Hollywood Donahoe

Shhhh...facts suck for MDB. The fact of the matter is that the Patriots will do what they always do. They will determine how valuable Thomas is in terms of cap dollars, and they will offer him a contract that corresponds to that set value. If he accepts, great. If he does not, the team will pursue other value-based avenues. It's not about "top dollar," MDB - the Pats will pay anything as long as they feel it's in their interest to do so (that is to say, if they feel a player's value matches whatever "top dollar" is). It's been their ability to view players rationally - and not become so enamored of a single one that they pay whatever it takes to get him - that has led to much of their success.

There are still FBs?

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Silent post for retatta.

I don't know about reading, but we know he can't spell:

That mock is horrible. I think it's based on the same computer models as Al Gore's global warming data.

The mainstream media is simply obsessed with Iraq. To hear them tell it, there's nothing else going on in the world.

Way to go out on a limb. All hail the mighty limb walker!

Well, the Patriots have historically been quite active in free agency, but have avoided players whose salary will outweigh their value. I'll consider him franchised and traded, then. I just got déjà vu.

Quite right. Indeed, it has been their modus operandi during the Belichick era. For six years, they have drafted well, signed smart, inexpensive players who fit their system, and let other teams kill their caps in the high-priced FA market. They've been the best team in the NFL during that span. I never expect the Patriots to win the Super Bowl. Mathematically, there's always a far better chance that one of the other 31 teams will win it. That said, I do expect them to contend for a Super Bowl next year, and every year until they begin to feel the effects of Brady, Belichick, or Pioli leaving, should one of them eventually seek new employment. The guys they signed helped them contend for Super Bowls the past two years. First, the Pats are too smart to not franchise Samuel, meaning he stays or the Pats get a day one pick back for him. Graham could go, and his loss would hurt, but the Pats aren't exactly thin at TE. Dillon costs more to cut than he does to keep. No chance of him going anywhere. Brown's versatility and leadership will be missed whenever he moves on, but his production at WR is easily replaceable. Anyway, to get to the point, you're assuming that the only way to replace these guys, should they leave, is to dip into the high-priced FA market. This type of assumption is always foolish, but is even more so in the case of the Patriots. We're talking about a team that lost Deion Branch and David Givens, replaced them with Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney, and improved significantly. The Patriots have one of the smartest FOs in the league, and because of that, every player is replaceable (excluding, in all probability, Brady), and not necessarily with a marquee name.

That's the point. The Patriots were clearly a Super Bowl-caliber team this year, even though they fell just short. Anybody can pick a single team and say that they won't win the Super Bowl any time soon - and they'll likely be right. Your doom-and-gloom indicated that the Pats wouldn't even contend for titles anymore, and you were wrong. Ah yes, the Patriots have always been reliant on big spending in the FA market to win Super Bowls. Where do you come up with this crap? It should be interesting to see what happens. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that Belichick realizes how good a thing he's got going in Foxboro.

This sounds unbelievably made up.

Fantasizing? Given your now-disproven predictions of doom the last few years, you seem to be the one who's been fantasizing. The Patriots have not yet altered the habits and tendencies that have led them to six consecutive winning seasons, as well as five AFC East titles and the three Super Bowl titles during that span. If the tendencies have not changed, than why should the results?

"Float a loan."

You gave no indication that you were being anything other than serious. If you'd thrown a smilie or something in there, I'd have responded differently. There ya go...now that's proper smilie use. :wallbash:

Great, now we'll be subject to more nationally televised Packer games. "But...but...we have to make Packers/Lions the Sunday night game this week. It might be Favre's last game at Lambeau Field!" We've been through "Favre's potential final home game" three or four times now. Nobody cares anymore!

Fixed again.

Fixed.

Clinton: "I want to take those profits..." So much for freedom. "I don't like how you earn money. I'm going to allow the federal government to commandeer your profits." Frightening.

Why would the Patriots trade him?

Brady's signed through 2010.

Ideally, they should stop calling the ticky-tack stuff in all the games. But if it comes down to the refs never letting football players play football, or sometimes letting football players play football, I'll take the latter.

Take the blinders off, MDB. They were the same exact penalty - an unintentional slap to the head of the QB by a blitzer on the way to a sack. Frankly, I'm glad crap like that doesn't get called too much in the playoffs (although the refs did manage to call it against Tully Banta-Cain on the Colts' winning drive last Sunday). It's more than just the Hobbs penalty (which was wrong, as there was no contact). The Banta-Cain roughing penalty shouldn't have been called, Caldwell was tackled in the EZ on a 3rd down with no flag, and a Troy Brown offensive PI in the first half (when the Pats were up 21-3 and were on the way to 24-3 or 28-3) was called even though it was within 5 yards of the LOS and the ball was not even in the air at the time of contact. The Patriots were do doubt on the receiving end of some bad calls last week, but the fact of the matter is that they should never have been in the position of allowing the refs to decide it. They had the big lead and couldn't stop the Colts from coming back, and that's on the players and the coaches and no one else.

Depends on the penalty. They usually let the ticky-tack stuff (minor slaps to the head, incidental contact in the defensive backfield) slide. Which one?

OMG u r totally badazz