By Michael Vallee
-Shipping Out of Boston: Against Buffalo the Patriots defense, once again, employed their bend-but-don’t-break philosophy, or in this case, bend-and-let-the-opposition-shoot-themselves-in-the-foot. They allowed 376 total yards, but just 17 points until a garbage time touchdown put the Bills at 25. To most observers New England’s defense appeared to give another good but not great performance, similar to the previous seven games of the season. Belichick, however, was reportedly not happy with that side of the ball, and made his feelings known loud and clear when he rocked Patriot Nation on Monday, trading away one of their most talented defensive players, linebacker Jamie Collins.
And for just a late third round pick.
Saying Patriots fans (and teammates) were surprised by this deal would be the understatement of the year. Kind of like saying Billy Bush is just a little creepy. The deal became all the more shocking when it was learned that New England most likely would have received similar compensation if they just kept Collins and let him walk in free agency. So, how did we get here? It was just two months ago that Collins was being touted as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. This is a guy Belichick once talked about in the same breath Lawrence Taylor. How did Collins go from impact Pro Bowler to a guy you ship to the wasteland of Cleveland for a middling draft pick?
Well that depends on who you ask, and there were no shortage of opinions and reactions after this news hit the wire:
-Former Patriots exec and presumed Belichick mouthpiece, Mike Lombardi claims this was a pure football decision due to poor play and questionable effort.
-Former Patriot and current WEEI radio host, Christian Fauria, cited sources claiming that Collins attitude had soured and there was a fear he might poison the locker room.
-MMQBs Greg Bedard scoffed at the notion that Collins had an attitude problem or gave questionable effort.
-The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin reported that contract negotiations had not gone well with the linebacker, and this was affecting both his play and preparation, and later added that the deal was another case of Belichick taking the longview, i.e. sacrificing some potential productivity now, for benefits in the future.
There were also conflicting reports about New England offering Collins a contract, with the Herald’s Jeff Howe and Globe’s Ben Volin claiming the Patriots discussed a potential 11 million a year deal and Mike Lombardi and Collins’ agent, Bus Cook, stating there were never any serious negotiations. And according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter 11 million would not have come close to landing Collins who was reportedly seeking “Von Miller money” (19 million a year).
So what are we to make of this convoluted mess?
For starters, it is hard to imagine this was a pure football decision. Regardless of whatever struggles Collins was having he is clearly still a talented playmaker that could have played some role on this defense. And while it’s still unclear if New England ever made a serious offer, it’s also hard to imagine that Collins was jettisoned simply because he was most likely not going to be a part of the Patriots long term plans. Attitude and compensation are the most likely culprits for this bizarre deal.
Perhaps Collins was not responding well to finding out that New England would not break the bank for him. Or maybe his recent struggles and semi-benching in Buffalo triggered an attitude problem that Belichick feared could metastasize to other corners of the locker room. Belichick is not above motivating players like Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi, players that want to be motivated, but once you start to checkout, Belichick is done with you, and will cut the cord faster than you can say Randy Moss.
As for the compensation, Volin lays out a compelling argument that there were some benefits to shipping Collins to Cleveland rather than waiting for the free agent compensation. By dealing him now New England secured a likely top 100 pick in 2017 as opposed to 2018, when they would have received the pick if Collins had walked. This is similar to the Chandler Jones deal – yes, it hurt their pass rush in the short term, but it allowed them to land what looks like a potential 10-year starter (Joe Thuney) and a speed/depth guy at WR (Malcolm Mitchell) now, as opposed to waiting two years for his free agent compensation. Additionally, there are no guarantees that they would receive a top 100 compensatory pick for Collins, and, if they had, it might have limited them in free agency because of the NFL’s complicated compensation formula.
The fear, however, is that Belichick might be planning too much for the future and not enough for the championship team right in front of him – something that has gotten him into trouble in the past. In early 2006 Belichick traded Deion Branch to the Seattle Seahawks for a 1st round pick one day after they played Buffalo (sound familiar?). Fair compensation? Absolutely, but the deal also robbed Tom Brady of his only legitimate weapon in ‘06 and, possibly, cost New England a Super Bowl. In 2009 Belichick traded defensive lineman Richard Seymour to the Oakland Raiders for another 1st round pick. Once again, the trade was more than fair but do you think the Pro Bowl lineman could have helped New England’s championship runs in 2010 and 2011, when their defense was ranked 25th and 31st?
The hope for New England is that this deal will have a similar addition by subtraction impact as the 2010 in-season deal that shipped pain-in-the-ass wide receiver Randy Moss out of town. Despite losing a talented player, the Patriots won 11 of their next 12 games and finished with the number one seed in the AFC. Perhaps exiling Collins to Cleveland will have a similar effect. Maybe removing a possible distraction and sending a message that you better be all-in when you play for Belichick, will serve to motivate the rest of the defense. If not, and the defense struggles even more without their most athletic linebacker, the fans are going to want to know why Belichick abruptly traded one of the most talented Patriots on a 7-1 team that appears destined for the Super Bowl.
Or at least they did before Monday.
-Running on Empty: Has the running game ever looked less relevant than it did Sunday in Buffalo? The Patriots ran for just 72 yards, barely averaging three yards per carry, while the Bills ran for 167 yards and averaged well over six yards per carry and still New England led by 24 points late in the 4th quarter.
-Sex Toys “R” Us: Sorry to all you sexually shy types but Sunday’s Patriots/Bills game will probably forever be known as the Dildo Game. In case you missed it (yeah right) the Patriots were on the verge of scoring late in the 3rd quarter when a disgruntled Bills fan hurled a “marital aid” on the field, triggering laughter throughout the crowd and confusion in the broadcast booth. And apparently the latex love stick had Tom Brady’s name on it…..literally. After dispatching the dildo detectives to look into this, what we have since learned is that this was apparently an accessory to the Halloween costume of a Bills fan’s girlfriend (she went as a porn star) and her boyfriend thought the best use of his time would be to sharpie Tom Brady’s name on the side of it and toss it into the middle of an NFL game. I guess in some ways that is fitting since Brady has been f***king the Bills for the better part of two decades. Word is the guy heaved it from 18 rows back. Not bad. I bet Tyrod Taylor couldn’t throw a fake penis that far.
As Brady said, “Only in Buffalo”.
-Boom Goes the Dynamite: Sunday’s game was a physical one, and nobody knows that more than Brandon Tate, who was on the receiving end of a soul-crushing hit by former teammate Devin McCourty. McCourty sounded a little annoyed after the Sunday’s game when talking about the pregame scuffle between the Bills and Patriots back in week 4 and some of the ensuing chatter from Buffalo’s locker room. “was that the thing of the year that they got in a little scuffle?” said McCourty. “Maybe it’s the highlight of their season, but I think that’s pretty sad if that’s your highlight.” Perhaps McCourty was sending a little message with his big hit and unfortunately for Tate, the ex-Patriot received that message loud and clear.
-68 + 1 = Gronk: Playing back in his hometown of Buffalo Rob Gronkowski finally scored his 69th career touchdown (cue the laugh track). Let’s hope his obsession with juvenile humor doesn’t keep him stuck on that number.
-All Hallows Eve: When we landed tickets seven rows from the field on the 15-yard line, for a game on October 30th, it didn’t take long for me to realize we would have a front row seat for the greatest combination in the western world: Cheerleaders and Halloween
Unfortunately this was the view from our seats. Notice anything missing?
It turns out the Bills are one of the six franchises in the NFL that don’t have cheerleaders. The Packers, Steelers, Bears, Giants and Browns are the other five. And it gets worse. It’s not as if Buffalo doesn’t have cheerleaders because they are a traditional old-fashioned organization that simply chooses not to. They don’t have cheerleaders because they were sued by their cheerleading squad and responded by suspending the entire program. And why were the Bills sued? Because they are cheap miserable bastards who refused to pay them anything that resembled a fair wage and paraded them around at private events to drunk horny businessmen that treated the cheerleaders with all the class and dignity of Donald Trump.