The time for talking, analyzing and predicting is over.
And that suits Bill Belichick and the Patriots perfectly.
NFL free agency essentially begins at noon today when the so-called “legal tampering” period allows players and teams to lay the parameters to agreements, even if they can’t actually be signed until Wednesday.
Free agency and arguably the most critical offseason in New England in decades is upon us.
Release the checkbooks!
To be clear and not so shockingly, not a peep of the talking, analyzing or predicting to this point has emanated from Gillette Stadium this winter.
Bill Belichick hasn’t said boo since the end of the 2020 season, a playoff-free winter in which he and his team gave its fans plenty of reason to do just that – boo.
With faithful followers and media alike having spent the last two-plus months calculating the Patriots available cap space, lining up the team’s spring To-Do List of needs and prepping for New England highest draft pick since 2008, there’s been not so much as a courtesy conference call out of Foxborough.
Call it the quiet before the possible team-building storm.
Call it ducking the media.
Call it whatever you want, the silence of the last couple months is meaningless. We all know the cliché that talk is cheap.
But the Patriots can’t be. Not now. Now is the time to spend. Like many a political slogan, invest in the future!
In the coming hours and days we’ll all finally get a glimpse at what Belichick plans for the Patriots. How he’s going to put to use Robert Kraft’s money to try to rebuild the once-proud dynasty. How he’s going to attempt to get back to winning, get back to the playoffs and get Tom Brady’s contract extension with the defending champion Bucs off their minds. How he’s going to answer the growing vocal minority of critics who think Belichick is no longer the man actually worthy of picking the groceries in New England.
And Belichick’s actions will speak much louder than any of his usual non-answers ever could.
Will it be a splash of signings, diving into the high-end, high-cost talent pool to target tight end, wide receiver and the defensive front?
Will it be more mid-level signings, taking advantage of what could be a depressed market due to the $182.5 million pandemic salary cap that has plenty of teams slashing contracts and counting pennies?
Belichick, when he does deem the media worthy of his precious comments and presence, often describes team building as a mosaic. He emphasizes that early free agency isn’t the only way to snag talent. Nor the draft. Or even trades. It’s a year-round, multifactorial (thank Theo Epstein for making that word popular in sports!) approach that must be undertaken.
That’s all true, fine and maybe even dandy.
But when you are in the midst of an organizational existential crossroads, it wouldn’t hurt for one of the teams with the most salary cap money to spend and one of the most limited rosters in football to heed the advice of a high school cheerleader – Be Aggressive!, Be, E, Aggressive!
That doesn’t mean you have to throw $100 million at one receiver.
Or only shop the top shelf.
There could be re-signing of his own free agent talents like David Andrews, Joe Thuney, James White or Lawrence Guy.
There could be more opportunistic trades like the recent deals acquiring tackle Trent Brown while shipping Marcus Cannon out of town.
Belichick is paid quite handsomely ($20 million a year !!!???) to figure out exactly how to do his job (where have I heard that before?). But now, like the company he named his Insta-famous dog after, he needs to just do it!
Transactional aggression can come in many different forms.
It’s like porn, we’ll know it if and when we see it.
Or if we don’t.
Belichick and Kraft haven’t said a word since January.
That's fine. Who cares?
It’s their actions over the next few days that matter.
They will lay the free agent foundation for the 2021 Patriots and the short-term future of the franchise.
Isn’t that why, as Belichick himself all-too-willingly explained it, the Patriots spent last fall resetting their salary cap spending after years of supposedly going “all in” to win with Brady? They weren't as invested in winning then so that they could invest now.
What’s the point of resetting your books and piling up cap space if you don’t plan to aggressively use it?
Belichick is often a man of few words. Especially when the media is involved.
But his actions also usually tell us plenty.
They certainly must do so this week.
All of Patriot Nation is certainly ready and paying very close attention.
