In the latest episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast with Nick Cattles, Greg and Nick delve into Jerod Mayo's influence on the team and address questions from the draft mailbag. The discussion kicks off with an analysis of NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe's story on Mayo's role with the Patriots. The episode wraps up with a focus on the draft mailbag, where they tackle a variety of listener-submitted questions related to the team's draft strategy and prospects.
0:00 Intro
0:30 Cameron Wolfe story on Jerod Mayo
19:53 Draft Mailbag
Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.
This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles is brought to you by:
PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!
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0:00 Intro
0:30 Cameron Wolfe story on Jerod Mayo
19:53 Draft Mailbag
Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.
This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles is brought to you by:
PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !sspass #clns #patriots
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SportsTranscript
00:00This is the Greg Bidard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles.
00:08He's Greg.
00:09I'm Nick.
00:10This is the Greg Bidard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles.
00:11This episode is brought to you by PrizePix, largest daily fantasy sports platform in North
00:15America.
00:16Download the app today.
00:18Use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100.
00:22And of course, if you enjoy this podcast, make sure you swing by PrizePix and use that
00:27code CLNS to help us out.
00:29Also take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with game time.
00:34Download the game time app, create an account and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase.
00:40Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed.
00:45Let's start with some headlines, Greg, before we get to a mailbag.
00:48Cameron Wolfe from the NFL Network had a story on Gerard Mayo and the Patriots.
00:53Let's jump to some of the key excerpts from this story.
00:56We start with this quote.
00:58With Bill, we probably would have traded back to get more picks.
01:01This is what Mayo told Wolfe.
01:03Our path for so long has been accumulating more picks because it was our process.
01:08And we still believe in that.
01:10But we also believe when you're at a position at number three, you have to get it right
01:14and get a cornerstone player like Bill, I believe in draft and develop long term.
01:19It's always good to have a quarterback on a rookie deal.
01:21At the same time, I don't want to get into the game of I really like this guy.
01:26Let me trade back three picks to pick something up.
01:29No, just take him.
01:31If we feel like he's an impact player, then take him.
01:33Your thoughts, Greg.
01:36So I agree with Gerard Mayo's sentiment on that.
01:42I really don't understand the need to bring Bill into it.
01:48I mean, we don't know what Bill would have done.
01:50Yeah, you know, he could have traded back and he could have said, you know what, whether
01:54it's May McCarthy or panics and again, basing off some of his comments when he was on the
02:02Pat McAfee show during the draft, I mean, he absolutely raved about McCarthy and panics.
02:07So is there a chance and probably a pretty good chance that that bill would have been
02:13well, if I can pick up X, Y and Z, then let me just trade back to like either the Giants
02:19or six or the Vikings at 11.
02:23And no matter what I get here, whether it's a quarterback or an offensive tackle or the
02:27best defensive player on the board, which probably would have been his pick.
02:32Yeah, he he might have done that, but I don't know why Bill needed to catch strays there.
02:38Just say what your feelings were, your feelings were as an organization and just leave it
02:45at that.
02:46But I do, again, I do like the overall sentiment, which is if you have conviction on the guys
02:52and you know, it was further reinforced in this article that all throughout all top three
02:58quarterbacks, they would, they had conviction on that.
03:01They felt good about those guys.
03:03And so they just stuck and picked.
03:06And I agree.
03:07And we talked about it leading into the draft.
03:09Like you don't want to you don't want to screw around.
03:12That's why I said, if you trade back, you better have a prearranged trade up to make
03:15sure that you get your guy.
03:17And that gets tricky depending on the other teams that you're dealing with.
03:21And maybe somebody could jump you and all that stuff.
03:22So I like that they had conviction and just stuck and took.
03:27I just don't understand why Bill's catching strays.
03:31Do you think that it's just because Mayo has Bill on the brain?
03:34And what I mean by that is he knows when he took this job, everybody's going to look at
03:39this as the guy who's replacing Belichick.
03:42So does Mayo almost feel like he has to address what Bill would have done to continue to remind
03:48people that he understands he's replacing Bill?
03:52I don't know if it's subconsciously at this point, but it does feel, Greg, like he almost
03:57is compelled to bring up Belichick's name to draw the line between he and Bill.
04:05Yeah, I guess I still I mean, it's obvious that he has Bill on the brain and Bill was
04:13mentioned a lot in the story and about how Mayo is not afraid to come after Belichick
04:18and Brady and and and stuff like that.
04:21I just don't know how healthy it is for the organization now.
04:28That being said, I don't think it's a I don't think it's a huge deal.
04:31It's not a crisis at this point.
04:33But, you know, if I start hearing all the time that that he's bringing Bill up in team
04:39meetings and Bill would have done this and we're doing it this way, then I'm going to
04:42be worried.
04:43But for now, OK, I get it.
04:46It's a new direction and you're just differentiating yourself from the previous regime.
04:51And this one, which was basically the theme of the story about how Mayo is putting its
04:56imprint on the Patriots and how they're doing things differently than when Belichick was
05:01here.
05:02Well, that was another question I had is I would love to know what the questions were
05:07leading to some of these answers, because if if Cameron Wolfe asks Gerard compared to
05:13Bill Belichick and his philosophy and how he ran drafts, how would you say yours differentiated
05:20at number three?
05:21Like if that's the question, then I understand Mayo invoking the name of Belichick, because
05:27that's what the question was.
05:28So there's also that part of it, too.
05:31I let's jump to another key excerpt.
05:33Wolf writes inside the Patriots facility.
05:35The walls tell the story of change.
05:37Nearly all the signs and emblems of the Belichick era, including those that read the Patriot
05:41way and do your job, have been replaced.
05:43Now the first hallway signs you see when you walk in the building read we not me.
05:49Hard work works and process progress payoff.
05:53The latter is also the theme Mayo has set for his first season as head coach.
05:57Another wall reads when we win, we win together.
06:00A phrase that came from Alex Van Peltz after Mayo encouraged his assistant coaches to contribute.
06:06Mayo loved it.
06:07Now it's in every meeting room.
06:09Mayo provided the vision themes on adjusting the wall door decor.
06:13And the project was brought to life by executive vice president.
06:17Here we go.
06:18A football business and senior advisor to the head coach.
06:20People get excited.
06:21Robin Glazer, who oversees all business elements of the football team together, Glazer said
06:27they wanted to highlight what Mayo want the team to represent.
06:30Notably, an asterisk is incorporated with each phrase highlighting a key word.
06:36We works payoff together.
06:39The asterisk symbolizes the North Star, because as Glazer said, the North Star constantly
06:45moves, but it's something we always strive for.
06:48This is another core idea for the team.
06:52OK, now we're starting to get into territory that's starting to borderline frighten me
07:00a bit like I don't.
07:04And there was a whole nother section about this mural and Gerard Mayo and apparently
07:09Belichick somewhere in some mural, you know, along with all the other great coaches and
07:14executives the Patriots have had like, you know, let's just lump Bill in with Raymond
07:21Berry or whatever.
07:25You know, on this stuff, I don't I don't mind the messaging.
07:30I like to do a lot of it myself in my coaching.
07:36I did chuckle, though, I did chuckle, though, about the Alex Van Pelt thing that that what
07:44was it?
07:45It says when we win, we win together.
07:48A phrase that came from offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt after Mayo encouraged his assistant
07:52coaches to contribute.
07:53Mayo loved it.
07:54Now it's in every meeting room.
07:56I'll just say this.
07:58I hope his offense is more inventive than his catchphrases.
08:03I mean, because you can get more bland vanilla and it's just I'm not criticizing Van Pelt.
08:12I just think it's just funny.
08:14It just struck out to me as funny the first time I read it.
08:18And that was my initial thought was, I hope I hope he's more creative with his offensive
08:22plays than he is his catchphrases.
08:26The other thing.
08:28So apparently Robin, it sounds like Robin Glazer was made available to to Wolf on the
08:34story because, you know, unless it was relayed through Mayo or something like that, but because
08:43it said Glazer said so, she's been made available to the dynasty and NFL dot com.
08:50And I've had a standing interview request for her since she got named to the position,
08:55just to be clear.
08:56And I'm sure every other reporter on the beat has has asked for that.
09:04The North Star thing, I mean, now we're starting to get into corporate buzzwords like this
09:12is Amazon or Apple.
09:14And again, maybe this goes to Nick when we talked about the whole Gerard Mayo candidacy
09:20like way before it was even known he had the job.
09:24You know, we talked about like I talked about that.
09:26A lot of people view Mayo is sort of like the evolved sort of tech CEO for the Patriots.
09:34If you know, Belichick was more like, you know, IBM in the 1980s, Gerard Mayo's like,
09:41you know, the Amazon or Apple for today's Patriots.
09:47But like and I think we're going to get into this more.
09:50But talking to people around the team there, I'll just I'll just say this.
09:58There is some they're waiting to see the substance behind the feelings, the buzzwords, the things
10:08like that.
10:09I'm not saying it's not there.
10:10Maybe the situation hasn't presented itself because they haven't really done anything.
10:15But the feedback that I'm getting is that a lot of Mayo's tenure to this point has been
10:21this kind of stuff, messaging, buzzwords, telling the assistant coaches that one of
10:28the priorities is making sure the players are happy, things like that.
10:33And who knows?
10:36It may work.
10:37I can't I can't tell you whether it's going to work or not, because I'm just so so used
10:41to in my career covering a different NFL and certainly Belichick and, you know, the Packers,
10:48I wouldn't say they they were on Mayo's side of things.
10:51I would say they were more towards Belichick, the Dolphins when I covered them.
10:54I mean, that's, you know, the early 2000s.
10:56That's old school NFL.
10:59Make no mistake.
11:00This is definitely a entirely new culture for the plate for the Patriots.
11:05It's player friendly.
11:08The players are a priority.
11:11There are a lot of people who've been in this league that that makes them uncomfortable
11:14and they're not sure how this is going to work.
11:17But they're definitely going in this direction.
11:21I think it all depends on in those toughest moments.
11:24Can Mayo get tough?
11:26Can Mayo be that guy?
11:28And I think Mayo's telling us he believes he can be that guy.
11:31So maybe he will be.
11:34I don't know if it's, you know, giving the players power, so to speak.
11:38I think it's more just treating them in Mayo's eyes as humans and trying to establish that
11:43personal connection before you rip a dude.
11:46And like you said, who knows?
11:49Can he draw that line?
11:50Can he be good cop and bad cop?
11:53Can he be a good cop and have somebody else be bad cop?
11:56That's all going to, you know, come out to pasture and we'll see if it actually does
12:01develop that way.
12:02And it works.
12:03But I don't think he is.
12:06At least the way I read it.
12:07I don't think Mayo is stumping for, you know, the players to have more power and say, I
12:14think it's more I want to establish this foundation of a relationship first.
12:21But when it gets to football, it's going to be coaches to players.
12:26But we want to treat them like humans.
12:28But it's still going to have the power structure.
12:30At least that's what I would hope.
12:32And that's I don't read into what he's saying as a switch or a pivot from that could be
12:38wrong.
12:39He could be giving the players power, like like I said, and we don't know until he's
12:43actually out there.
12:44We'll see how it plays out.
12:45All right.
12:46Talking about the draft and aggressiveness, Cameron Wolfe of the NFL Network writes, the
12:49Patriots attempted to trade back into the first round for the number 32 overall pick
12:54to acquire a wide receiver with South Carolina's Xavier Leggett and Florida State's Keon Coleman
13:00graded high and similarly on their boards per sources with knowledge of the Patriots
13:04plans.
13:05Instead, the Bills traded the pick one spot back to the Panthers, who took Leggett the
13:09next day.
13:10Buffalo took Coleman with pick number thirty three.
13:14So then, of course, we know that Wolfe traded back a few spots from thirty four to thirty
13:19seven and drafted Jalen Polk from Washington.
13:23Just your read.
13:24We've heard some of this.
13:25Mike Reese had mentioned over the weekend that the Patriots try to get back into that
13:30first round and had discussions with the Bills.
13:33But what did you take from from this portion of the story, Greg?
13:37So my takeaway from this was, first of all, I don't so I just don't agree with the writer
13:46is basically giving the Patriots points for something that they didn't do.
13:50Like one example of their aggressiveness.
13:52Well, they wanted to trade up, but failed to do it.
13:57I don't really agree with that.
13:59It sounds like a pity point.
14:02And like it's either you do it or you don't.
14:05I mean, how aggressive were you in getting up?
14:07What kind of if you were really aggressive and you're like, this is the guy that we want.
14:14Offer more.
14:15Blow him out of the water.
14:16This is something that the Bills can't can't turn down.
14:20Also, you know, just looking at the bottom of the first round.
14:23So the Chiefs traded up to 28.
14:31Patriots could have done that.
14:33Could they have gotten?
14:34Why didn't they trade up earlier?
14:36Why were they relying on the Bills in their own division?
14:39Like you knew if you're going to do that, you're going to have to blow him out of the
14:43water.
14:44I wouldn't trade in the division, especially, you know, handing somebody a wide receiver
14:50or what have you without paying a premium.
14:54The Cowboys, maybe they were going to stick and pick Tyler Guyton, the offensive tackle.
14:59The Patriots could have done that.
15:01The Ravens love to trade.
15:03Maybe they wanted Wiggins.
15:04They needed a cornerback.
15:05Maybe they probably didn't want to move off at the end of the day, but the cost of trades
15:12all the time.
15:13It's very possible.
15:14Then they certainly traded a lot with the Patriots over the years.
15:17How much did you offer to the 49ers to get to Ricky Pearsall's spot where all three of
15:22those receivers would have been on the board?
15:26I'm not giving them points for attempting to do something.
15:30It's either, you know, what's Yoda say?
15:34Do or do not.
15:35There is no try.
15:39They didn't do anything, so I'm not giving them points for it.
15:42If they wanted a player, like go and get them, you know, but they didn't do that.
15:49Yeah, it's interesting.
15:52I mean, it's so tough because we don't have the context of these conversations, right?
15:57Like we don't know if the Patriots believe that Liggett could fall to them at 34 and
16:03then as the draft kind of unfolded, they might have realized in real time, all right, if
16:10we want that guy, we might actually have to get up in there and draft him.
16:15And so maybe the calls at that point change the tenor of those calls change.
16:21I don't know.
16:23It's also interesting, you know, when you look at it, how much was Buffalo like?
16:28We don't know what was offered to Buffalo from New England versus what was offered to
16:33them from Carolina.
16:36And Buffalo could easily look at it and say, well, we want one of Coleman or Liggett.
16:42We're not going to move to 34 like we're at 32 right now.
16:46That was our big move down the board.
16:49And so if we're going to move into the second round from here, we don't want to go to 34
16:55because somebody can leapfrog us.
16:57And at 33, now we screwed ourselves, right?
17:00Because if they had, let's say Buffalo had a very similar grade like the Patriots did
17:05on Coleman and Liggett, they could look at it and say, all right, Carolina, who are you
17:10picking?
17:11And let's not forget, Liggett went out there publicly and told the world that Carolina
17:15told him that if you're there at 33, we're going to draft you at 33.
17:20So pretty much everybody in the NFL at that point knew Carolina wanted Liggett.
17:24So if Buffalo wanted Keon Coleman, they're at 32.
17:29And they say, well, if we move back to 34, Patriots are drafting Liggett Carolina.
17:34What if they draft Keon Coleman?
17:35Now we screwed ourselves.
17:37We've got to get one of those two guys.
17:38So we don't know the conversations.
17:41It could have been as easy as Buffalo, you know, thumping their nose to the Patriots
17:45because they're in division and say, we're not going to trade to an AFC East team.
17:49Forget that.
17:50We're not we're not going to make you better.
17:52It's hard to believe that was the case, though, because Buffalo, of course, traded with Kansas
17:54City and allowed them to get, you know, a better player.
17:58But there's so much that unfolds the other part of it.
18:01And I said this, I think, earlier in the week, Greg, when we look at these trades,
18:05the Patriots are in a different position.
18:07Like Carolina got their quarterback last year, right?
18:09They got Bryce Young.
18:11They're already a year into this rebuild.
18:14They'd be willing to give up more than the Patriots.
18:17So the Patriots also had to keep an eye on, well, what do we have to give up?
18:21And is it is it worth it?
18:23Like bringing in somebody like Liggett, for example, is Liggett worth more than Jalen
18:28Polk and player X?
18:31And I think that's what that's what the conversation is for Elliott Wolfe in that room.
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19:54To the mailbag we go, Greg, J.B. Hamby honey.
20:00I'm trying, folks.
20:02Hi, Greg.
20:03So I have this thought, Donovan Smith is still lurking around as a free agent.
20:08He went to Penn State, isn't overly old yet.
20:10I like that overly old, was previously seen as only a right tackle would be a great mentor.
20:16Could the Pats potentially sign him to a short term deal to bridge Kate and Wallace?
20:23So my generic response for basically all of these things and people love this time
20:30of year to look at names on a list and the first guy that jumps out that may have been
20:36good at some point in time, like could we sign him and like, yeah, it could happen.
20:43But really, what what goes on at this point, the team is more focused and especially this
20:51is the way Wolfe and the Packers run.
20:54They're more focused on they want to see their draft picks and their undrafted free agents.
20:59And the Patriots have signed a ton, invited some of the rookie camp.
21:03Rick Serratella has a great breakdown over at B.S.J.
21:06If you're interested in that and all of those different guys, some of them are intriguing.
21:12I don't have any comment on them until I see them on the field and see who pops.
21:18But.
21:19You know, they're more focused on, you know, who are the guys, the guys that are coming
21:26back from last year, how have they improved?
21:29Have they improved the guys that they added and they basically added somebody at every
21:32position of need?
21:34How do those guys look?
21:35How do our draft picks look?
21:36How do the undrafted free agents look?
21:39And let's get through veteran minicamp in mid-June.
21:44We'll see how the guys are doing, then we'll reassess.
21:48And if there's a raging fire at some position, then yeah, maybe we'll sign somebody off the
21:54street.
21:55As far as Donovan Smith himself, just say this, I mean, the Chiefs didn't want him back.
22:04You know, not at all.
22:05You know, he had some of his worst stats this past year.
22:10You know, not overly terrible, but you also have to remember that he's, he's blocking
22:14for Patrick Mahomes who gets out of a lot of stuff.
22:18So his past blocking efficiency this year was 95.6.
22:23He hasn't been that low since his first couple, sorry, first couple of years in the league.
22:29And uh, you know, he's just, yeah, it's, it's, he's the type of guy that you would sign if,
22:37if what you do with their core for Caden Wallace, Tyrone Wheatley, Jr.
22:44Every other slap bag that they've signed a tackle or traded for in the past couple of
22:49years, see how it looks on the field.
22:52And then if, if we need help, then maybe we go for a guy like that.
22:56But certainly Donovan signing Donovan Smith tomorrow is not going to make the Patriots
22:59a better football team right now.
23:03One guy I would keep an eye on is David Bakhtiari.
23:08Now with that said, we know he has been hurt a lot the last few years, however, however,
23:18if you're just throwing a bunch of people out there and you're trying to get the best
23:22offensive line that you can, I bring up Bakhtiari just because of the connection with Elliott
23:29Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith.
23:30They were there when he was drafted.
23:32So he's another name that you could toss in there.
23:35If Caden Wallace and a core for look like disasters on the left side, Bakhtiari might
23:41be a break glass in case of an emergency, it would not be a great situation again because
23:45of his injury history.
23:46But you can talk about him.
23:47You can talk about, uh, Leno Leno is also out there.
23:50You could talk about Humphreys who is still out there.
23:53Beckton just went to Philly right after the draft.
23:56So McKay Beckton's off the market, but there's a handful of guys.
24:00And I think you, you see what you have with Wallace.
24:02You see what you have in a core for if that's not working, then you might have to, you know,
24:08pull out the drastic measure.
24:09All right.
24:10Be a thing that you, you, you mentioned, um, Becton and you know how I feel about Becton.
24:15Like, I mean, when he's right, he's unbelievable.
24:19Like I, I, I kept seeing his name out there and I was like, why, why wouldn't the Patriots
24:23just take a flyer on him?
24:25And if they have any conviction about, you know, these offensive line coaches and you
24:29know, maybe he was in a bad position with the jets and what they have there on the offensive
24:34line.
24:35Like, uh, that was certainly interesting for Philly and Philly is not a chance to take,
24:39you know, a flyer on a guy.
24:40I mean, Becton, just the talent, I would have taken a flyer on it just to take a look at
24:45it.
24:46And if it didn't work, it didn't work, but I don't know.
24:48I agree with you.
24:49I would have 100% done that.
24:51I'd also say the Kate and Wallace stuff, like everything that I've been reading, nobody
24:56outright has come out and said he can't move to left tackle.
24:59So I think he has questions that he has to address from what I've read.
25:03I'm not an offensive line guru.
25:05I'm sure Greg could break it down a lot better about, you know, the punch that he has and
25:09all of these terms.
25:11But from what I've read, uh, it seems like people believe that there's at least a possibility
25:18that he can move to the left side.
25:19You know, Brandon Thorne is somebody who's a very respected offensive line guy, trench
25:24warfare, bleacher report.
25:26You know, I was reading Evan Lazar earlier today and Thorne makes the point of, yeah,
25:31you know, he doesn't say it's a guarantee that he can do it, but he could see some of
25:35the traits that would allow that to happen.
25:36So I think it's a case of you put Wallace out there, you put a core of four out there
25:42and you hope that one of those guys can figure it out.
25:44And then if not, then you start looking around.
25:46I don't have Anderson and other guy, Anderson, Lee, Low, your guy.
25:54So they've, I will say this, I don't know if it's going to work out, but I like the
26:01idea of having a bunch of bodies.
26:04Like you weren't going to be able to fill every critical spot perfectly this off season.
26:10And so, you know, when you're looking at it, it's not a bad idea to have three or four
26:15guys at least competing and say, okay, if we, if you've seen enough during camp or even
26:22mini camp, we might have to go out and get another name, but see if somebody rises to
26:26the occasion.
26:27And if they do, that's great news.
26:30Am I concerned?
26:31Yes, I'm concerned about left tackle.
26:33I don't love the idea of a core of four slash Wallace, but I'm also not an offensive line
26:38coach and I'm not writing off the idea that one of those guys might actually work out.
26:42And if they're at least average, then you'll be able to survive.
26:46All right.
26:47BH Saunders and your draft and your post draft comments, you again brought up Belichick's
26:51horrible draft record.
26:53No one is disputing how truly awful it was in terms of giving the new regime, the benefit
26:58of the doubt, what reporting can be done to lay blame or credit for the specific pick
27:02since 2020, a ton of 2021 draftees have now gotten second contracts.
27:08What was Belichick responsible for grow wolf?
27:11I just don't see how removing one guy means that we should be excited about the leftover
27:16brain trust.
27:17I'd feel better if you said Wolf was pushing for a win, who Barmore and Duggar, but Belichick
27:22overruled people to pick Mac and strange.
27:25Somehow Belichick was suppressing all this drafting talent.
27:28It's as flimsy as the benefit of the doubt given to someone because his dad was a hall
27:32of fame drafter from 30 years ago.
27:38First of all, I'm not giving Elliott Wolf the benefit of the doubt outside of he gets
27:42to pick his players.
27:43Then we get to judge the same way I did with Belichick in the draft.
27:47So if you believe that I'm giving somebody the benefit of the doubt, it's the same benefit
27:51of the doubt.
27:52I gave Bill, those guys, Bill and his scouting staff.
27:55And I say this every year, those guys have been scouting those guys for years.
27:58They get to go to schools.
28:00They talk to the coaches, they talk to the players, they go dive into the background.
28:03They have way more information than, than we do.
28:06So they get to pick their players.
28:08We get to point out there, you know, this is a worry.
28:12This is a good trait might not work out character flaws, by the way, Javon Baker could be some
28:20red flags there just saying, um, and part of the reason why he dropped, um, they get
28:26to make their picks.
28:28And then we have the scoreboard at the end of the day and you know, BH Saunders can ask
28:33all he wants about who was responsible for her.
28:36First of all, that's a bunch of bull crap.
28:39Like number one, it's Bill picking the players.
28:42The bottom line is Bill approved every single pick he had final say.
28:48Okay.
28:49Second of all, I don't believe any of these reports when it comes to regime change and
28:53things like that, where people will say, yeah, I'm sure it'll leak out that, that Elliot
28:58Wolf and Matt grow were responsible for every single like guy they signed to a second contract.
29:04Like it's a bunch of bull crap.
29:06So if you're waiting there, expecting that, like just stop.
29:11Okay.
29:12Uh, what are some of his other points?
29:14Um, he said that, uh, the benefit of the doubt thing, the suppressing all this drafting talent
29:21somehow ballot was suppressing all the talent.
29:24We all know by this point in time, how many more different people do you have to hear
29:29it from that bill was basically his own kingdom.
29:34Didn't bring many people into the process often only relied on his own research when
29:39it came to these draft picks and coaching buddies.
29:41Like how many times do you have to hear it to be convinced of it?
29:45And you know, just be, and we've also said just because this, this process has featured
29:50more collaboration and all that stuff, none of us knows whether it's going to work.
29:54It could, it could completely backfire, but you know, for these Bilbo's to sit there and
30:00still get sensitive about Bill's drafting record and, you know, and again, I think you
30:08and I are both of the opinion that it's been better in recent years.
30:11Now, did they overdraft some people like whole strange and Taekwon Thornton and things like
30:16that?
30:17Yeah.
30:18But, um, the facts are the Patriots were a four wind team and Bill's in charge of all
30:22the personnel and it didn't, and that just, they weren't, they didn't fall to four winds
30:27just because everybody's feelings were hurt and Bill was a big meanie and things like
30:31that.
30:32They just didn't have enough talent.
30:33And so now the new regime gets put in charge, they get to start picking the players and
30:38then we start to judge them and you know, give them grades and things like that.
30:43This is how it works.
30:46Couple things.
30:47That was a fantastic rant.
30:48Couple of things.
30:49Thank you.
30:50First of all, you can't judge a guy on the job he did until he does the job.
30:56So yes, when somebody is doing something for the first time, they get the benefit of
31:01the doubts until they prove unworthy.
31:06To me, Gerard Mayo, he gets the benefit of the doubt to do things the way he wants to
31:10do right now in that facility.
31:12If it flames out horribly, then we say, well, that didn't work.
31:17Mayo failed.
31:19But why would you say, I just don't believe in saying, oh, this is not going to work.
31:24I've made that mistake.
31:25Years ago, I looked at Dan Campbell's press conference in Detroit and said, this is going
31:28to end awful.
31:29I even did it.
31:30I even did it before, you know, last season when when they were on that TV show.
31:37Come on now.
31:38Hard knocks when they were on hard knocks and he was he was crying and in like a bubbly
31:43mess at practice.
31:44And I said, wow, this guy is too emotional because I bought into the almost Bill Belichick.
31:48You can't be emotional.
31:49You can't be different.
31:51And so I wrote off Dan Campbell.
31:53Well, look at what Detroit's done.
31:55So until somebody actually tries to execute what they want to do, you can't freaking judge
32:01them.
32:02I'm sorry.
32:03You just can't.
32:04And so we will see.
32:05This is the unfortunate part as well to Robert Kraft.
32:08You know, the lame duck status of these contracts and everything.
32:11This has been my beef from day one.
32:13If you let Elliott Wolfe do the job now, you have to let him do the job until at least
32:18next year, if not going further than that, because how in the hell are you going to grade
32:23his drafting within three weeks?
32:26His contract is coming up.
32:27Are you going to say, well, you know what?
32:28I didn't like your draft.
32:29We don't know.
32:31We all have gut instincts and we could say we like this guy.
32:34But how many times have we said that and it hasn't worked out?
32:36And then we say we don't like this guy and it works out.
32:39So it's part of the process.
32:41As far as Belichick's drafting, this drives me bananas.
32:46Every single time a patriot that was drafted by Belichick signs a contract extension, people
32:53have to jump on Twitter and go, still, he couldn't draft.
32:57Nobody said Lombardi yet.
33:00Nobody said that Belichick failed at every single pick that he made.
33:06Nobody said that he was incapable of hitting in the draft.
33:09We look at the balance of it.
33:11You look at the totality of the track record over the past eight or nine years in the totality
33:16of that track record was not good.
33:19You can't pick out every single individual pick that makes sense and go, see, see, he
33:24was really good.
33:26Like what are we doing here?
33:28How about paying attention to the other ones that didn't work out?
33:31That's what you're supposed to do.
33:32And by the way, not many people had a beef with Belichick defensively.
33:38I don't think you've heard Greg say anything about the defensive players that he picked.
33:44You haven't heard me say anything.
33:47Nobody, nobody sat there and said, Bill Belichick can't draft defensive players anymore.
33:54The reason why, and I hate having to go through this again, but we've got to go through it
33:58every once in a while because people can't help themselves and stand on the hill and
34:03plant the flag over arguments that just don't make any sense.
34:08Bill Belichick is not here anymore because he failed to build the offense.
34:12I'll say it again.
34:14Bill Belichick is not here anymore because he failed to build the offense.
34:18Who re-signed this offseason?
34:21Who re-signed?
34:22Hunter Henry.
34:23Okay, great.
34:24Did he draft him?
34:25Not the last time I checked.
34:26Kendrick Bourne.
34:27Did he draft him?
34:28Not the last time I checked.
34:29Micah Wenu.
34:30Yes, he drafted him.
34:31Put that in the column for Bill.
34:34Everybody else has been defensively.
34:35Barmore, Duggar, Jennings, Uche, nobody.
34:41Nobody on this planet has denied or debated that Belichick is not a great defensive mind,
34:48does a fantastic job from week to week game planning the defense, develops those guys
34:52very well.
34:54That was never the argument in the first place.
34:56Stop moving the goalposts.
34:58He built this offense to be a joke, which is why you can't fix all of it in one offseason
35:03because there were a billion holes to plug in the boat.
35:07That's the problem.
35:08You can't trust him to build an offense.
35:10You can't trust him to draft a quarterback and develop that quarterback correctly.
35:14You can't trust him to build a support system around that quarterback.
35:18You can't trust him to get the offensive line coaching right after Dante Skarniecki has
35:22said goodbye.
35:23You can't trust him to bring in an offensive coordinator to be consistent, to help that
35:27young quarterback, and he destroyed Mac Jones because of all of the above.
35:31That's why he doesn't have a job, to go along with this idea that he wasn't willing to cede
35:37the power.
35:38If he was willing to just be head coach and let somebody else pick the groceries and be
35:43on the same page, I don't think we're having this conversation to begin with, so stop moving
35:47the goalposts and stop changing the conversation.
35:50We know why Bill's not here.
35:52Stop trying to make your point look better.
35:54Just stop.
35:56He built this offense like crap post Brady, and he built it like crap back in 2018 and
36:022019.
36:03That's the problem.
36:04It's offense.
36:05It's offense.
36:06He's not offering Calvin Ridley $40 million guaranteed.
36:09He's not on the phone trying to trade for Brandon Ayuk or Deebo Samuel.
36:12He's not drafting two receivers in this draft.
36:14He's not spending seven of the eight picks on offense.
36:17He's not doing any of that if he's in here.
36:19Okay, I'm done.
36:23Nice.
36:24We all need to take a deep breath.
36:27Thank you, Saunders, for motivating me to get passionate about that.
36:32I appreciate you.
36:34Let Greg tell everybody why we should appreciate game time.
36:37The Celtics have vanquished the heat and are now on to the Eastern Conference semifinals
36:41where they will have home court advantage again.
36:44Who wouldn't want to be a TD Garden to soak in the great atmosphere there?
36:48Well, game time is an authorized ticket marketplace of the NBA, which makes getting playoff tickets
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37:09I love the seat view component, Nick.
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37:21Maybe I have a little Fenway fatigue, but on the app, it says right in there when you're
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37:53All right, let's get to Tim4219.
37:58We'll breeze through a couple more here of the mailbag questions.
38:00Greg, do you anticipate Wolf being given a new contract and the official GM VP title?
38:06If not, or even if yes, have you begun to hear anything about outside front office candidates
38:12that may be looking to come aboard?
38:14Not yet.
38:16It's a little early for that.
38:17People are sort of, personnel guys get away after the draft.
38:22They've been doing a bunch of work.
38:23I mean, they'll have meetings about, some meetings about like regrading their draft
38:28and sort of learning from what happened in this draft and the lessons from it.
38:33And then they'll take a little bit of a break.
38:36I would anticipate, I haven't heard anything on that front.
38:40Do I think Wolf will get a new contract at some point?
38:43Yes.
38:44But they're going to have to interview other candidates to fulfill the Rooney rule requirements
38:50and stuff like that.
38:51What's his title going to be?
38:53I have no idea.
38:54I would hope that it would be vice president of player personnel.
38:58I mean, if Robin Glazer can have a title of executive vice president of football business
39:04and senior advisor to the head coach and intergalactic manager, then I think Elliot Wolf, we can
39:12do a little bit better than director of scouting.
39:14Like, you know, can, can we get a vice president of player personnel?
39:20And I think it's going to be that at the end of the day.
39:22I think that they, it's wink, nod type of thing.
39:25Of course they have to, you know, uphold the Rooney rule and all that stuff, but I figure
39:30it'll get done at some point, ma'am, ma'am.
39:33What is your title?
39:34Well, that's going to take a while.
39:36Have a seat.
39:37Lots of work.
39:38How about that business card?
39:39Oh my God.
39:41It's like, it's a business sheet.
39:42It's not even a card.
39:43It's like, it's going to be like a whole sheet of paper.
39:44All right.
39:45Uh, Mark Bennett, the Patriots still have between now and the first few games of the season,
39:49at least a high waiver wire position.
39:53Could you see them churning their roster on cut down day?
39:56If a young player cut is better than someone, they have any, any and all positions pretty
40:01much.
40:02Maybe not.
40:03What positions?
40:04Yeah.
40:05Any, all of them.
40:06Uh, so, all right.
40:07I thought you were asking if he was asking any, I got, I got, yeah, no, no, no, no.
40:11Um, I'm just saying all of them.
40:13So I will say, uh, the reason I picked this question out, cause I did want to bring up
40:16and I don't think we got into a, um, a discussion when we talked about the Packer way, it was
40:23more concentrated on the philosophy and the quarterback position, all that stuff.
40:26But you know, one of the tenants of what the Packers do, and this is, goes for Ron Wolf
40:31and Ted Thompson and not so much Brian Goodkins, but he might've done it, but I'm not as familiar.
40:37Um, you are going to see a huge roster churn.
40:41Like these guys, Ron Wolf was famous, especially when he was rebuilding the four wind Packers,
40:47like they would have tryouts on Tuesday and then somebody was getting signed just about
40:52every week.
40:53So I expect between, you know, not only the bottom of the roster now, but like in season,
40:58the practice squad, all that stuff, like you are going to see a con they're just going
41:03to bring in guys and take a look.
41:04And it's basically like, all right, is that guy better than what we have on the roster?
41:09Yep.
41:10We're signing them.
41:11That guy's gone.
41:12Like, that's what they're going to do.
41:14bring up the, the talent on, on the team.
41:17And you know, I don't think any, I don't think any position is off, you know, off the sheet.
41:25I mean, certainly you look at me like maybe there's a free safety, maybe there's a cornerback,
41:29wide receivers, running backs, like offensive tackles, like, you know, you guys know all
41:35the positions.
41:36Um, you don't need me to tell you, but just safe to say there is going to be a loss, lot
41:42of roster churning, uh, on this Patriots team, at least for the next year, if not the
41:47next two competition, competition, competition, two more questions before we get to them.
41:52I want to remind you, we're brought to you by prize picks, download the app today, use
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42:05All right.
42:06Jay Chalifour, the Patriots essentially went 30 years with three left tackles.
42:09Isaiah Wynn busting was one of the nails in Bill's coffin.
42:13Are we as fans overrating the importance of a quote unquote franchise left tackle?
42:19Um, yes.
42:22And you know, look, I don't think anybody would say that Matt light and Nate soldier
42:27were, I mean, they were good left tackles.
42:31Would anybody call them like a franchise all pro level left tackle?
42:36I wouldn't.
42:37Um, you know, certainly very good players.
42:40Light was better.
42:41Um, you know, but you just need good serviceable guys.
42:46And we sort of talked about this, I think in the last pod and you know why I'm not like
42:52hyperventilating about left tackle, because if Michael, when he was really good on the
42:57right side, if it's him or whatever they do, if they're right, tackle is really good.
43:02You can help the left tackle.
43:04It's not that complicated.
43:06Just about anybody who's been in an NFL offense will be like, well, you know, most teams are
43:11all set at left tackle and they help the right tackle.
43:14The Patriots could be the opposite.
43:16It's no indictment.
43:17You know, we put a tight end on that side.
43:19You chip on that side, like, you know, whatever, it's not that big a deal.
43:25And so, um, do I want to have, do I want to have pro bowl level on both sides at tackle?
43:32Hell yeah.
43:33And that's the goal when they're going to get there.
43:34I don't have any idea.
43:37And again, I am concerned about left tackle with the core for Wallace plan because I just,
43:42I got to see it before I feel good about it.
43:45It's certainly possible one or both.
43:47Those guys could work at left tackle.
43:49But Greg, I think another part of the conversation regarding offensive line play is, is it has
43:55declined so dramatically across the league.
43:57I mean, when you look at, when you look at tackle play in 2024, it ain't tackle play
44:02from 2004.
44:03So it is just inherently difficult to find two good to really good tackles.
44:10Not a lot of teams in the NFL have that again, it's not an excuse to say, Oh, the Patriots
44:14can't do it.
44:16Or if they flame out at both spots, I'm not excusing that.
44:20It's just reality.
44:21It's really difficult to find good tackles in football.
44:24Now we can get, we can go through it all with Greg as to why, but college offensive systems
44:29are just the way they're run.
44:30They're not asking guys to block for a long period of time.
44:34They're uncomfortable doing that.
44:36The lack of development, it's just really difficult to, to thread that needle nowadays
44:42in the NFL.
44:43All right.
44:44G G Louie Simons, Greg, what is your over under on games?
44:48The Patriots plan to start Jacoby preset.
44:50Does it depend on wins or play at quarterback or maze progress a combination of all three?
44:55Or is it predetermined say week five?
44:59So I don't think there's any definitive plan at this point.
45:03I think, um, you know, like you mentioned before the, the Patriots, everything is about
45:08competition right now and they, where they are, um, building from a four wind team.
45:14It should be all about competition at all positions.
45:17Um, to me, that's the best path forward.
45:20Um, so we'll see.
45:22I mean, you know, largely we have no idea.
45:24We have no idea how quickly Drake may is going to get the offense.
45:27We have no idea how quickly he's going to clean up his footwork or, uh, his throwing
45:33motion.
45:34Um, but if you're asking me right now, I would put the over under at seven and a half games
45:42that presets.
45:43Well, well, they play seven, 17 games now, so maybe eight and a half.
45:48That's that would be my over under my preference is that the Patriots are in somewhat contention
45:55all year, maybe until the last month of the season, last couple of weeks.
46:01And Drake may doesn't play until they're out of, um, playoff contention and they can just
46:08get a look at him, get his feet wet, get film on him, say, Hey, this is what we need to
46:12work on.
46:13This was good.
46:14This was bad.
46:15I'm building off it.
46:16If I, if I think I remember correctly, Nick, and you're more of an encyclopedia about this
46:21stuff than I did, didn't Patrick Mahomes get a start at the end of his rookie year?
46:27And that sort of set the, it was, they sort of dipped their toe in the water.
46:33And that basically led to the switch the following year.
46:37I was like, I think you're right, but I'm not going to sit there and tell you that you're
46:42definitely right.
46:43But I think you're right.
46:45I think he got, I think he got one start.
46:46I can look it up.
46:47Here's what I'll say about Drake may.
46:50And this might sound like a cop-out answer and you know what?
46:53Guess what?
46:54I couldn't care less.
46:56So here, here's my answer to that.
46:58Drake may should start a football game when he's ready.
47:01And yes, by the way, Patrick Mahomes started a week 17 16th game of the year at Denver.
47:08If you want to know what he did, he was 22 of 35, 284 yards, zero touchdowns and a pick.
47:14So everybody at that point, I'm sure thought he was going to be the best quarterback in
47:17the league.
47:18What to do with Drake may when he's ready, you play him.
47:22If he's ready to start, then you start him unless you think it's unsafe.
47:26And what I mean by that is if the offensive line is a fire drill and you're worried about
47:31ruining the future of your franchise via injury or some of the PTSD getting hit a billion
47:37times, then I would slow roll it a little bit.
47:40But if you tell me Drake may is on that field and Greg and I are standing shoulder to shoulder
47:44in June at minicamp and we've casted aside Mike Giardi cause I don't think he likes me.
47:50So he's Giardi's way away from the two of us and we're watching it.
47:54We're watching the action unfold.
47:56If Drake may is out there and his footwork looks way ahead of schedule and he's tightened
48:01up his throwing motion and he's a confident dude and the players believe he's the best
48:06player and gives them the best chance to win.
48:08Then you start him week one if he's ready, if, if, and that would be a great thing.
48:12If he eclipses all of our expectations that it might take a little while and looks like
48:18the dude, that's great.
48:20I don't put any kind of, you know, I don't know, some random timeline on it like, Oh,
48:27you know what?
48:28If he's not in there by Halloween, forget about it.
48:30He's a lost cause.
48:31Like I don't do that.
48:32If what, when he's ready and he proves to be ready, then play the young man.
48:36One of the reasons why you drafted him is because you love this toughness and his ability
48:40to face adversity.
48:41So he might have to face a little bit of adversity, but if he's ready and he's cleaned up, let
48:46the young man throw the football because that's what you drafted him to do.
48:50That's just my thought.
48:51All right.
48:52He's Greg.
48:53I'm Nick.
48:54We ranted.
48:55We raved.
48:56We had some fun.
48:57Until next week, hopefully all of you have a fantastic weekend.
49:00Be well.
49:01Be well to each other.
49:02See you later.