- 13 hours ago
NBCSports Boston’s Tom E. Curran shares the latest on the New England Patriots.
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00:00On the phone with us, a gentleman who is, if you want Patriots news, there are really not many better
00:06people to talk to.
00:06And also, if you want reviews of Squeeze concerts, he's a gentleman that could do that as well.
00:11Mr. Tommy Curran from NBC Sports Boston. Hello, Tommy Curran.
00:15How you kids doing? My brother-in-law told me about the All-Drug Olympics earlier this week.
00:20I was fascinated, and then he found me that Kevin Nealon SNL update with Dennis Miller.
00:27Yeah.
00:28Do you know what I'm talking about?
00:29No, it's the one where Phil Hartman is weightlifting, and he rips his arms off.
00:34Yeah, absolutely. It's terrible. So Google the hell out of that.
00:36Yeah, yeah. I can't believe it's real.
00:39And I don't know how I didn't know about it until this morning.
00:43It's just, are you fascinated by it, or is this something that you're repulsed by?
00:47You are. Okay, good, good, good. You're not above it. Thank you.
00:50No, no. I think it's fascinating because, look, there's a point at which protein's an enhancer.
00:56Sure.
00:57Sure. It's legal, but I mean, you know, powdered, you know, there's all kinds of different enhancers.
01:02I just don't know where the line is drawn between, I don't know, Ted, changing hormones, or who freaking knows.
01:09But I have a permissive stance on performance enhancers because I think that, who cares what I think?
01:20What?
01:20We care. That's why we had you on board.
01:22Absolutely. All right. Well, Tommy Curran, this is, man, even today, you had Adam Schefter come out and essentially say,
01:31done deal with A.J. Brown.
01:33And every time I hear that, it just scares me that this is not, that there's something, a disaster is
01:40going to happen.
01:40I don't know why this is in my head.
01:42But, you know, now we're hearing these whispers about how Jacksonville could be getting in on things.
01:48Of course, the Rams.
01:50Are you hearing the same thing that Schefter is, that this is basically a done deal?
01:56Yes.
01:57And I, if Adam Schefter is willing to walk out on a limb and bounce on it like that, I
02:04would defer to him.
02:05I mean, if, if Adam is that Adamant, then I would, another early 80s post-punk fan.
02:14I would, I would defer to him.
02:16Look, if you look at the context of the Rams mentioned, and the Rams already threw up their hands and
02:20said, this guy's too hurt for us.
02:22They re-signed Devontae Adams.
02:24This is filler stuff.
02:26Until otherwise, it's filler stuff.
02:29You know, the Chiefs, they could make a compelling case since Rushy Rice is in a contract year.
02:33And they might say, you know what?
02:35He's such a nitwit.
02:37We're not going to sign him to a $30 million contract.
02:39Maybe we jump into this little pond here for A.J. Brown.
02:44We can do that until, you know, June 2nd comes and he signs.
02:50But it seems, again, a fairly foregone conclusion.
02:55But, you know, nature abhors a vacuum, and sports radio and sports television also abhors a lack of content.
03:02So, because hand-wringing is mandatory in this business.
03:07You got that right, Tom.
03:08I'm curious what you think.
03:10I've been a little bullish on the impact that A.J. Brown would have.
03:14And I kind of just, you know, you put it to how many games do you think he's worth?
03:18And I have a pretty high number.
03:20I'm curious, what do you think his impact would be as far as win totals?
03:25And what does he do for this offense if they do get him?
03:29That's what we're going to plot about in just about an hour, me and Phil Perry.
03:33If you look at the Patriots, Josh McDaniels has not had an ex-receiver, nor have the Patriots in general,
03:41had an ex-receiver as their number one since Randy Moss.
03:45In all the years since 2007, the leading receiver has either been Welker, Gronkowski, or Edelman.
03:52Jacoby Myers was in there, too.
03:54Not really a true ex-boundary receiver.
03:57DeMario Douglas, not a true ex-boundary receiver.
03:59And Stephon Diggs last year.
04:00That's it.
04:00Those are the leading receivers.
04:02But if you look back at what Josh McDaniels was able to do at Vegas and with the Broncos,
04:08when he did have an ex-receiver, and he didn't, Brandon Marshall, who had Kyle Orton throwing to him.
04:12And he had one, obviously, in Devontae Adams.
04:16Adams was targeted 180 times in Josh's first year there.
04:21He had 100 catches for 1,500 yards and a league-leading 14 touchdowns.
04:25So I think it makes a massive impact not just on May, who's a better quarterback than those guys,
04:32but on Dobbs, who I think is really suited to be a direct Diggs replacement in terms of skill set.
04:40He might not have 80 for 1,000 because of A.J. Brown's here.
04:43But I think the two of them could be a really outstanding one-two punch.
04:47Yeah, I was going to say, Tom, could that be the best duo, Gronk aside, best-receiving duo the Pats
04:52have ever had?
04:54Ooh.
04:56I don't know, man.
04:57Welker Moss, man.
04:58Welker Moss.
05:00Welker Moss.
05:00Welker Moss.
05:01Yeah, yeah.
05:01And, you know, Edelman, I mean.
05:03Yeah, true.
05:04Edelman Gronk.
05:05But, no, it's a good – it's been a frigging while.
05:08Yeah.
05:09I mean, we're not that far removed from Demir Bird, you know.
05:14Well, one quick follow-up, Tom, on the particulars of the A.J. Brown thing.
05:18Are they allowed to review his medicals?
05:20Like, that's not – they could talk to the Eagles about the trade, right, and work through all that, right?
05:25Yeah.
05:26Okay.
05:27From my understanding is the two teams can exchange their own medicals and say, here's what we got on them,
05:34so you can take a look at what we have.
05:36I don't know if it's permissible for the Patriots unless the Eagles said, yeah, go ahead.
05:42You can have them up for a physical and have your doctors look at them.
05:46I don't know if that's the case.
05:48For instance – and that's the one thing that I would somewhat, if I was a Patriots fan, hold my
05:53breath on because of the Max Crosby situation.
05:57But this was something that kind of dawned on me earlier.
05:59The Patriots, I don't care if you're talking about, oh, I don't want to give up a one.
06:05The Denver Broncos gave up a first and a third for Jalen frigging Waddell.
06:09Good player, but he's not A.J. Brown, even though he's a little younger and not as beat up.
06:12He's not A.J. Brown.
06:15So how is Howie Roseman going to pitch to his fan base in media?
06:19Yeah, we did okay here.
06:20We got a 20-28 first-rounder for A.J. Brown.
06:24And part of that, I wonder, is if the Patriots have already – why are the Patriots getting such a
06:28reasonable deal?
06:30Maybe because they're already prepared to sign off on a guy who might not pass a lot of physicals elsewhere,
06:35which is a dice roll in itself.
06:37But I'm just spitballing again.
06:39Nathan, you're a poison vacuum, and we got A.J. Brown to talk about right now.
06:43But I wonder if that reasonable compensation, which is reasonable in my mind for a top-ten receiver, would be
06:50easier to understand if the Patriots are like, we don't care what his knee looks like.
06:53We want him.
06:54All right.
06:55Tommy Curran, I'm going to shift gears for a second.
06:58I'd like to get your take on this.
07:00Why do you think Bill Belichick is all of a sudden doing all this press?
07:04Like, he's been everywhere.
07:05He's, like, all of a sudden doing, like, the Sean Hannity I'm Cool and Hanging Out in My Basement, the
07:10Hang podcast.
07:12He's, you know, been on – I think he's done, like, the Pardon My Take stuff.
07:15He's just – what do you think the reasoning is behind him doing all of this right now?
07:22Somehow get ahead of the conversation about how poorly things went in North Carolina last year.
07:29For instance, Gio Lopez just spoke.
07:30He transferred to Wake Forest.
07:32Wake Forest.
07:33He's a quarterback from last year.
07:34And Gio Lopez was just on a podcast or speaking to the media at Wake Forest and going,
07:39North Carolina was hell.
07:40It was work every day.
07:42Didn't look forward to it.
07:43It was no fun.
07:44So that's one level on which Bill might want to get ahead of the curve
07:48and just change the – for the millionth time, the conversation around him as a coach.
07:54But I think it also – he can reboot himself a million different times, and he will,
08:00and make himself appealing and appetizing to NFL franchises.
08:04The whole way things have gone in North Carolina and with Jordan Hudson kind of micromanaging his career,
08:11I'm sure it should probably help to micromanage putting him into the right places with Barstool.
08:16Barstool's not going to grill him necessarily.
08:18Put him on the griddle.
08:19Bill and whoever – Bill made the comment about it was good for Tom to go to Tampa
08:25should have pushed back when Bill said, you know, there was no Edelman, there was no Gronkowski.
08:28Bill, Edelman was on the team in 2020.
08:30Right.
08:31So you had him.
08:32But that's what he does.
08:33He slips in details to advance his cause all the time that he knows aren't true,
08:40and he just – he slides things in to advance things.
08:44Ted, you're making a noise.
08:45You agree with that?
08:46Yes, Tom, you're hitting it.
08:49Yep.
08:50It's true.
08:52It's really interesting how he'll do that.
08:54I mean, I don't know.
08:56I don't know how we're going to do that.
08:58I mean, I just got off the field.
09:00I don't know how – just overstate things so that you look like a buffoon.
09:03Well, why would Brady stick around?
09:05There was no – there was Edelman.
09:06The reason Tom Brady went was because Bill wanted him to go,
09:09not because Bill was being this benevolent dictator and saying, boy, Tom,
09:13we really would love to see you win another Super Bowl.
09:15Why don't you go to Tampa and do that?
09:17He wanted him gone.
09:18So true.
09:19Yeah.
09:19And I also think him saying that, like ripping on the team that was there,
09:23is trying to get him off the hook for how bad the team was after Brady left.
09:29100%.
09:29I mean, why was the team not good in 2020 heading into that season?
09:34Because Nikhil Harry was not a good draft pick.
09:37Because Jordan Richards wasn't a good draft pick.
09:39Did I go on with all the – Duke Dawson wasn't a good draft pick.
09:42He picked the – right.
09:43He went to the store.
09:45He got the groceries.
09:46You know, I just – I love how he's just trying to get the blame off of him.
09:50Dude, you're responsible for that team.
09:53And all he's asking – Brady is always asking for his two years and $25 million.
09:58And $25 million each year.
10:00But – and, I mean, look at – guys are making 70.
10:03Drake May will be making 70 less than a decade later.
10:06Crazy.
10:07When he signed that deal.
10:08Crazy that they wouldn't give that to him.
10:09And Drew Brees had just gotten that.
10:11Like, that was the thing that drove me the most crazy.
10:13That's what Brady really was stuck on.
10:15You just got to pay me what they paid Drew Brees.
10:19And that's why it was ironic when he did go to Tampa Bay.
10:23To make his point, I think he signed exactly that contract.
10:27Two years and $25 million each year.
10:29Do you think that Bill wants back into the NFL?
10:32And if he does, do you think there's any chance anyone would take him back?
10:37One million percent, yes.
10:39And never say never, but I think it would be a very difficult sell.
10:43Wow.
10:44Yeah, I mean, what do you sell?
10:45He would have to go to a bad team that is dying for some kind of – but, you know,
10:50Mike McCarthy just got a decent job.
10:52Right.
10:53Right.
10:53What about that?
10:54I'm sorry, but Mike McCarthy probably didn't come with the demands that Bill would most likely try to put out
11:00there.
11:01Yeah.
11:02No, Omar Khan is still going to be able to do his job as the Steelers GM.
11:07He's not going to get blown out of there.
11:09Wherever Bill goes, Bill is going to bring something with him unless he pledges that I'm a changed man.
11:15I don't need to do that.
11:16Mike Lombardi is going home to New Jersey.
11:17Don't worry about it.
11:19What about Dallas?
11:20You don't think he and Jerry could eventually team up?
11:23I love it.
11:23Just anti-craft.
11:26Have you seen some of those Jerry Jones quotes, by the way?
11:28No, I don't.
11:29They've been great lately.
11:31I'm crushing it.
11:31Jerry Jones quotes talking about why it's not a big deal for the players to travel internationally and have an
11:3718th game.
11:40I mean, they're going to get more rest traveling to Australia than they would on a normal night off.
11:46Yes, yes.
11:47That's true.
11:47Such good rest, too.
11:49Good quality rest on that cramped-ass plane.
11:54Hey, TC, is Christian Gonzalez, is he going to be showing up for training camp?
12:00Where do you think the status is with his contract?
12:03Just the fact that he was there for OTAs and has been there I think is a good sign.
12:07We'll probably get a chance in just a couple weeks to talk to him during minicamp.
12:12But I would say all systems seem or at least all indications point to that being in the area that
12:20you want it to be.
12:21If he's showing up for stuff that he doesn't have to, as opposed to Kayshawn Booty, who I think has
12:25a gripe, I don't blame him in the least.
12:28You don't.
12:28Okay, I want to hear about that.
12:29So you don't blame Kayshawn Booty for holding out right now?
12:32The guy caught, I believe it was, 33 of the 40 passes he was thrown this past year.
12:37I think he had six touchdowns.
12:38The year before that, he was productive on what was generally a pretty horrible offense, especially toward the end of
12:45the year.
12:45Any time you give the guy a chance, he wins 50-50 balls.
12:49He makes circus catches.
12:50He's not a burner, but he is constantly being marginalized and trying to be replaced.
12:56They did it with Dobbs in this offseason.
12:58They're definitely going to do it with A.J. Brown.
13:00So if I'm Kayshawn Booty, who is a sixth-round pick and understands that, you know, a one- or
13:05a two-wide receiver should be making,
13:07look, is he as good as, he's certainly not as productive as Jacoby Myers, but could he conceivably be productive
13:12in a similar vein as a deeper threat but not an underneath guy?
13:17Yeah.
13:18Should he be thinking about, man, I have the skill set to make $12, $15, $18 million a year?
13:22I do believe he should.
13:24He doesn't have the production, and he's not going to get the production.
13:27So if I was him, I'd say, look, I'm only 26 or 27 years old once.
13:32I don't want to be a good soldier and say at 55, you know, I should have made $40 million
13:38during my NFL career, but I only made 11, and it's gone.
13:43So I don't blame him in the least for, I don't know how hostile it is, if hostile at all,
13:47but I think he's well within his rights to say, look, you guys really don't need me.
13:52Can we do something to multiply to me in another joint?
13:55Dude, I respect his confidence, man.
13:57That's for sure.
13:57Tom, any big takeaways from the schedule release?
14:02Anything jump out at you that maybe changed your mind about the Patriots' chances before and now after you saw
14:11the schedule release?
14:13Yeah, tough schedule in terms of opponents, but I don't think the Patriots have a lot to gripe about about
14:19the way it breaks down.
14:20You know, we knew that they were going to get Detroit on the road.
14:23That ends up being a bonus because you don't have to play Detroit in Michigan.
14:30Multiple one o'clock games for a premier team.
14:35A good stretch of them, Teddy.
14:36So I think that's good.
14:38I do think it's to their advantage to play good teams early in the season.
14:42I think it's great that they're going to see Seattle.
14:44The last time they walked off the field, they couldn't handle Seattle.
14:47Are they going to have, at that point, an indication that, okay, the things that we tried, maybe they lose,
14:53whatever.
14:54Say they lose 27-17 and the offensive line's a little leaky.
14:58They can probably, Ted, as you guys many times did, look at that film and say either, we are screwed
15:04or we're better than this.
15:06We just made a couple mistakes.
15:07We can fix it.
15:08So I think Seattle early, the Jaguars early, those are all to their benefit.
15:13So I think it's a good schedule.
15:14So interestingly, not locally, the Bills got hosed, which is great for a Patriots fan.
15:21You know, three out of four on the road at two different times for the Bills, and that works in
15:28the Patriots' advantage.
15:29Tom, our man Ted here has called the Patriots roster, outside of Drake May, who, of course, he loves and
15:34adores, an average roster, right, Ted?
15:37Would you push back on that, that the Pats have an average roster outside of Drake?
15:41No.
15:42Nope.
15:43No, no, no.
15:44My man.
15:46I can't.
15:47I mean, they have an elite corner.
15:49Yep.
15:50They have an aging and good safety.
15:54Their other corner, Carlton Davis, is good.
15:59Their linebacker crew, Stelane, is good.
16:05Defensively, Milton Williams, excellent.
16:07Edge, good.
16:09And I think most teams are vying for good.
16:12I don't know if Elijah Vera Tucker is going to have a 180 and play all the time, but Wendell's
16:17good.
16:18And when I'm saying good, I'm kind of avoiding saying average.
16:22Yeah.
16:23But if the average performance from Unwinu, it's a starter level performance from Campbell.
16:27It should be starter level performance.
16:29That's kind of average.
16:31Hunter Henry is a good tight end.
16:33Go ahead.
16:34I'm sorry.
16:34I'm bad one.
16:35No, no.
16:35This is great.
16:36I just, you know, if you look at their roster at the beginning of last year, before the season started,
16:41you would say it was one of the, you know, one of the worst rosters in the NFL.
16:45100%.
16:45So going to average, to me, is a big leap.
16:48I'm thinking Moss and Welker now.
16:49We started the conversation.
16:51Let's go.
16:52But I also think that if you're going to be above average in any positions, the Patriots have nailed the
16:58ones you want when it comes to corner, quarterback, and if you get A.J. Brown at receiver.
17:03Right?
17:04Yep.
17:05You're exactly right.
17:06The only missing piece is edge.
17:09Yeah.
17:09That's it.
17:10Of the four of what I consider to be the prime positions at this point, and I don't know if
17:14I would have considered them the prime positions 20 years ago, as much as I've always thought safety was the
17:23most critical position for a team to be elite.
17:26And it just kind of was borne out over the course of time since I've been covering the league as
17:31closely as I have, and maybe even beforehand.
17:33Great teams always had great safeties, whether it was Paul Amalu, Harrison, Malloy.
17:38Ed Reed.
17:40McCourty, Ed Reed.
17:41Yeah.
17:41Bob Sanders, for God's sake.
17:44There was always great safety play for the best teams.
17:48But I think it's kind of shifted to now receivers are absolutely indispensable for elite teams.
17:56You know, you used to have your A.J.
17:57Greens and guys like that who would be prolific, but as Patriots fans or media, we'd always point to it
18:05and say, yeah, but what are those teams winning?
18:08The Patriots don't have a one, and they go to the Super Bowl every year.
18:10Yeah.
18:11So it's very interesting.
18:13All right.
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