Patriots Draft Picks since 2009

Rob Gronkoswki (2nd round, 2010) and Julian Edelman (7th round, 2009) are two of the Patriots most successful players drafted over the last decade (Credit: Elsa/Getty Images)

With the NFL Draft less than 6 weeks away, I decided to do an exercise with the Patriots success in the draft (by round) since 2009.

Why 2009? There are only 4 players drafted prior to that year who contributed to the most recent run of championships in any way (Brady in 2000, Wilfork in 2005, Gostkowski in 2006, Slater in 2008).  The team’s past 10 drafts should serve to highlight how part of the roster has been built, and where the impact players have been found.

This is going off of a hunch that the Patriots have had more success in the mid-to-late rounds finding talent than the first two rounds; lets see if that is a fair assessment.

Who to Watch (March 15 – March 21)

Antonio Brown was finally traded, landing in Oakland with the Raiders on Saturday night; the Steelers received picks in the 3rd and 5th rounds respectively in return for Brown (Credit: AP)

Aaaaaaaaaaand we’re back! What a week, huh!? This week things are a bit in the form of a recap of the frenzy of moves in the NFL, as well as some basketball.  Who changed teams you ask? Nick Foles, Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr., Earl Thomas, Tyrann Mathieu, Trey Flowers, Trent Brown, Olivier Vernon, Golden Tate, Mark Ingram, and many more. It’s okay, because when all of that was happening, Bill Belichick was on vacation without a care in the world, because that’s what winners do.  In other news, we hear more and more about the Lakers each day that paints them in a much worse light (LeBron TRADE RUMORS!?); the Rockets winning streak came to an end against the Warriors; Steve Kerr was caught ripping Draymond Green; Serge Ibaka decided to try to assault a Cleveland Cavalier; Buddy Hield decided to be Klay Thompson, only for Jaylen Brown to clap back and do the same thing in the same quarter (more on that later).

We’ve said enough, now to your preview for this upcoming week!

Team Building is an Art

Building a perennial winner is not easy, yet Bill Belichick has made it look like child’s play (Credit: Getty Images)

With free agency signings popping up left and right, we have officially entered the true madness of the NFL offseason.  I am a big fan of any sports offseason, and between now and through the draft in late April, we will see how the 32 teams in the NFL go about building their rosters in the hopes of success in 2019.

As is the case on the field, there is one team that is the best at building a roster, and knows how to set itself up for sustained success by making the right moves, and knowing how to show restraint; that team of course, is the New England Patriots.

The news we’ve heard from the Patriots thus far this offseason has more to do with the players that are leaving than joining the Super Bowl champions, but that’s not necessarily bad news. Sure, Trey Flowers and Trent Brown are talented players and deserved to be paid, but committing between $31.5 million and $32.5 million in AAV respectively to those two would have meant they’d be committing roughly 1/6 of their salary cap to Flowers and Brown; that’s not the Patriot Way.

Payday for the G.O.A.T?

Tom Brady celebrating his most recent Super Bowl title during the Patriots championship parade in February (Credit: Michael Dwyer/AP)

Tom Brady will be entering the final year of a 2-year, $41 million contract he signed with the team in 2016. He’s currently set to earn $15 million, vastly underpaid for a player of his caliber, something we have come to expect throughout his career, as he has sacrificed money time and time again for the betterment of the team.  It’s a formula that had helped New England assemble championship rosters, especially this most recent run of titles.

However, Brady has never walked into a contract year, and even though it will be his age-42 season, the Patriots are not changing course in making sure the greatest QB of all-time is under team security. The week prior to the Super Bowl, owner Robert Kraft said the team would have no reservations in extending Brady, and we should expect nothing less.

To add some fuel to the fire, we’re hearing some figures about a possible Brady contract extension.

The Greatest Dynasty of All-Time

Tom Brady (#12) and Julian Edelman (#11) celebrating winning Super Bowl LIII (Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times)

The New England Patriots have now won 6 Super Bowls since 2001.

Simple, concise, a model of success.  In the NFL, there is no other parallel, and if you look closely, although the other four major sports have some worthy challengers, this run takes the cake.