would have absolutely said, my own question, I would say like ah probably a trade for AJ Brown, I think would be would be the a real splash.
00:54:03
Peter Collins
Yeah. You have to answer your own question. Yeah. What's your splash? Okay. You stole my answer. That's fine.
00:54:11
Savage Boston
And maybe they just waited out and I planned on doing that. That'd be my splash. But if not, I would say like they they go lock up Alec Pierce. So anyway, that's, you know, do something sexy because the rest of it's going to be like mediocre, mid-level tier shit.
00:54:24
Peter Collins
Moving cap space around with Unwenu could be the sexiest thing that happens.
00:54:24
Savage Boston
everyone's going be like,
00:54:27
Savage Boston
Yeah, the sexiest is restructure.
00:54:28
Peter Collins
A post-June 1 restructure of digs could be the sexiest thing that happens. That's what we're talking about here.
00:54:34
Savage Boston
Yeah, they the a do need to restructure them. All right, guys, we're going to end it now or else we'll keep on going. i appreciate your time. We'll catch you next time. Pete, don't sign off yet.
00:54:43
Peter Collins
I will not.
00:54:44
Savage Boston
Okay, peace.
00:54:45
Bret
Peace.