Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Since the indictments were out of Boston part of me wondered if the college admissions scandal was part of either a long-game revenge on the part of Harvard University or a master prank pulled off by MIT. Both are certainly possibilities... "We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same." - Carlos Castaneda... Socialism in a nutshell... How funny would it be if it turns out William H. Macy dimed out his wife, Felicity Huffman, in the college admissions scandal because he thought it would be cheaper than a divorce and he thought this way he could get custody of the kids. That would be just the thing one of the characters he's played would do... Heh heh - awesome!... Wish there was a place that I could bet that the combined win totals of the Giants and Jets will not equal the Patriots wins next season. That would be almost guaranteed money... And speaking of the Patriots, an under appreciated aspect of them extending a contract offer to Josh Gordon is that it allows the team to continue to financially support his treatment costs. Getting Gordon's life back in order is the priority and the Patriots stepped up to help make that happen...

What's Next for the Patriots?

Tom Brady will be back next year so will Bill Belichick so you have to like the Patriots chances (as always)

The three biggest questions going into the offseason are:

1. Will Rob Gronkowski retire? Nobody would begrudge Gronk if his decision was to call it quits because of the damage he's piled up over the years on his body. Gronk was the best tightend in NFL history. But if he does retire what do the Pats do to address the position?

2. Trey Flowers is an unrestricted free-agent and Belichick has a history of letting players walk to get the big money elsewhere. I hope he makes an exception for Flowers who is an elite defensive lineman. Belichick showed he was unafraid of paying a defensive player top dollar when he signed Stephon Gilmore to a big free agent deal. I hope he does the same for Flowers.

3. Trent Brown is another unrestricted free agent who was a big part of the team's success this season. Unless he takes a discount to be Tom Brady's blindside tackle I'm not hopeful that he doesn't sign a massive contract elsewhere.

Next season's team could be greatly helped by the return of injured LB Ja'Whaun Bentley and OL Isaiah Wynn two rookies who had their seasons cut short but should be ready for 2019.

Josh Gordon could be reinstated by the NFL as early as May. That's means he should be available in time for OTA's and training camp. Do the Patriots bring him back? I think they do. Gordon's failure was his own and I think his teammates are pulling for him to get well. And the coaches know he can produce on the field. I can see them bringing Gordon back but saying goodbye to Chris Hogan.

Greg Schiano will be joining the Patriots coaching staff as the new Defensive Coordinator. He replaces Brian Flores who is now the head coach of the Dolphins. Schiano and Belichick go way back and the McCourty twins played under Schiano at Rutgers so I think this transition will go rather smoothly.

Not to be overlooked is the fact New England has 12 draft picks in the upcoming NFL draft. These picks include 4 in the top 75 selections. Depth should be a strength next season.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

GMC should come out with a special edition Denali that would only be available in Ohio but called the McKinley (too obscure?)... Heh Heh... I still firmly believe that the NFL would have been much better off if all those years ago instead of hiring Roger Goodell they got a mannequin in a suit and piped in H. Jon Benjamin's voice whenever the Commissioner needed to "speak"...  Cloudzilla!... Not to belittle the damage or human suffering in any way but it seems that we have reached a point where we gauge the severity of a hurricane's damage by whether Waffle House closes and if the death toll is higher than the average gun deaths of a weekend in Chicago... Call me a cynic but I think one reason Dianne Feinstein pulled this stunt on Judge Kavanaugh was to hopefully get people to forget her driver for 20-years was a Chinese spy... For the record I'm 100% wait and see on the Pats acquiring Josh Gordon. When New England acquired Corey Dillion and Randy Moss I was on board right away. This feels different...