- 2 days ago
Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran joined the show to give the latest on Patriots camp, including how the team looked in joint practices with the Eagles, and the latest on the Christian Gonzalez contract saga.
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00:00And our good buddy, Tommy Curran, he has been down there watching all the chaos between the Eagles
00:06and between the Patriots and A.J. Brown, apparently seeing Jalen Hurts and them like
00:12talking to each other and dapping each other up and high-fiving and planning a, you know,
00:17a nice breakfast meeting later on. I don't know. But apparently they put all their hate behind him
00:22for the cameras to all see. And Tommy Curran, I'm sure that will be his next big story about
00:28how to get along with your ex-teammates. Maybe Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum could take some notes.
00:33Tommy, thanks for joining us, man. We really appreciate it.
00:36Oh, my God. Who cares?
00:40Well, the Eagles media apparently does. They swarmed them about that, did they not, A.J. Brown?
00:44Their hands are touching. Okay, great.
00:51Yeah, it was, I'll tell you what, Rich, it was really eye-opening for me. And this is kind of
00:56a point that I'll make on quick slants, which is on tonight at six o'clock. Relative to my
01:01expectations coming into this two days' worth of practice, the Patriots were jaw-droppingly
01:06competent. You know, two years ago, they were embarrassed. They were not ready for NFL
01:11participation when they saw the Eagles. And I still felt that the talent, especially in the
01:17Eagles' defense, was probably going to shine a light on some of the deficiencies the Patriots
01:21had along their offensive line with their running game. And that didn't happen. They were
01:26really, really, really good relative to my expectations. And I didn't think it was going
01:30to happen that way. So, good news for Patriots fans.
01:34Yeah, that's great. That's great to see, obviously. And, you know, speaking of A.J.
01:38Brown and everything out there, just kind of just tell me how camp has been, like watching
01:43A.J. Brown with this offense. Has it evolved? Has he gotten more chemistry over these past
01:47couple of weeks with Drake May? How's he look?
01:51He's a 10. He really is. I've watched, you know, I'm lucky. We're all lucky. I particularly
01:59feel that I'm lucky. This is going to be my 30th frigging season covering the team. And
02:04I had all of Brady, and I had Bledsoe, and I had Terry Glenn. I know what a good player
02:09looks like. And it's been a while at that position. I know what really good offense looks like,
02:13whether it's Gronkowski or Moss or all the players we got to see. And it's been a while
02:19since I've seen a player as talented as A.J. Brown on the receiving end of things, whether
02:24it be Edelman or Gronkowski. It's probably since then. You know, you'd have straight nice
02:28catches by a Tyquan Thornton. You'd have straight nice catches by Stephon Diggs. But it's pretty
02:33routine that he's doing really solid. He's doing spectacular stuff and also pedestrian stuff
02:41with relative ease. So, talked to Julian Edelman this week, and I said, would you imagine that
02:47he's going to be featured the way guys like Devontae Adams and Brandon Marshall were for
02:51Josh McDaniels? And he said, 100%. So, that means 150, 160 targets is something that Julian
02:59would not be surprised by.
03:01TC, I'm curious how you would describe this offense for the Patriots. You know, with the addition
03:05of A.J. Brown and even Romeo Dobbs and, you know, even just some depth that's tied in,
03:10the offensive line seems to be improved. The running back room is just improved from last
03:15year. Would you describe this offense? Is it weaponized? Is it a high-octane offense?
03:19How would you kind of encapsulate what you think this, you know, this offense can be?
03:26Yeah. Again, at the risk of putting myself out there and sounding too optimistic, it's very,
03:32very explosive. It should be a 27, it should be a 26, 27 to 30 point a game offense.
03:40Love it.
03:40And we did, I wrote so many stories the last few years about just the ineptitude,
03:45whether it be where they were finishing on third down, where they were finishing
03:49in goal-to-go situations. Last year, they sucked, sucked in goal-to-go. They were an embarrassment.
03:54They weren't that much better inside the red zone. And we watched some red zone today and they
03:58weren't perfect, but they're so much better because of the weapons that they have, whether it's
04:03Brown, whether it's May's decision-making, whether it's Dobbs, DeMario Douglas should be a better red
04:10zone weapon than he has been because of his quickness, even though he's a smaller fella.
04:15They're just, again, at the risk of me having my face rubbed in it later on, they're really,
04:23really, really tough.
04:25How's the rookie class looking, Tommy?
04:29That's a little bit more CBD, juries out. I think that Momu is a juries out situation.
04:36I wouldn't be surprised if he continues to get better. He's probably got the highest
04:40learning curve of the three. And I'm just really kind of sticking with the top three.
04:45I think Akis has looked good. He's got the simple elements of athleticism, speed, power
04:51that should make him relevant. And the Patriots defense over the last couple days
04:57started out very well against the Eagles. Actually, yesterday, the Eagles offense played
05:01much better than the Patriots defense. And then it leveled out. Today was kind of the flip.
05:06The Patriots defense settled down after a quieter start. But they did generate more pressure than
05:12you would have thought. And Elijah Ponder was part of the guys who was generating pressure.
05:18So they feel okay about it. Akis should be a part of that. And Lomo, I think, still needs
05:23to really grow it. Did I already do Lomo?
05:25You did a little Lomo, but what about Raritan?
05:27Raritan. Raritan's been really good. It's been a long time since the Patriots drafted a
05:33tight end who had any relevance at all. A really long time. Probably since 2010.
05:40So it's good to see a guy come in and be able to master the quote-unquote learning curve
05:46that we've always attributed to them not being able to succeed when they join this team.
05:51All right. So, Tommy Curran, I think there was an unrealistic expectation amongst a lot
05:57of people that as soon as Devin Witherspoon ended up getting his deal, then bang, Christian
06:01Gonzalez would end up having things in writing and everything would be great in Gillette
06:06Stadium and he would be back on the team, ready to play. That did not happen. It has
06:11not happened yet. What seems to be the holdup if what is the frame, essentially, of what is
06:17to be expected is already out there in the Devin Witherspoon contract?
06:23Can I be completely honest? I have no idea. I have no idea. I mean, I've heard Albert Breer
06:28say it's guaranteed money. I've heard other people say it's first two years' money.
06:32I have. So there's any number of things. And the business has changed. I can't call up
06:38Jack Mills, who used to be Ted's agent, probably still is. Say, Jack, what's the problem out
06:43there? It only gets filtered through. So I don't know what the holdup is. And they get
06:49all uptight when we ask questions about it. But it's clearly a question of if the Patriots
06:55were already offering the most, and I've said this on your show before, they don't want
07:01the contract to be obsolete, they meaning the Gonzalez camp. So how do you prevent that?
07:06You overpay them relative to now so that by next year, when the next big contract comes
07:10down, yours is still relevant. And I think the Patriots reasonably, not that they're right,
07:17but they would reasonably say, well, what are we supposed to do that for? You've only played
07:21three seasons. You're going into your fourth. You've had some injury issues. And just because
07:25Witherspoon got paid first, and this is something that I've had more conversations
07:30with, it's all starting to germinate. Are we positive that Christian Gonzalez is a better
07:36player than Devin Witherspoon?
07:39I know.
07:40Are we positive?
07:41Not really.
07:42He's a better classic corner, smoother operator. He's what you would draw up. But when you look
07:48at Witherspoon and the things that he can do too, I mean, should it be that big of like
07:53a $2 or $3 million gap per year? Go ahead, you guys.
07:55I want to ask you this question. When you just posed that question to the group, let me put
08:02it to you. And by the way, I love the Jack Mills call out right there. He's got to get
08:07that Baker Mayfield contract on. He's working on that. But do you think maybe, let me ask
08:12you this, Tom. Is Gonzo, because I made this argument earlier in the show, is Gonzo, could
08:17he maybe make the argument that he's more valuable for his defense than maybe Devin Witherspoon
08:22is for his defense in Seattle? Could you make an argument?
08:25Yes. And the reason he, yeah, because he could say, look, Devin might be a really good player,
08:31but he's part of a machine out there. I'm kind of the only game in town out here. God bless
08:37him. I love my new teammate, Elijah Ponder. And I think Draymond Jones is terrific and everybody
08:41else, but that's a sick defense. This defense will be sick if I'm not playing. So that's where
08:47he could make the counter. But they're different players. And I'm not sitting here after three
08:53years of watching Christian Gonzalez saying that he's not one of the most graceful, smooth
08:59athletes I've ever seen. But I wonder if that's part of the holdup. He's going to make $33 million,
09:05Witherspoon is, $59 million over the first two years, guaranteed, or in the first two years,
09:11not guaranteed, 101 guaranteed. Maybe the holdup that I'm kind of speculating because it hasn't
09:18been done is that the Patriots, well, just because he signed, do we really believe you're
09:23$2 million better and we're supposed to give you $35? I've always thought $35 would be the
09:27number anyway. So we'll see how closely it comes into that.
09:30Tom, why don't they televise these joint practices? They are so much more interesting
09:34than these preseason games. They got to make money off this stuff.
09:39Great question. You know, if you're going to take the Super Bowl to Bulgaria
09:44to try and make, though, why don't you figure out a way to sell one of the best offseason
09:49commodities, which is, you know, do these things at night. I don't care. The fans show up at night.
09:53Put it in primetime. Right. People would watch that. Look, turn every place into midnight madness.
09:59Do you, I mean, you know, the one-on-one stuff, Tom, I mean, the one-on-ones with the
10:02receivers
10:03and DBs and the offensive linemen, defensive linemen, they, people would eat that stuff up.
10:07What you need, I think, Ted, and it's a great question, too,
10:13Ken, is to, who would be the guinea pig, the willing guinea pig to open up the practices?
10:19And it has to be a team that's compelling. You can't just say, all right, well, let's have,
10:23and they're not an incompetent team, but they're on the TV in front of me right now.
10:26Let's have the Bengals and Titans do it. Well, great. Who cares?
10:29You know, the Eagles and Patriots would have been a prime opportunity to say,
10:37we're coming into your place with our ESPN and NFL Network cameras,
10:41and we're going to shoot all these reps, and we're going to do them live.
10:44We're not going to be in your face, but we're going to do them live.
10:47They do kind of do that somewhat, or used to on NFL Network, but, or stream them.
10:53Stream them to your local peoples, to your local fan bases, and make them pay for that.
10:58Look, if people are going to drive down to Foxborough to watch them,
11:01maybe that's part of the reason, too. I am really running off at the mouth here.
11:05That's good.
11:07But I think if, like, maybe that's another hook to it is, all right, well,
11:11we make money when people come in here in, you know, training camp revenue.
11:17If we start streaming, these people aren't going to show up,
11:19but I don't think that would be the case.
11:20I agree.
11:21No, no, absolutely not.
11:22I want to ask you about this real quick, just because every year,
11:25we seem to hear Roger Goodell say the same thing about wanting to have a team overseas.
11:30The logistics would just seem fairly ridiculous.
11:34I don't know how you can do that, but once again,
11:37he talked about how hell-bent the league is on getting an actual team overseas.
11:42How realistic is that?
11:45If they say they're going to do it, they generally end up doing it.
11:47And I just think there's an awful lot of things that occur in the world today
11:54that people look at and say, well, nobody really wants that.
11:58It just gets ramrodded down your throat.
12:01And I think that if you look at who has supported the NFL for nearly 100 years, 75.
12:09Are we at 100 yet?
12:10Not yet.
12:11For more than 75 years, it's the American football fan.
12:16Yet the American football fan is not dying to have their product taken over to somebody
12:20who just looks at it as a novelty.
12:22And I don't know.
12:23People in Germany might be passionate.
12:25I've got plenty of fans who follow me, and I didn't mean to make it sound that way.
12:29There are plenty of Patriots fans in Germany who will follow the things that I have written
12:36and other people on the beat.
12:37They're not fans of mine.
12:38They're Patriots fans.
12:41So, but I just think just serve your loyal customers first and stop pretending that your
12:49loyal customers, of which 93% of your fan base is made up of, is sitting there as excited
12:56about it as you people are when you stand in front of a microphone.
12:59Yeah, but that team also gets screwed.
13:01Like, if you're a player on Germany or even London, like, every away game is, like, the worst
13:07road trip.
13:08And it's like, honestly, and they're like, oh, we can solve that by having them do two
13:13games at a time.
13:14No, but then you're away from your family for, like, this two full weeks where you wait
13:18for that.
13:18It just seems to me like if you end up getting drafted by, you know, the London Bucqueries
13:24or whatever they're going to call it, like, you got to be pissed.
13:27Like, I don't know how that's fair in any way, shape, or form.
13:30It's immediately, like, a bad disadvantage.
13:34I think, you know, people talk about, like, a, you know, home field advantage, domes and
13:37things like that.
13:38How about the worst travel ever every time you play an away game?
13:44Yeah, you're exactly right.
13:45You're going to have to play two or three games at home.
13:47Say the, you know, the Patriots go over, then the Jets go over, and then the Dolphins go over
13:51to play the Jaguars.
13:53London Jaguars.
13:54And then the London Jaguars come over, and they stay for three weeks playing, you know,
13:58the same three teams.
13:59And you're back and forth.
14:00But you're exactly right.
14:01And this is the kind of thing that come 2031, which is thankfully far enough away.
14:05But when the CBA is up, and the NFL continues to rattle sabers about putting a team overseas,
14:10the NFLPA should put its foot down.
14:12Good.
14:12You want to do that?
14:13We are not giving up our 50-50 split of gross revenue.
14:19And we are going to continue to see.
14:20Yeah, we're going to continue to see the salary cap balloon.
14:25So, I don't know.
14:26I just hate the business, whether it's the Gonzalez stuff.
14:30I just want to see him play the old pigskin.
14:33I mean, I'm not like a complete, you know, knuckle dragger and don't understand what it's
14:38all about, you know, just go hit him in the mouth.
14:42I get the business side of stuff, but it just gets, I don't know.
14:46I'm with you, Tom.
14:46I'm an English major.
14:48I made an argument where, you know, why are our salaries, you know, how does everybody
14:52get to see what we make for, you know, for our salaries if no one else has their salaries
14:58out there?
14:59And of all the things that I think are fun and interesting and compelling to talk about
15:03in this sport, I put the salaries at the bottom.
15:06But some people, they would vehemently disagree with me on that.
15:10Oh, I think this Gonzalez thing is awesome.
15:12I do.
15:12Because Kraft put his, he put his, like, stuff out there.
15:16He put his clankers on the table the minute he said, which makes this so great, because
15:22now you've got to deliver, baby.
15:26Right.
15:26I agree.
15:27But I think in the grander scheme of things, his clankers are on the table.
15:33But it's not what we would call, and again, I shouldn't be doing this.
15:38Sometimes I do this.
15:39Yeah, well, it's not Will Fork.
15:41It's not Mankins.
15:42It's not my grander.
15:44And I'm dismissing the importance because I've seen bigger things happen.
15:48Sure.
15:48So I end up rebuffing the notion that it's a big deal.
15:51It's a big deal.
15:53But I keep looking, I'm like, he's not going to hold out.
15:56So there's no dire real deadline here.
16:02He's going to play.
16:04And I don't think he's going to fake.
16:06Somebody who's playing all the time that he did during training camp so far, and I don't
16:12think that this is a ruse or a bogus injury at all, he's not going to, when the game's
16:17come, say, yeah, I'm not playing.
16:19Yeah, but what if he, like, gets nicked up and something that normally you would play
16:24through, but in this case, it's like, I got to protect this package.
16:27You know, listen, I haven't gotten paid yet.
16:29Maybe I'll take this one off.
16:30No, you're right.
16:30Didn't you see him doing that?
16:32I could.
16:33And that's fair.
16:34Look, that's what Rob Gronkowski did for a large portion of the last three years.
16:39You know, once he broke his arm after they had bolted it back together, and then he broke
16:44his arm on the sideline towards the end of that season.
16:48I can't remember.
16:48It might have been a playoff game.
16:49Might have been the first playoff game in 2012, and they ended up not getting to the
16:53Super Bowl.
16:53Once he broke that arm after it had been bolted back together, he operated completely
16:59differently, saying in the releasing statements, I'm not taking the field unless I'm 100%.
17:04And maybe that should be an approach used by Gonzalez.
17:09But the point is, it's a different regime.
17:12Might still be the same owner, but Bill did Robert Kraft's dirty work, and then some.
17:17I think Bill really amplified Ted.
17:20Ted, he showed Robert Kraft how to be stingy with a contract.
17:27That's a big reason he got hired in the first place.
17:30The way he viewed the salary cap, as you know, Tom, is a big reason that Kraft was drawn
17:36to Bill in the first place.
17:38This guy's pretty good with the dollars and stuff.
17:43It's not a bad one.
17:45All right.
17:46Well, listen, good having you on.
17:48I love that you said that A.J. Brown is a 10, and of all the years you covered this
17:52team, that I got to be honest, that, you know, we went from six to midnight there all
17:58of a sudden.
17:59He's not the only 10.
18:01I've seen other 10s, but I haven't seen a 10 in a while.
18:04He's a 10.
18:04He's awesome.
18:05I mean, he's jacked up 10.
18:07Like, he's the most muscular, I think, receiver they have ever had.
18:10I mean, I don't think that's the reach to say that.
18:12He's got muscles on top of muscles.
18:14Either him or, yeah, either him or Deion Branch.
18:17Oh, yeah, dude, yeah.
18:17Oh, yeah, Branch, you're pretty jacked.
18:19I'm kidding.
18:19I'm kidding.
18:20Okay.
18:21You're right.
18:21No, he was a tiny little thing.
18:24All right.
18:25All right.
18:26Good stuff, Tommy Curran.
18:28I love having you on, and we will talk to you again next week, sir.
18:31Thanks, Bob.
18:32Great.
18:33Sorry to be late.
18:34I'll talk to you guys soon.
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