- 5 months ago
Tom E. Curran Talks Stefon Diggs Production, Drake Maye Struggles, and More!
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Still a Tom E. Tuesday with Tommy Curran of NBC Sports Boston. He joins us now here on WEEI.
00:07And well, Tom, we've been talking through a few different things. What struck me yesterday,
00:11and we're not as up on the full news cycle, so fill in any gaps if I've missed anything. I believe
00:15Ryan Cowden either already spoke or is speaking today as well. The answer yesterday from Elliott
00:20Wolfe about being willing to move a first or second round pick for a player that could help
00:26the team. Your thoughts on that, specifically Wolfe being the one to deliver the message.
00:32Well, he was asked a question, so I would start with that, not to dispute that they want it out
00:39there. I think clearly, Adam, that's the main thing. The Patriots are unblinking in the notion that,
00:45hey, we'll do whatever we need to to improve the team. The notion of a trade was first raised,
00:52would you be willing to make a trade? Then Phil said first or a second, and he said, sure.
00:56But I wonder if that hypothetical would be tempered a little bit. Because the more you
01:02think about it, they have alluded to the fact that the $60 million in cap space, they're going
01:07to need to, and it's not BS. They have to roll some of it forward to next year because they're
01:12already over the cap for next year, and they're going to presumably bring in more decent players
01:17next year as well because they didn't do that great in free agency this year. It's part of the
01:21reason there's $60 million in there. So they are going to do that. But I do think that
01:25Wolf's interest is also in trying to convey not that Red Sox, hey, we're in on everybody
01:33type thing, but in an urgency. We're going to do whatever we can to get better this year.
01:38Last year, we heard that this time and prior to this time last year, foundational, foundational,
01:43build, build. We'll see how it goes. It's not about this year. It's about down the road.
01:47And they've kind of at least switched their mentality and their words choice. So to me,
01:54that is definitely there. But the more I think about it, hypothetically, say you give up what
02:01ended up being the 13th overall pick if you gave up a first for Micah Parsons. And you have
02:07to pay Micah Parsons $46 million a year and however much money. And you just released Kyle
02:14Duggar and his $18 million. And in two years, you're going to have to pay Gonzalez and you're
02:19going to have to pay Drake May soon thereafter their money. It can really sneak up on you. I guess
02:26the question I'm posing is to what end? Are you taking a shortcut in 2025 to add a player who's
02:33really frigging good to bring you from seven or eight wins to nine or 10? And now you've kind
02:39of taken away your first round pick for 2026. And you've saddled yourself with a massive one of
02:46the biggest contracts in the league. Yeah, I guess the way I would look. Yeah, Tom, I would just
02:51think. I've been looking at the $60 million, Rich. I've been looking at the $60 million and go,
02:55let's spend it, you idiots. And then I started to think about it a little bit more today.
02:59What do you think? So I'd be in favor of it for the right player because
03:03I just think if you take your draft pick, if he's half as good as Micah Parsons, you hit on that
03:09pick. And I think eventually the great, great players are going to get paid a ton of money.
03:14You know, we looked at it was weird when Tom Brady didn't always take top money, but you're not going
03:18to get athletes to do that or football players to do that year in and year out. So to me, that's the
03:22ultimate good problem to have. If you have what you think is a top end quarterback, cornerback and
03:27pass rusher, like, okay, great, figure it out in the other areas of the roster. But even with that,
03:33do you feel like any of those guys that have been discussed, Micah Parsons, Terry McLaurin,
03:37Trey Hendrickson, do you think any of them are even going to end up changing teams?
03:41I would say Hendrickson would be the most likely candidate because they're actually talking about
03:45dealing him. I don't think that Jerry Jones, given his embrace of drama and his acknowledgement,
03:49really, in the past week or so of, I love the drama, good, bad, indifferent.
03:53I don't mind bad publicity. It would take away his most compelling player. I don't think
03:59Dak Prescott's a very fascinating guy. Your most interesting player is Micah Parsons. So
04:04why would you take away somebody who's good at the cash register for you? They'll figure
04:10it out. He's too good to let go. Terry McLaurin sounded like it was intimated by Jaden Daniels
04:16a little bit that things might be closing in down there. So your only possibility is Hendrickson.
04:20It's a 30-plus-year-old pass rusher. You'd have to give up $30 million a year for him.
04:25I don't dispute, and I don't think that enough folks are ringing the bell about how
04:30shallow the Patriots' pass rush is and how much it's based on hope as opposed to hard
04:37proof that these guys are going to be good at rushing the passer. So I do think that there
04:41is a need for a pass rusher. But I don't know if Hendrickson and his age and price would
04:45be the right guy and the cost to extract him.
04:47Well, what's your understanding? You mentioned his name earlier. What's your understanding
04:51to Kyle Duggar and his spot on the roster and why he is now playing with scout team level
04:59and second and third team level players deep into preseason games? What's your understanding
05:04with Kyle Duggar and how it's gotten to this point?
05:07You just don't move around so good no more.
05:09That's the long
05:13and short of it.
05:16You know,
05:17we saw it last year. He was a liability,
05:20a literal liability for the Patriots defensively,
05:23unfortunately. And we attributed it all
05:25to injury because it wasn't in the very
05:27distant past that he was a borderline Pro Bowl player.
05:30But coming back this
05:31camp and this offseason, I'm sure that Mike
05:33Drable and his staff have looked at this guy even
05:35as he comes back from offseason surgery
05:37and said, yeah, it's not
05:39it's not getting any better.
05:40And it's
05:41it's a large contract.
05:44We have players who might fit
05:46our scheme better as opposed to a big
05:49thumping
05:49safety.
05:52And it's
05:53not working.
05:54So to me, I look at it and he's just done nothing,
05:57unfortunately for him
05:58to stop
06:01the
06:01cavalcade
06:03of negativity.
06:05I mean, when I said it a couple weeks ago,
06:07who would you keep an eye on
06:08on Winnow and Duggar?
06:09It was more just based on
06:11he's an average
06:12safety or at least
06:13but he's being paid like an elite one.
06:15Now he's on an average safety
06:17and he's kind of being paid like an elite one.
06:18So you can't have that.
06:21Are you surprised that he's even still on the team
06:22just because they did make so many changes
06:24and so many of the veteran players
06:26moved on, whether it was just not
06:28re-signs or whether it was
06:29sort of retirements or whatever.
06:31A lot of changeover
06:33and they knew what kind of player he was.
06:35They knew what kind of contract he had.
06:36Are you surprised he's even made it this far?
06:40No, because he should be good.
06:42It was such a rapid decline.
06:43It's really only one year of suck.
06:45So to me, he should be a good player
06:48for them right now.
06:49And they had to confirm
06:51that he is in decline
06:53and maybe it's a temporary decline
06:56and maybe he bounces back someplace else
06:57but he's going to be a hard guy to move via trade
06:59because of the size of the contract
07:01unless the Patriots take some of the money
07:03back with them.
07:04But as I said,
07:05I don't know if I said it to you guys.
07:07I don't think I did.
07:08But how would you like to be
07:10Elliott Wolfe
07:12or whoever has to walk into Kraft
07:15and say,
07:16yeah, you know,
07:17we gave a four-year,
07:18$54 million contract
07:19to Kyle last year.
07:21$18 million.
07:23A beautiful home in the Hamptons.
07:26We are going to basically burn
07:29in a fire pit
07:29behind out of the practice fields
07:31because of this.
07:33Well, that's why.
07:34Yeah, that's a tough go.
07:35Yeah, that's a tough go.
07:36That's why I was surprised
07:37he's the guy being like,
07:38yeah, we're trading a first or second round pick.
07:39But you already answered that.
07:40He was asked the question.
07:41So fair.
07:42He answered that.
07:43You mentioned it's been a year of suck
07:44for Kyle Duggar.
07:46It's been a few practices of suck
07:47for Steph Diggs.
07:48I don't know if you feel like
07:49that's too harsh.
07:50Karen Garijian really detailed
07:51all this late last week
07:52where he's gone catchless
07:54in a bunch of these
07:55full team sessions.
07:57I know you and Phil
07:57covered this as well.
07:59What's the trajectory
08:00with Steph Diggs
08:01and that first,
08:02is fit, rather,
08:03in the first team offense?
08:05Yeah, Phil was out
08:06in Minnesota this week
08:06and I thought he did a good job
08:08on our podcast
08:08kind of relating
08:10what his understanding is
08:11of the situation
08:12and how the team is viewing it.
08:14We talked a little bit
08:15last week about
08:16it just hasn't been
08:18as electric
08:19as it felt like
08:20it was going to be
08:21during the mini-camp
08:23off-season trainings
08:24and the early push to camp
08:26where he was making catch
08:27like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,
08:28that's the number one
08:29looking receiver.
08:30And then it's kind of
08:31just faded away.
08:32And last week we saw
08:33a drop in one practice
08:34to end the practice
08:35and just not a lot
08:37of contributions.
08:38And we started to,
08:39especially with the
08:40Diana Rossini conversation,
08:41in which he intimated
08:43that, jeez,
08:43I don't know if I'm
08:44going to be ready
08:44for week one,
08:45that we might see
08:46some smoke there.
08:47And in talking to Phil,
08:49you know,
08:50he said that his understanding
08:51is that they're happy
08:53with where Diggs is.
08:55They want to slow play
08:56it a little bit more.
08:57He's proven what he can.
08:58There is nobody
08:59who is feeling
09:00as if he is
09:00he had a pain in the ass.
09:02It has not been a problem.
09:03So I think that that,
09:04look,
09:06too bad
09:07for Stephon Diggs
09:09if his reputation
09:10precedes him
09:11and we allow ourselves
09:13to entertain the possibility
09:14he might be a pain
09:15in the ass.
09:16So if he feels bad
09:17about that,
09:18sorry,
09:19that we speculated
09:19that might be the case.
09:21But we're here
09:22to at least acknowledge
09:23that so far
09:24ass not having pain.
09:28That's a good sign.
09:29That is.
09:29That's a great sign.
09:30Overall, though, Tom,
09:31how do you feel
09:32about the first team offense
09:33when you take into account
09:34the last preseason game
09:36as well as some
09:36of the practice reports
09:37the last few days?
09:40I think pretty okay.
09:41It's funny.
09:42We talked about this
09:43last night on BST
09:45for a little bit
09:45and Andrew Callahan
09:46was in.
09:47And the one thing that,
09:49yes,
09:49it's freaking annoying
09:50to see that every time
09:51you put a scoreboard on
09:52and refs on the field
09:53and people on the sidelines
09:55and people on the stands,
09:57Drake may F's up.
09:59Doesn't matter
09:59whether it's
10:00the stadium practice
10:01where he had a pick
10:03ricochet off Diggs
10:04on the first drive
10:05and threw a nonsensical
10:07pick to Alex Austin
10:08on the last one.
10:09Doesn't matter
10:09if it's last week's
10:10fumble
10:10or this week's
10:12air mailing.
10:13That is freaking annoying
10:15because I'm down there
10:16at practice going,
10:16hey, thumbs up.
10:17Oh, full speed ahead.
10:18Drake looks great.
10:20And then
10:20he comes.
10:23It's like the singing frog
10:24from Looney Tunes.
10:26Hello, my dad.
10:27You guys don't remember that.
10:28I know.
10:29I get that reference.
10:30I get it.
10:31Hello, my baby.
10:32Hello, my darling.
10:33Yeah.
10:34So it's a problem.
10:36Yeah, you remember that one.
10:37So he's the singing frog
10:38for me.
10:39Every time he gets out there,
10:40he doesn't sing.
10:42It's annoying.
10:43But at least I will say this,
10:46and I do think this is important.
10:48At least he knows
10:48where he's supposed
10:49to go with the ball.
10:50And I know Dan Orlowski
10:51did a breakdown
10:52and it got some attention.
10:54Rightfully so.
10:55Everything should get attention
10:55because the kid
10:56should be scrutinized.
10:57But I'm not seeing a guy
10:58who's patting the ball,
11:00looking around,
11:02you know,
11:02retreating.
11:04He seems decisive.
11:06So to me,
11:07that's not something
11:09you have to set off,
11:09you know,
11:10sparklers for.
11:11But I'm not seeing a guy
11:13who has,
11:16doesn't know whether
11:17to poop or go blind.
11:17He knows what he's doing.
11:19He just sometimes is,
11:22put it this way.
11:24Put on your seatbelts.
11:25He's 22.
11:26He's got a lot of skill
11:27and sometimes that skill
11:29is going to cause him
11:29to do dumb things.
11:31So it's going to take a minute
11:33and there's going to be
11:34some bumps and curbs
11:35that get hit.
11:36Okay.
11:37Tommy Curran,
11:37breaking it all down.
11:38You can check him out.
11:39NBC Sports Boston,
11:40Quick Slants,
11:41BST,
11:41Early Edition,
11:42all that good stuff
11:43here on WEI
11:45on Tuesdays with us
11:46on Jones and Keefe
11:47on Thursdays
11:48with WEI Afternoons.
11:49Thanks for taking
11:49some time here, Tom.
11:50We appreciate it.
11:52All right, guys.
11:52Great work today.
11:53Thank you for having me.
Be the first to comment