Bad football teams have a few options to exit the outhouse of NFL existence.
Coaching changes, free agent spending and on-point drafting are all part of the necessary multi-step plan to go from a spring of high draft picks to a summer and fall of high hopes.
So it is with great anticipation that Patriot Nation hits the NFL’s so-called legalized tampering period on Monday, aka the start of free agency and the opportunity for Jerod Mayo, Eliot Wolf and the entire New England collaborative to spend the boatloads of salary cap space it has at its disposal.
As Mayo said back in January, it’s finally time to “burn some cash,” baby!
Make no mistake, Monday at noon is the opening of free agency even if contracts supposedly won’t actually be signed, sealed and finalized for a couple more days.
By late in the day, many of the top free agents on the market will already know their new, lucrative homes for 2024.
And if all goes well and according to hopeful plans, much of what was the Patriots’ $100 million in salary cap space could be accounted for by the end of the dramatic first day of real business across the NFL.
Forget Wolf’s wet-blanket words at the Scouting Combine about the potential to “save” money, this is a time for hope-filled, irresponsible and maybe even regrettable spending!
Like a trip to the local bar for a laborer on pay day evening or a visit to the local toy store (what’s that?) after Christmas for a kid, right now spending money feels like the thing to do. Feels like it will make us all feel better, at least for the moment.
Sure, as the previous Patriots regime learned back in 2021, spending this week won’t all be fulfilling. For every Matthew Judon there’s a couple Jonnu Smiths and Nelson Agholor. But, unfortunately, that’s the cost of doing business when you are a bad football team, a team with way more needs than talent. A team requiring a significant injection of life both into its roster and its collective fan base, a group that was so disinterested late last season that Gillette Stadium was barely half full for the season finale, for what was widely believed to GOAT coach Bill Belichick’s final game on the sideline in Foxborough. (And don’t give me that crap about the snow!)
So everyone inside and outside the football offices at One Patriot Place should be dreaming big this potentially glorious if gusty morning in New England.
Tyron Smith could be the stabilizing force on a new-look New England line.
Calvin Ridley could be the pass-catcher to catch the most critical early passes from the No. 3 pick future franchise QB.
Dream now, dream big.
While New England had it oh-so-good for oh-so-long in the dynasty days – relive it all now in soap opera, sensationalized, football-overlooking fashion these days in “The Dynasty” on Apple TV! -- life in the NFL can be tough. Belichick and the post-Tom Brady Patriots learned that lesson the hard way the last four years.
But there are a few notable days on the NFL calendar which truly do represent hope and opportunity.
Draft day. The opening day of training camp. The regular season opener.
And, of course, for teams with money to spend, the first day of free agency.
The introductory press conferences were fine. The off-the-record social was nice.
But today, today is the first real day of the next era of Patriots football led by Mayo and Wolf.
Hope is in the air.
The smell of burning cash will soon be wafting around Patriot Nation.
The future of New England football, for better or worse, begins in just a few hours.
As a former quarterback in these parts used to say, “LFG!”
