Stephon Gilmore

First and foremost - thank you Stephon Gilmore! He was the 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and a key contributor to the Patriots Super Bowl victory over the Los Angeles Rams that year.. 

Cynics will say all the Patriots got (and being generous) in return for Stephon Gilmore was Jamie Collins, a 6th round pick in 2023, and salary cap relief (you could call this a player to be named later). Not much return for a guy most arm chair quarterbacks thought would get back at least a 1st round pick. 

I can recall when Bill Belichick signed Gilmore as a free agent, many of those same arm chair quarterbacks thought Belichick was overpaying for a cornerback. That big contract ended up being a bargain in hindsight but will Belichick ever get credit for the signing? Nope.

My guess is because of the contract impasse Gilmore was not going to contribute to the Patriots this season. Belichick then moved in the best interest of the team to do what was done today. One aspect that doesn't seem to be getting attention is that the trade removed a sure distraction from the team. Distractions are not helpful to winning football in New England.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I still like the idea of a straight-up trade of DB Stephon Gilmore from the Patriots for  QB Jimmy Garappolo from the 49ers. I think that works for both teams. My fallback would be to trade a 4th round pick to Jacksonville for QB Gardner Minshew... There is no such thing as "White" math. Anyone who would argue that "2+2 does not equal 4" has no place in education and whatever university gave that person a degree needs to have their credentials revoked... Mitt Romney should run for President in 2024 - as a Centrist Democrat. An idea so crazy it just might work! Romney seems half-way into the Democratic Party already so why not? He'd be the only Centrist Democrat running. This would be fascinating to watch - admit it - you'd watch it too... If Aleksei Navalny doesn't qualify as a "prisoner of conscience" or a "political prisoner" then those terms have no meaning. Amnesty International is a joke. If you give money to Amnesty International, the ACLU, or Greenpeace you are actually making things worse and should be ashamed of yourself... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I wonder if the answer to the Patriots QB issue would be a simple one-for-one trade of Stephon Gilmore for Jimmy Garappolo?  Gilmore is one year removed from being the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year but also one year away from being a free agent looking for a big contract that New England won't be willing to give him. Jimmy G has long been a Belichick favorite and San Fran may be looking to get out of the big contract they signed him to... Funny but also true... Is there anything more sexy or feminine than a woman who uses scrunchies on her underarm hair? (Now that I've put that image into your head)... Funny but also true... Would be cool to see a GameStop version of It's a Wonderful Life with Citadel/Melvin Capital playing the role of Mr. Potter and the Reddit/WallStreetBets folks playing George Bailey... And speaking of GameStop - Mets owner Steve Cohen deletes his Twitter account due to GameStop backlash. This is so Mets...  

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The discussion in Boston is whether the Patriots should trade reigning Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore. I think they should. Gilmore is not playing today's must win game in Buffalo. If they win without him then that's a signal that they don't necessarily need him in a year when they are just trying to make the playoffs. If they lose then they probably won't be making the playoffs so why not trade him...The NBA is in trouble.I predict the greed on both sides will prevent a deal being in place in time to save the upcoming season or save the USA Olympic team if schedule conflicts prevent NBA players from participating...When underrated Sean Connery movies are mentioned - don't sleep on Finding Forrester... Seal Team 6 rescued American hostage Philip Walton from terrorists in Nigeria.We suffered no casualties but as a sports fan I want to know the score. How many terrorists did we kill?... I beginning to fear that my bet for the Patriots to win the Super Bowl won't be cashed this year...

Top 5 - Thoughts on the New England Patriots

Here are my Top 5 thoughts on the state of the New England Patriots:

1. The team is 10-3 which is tied for the 3rd best record in the NFL and the Patriots are the reigning Super Bowl champs. The last championship parade was less than 12 months ago. Their final regular season record this year will probably be 12-4 or 13-3. There is NO need for gnashing of teeth.

2. One of the big needs on the team is at tight end and I can't help but notice that every time I watch Seattle on TV Jacob Hollister seems to be catching passes. For the season he has 29 catches for 237 yards and 3 TD's. Those numbers would be far and away the best of any New England tight end (who all combined only have 29 receptions on the year). The Patriots traded Hollister to the Seahawks for a 7th round pick. I'm wondering if Bill Belichick would like to have that one back right about now.

3. Another need is at receiver but playing receiver for the Patriots is tough both because of the sophisticated system they run and the fact that the player has to earn Tom Brady's trust (which is no small matter). A simple solution could be to have Stephon Gilmore switch over from CB for a few snaps a game. Gilmore knows the Patriots offensive sets because he practices against them all the time and there's few players that Tom Brady respects more in the league. There's precedent of having an All-Pro corner also play receiver - maybe you've heard of a guy named Deion Sanders? Also Bill Belichick has shown a willingness to do something like this - remember when he had Troy Brown help out the defense when the secondary was depleted back in the day?

4. I wouldn't be surprised if Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels brought in an extra lineman at tight end to help with pass blocking. Makes perfect sense but continuing on the vein of players switching sides of the ball - before there was Gronk the Pats often had Mike Vrabel come in on goal line situations. Vrabel finished his career with 10 TD's in such situations. No knock on Vrabel but Jamie Collins is stronger and more athletic. I'm hoping the Pats could dust off some of those Vrable plays for Collins.

5. And finally let's not forget that this team has the greatest QB to ever play the game in Tom Brady and the greatest coach ever in Bill Belichick. There's a lot to be thankful for.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

What the hell? Seriously was Jim Irsay drunk here? The question about the points begs some sort of explanation or league investigation... "Delay is preferable to error." - Thomas Jefferson... I'm convinced that if Leonardo da Vinci were alive today he would be designing huge stage sets for stadium rock bands or be a Broadway show producer. Creating pageants in Milan was one of his great joys... "If you open your mind too much - your brain will fall out." - Tim Minchin (I always think of this quote in terms of people who are too "woke")... Todd Helton was almost traded to the Red Sox back in January of 2007. I think if Helton was traded and his bat and glove were seen on a more regular basis by the East Coast voters then people would be speaking of him now as a sure fire Hall of Fame player... Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore who Bill Belichick signed to a big contract was named to the NFL All-Pro team. Malcolm Butler, who Belichick, let walk away had a less than All-Pro season for the Titans (to put it kindly). Yet people still question Belichick as a NFL GM... I'm convinced that the reason Josh McDaniels did not take the Colts head coaching job last year was because he didn't want to deal with Jim Irsay. He looked at what he had with Bob Kraft and came to the realization there was no way he could stomach that much of a step down in ownership...