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EPISODE 43 - THE PATRIOTS ARE BACK. FOOTBALL SEASON. Training camp preview!
309 Plays1 month ago
Patriots training camp!
Diggs is healthy and playing
How will the WR room shake out? Chism?
Still time to add a player? Mclaurin? Hendrickson? an O lineman??
Enjoy!
Recommended
Transcript
Excitement for Patriots Season
00:00:00
Savage Boston
All right, guys, welcome back to the Savage Boston podcast. We are here. it is Tuesday night, July 22nd, 2025. And we are the night.
00:00:11
Savage Boston
This is like Camp Eve, right before it's all getting started. And we finally, i would say we officially made it to Patriot season.
00:00:15
Bret
Thank
00:00:19
Savage Boston
And and for people that are a little sick of... ah Maybe you were psyched with the Red Sox 10 game win streak. Maybe you don't like watching them, whatever you're tired of it. It's time. You can actually finally sink your teeth into actual football and watching camp, which I assume most people listen to this podcast are Patriots fans
Stefan Diggs' Recovery and Influence
00:00:36
Savage Boston
for the most part. um,
00:00:37
Savage Boston
I'm excited. I'm ready to go. we find that I'm Scott with Savage Boston Sports. We're here tonight. Back with us is Snooty. Snooty from Twitter. um He's here. he was on vacation for a while, enjoying his time. Happy to be back. And Brett, our buddy Brett, is here.
00:00:54
Savage Boston
So, yeah, we're all locked and loaded, ready to go, ready for the full season. um First topic tonight, obviously, is, you know, the news that Stefan Diggs was not on pop, which I think was ah huge, huge news and really surprising, actually, considering that he is, I think, not even.
00:01:15
Savage Boston
eight months post ACL surgery. Like he's just about eight months post, which is, I know like Adrian Peterson played six months post, but this is really shocking for a guy at his age, at his position, the amount of cutting he's doing. So think it's a testament to his, his strength and his work ethic. So why don't we kick it off with whoever wants to take it snooty or Brett and wants to go first, but give me your thoughts on digs and kind of his, his, his, ah his health status.
00:01:42
Snooty
I mean, it's a tremendous sign for the season going forward, at least to start with camp, right? Like you get all those weeks in camp in the, in the preseason to work on timing and get, kind of get a repertoire, some chemistry with, uh, with may.
00:01:54
Snooty
Um, I think he was obviously financially motivated. He doesn't get his bonus until he, until he, you know, pass passes his physical.
00:02:01
Savage Boston
12 million?
00:02:03
Snooty
i I mean, I would do a lot to come back to get 12 million. Um, But I think part of that, I mean, I think Vrabel said it today, it does speak volumes about his, you know, his work ethic and his his ability or desire to work, um you know, and get better. And i hopefully hopefully he's an adult in the room um to, you know, get Kyle Williams and maybe Polk or maybe, um you know, somebody, maybe Booty, get them on track and maybe...
00:02:31
Snooty
optimize them as much as possible, I guess.
00:02:33
Savage Boston
Thank you.
00:02:33
Snooty
I don't know. I mean, I'm not overly thrilled with a lot of the young guys. Obviously, Kyle Williams is a little different, but, um you know, it's obviously a great sign. It's great news coming in first day of camp for right about the first day of camp.
00:02:45
Bret
Yeah, I mean, it's trending in the right direction, obviously. We wanted to see this guy get himself ready. um And, yeah, we'll see what he's like with from a leader standpoint. We talked a little bit about a few podcasts ago about him just working with the teams, like, away from offseason, away from minicamps, and just getting QB wide receiver drill. What was it? Him born in May on that picture doing a workout together. So,
00:03:10
Bret
Yeah, it's it's good to see him kind of falling in line there. i mean, look, at the end of the day, he is our most explosive and best offensive weapon at 31 years old coming off an ACL injury. So, you know, we we want to see what we get from the guy. And hopefully he helps kind of slot some of the other wide receivers to put them in a better position because,
00:03:34
Bret
you know Prior to him coming on, I would say we probably had like a group of three and four you know ranked wide receivers on normal teams.
Patriots' Wide Receiver Expectations
00:03:43
Bret
so We'll see how this plays out. Good signs, but we'll see where he's at in actual camp. This just means that he can participate more. It doesn't necessarily mean like week one he's ready to go.
00:03:55
Savage Boston
I mean, I just, I think if he, honestly, I think if he wasn't ready to go at all, he would just be on the pop. Like I'm so, I'm actually really surprised because he's going to be like a full participant. They're basically saying, which is even more shocking. Like he could have the next, how many, what 40 plus days to recover over a month, more of recovery time if he needs it.
00:04:13
Bret
Mm-hmm.
00:04:15
Savage Boston
So to me, it's just, it's surprising. I mean, if he's knee, he looks awesome, you know, in his videos. um And I think like in OTAs, he looked, they said like, he looked kind of a step ahead.
00:04:27
Savage Boston
of Of the guys that we already have. I mean, like he's quicker than booty already. Like he's crisper than some of those guys. You know, he he looked fast already a month ago. So, um yeah, I think it's wild. And I think he's going to be, i would be, i would at this point be shocked if he doesn't play full 100% one. Shocked.
00:04:46
Savage Boston
shock
00:04:47
Snooty
I mean, they might have him on a bit of a pitch count in, you know, training camp. You know, obviously you don't want to overdo it, especially right away. But I don't think, I mean, he's I think he's going to practice without limitations for the most part.
00:04:59
Snooty
I mean, they you know, limit his reps a little bit, but I don't think he's going to be like not doing team activities or anything like that.
00:05:06
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:05:06
Bret
Yeah, I could see him on a pitch count week one. I don't... We'll see. I mean, this is the great part about tomorrow, right? We're finally going to get like actual visible like results on what we're doing and kind of build it up from there.
00:05:17
Savage Boston
Actual football.
00:05:19
Bret
And it's at a much more consistent trend now because they're they're in the offseason. We're going to see them go through this, then start to do like joint practices or get offseason games.
00:05:30
Bret
like There's so much more coming. And it's finally fucking here that we can actually... like
00:05:34
Savage Boston
Good.
00:05:35
Bret
build off of it rather than just speculate for months about like what we're seeing in instagram videos about his workout and like yeah it's great that he went out and did like a wide receiver thing with um you know may and the other crew but like none of us really saw like how much was he really working comparatively to the rest of them this one's going to give us a much better indication as to like how many reps is he getting what is it looking like and where does it it go from there I think, yes, they're going to protect him in some regards because he is a vet. like It's not like he needs a ton, but at the same time, he's in a new system with a new quarterback, and so they do need to kind of build that sort of chemistry.
00:06:17
Savage Boston
Now, do you think um you think that our fan base, the Patriots fan base, has just gotten accustomed to watching wide receivers that can't separate?
00:06:28
Savage Boston
you know and And I think like a lot of the fan base, so where I'm going with this, is there's a lot of people that fall in love, and we mentioned talked about a little last week, people fall in love with wide receivers that you would describe as again, i don't want to say like mediocre.
00:06:44
Savage Boston
They're all amazing athletes, right? But like guys that aren't top-tier players in this league, right? and Guys absolutely fall in love. Whether it is like Booty or
00:06:52
Bret
Thank you.
Patriots' Investment in Receivers
00:06:55
Savage Boston
you know Baker, who we can't even...
00:06:57
Savage Boston
get on the field, people are in love with him, or even Kendrick Bourne, who's had some success in the past, but like last year was not really a successful wide receiver. So I think our our standards at this point over the last bunch of years have gotten so low that having someone like Stephon Diggs come in, if he's 90% of who he was, 90%, he is absolutely your best wide receiver, bar none.
00:07:24
Savage Boston
And ah granted, i don't know what Kyle Williams is. We don't, I mean, I'm hope they say he's the man beater. He can get by, he's going to play X. He can get by people. And that'd be awesome if he is, but like, you know, have we gotten, we're not, I would say we're not complacent, but are we just used to watching shitty wide receivers at this point?
00:07:44
Snooty
I think it's a combination of the last few years. Yeah, I mean, they haven't drafted a legit wide receiver early.
00:07:51
Savage Boston
Sense.
00:07:54
Savage Boston
When's the last time they drafted a good, legit wide receiver in the first three rounds?
00:07:59
Snooty
i
00:08:00
Savage Boston
I've done this. I've done this out.
00:08:02
Bret
We've done this like so many times.
00:08:03
Snooty
Brant?
00:08:04
Bret
I would say Dion Branch probably.
00:08:05
Savage Boston
I think it was Deion Branch.
00:08:06
Bret
Yep.
00:08:06
Savage Boston
was like 2003.
00:08:07
Snooty
Because cause Malcolm Mitchell was fourth round.
00:08:07
Savage Boston
It was like, because that's, because Malcolm Mitchell, Edelman, like they were like later.
00:08:11
Snooty
Malcolm Mitchell was fourth round, I believe.
00:08:12
Bret
yeah
00:08:13
Savage Boston
Mitchell is fourth round.
00:08:14
Snooty
Yeah. So I think it's part of that. they If you think about it, the Patriots have never really had a stud outside wide receiver except for Randy Moss.
00:08:23
Savage Boston
Mm-hmm.
00:08:23
Snooty
They've gotten by with lesser people at that positions, you know, the Chris Hogan's of the world type, you know, players like that. um um But they've always had like, you know, stud running backs, the tight ends, you know, they, and obviously Brady who can make fucking anything go.
00:08:39
Bret
I was going to say, they have the greatest quarterback.
00:08:40
Snooty
Right.
00:08:40
Savage Boston
Yeah, it helps it helps having Tom orchestrate.
00:08:40
Snooty
No, no, but what I'm saying is... No, obviously, obviously. But, like...
00:08:45
Savage Boston
And Josh McDaniels. And Josh McDaniels.
00:08:46
Snooty
No, but but like but that was part of of design. They never really spent or hit, at least, investing at a at the draft at that position. That's part of it. The other part of it is they've had some dogshit receiver play for at least three or four years now. Basically, since Edelman went down, they really haven't had any receivers at all.
00:09:06
Snooty
Right? Like...
00:09:07
Savage Boston
That's why Brady left, dude. it' started he Brady saw it happening in real time in 2018, 2019. They
00:09:13
Snooty
they They're like, Nikhil Harry. You're like, great. here This is awesome. Love this.
00:09:16
Savage Boston
they drafted Harry and Brady's like, fuck you guys. like I'm leaving.
00:09:19
Snooty
Yeah, he's like, he's like ah the great. You drafted like a guy who should be a big tight end or a small tight end. and and Awesome. Great. Thank you. um So I think it's a combination of both of those. i think it's Yeah, they we've had shitty wide receiver play for years.
00:09:36
Snooty
the most recent past, but then obviously long-term we haven't really had, again, outside of Randy Moss, like a stud outside guy for a very long time.
00:09:44
Savage Boston
yeah
00:09:44
Bret
Yeah, I mean, i don't I don't think it's exclusive to wide receivers. This is just, this is unfortunately, I think, like a Boston sports or New England sports fan. Like, it pisses me off. But we fall in love with these local guys, these like eighth men off the bench and think they're like irreplaceable.
00:10:02
Savage Boston
ah
00:10:02
Bret
Or like get these depth guys that did something good and then like think they're like, yeah, exactly.
00:10:05
Savage Boston
mark Marcus, Marcus,
00:10:08
Bret
They like think they're amazing. I mean, the Celtics are the worst about that.
00:10:10
Snooty
yeah
00:10:10
Bret
The green teamers are definitely the worst about it.
00:10:13
Savage Boston
Take a shot at our other friend who's not here. He's a huge Marcus Smart fan.
00:10:16
Bret
Well, i and and I'll say it, right? Green teamers are like that. They just cannot get their heads
00:10:21
Savage Boston
Yeah.
Patriots' Roster Strategy and Cap Space
00:10:22
Bret
wrapped around the fact that, like, sometimes you've got to just blow shit up to actually make it work because they're not as good as you think they are.
00:10:29
Bret
And, like, that's a guy where it's just like, what has he been since he left Boston? He hasn't been much.
00:10:33
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:10:34
Bret
Go back to New England.
00:10:34
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:10:35
Bret
i think it's the same way that goes on, and it's not just wide receivers. It's all positions. Like, we just convince ourselves as fans that these guys are better than what they really are. but like you look at it and then you get a guy on the free agent. You're like, wow, that would be really great if we could get this guy on our roster.
00:10:53
Bret
And you just try to, if you can get them, you're like, this guy's amazing. Where has he been this whole time? It's like, well, there's more guys out there in this league that can play and can compete. You just, you don't have to fall in love with a guy like Baker just because you guys drafted him in the second round and you thought he was going to be something special. Like he's not, let's just call it for what it is. So I, I don't think it's exclusive to the position. i just think it's it's a mentality that unfortunately a lot of fans in New England and Boston area that they just fall in love with these guys because they're become local heroes.
00:11:23
Bret
And they're really not that special.
00:11:25
Savage Boston
mean, we talked, we well, we talked about it last week a little bit and it's been talked about all week is like, you still have a ton of cap space.
00:11:26
Snooty
I'd say.
00:11:32
Savage Boston
You have 60 plus million dollars in cap space, right? So you have enough space that obviously they can still try to improve the roster this season. And yeah, I know they're in a $13 million hole next season. First of all, the cap's going to go up by like $20 million dollars or something itself. You know, like the NFL prints money that aside, they're going to rest restructure cut. pe I mean, we can talk about, you know, Mike and when it was a huge cut candidate next year. I know nobody's talked about that yet.
00:11:59
Savage Boston
And for financial reasons, and you have to see how he performs this year. So he's a cut candidate. Kyle Darger will be a cut candidate next year or maybe a trade candidate. The reason why i say Mike and Wenu, because Snooty's shaking his head, the reason why i say Mike and Wenu is not about talent right now. It's that like, I don't know where they're going to that position. i don't know when who might, I don't know, maybe he wants to,
00:12:20
Savage Boston
go somewhere else. Maybe he has poor effort. He came into camp in bad shape and he has like something like a $25 million dollars cap hit next year or, or more. I got look at his contract, but I know it's bad. So like, this is a potential out after this season.
00:12:31
Savage Boston
I've done the wrong. If he's a stud this year, then obviously you're not going to cut the player. Just saying.
00:12:35
Snooty
I think and think he's a better fit in McDaniel's system if McDaniel keeps true his running style or running scheme versus what they had last year. I also think they're going to stick him at right guard for the first fucking time in his career.
00:12:48
Savage Boston
Well, maybe they'll run more like power or combo blocks and less like like sprint out, you know.
00:12:48
Snooty
They're just going to stick him at one spot. it it's a lot It's a lot of gap duo blocks. It's a lot of like more little bit more downhill than the you know the stretch zone type stuff that they were trying to run last year. Alex Van Pelt was trying to run last year.
00:13:02
Snooty
But also...
00:13:02
Savage Boston
And they're going to go big a lot. They'll probably do like 12 personnel or whatever.
00:13:04
Snooty
Yes, but also they're going to stick. I can't emphasize this enough. They're going to stick him at one fucking position and just let him play there for the full year.
00:13:10
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:13:12
Snooty
He's been jerked around between right guard and right tackle every year since he's been here.
00:13:18
Savage Boston
Well, I get it.
00:13:18
Snooty
It's like, just stick him at one spot.
00:13:18
Savage Boston
They they fuck around. Okay.
00:13:20
Snooty
Yeah.
00:13:21
Savage Boston
But the point, the point is overarching point is they're going to have money next year. They're going to be able to spend money just like this year.
00:13:27
Snooty
yeah
00:13:29
Savage Boston
They they can roll over cap. And this year they're going to have, they still have 60, whatever million dollars of free cap space after all the draft pick signs. So I still think they should really be looking to improve the team.
00:13:40
Savage Boston
I would love for them to still make a trade. And, and again, it doesn't, if you don't want, if people get all nervous about a big Terry McLaurin trade or like a Trey Hendrickson trade or something like that, that makes you too nervous.
00:13:51
Savage Boston
I understand. no You're trading for a 30 year old player that wants like $30 million. dollars I get the risks in that. um I think McLaurin would be, still would be a home run for this ah offense. I'm down for that all day.
00:14:03
Savage Boston
yeah, but Is there no one out there right now that you can look to and and make a trade to improve the interior line? And I'm to still hammer it. It's still one of my, yeah I think one of the biggest black holes because you don't know what you have next to Will Campbell and you don't love what you have from Garrett Bradbury at center.
00:14:21
Savage Boston
Unless
Wide Receiver Depth and Trades
00:14:22
Savage Boston
Jared Wilson can step up and play. And I hope he does. I just don't see him jumping into that role off the bat. So anyway, Brett, why don't you go ahead?
00:14:29
Bret
Well, I mean, I just love that you jump on this point. And I think I've said this on the podcast before. if our biggest black hole and the biggest like area of opportunity that this offense has is their left guard play, then we had a fucking slam dunk offseason because there were so many goddamn holes.
00:14:46
Savage Boston
Huge hole.
00:14:49
Bret
on this offensive side of the ball, it's like crazy. Because that means you're telling me that Will Campbell is actually a serviceable left tackle. So that would be an insanely big upgrade and a big hit.
00:14:57
Savage Boston
hope so.
00:15:01
Bret
Now, I think he's going to be... respectable. I'm not as high on him as other people. like I don't think he's going I think it's he's going to have his moments where he's going to look like a rookie and he's got some really tough matchups.
00:15:14
Bret
But like i mean, I trust the kid to figure it out. i just don't know if he's going to be that stalwart left tackle... like That's kind of been my standpoint. But, you know, circling back to your opinion on left guard play and what that looks like, again, we had so many effing holes, not just on the left tackle, like wide receiver play. That means you're telling me that all of those wide receivers are hitting, are healthy, and are actually producing.
00:15:36
Bret
Running back play, we're having good, solid running back play from what they're able to do. Across the line, we still have, like, other people in a position that, like, we've never had before, and, like,
00:15:47
Bret
You're telling me Moses is holding up all year at right tackle and we have someone behind it? like I just look at it and say, if that if at the end of the season we look back and say, man, we really struggled with that left guard play, we probably won like 10 games we probably had a great season.
00:16:03
Savage Boston
Well, hold on. no i I understand. it I understand your point. I understand the point. And I agree. The problem is it's not just left guard, right? And and it's it's your entire interior line.
00:16:14
Savage Boston
Not to mention, I think there's massive and injury concerns with the team. If you have like a couple of players go down in this team, That could be injury, injury prone players. You could be pretty fucked and fucked pretty quickly.
00:16:25
Savage Boston
Like Morgan Moses is one of them. You need that dude at right tackle. You need that. You can't have him get hurt. And then all sudden you got Demontre Jacobs or Viderian low in there. Like, I don't, you know, whatever. Like I don't,
00:16:37
Savage Boston
i That would be a huge, huge injury for the Patriots. That'd be terrible. What if Diggs gets hurt again? And then you're like, oh shit. like the The top talent-wise just drops. So again, the the point overall for me is, can you...
00:16:52
Savage Boston
still try to improve your roster now, the offensive roster mostly. And that's what I want to see. And like, if you made a bold move and say, fuck it, we're going how can we sneak Terry McLaurin out of the commanders? Do I think going happen?
00:17:06
Savage Boston
No, ah it's a, just an example. There are other people like maybe Juwan Jennings really does request a trade and you think he's an improvement, whatever, but right, Snooty, give me your, give me your take.
00:17:15
Snooty
So, all right, here's the thing on left guard. All right.
00:17:19
Snooty
I think well, no, I just think it's really funny.
00:17:19
Savage Boston
Oh, we're back to the guy.
00:17:21
Savage Boston
We're back to the interior.
00:17:23
Snooty
And I'm not saying you talked about this because you will talk about a line play, but like, I think it's funny that everybody, like if you draft a guard, they're like, you can't draft a guard in the first round.
00:17:27
Savage Boston
Yeah,
00:17:33
Snooty
And then we get to here and they're like, fucking left guards a mess, dude. And you're like, All right. Like, you know, there has to be some you know semblance of balance.
00:17:38
Bret
Thank you.
00:17:39
Savage Boston
yeah.
00:17:41
Snooty
The reason i am the reason I'm concerned and surprised they didn't go with a veteran at left guard is you do have a rookie left tackle there. And you had to expect that you were going to have a rookie left tackle there.
00:17:52
Savage Boston
ahha
00:17:52
Snooty
I'm not concerned about him when you, I'm not as concerned about Bradbury as you are, but he's also a guy that if you cut him, you're going to save like four and a half million dollars on your cap next year. like Same with fucking Kendrick Bourne.
00:18:02
Snooty
You can, and like one other guy and it's like 13 million right there. So everybody complaining about cast space, shut the fuck up.
00:18:06
Savage Boston
The cap is not a problem.
00:18:08
Snooty
You it's, those are three guys that like are definitely probably not going to be here next year.
00:18:08
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:18:13
Snooty
Boom. That's like 15 million right there.
00:18:15
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:18:15
Snooty
If not this year. Um, I'm kind of the same view as the for the Red Sox, as same approach I have for the Patriots. I don't want them to to make some massive trade for a guy that's going to short you know one or two-year type of thing.
00:18:30
Snooty
you know, if it's incredibly expensive, if you can get Hendrickson or something for like a third or a conditional third, fine. And he produced fine. I'm okay with that. I'm not selling the farm to get, you know, marginal improvements here or short-term improvements because it's not a roster worth selling out for.
00:18:46
Snooty
I'm looking for pieces that you can kind of incorporate and have around for a little bit. And I know that's obviously that you, you generally pay a premium for players like that, obviously, but you know, that's where I'm looking to make improvements.
00:18:57
Snooty
It's not necessarily with,
00:18:57
Savage Boston
um But if you get McLaurin though, like if McLaurin is a guy who you, let's say you somehow find a way out of there. I don't think he's a one. I think he's a guy you would lock up for four years. And I know he's 30.
00:19:08
Savage Boston
They say he's kind of like a young 30. He hasn't played that much ball comparatively. It's not like he's been playing since 21 in the league. He started at like 25 and he's like got every character thing you want.
00:19:19
Savage Boston
He's had a thousand yards every year. i think putting him in the same team as, as you know, if you had like digs and McLaurin and then you got pop Douglas in the slot and like Kyle Williams that like, all sudden you're like, Oh shit. Like, okay, I see this. Like, and then you're like, Oh, now we really, we really should bolster the interior. Like, you know, you start to see the pieces versus when you have, okay, we've got two aging tight ends. Hunter Henry is still a really good player, but he's aging.
00:19:43
Savage Boston
You still have a lot of work on the old line. You don't quite know what you have yet at wide receiver. And running back is pretty solid in my opinion because I'm very high on Travion Henderson, as are most people.
00:19:56
Savage Boston
So I don't I think there's like – there's obviously – there's holes. The offense has a lot of holes. And now if Drake may decide to step up and be like, I'm going to actually take a big step forward this year, that's going to cover a lot of holes.
00:20:11
Savage Boston
So we got to figure out what's up with Drake.
00:20:11
Bret
Well, and
00:20:14
Bret
Well, and so so that was going to my point on getting a guy like McLaurin in here. It's just like, yeah, I get he's 30, and you're going to probably have to pay him you know four years, 30 million per somewhere in that ballpark.
00:20:26
Bret
And it's like people look at them and go, well, why would you want to lock up all the salary into this and where it goes through? They can structure that. and we just talked about they have cap space this year. They're to have cap space next year. Like you bring a guy like that into your offense, into your roster, it gives other guys time to develop.
00:20:36
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:20:44
Bret
so that they're able to get themselves slaughtered right and then build them up in the system. And like it's going to help a guy like Drake May, who's going into his second year, and he really didn't have a full season last year, and it was a clusterfuck.
00:20:58
Bret
i don't i don't understand the mentality that people have about like we're mortgaging our future by going out there and trading for a guy like McLaurin, when I'm like, we have so much effing cap space, we can't find people to pay it because they won't come here because we don't have a winning product.
00:21:14
Savage Boston
You have to trade for a guy because nobody wants to sign here in free agency basically.
00:21:14
Bret
So, like... like
00:21:18
Bret
Well, and and that's what I look at, too, where I'm like, the guy's disgruntled, and they won't pay him. We have the cash base. We could pay him. And, like, people, who like, overvalue, like, our are players. Like, again, like, who is it? Joe Marius. Like, I wouldn't trade Bourne.
00:21:34
Bret
Not Bourne. Booty and, like, ah what was it? A three or something like that for him? I mean, it was just like, what are you talking about, dude?
00:21:39
Savage Boston
That's ridiculous.
00:21:41
Bret
Booty? Like, are we for real? Like, I just...
00:21:43
Savage Boston
Well, it's because it's the booty. like And there's one dude. I'll give him a shout out. He's Uno something on Twitter. He's always, always, always a shout out and I'll get his name wrong.
00:21:49
Snooty
Tremendous shout out.
00:21:51
Bret
Big shout out.
00:21:52
Savage Boston
Anyway, he's he's always, i kind of, i like I think it's really funny because he's, and I was telling studio about this before the pod.
00:21:52
Bret
Who knows something?
00:21:59
Savage Boston
Like this guy, he just rags on Patriots fans who just pump up booty all day. And I get it. He had a couple pretty good catches on some really great throws.
00:22:11
Savage Boston
One against Stingley, one against the Bills, right on go routes. But he's just pumping up a guy like the fan base who is by and large, like he's not a number one receiver. He's not a number two receiver.
00:22:24
Savage Boston
Maybe he could be a three, but like, and I'm sure he's a lovely person. I'm not saying like, I don't need people at me being like, oh, you fucking this and that.
00:22:31
Bret
Bye.
00:22:33
Savage Boston
Like, I don't know booty. I'm just saying like people get so caught up in this hype. With these, yeah, someone's got a clip. I don't know, booty. um But people had caught us so caught up in this hy hype, hype, hype, hype of these guys.
00:22:48
Savage Boston
He caught 500 yards last year. And for some reason, in interview earlier this season, he repeated the exact amount yards he got, which I thought was a little weird. But but basically, the guy caught, he got 500 yards.
00:23:00
Savage Boston
he's been on the trade block as reported by Schefter in the draft. He might not even make the roster. And I got people telling me, I had someone dead serious telling me that they can't get rid of like booty for, yeah, for McLaurin.
00:23:14
Savage Boston
They couldn't possibly. I'm like, what are we doing?
Potential Roster Changes and Trades
00:23:18
Savage Boston
What are we, how is this your make or break? Like, I don't.
00:23:20
Snooty
Yeah. bo Booty is just Vincent Brisby. He's just this generation's Vincent Brisby. That's all he is. Like, I remember would just being like, Vincent Brisby's amazing.
00:23:27
Savage Boston
Yeah. Live without Vincent Brisbane.
00:23:29
Snooty
And then you're like, you look back, you're like, nah, kind of sucked. Like, he was just, he was just a guy. And that's just all he is.
00:23:34
Bret
I mean, we got him in, we got him in what the sixth round and like he had problems coming out of college.
00:23:36
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:23:36
Snooty
It's like...
00:23:38
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:23:39
Snooty
Yeah.
00:23:42
Bret
He was your prototypical, like low risk, high reward because you basically draft him in the sixth round.
00:23:48
Savage Boston
He has, he has attitude.
00:23:49
Bret
And
00:23:50
Savage Boston
He has attitude problems.
00:23:51
Bret
Yeah.
00:23:52
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:23:52
Bret
Oh, and that's why I laughed when you're like, he's said he's probably a great guy.
00:23:52
Savage Boston
He's not as
00:23:56
Bret
I'm like, I don't think he's known for being a great guy.
00:23:58
Savage Boston
well. I just default to saying, i don't want to, I don't, not trying to catch shit. Like, I don't know if maybe they're all amazing human beings.
00:24:01
Snooty
He's a terrible gambler.
00:24:03
Bret
Yes.
00:24:04
Savage Boston
I don't know. But like,
00:24:05
Bret
He's a very dumb gambler.
00:24:06
Savage Boston
But attitude-wise, between Terry McLaurin and Keyshawn Booty, Terry McLaurin is reportedly an absolutely stand-up guy, excellent teammate, shows up.
00:24:07
Snooty
He's terrible gambler.
00:24:17
Savage Boston
And I'm sure it's killing McLaurin to miss camp. And I'm sure he's going to make a concession because they know that franchise knows he wants to be in camp. But when this team – Like, I think mike Mike Reese put out his roster projection this morning.
00:24:33
Savage Boston
They put out his 53. And um I thought his wide receiver room was interesting. And it's kind of how it might play out. But he had them carrying seven wide receivers. And he included Chisholm in that.
00:24:45
Savage Boston
And the two guys he had getting cut were Polk and Baker. And I think like that could fly. And maybe like Chisholm is good enough that he forces them to carry a seventh guy.
00:24:57
Savage Boston
But like, we really got to see how this shakes out in camp.
00:24:58
Bret
I
00:25:00
Savage Boston
Again, they could still trade Bourne. They could trade Booty. Like those guys might get dealt at some point four a six for for seventh. I don't know how much value they're going to carry.
00:25:10
Savage Boston
Not much because most people at this point are going to get cut and hit waivers. So anyway, how do you feel about that wide receiver room?
00:25:14
Bret
i was going to say, you think... I mean...
00:25:18
Snooty
uh i mean i'm pretty baker's very much on the outside looking in polk is gonna get more look just because he's the former second round pick you know what i mean um i don't know what what happened to polk last year like he was like good and then they're like nah we're just gonna fuck you what do they just like nuke his brain or something like what the fuck happened
00:25:18
Savage Boston
Who's getting cut?
00:25:20
Bret
ah
00:25:35
Savage Boston
Polk, get a good camp.
00:25:41
Savage Boston
i like They didn't put him in a position to succeed. Everyone's making excuses for him. the The most really good rookie wide receivers that are going to develop into good players are good their first year.
00:25:54
Savage Boston
They don't catch like for 80 yards and like have many, many drops. Like it's going to be really hard for him to come back from this.
00:25:59
Snooty
These are early guys, yeah.
00:26:01
Savage Boston
And if he doesn't show up in camp, like last year, he was pretty good in camp. And if he's good again in camp, maybe they will keep him. They're right, this is his second try. Let's see how this goes. But if he doesn't show up well to camp, I mean, he's going to get cut so fast, man.
00:26:14
Savage Boston
Like he's go try somewhere else, buddy.
00:26:15
Snooty
I mean, I'm just... like There's a scenario where he's just as good as Bourne and Booty, and they trade the latter two to keep Polk because they look and go, he's younger, he's got more upside.
00:26:30
Snooty
like I know Booty's like the same age or whatever, but like they'd look and say, younger, cost-controlled, probably save money keeping him versus cutting him at this point because only year two.
00:26:30
Savage Boston
Yep.
00:26:40
Snooty
And, you know... you know He's got some upside there. there's That's a very real scenario where it could happen. I'm not writing off Polk yet. I do think he's currently on the outside looking in probably. but you know and One thing to watch is Matt Collins. If he starts the year on the pup, that might help someone like him.
00:26:58
Snooty
At least make the initial 53 and then who knows what happens from there. Someone gets hurt. you know Something like that.
00:26:58
Savage Boston
That's true.
00:27:03
Savage Boston
mean, people don't want to, I've heard people say that too, like they don't want to give up on Polk. um But the problem is for them is like like Mike Vrabel doesn't care. Mike Vrabel wasn't here when they drafted Polk.
00:27:14
Snooty
Sure.
00:27:14
Savage Boston
He's clean slate coming in. Like especially with Javon Baker, you think Vrabel – like he's mentioned like some sort of mentoring or – like he's trying to hype up everyone to give it their all because he realizes – he's not Belichick.
00:27:20
Bret
Thank you.
00:27:25
Savage Boston
He realizes that people actually need positive reinforcement to perform. You can't just come in and be like, you suck. You suck. Why don't you – like you got to like – actually pump people up so he's trying to pump up baker but baker is like feels like a 10 roster make at this point like i don't know but maybe i don't know like how does that's 10 is pretty low i mean i don't know unless he shows up uh like he's gonna be like jalen rager was or something but rager was a much higher draft pick but like
00:27:42
Snooty
Oh, that's generous.
00:27:54
Snooty
I just think it's like everybody loves Bourne, and I know Bourne did well in McDaniel's system and all that.
00:28:00
Savage Boston
four years ago
00:28:01
Snooty
Whatever. Everyone loves Bourne and Booty. I think there's a real scenario where Polk, to me, more than Baker, but like one or both of them could really show out and and beat the one or both of those guys out for a roster spot.
00:28:09
Bret
Sorry.
00:28:14
Snooty
Aside from the top, what, three or four, like is there's no real locks. Those last few spots are going to be anywhere from like two to four spots are going to be completely wide open.
00:28:24
Savage Boston
Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:25
Bret
Yeah, I mean, i we've said it for a while. My position hasn't changed because, i mean, we really haven't gotten into camp. I think they've been shopping Booty and Bourne for a year now. So I think if they find a trade partner, they're going to trade them.
00:28:37
Savage Boston
yeah
00:28:39
Bret
I think Baker's gone. And I think it's going to come down to, crazy enough, Polk versus Chisholm, which is nuts. I could see them carrying seven and then sliding someone into a special teams role and or like someone ends up on the pup.
00:28:54
Bret
you know Who knows? It's obviously early on and something could happen. I'm more curious to see like what... what shakes from the tree from like other rosters. Cause like there are movement that happened in the, ah in the, this time of year where people get caught, people get waved.
00:29:05
Savage Boston
Mm-hmm.
00:29:10
Bret
I think the concern I have is guys that are like the ones that typically do are veteran guys. And those guys usually go and try and find a contending team.
00:29:21
Bret
So I don't, that's the one thing where I look at and say, that would be hard. But The offset of that is we can be a higher payer and we can pay at a premium to get people over.
00:29:31
Bret
And some people, yeah, it's nice to go to a contender, but some people like, I just want to get paid.
00:29:36
Savage Boston
But also they if they but if they hit waivers, you know like they don't necessarily have an option.
00:29:36
Bret
Maybe already won.
00:29:41
Savage Boston
right If they hit waivers and you choose to pay whatever you know their contract, the Patriots have the cap space to do that. and like You can just pray that ah really good lineman, which doesn't again, doesn't happen.
00:29:48
Snooty
Thank you.
00:29:49
Bret
Yeah.
00:29:55
Savage Boston
right like I say really good in terms of in context to compare to your line, but like you got hope someone doesn't want to pay a veteran lineman, they're like, you know what, we're not a great team this year. This guy's making $20 million. dollars We, you know what I mean? Like some, cause you're fourth on the waivers. So like you gotta hope a situation happens where someone shakes loose and maybe you get an opportunity, but Obviously, it doesn't feel realistic. Like, i just feel like I just hope there's a move or two left in the tank because, you know,
Defensive Strategies and Key Players
00:30:27
Savage Boston
L.A. Wolf and and and Stretch or whoever, they're looking at at everybody right now. Like, they're monitoring this McLaurin situation.
00:30:35
Savage Boston
And no, there's the only credible report. If you want to say it's a report, it wasn't even a report. was this Burt Breer saying that like the Pats would be very interested. Well, no shit. Everyone's going to be very interested if he's on the trade block.
00:30:44
Bret
Thank you.
00:30:46
Savage Boston
Like that's not a fucking report. Like there's no like report or someone be like, yes, um I have per source, the Patriots would trade. You know what i mean? Like there's no, it's just, that's just like hearsay shit.
00:30:58
Savage Boston
So yeah. All I know is I'm hoping more again for like, I think this is probably the wide receiver room that's going to be in camp. And I don't think they're going to add.
00:31:10
Savage Boston
I do hope they add an offensive line. and That is still the hope. And I think they could.
00:31:15
Bret
I mean, the best thing is we're actually going to have like play reps to talk about rather than just speculating about who they're going to do and where they're going to do it. I think they're obviously looking.
00:31:28
Bret
Guys are going to be available during that time frame, so I'm hoping we're in on them and and it makes the right fit, but... Either way, it's just nice that we're finally going to get to the position where we're going to actually get like reports out of camp about what guys are doing.
00:31:42
Bret
Pretty soon they'll be in pads and actually like hitting each other.
00:31:43
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:31:46
Bret
And then we'll see schematically what they're doing, who's getting the reps, where they're getting the reps. I mean, we talked a lot about, obviously, the offense. you know It'll be interesting to see who gets the reps at left guard to start, right? Who's going to be the one out the gate that's going to get it And like we talk about defense. How's the defensive going to look like? Where are they going to put a guy like he on white?
00:32:05
Bret
How many reps is he going to get? What's going to happen with a guy like Josh Farmer? Like how to Barmore and Williams look together. Like a lot of things to be interesting to see what comes out of camp. And it's like, finally, we're going to get some actual like materialistic things to talk about rather than just speculating about reports of like, they're interested.
00:32:15
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:32:24
Bret
They'd be on on this guy. It's like, well, yeah, that'd be great. ah Tell me when something actually happens.
00:32:28
Savage Boston
yeah And I agree, with though, talking about Sunia mentioned earlier, Anthony Jennings.
00:32:30
Snooty
That being said.
00:32:33
Savage Boston
I mean, he feels like everyone's kind of like cut candidate because he's just not – he's like a Belichick-type guy, doesn't necessarily fit. I wonder – I put this out the other day. I wonder how Keon White fits the scheme.
00:32:45
Savage Boston
And like he could be a supremely talented player and is really talented, but he's like what, like 6'4", 285 pounds. He's like Willie McGinnis basically. Like he's a giant stalwart edge.
00:32:57
Savage Boston
ah You know, he he plays the edge. He can rush the passer a little bit, but he can also like, you know, play against the run. you play inside. He can kind of do it all. But is that what Vrabel wants? Or does Vrabel want um a true edge, like pass rushing edge? Or you know is he going to sub out Keon on passing downs for Chase on and ah Landry and Braden Swinson? like and it's gonna be That will be interesting. And I don't know what type of player Keon's going to turn into.
00:33:26
Savage Boston
But is does Keon White turn into Anfordee Jennings? Do they now not pay Keon White in the future? Because we all thought he was going to be this like really dynamic, great DN.
00:33:33
Bret
Thank you.
00:33:35
Savage Boston
And it looks like he's... might not be that. So I'm hoping he steps up this season and he produces more because he fell off a cliff at the end of season.
00:33:48
Snooty
Yeah, i don't know. i mean, it'll be interesting to see. um I think he could kick inside on pass rushing downs to pair with one of Barmore or Millen Williams to be kind of that like interior rush.
00:34:01
Snooty
So they're both they because they both can't rush every third down, right? Like they both can't play all three downs the whole fucking game.
00:34:06
Savage Boston
Yeah, no.
00:34:07
Snooty
You just can't do that. But so he might kick inside. I know he did that under Belichick. It's still he could still be an attacking type D lineman from that spot. It'd be interesting to see.
00:34:17
Snooty
um I think he's a really good player. i think a good coach will find spots to to maximize a player like that. I don't think you give up on a player. I mean, he's 6'5", 285, and he can move like that.
00:34:29
Snooty
That's that's pretty freakish. you can you don
00:34:31
Savage Boston
No, he's legit.
00:34:32
Snooty
You don't really, you know what I mean?
00:34:33
Bret
great Tight end.
00:34:34
Savage Boston
He's a true three down tight end, but it depends, like, it just depends what the fuck they want from their edge role.
00:34:34
Snooty
I'm not dumping.
00:34:39
Savage Boston
Like if he's not a good enough, I mean, um sorry, he's a good three down defensive end.
00:34:41
Snooty
ah He's the third tight end, of course.
00:34:45
Bret
Oh my gosh.
00:34:46
Savage Boston
Put him on offense.
00:34:46
Bret
What were we thinking?
00:34:48
Savage Boston
So he's a great. three down defensive end, not tight end.
00:34:50
Snooty
Yeah, he's baby Gronk.
00:34:52
Savage Boston
ah But again, is that what he wants from that position? Like his whole mantra is affecting the quarterback. And again, Keon White, great player. He would fit amazing with a Belichick, right? He's clearly was a huge Belichick guy.
00:35:06
Savage Boston
So I'm just, I'm hoping he develops and into with a higher skillset and actually like affecting the passer. And I think he's capable of that. um So that'd be really interesting to see.
00:35:16
Savage Boston
But I would say ah last last question to throw out tonight, and then we'll we'll wrap it up for the camp previews.
00:35:16
Bret
Thank you.
00:35:22
Savage Boston
Does Kyle Duggar make the roster, and is there any chance that um that he doesn't?
00:35:29
Snooty
If you're bowled away with an offer, then sure. Like if someone, if a contending team or a perceived contending team loses a safety, then possibly. um But at this point, I think the safety depth is such that I mean, you're the otherwise, your other top rookies are, or your other top safeties are a rookie that you just took in the fourth round or, you know, journeyman type safety.
00:35:53
Snooty
So potentially, i don't know if he's an attitude problem. I know i think he was, he's yeah, I think he's perceived as a leader.
00:35:57
Savage Boston
Dugger?
00:36:00
Savage Boston
think he was just hurt.
00:36:00
Snooty
He's also older than you think.
00:36:02
Savage Boston
He was just hurt.
00:36:03
Snooty
Yeah, he was just hurt and he played through it. So there's something to say for that. Yeah. I think he stays on the roster this year. just And same thing with Keon White to the same point of like, I think it's more of a reflection of the talent necessarily on the roster around them than their inherent fit or caliber of player themselves.
00:36:17
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:36:22
Bret
Yeah, I mean, i think he stays just because of his contract. I just think they look at it. And, yeah, I mean, Brable's getting more of a a a longer leash than Mayo got when it came to comes to roster management.
00:36:38
Bret
But he's not signing the checks. And I look at it and say, i don't know necessarily what you gain by cutting the guy like that. i mean, Unless he is um an attitude problem, which I just don't see him being that, I'd say you keep him because i mean he's at least an NFL caliber safety. and you know From a contract standpoint, it's going to be cost you a lot of money to do it and Kraft's not going to want to pay that money for dead cap. so i think I think he stays ultimately. i think they carry the extra safeties.
00:37:13
Bret
get there's some redundancy there with what you're doing, but I just don't see what the value is of cutting a guy like that. It's not like you're trying make room for cap space and you're going to cut the guy.
00:37:26
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:37:26
Bret
You're going to pay the guy anyways. You might as well just do it rather than cut him and get screwed.
00:37:32
Savage Boston
Well, last question. We'll throw out one more question. Last one tonight. Give me your, your, cause I just thought of this. Give me your, who's the one guy just the one camp guy that you're the most looking forward to seeing, uh, stand out in camp. And it, you know, it could, doesn't have to be an obvious one, but who' who's someone you're really looking forward to watching in camp?
00:37:52
Snooty
um I mean, i'm um'm ah I'm a line guy. I'd like to see... um I'll stick with the left side of line just in general because obviously you want to see the rookie, but I'd like to see Cole Strange.
00:38:02
Savage Boston
How
00:38:03
Snooty
i think I think ultimately he's going to start camp as the first team kind of left guard, and I think there's a very real chance he sticks he sticks and stays there.
00:38:14
Savage Boston
how about you, Brett?
00:38:14
Bret
Yeah. I mean, for me, it's Kyle Williams. I mean, the guys had so much hype coming out of draft.
00:38:18
Savage Boston
Uh-oh.
00:38:20
Bret
I think it's deserved... But like I always get weary, right? You get a guy like that, and like they just don't produce. So he's the guy I'm probably most interested to see. Again, like which offense—I mean, I'm assuming he's going to be out there with the ones. like What position? How many reps does he get? And what does it look like?
00:38:40
Bret
Especially early on, because he's not— like A guy like Diggs is already going to make the roster. A guy like Matt Collins is going to make the roster.
00:38:46
Savage Boston
Mm-hmm.
00:38:47
Bret
Like, Williams is going to make the roster, but like where? What does it look like? so I'm most interested to see like what reps is he getting, where are they slotting him, ah how many is he getting, and like obviously like how does he produce in those positions. so Kyle Williams for me.
00:39:04
Savage Boston
That's legit. I would say mine. i want to see. I love some D line play. I want to see what Milton Williams and Christian Barmore do together. And I'm interested in Robert Spillane with those two kind of in the center of the defense, how does Spillane look? And I think he's going to be ah maybe a fan favorite. So, all right, guys, signing off. Excited for camp. We finally made it. Patriots creat training camp starts tomorrow morning.
00:39:27
Savage Boston
And welcome to football season. Peace out.
00:39:31
Bret
And never left.
00:39:33
Savage Boston
Never left.