- 2 months ago
TEAM STRENGTH? Drake Maye will get lots of headlines! Addition of A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs, could make this offense potent... But, (if healthy) could it be the O-Line that actually is the STRENGTH of the offense? Do you agree with Wiggy?
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00:00All right, good morning. So we've been talking a lot about this Patriots team and especially
00:04Christian Gonzalez in the defense. But there's one area that I'd really like to focus on that
00:10could be the strength of this football team. And that is your offensive line. If you look at some
00:17of the rankings of where they have this offensive line, some rankings have this offensive line as
00:22the 13th best offensive line in the National Football League. But the thing that I look at
00:28and I go, you know what, we've been, we've saw this all kind of preseason long on what they've
00:33looked like. And the thing that I'm really kind of impressed with is that we haven't heard anything
00:38about it. And you're going to be, you're going to see Will Campbell at left tackle, you know,
00:44Tucker's going to be your God. Wilson is somebody that is who moved from guard to center. And
00:49there hasn't been anything on him through whether it's been through practices, joint practices,
00:54Michael Ouenu, and obviously Morgan Moses as your right tackle. I think this offensive line
01:00could really be the strength of, you know, your offense in the sense of when your ability to run
01:06the football behind them, your, their ability to protect, protect Drake May. We've talked about
01:11AJ Brown and that addition, Romeo Dobbs. But the one area where I think is going to be really good
01:17is going to be the offensive line because of the fact that we've gone basically almost all
01:22the whole training camp. And we really haven't talked about them at all in the sense of them,
01:28you know, looking bad or, you know, Will Campbell not being a guy who's, who hasn't, who's been out
01:33there getting cooked. So this is one area. I mean, a great way to test how good they are because
01:39they're playing a team to open the season that they were horrid against in February. So not so long
01:47ago. Yeah, exactly. And, but you, but, but a lot of that you believe was Will Campbell and the injury.
01:53Yes. I do believe that a lot of that was the injury and the, and the other thing that I
01:56look
01:57at when I look at this, this kind of this offensive line and my expectations of what they potentially
02:03could be this year. I think a lot of is the ability to be able to run block and what
02:10that could do for
02:10your running game. And the fact that before the training camp started, what was everybody? Oh,
02:18I'm concerned about the old line. I'm like, that had been the, the talking point of the talking
02:23narrative that we talked about since all the way back until the draft. And I think one area
02:28that is going to be really good for you is going to be your offensive line. Okay. So I don't
02:34know.
02:34There's no news. I guess I have to say this every day. There's no news on Christian Gonzalez.
02:39So I will give it to you. I don't get why people here in New England sit here and go,
02:46I don't want to talk about Christian Gonzalez because every angle of it has been covered,
02:51but it doesn't matter. He is your best player. You are a less than a, excuse me. Drake may
02:56is your best player defensively your best player. Okay. Um, a week away from the season, less
03:02than a week away from the season. And you can make the argument in his position. He's better
03:06in his, in the NFL. He's a higher rated corner than Drake may his quarterback. Yeah, of course.
03:11And, and, and you look and you go, wait, it's like, if Drake may, if this, the roles were,
03:17we'd be doing the same thing. We wouldn't be like, ah, we don't need to talk about it. We beat
03:21every
03:21angle of it up. No, we would be saying you're one of your best players is potentially not going to
03:28play in the season opener against the defending Superbowl champs on the road. And you're a team
03:35who's trying to get back to the post season, potentially get back to a Superbowl and win
03:40one. I don't understand why people are like, I don't want to talk about that. Like that is a
03:44major, major story. Well, I think maybe it's a hopeless optimism and people just believe that
03:53it's going to be done. And you've got, you know, five days until this game and it's, they probably
03:59look at it and go, they, it, it's going to be done. It has to be done. Tommy Curran said
04:04it's
04:04going to be done. I don't mean this personally, Greg, because I don't think you're doing this for
04:07this reason, but it's something that media people who are in the Twitch chat or on text lines say to
04:15sound above the fray. Like, I don't want to get into Christian Gonzalez. We've talked it to death
04:20because if you click on any story and any website that has the most popular links, anybody talking
04:25about the Patriots with the interactions on Twitter or other social media, it is by far and away the
04:31number one story consumed by Patriots fans. If Patriots fans weren't interested in it, we wouldn't
04:37talk about it. And so, yes, I understand people are mad, but they're mad because the organization
04:41looks bad because there's no way you can spin where we are on September 3rd that this deal isn't done
04:49when you have everything that we've listed in the past about the comps, about everything else.
04:54If this is the Red Sox, they are a punchline. This is Schwarber on steroids. What you're doing
05:02here is absurd. We're going to talk to him tomorrow at 630, but it has to be frustrating
05:08for Mike Rabel. Of course you're getting closer and closer to that game to open the season against
05:15the defending Super Bowl champions, and you're not sure whether you're going to be able to use
05:21your shutdown quarter or not. It's got to be somewhat frustrating to him.
05:26Because both people were asked. Rabel, I think Curtis did a good job and asked them last week
05:31when we talked to him. And then it might have been when you were, Courtney, you had the cocoa bomb,
05:37and then we heard from Gonzalez that day, whether or not they'd be playing in week one.
05:41And Rabel was very like, you know, I'm worried about today. I'm worried about today. And Christian
05:47Gonzalez was asked, will he be playing week one? I'm worried about today.
05:50Which remind me, because the last time before that, uh, before on Monday, when we asked Rabel
05:55about it, he said, if he's healthy, he'll play. He did. So that was the first time, the first
06:00time that we spoke to him down there, that was his answer. Yes. And of course, I think there's
06:05not a doubt in my mind that Rabel's pissed that if we're sitting here and we see the Witherspoon deal
06:11done, we're like, okay, here we go. Like it's not done. It's the organization. And Devin McCourty
06:17knows as well as anybody having done several extensions with this organization about the
06:22difficulty in getting the wording and the verbiage the way you want it when it pertains to the
06:25guaranteed money. And what the trainer said across the street was that the, what was it? Um,
06:32nonsense or that there were, I don't know what the adjective he used, but he was mocking the
06:36language they were trying to use in the contract. And that's why we're here. If it was this, if it
06:42was a couple million more and a couple million more guaranteed at signing, this deal's done.
06:46Right. Like we all agree, right? I believe so. Yeah, I believe, I definitely believe so. That's
06:52why I, and because, and I, a big part of that, the reason and why, and we, and you know,
06:57we'll beat
06:57it to a dead horse, but that's, we'll beat a dead horse is because when you look at football,
07:02that's generally how it is. Once a framework framework is laid out for one guy, we generally
07:07go, okay, the other one gets done in, you know, less than, you know, 48 hours or something like
07:11that. And now you continue, it's all what almost three weeks since Witherspoon's Dale's done.
07:16And we're still at, maybe they're willing to let it ride, see how they do on Wednesday and figure
07:24out what the actual need is then. I mean, maybe if they, maybe they go out there and Mike Vrabel's
07:31able to, to zone it up and, and they're able to win that game and that I, maybe they're
07:36willing, I wouldn't do it if I were them, I wouldn't want to, but I mean, you tell me
07:41he's not going to play, he's under contract, but you tell me he's not going to play unless
07:44the deal is done. I mean, I wouldn't, I just, I think that it's too risky. This is a game
07:50of chicken in my opinion. All right. And it's like, well, all right, well, is Gonzalez really
07:56gonna not hold to his word? Cause he's never said it, but is he going to run the risk
08:00of potentially playing in week one and, and, you know, getting hurt and potentially losing
08:06out on, you know, millions upon millions of millions of dollars, or is the organization
08:11going to say, we need this guy and we're going to get a deal done. And we're going to, whatever
08:15the language is that he wants, we're going to, you know, say, all right, we're, we're
08:19going to cave to that.
08:21Yeah. I think daddy Seuss in the Twitch chat said, these contracts are out of control.
08:24Why should Drake may make more than Alan or Mahomes? Let me ask this question.
08:27If the revenue of these teams, if the revenue in the NFL goes up 20 to 30% a year,
08:33then
08:34the players that are up for or eligible for an extension will make the most money. Do
08:39you want the owners to pocket the 20 to 30% they're getting and not see it on the field?
08:44I just don't understand. It's the business of the NFL. When Josh Allen is eligible for
08:49a new deal or wants a new deal, he will make more than Drake may.
08:53Right. But that's going to be the interesting point. I talked about this. This is something
08:57that maybe the Patriots and then it obviously with Gonzalez, right? So I don't know. And
09:06there were reports out there and who the hell knows what's true and what's not true, but
09:10there are reports out there that say that they didn't believe he is worth the money with a
09:16spoon guard, right? There were whispers about that or somebody reported just Tommy. No, no,
09:20no. In the building, they were worried about how tough he was essentially. No, no, but I thought
09:25there was a report about there that they felt like he wasn't worth what the Witherspoon deal
09:34was. Meaning Devin Witherspoon was a better player or the money that he got was going to be
09:39less than that. Tommy Curran brought that up in an interview and then Curtis said, why didn't he say
09:44that initially? Right. All right. So the point that I'm trying to make is there is no way that
09:50you're telling me, let's say Drake may has a good year, not an MVP type caliber year or anything
09:56like that, but he has a good year. There's no way. And Curtis, I understand how the, how the market
10:02changes every year, but I, do you believe if he has a, just a solid year and a good year
10:08that the,
10:08they're going to say, we're going to give him more than Josh Allen. If Josh Allen is, is back in
10:13competition to be runner up for MVP or like in the mix of being MVP again, when this guy has
10:19done it
10:19for six, seven years, probably not going to make more than Josh, but that will be Chicago. If
10:25Chicago says we're willing to do that for Caleb Williams, then Drake may says I'm better than
10:29Caleb Williams, forget Josh Allen. Right. But you don't think Christian Gonzalez is going,
10:34I'm better than Devin Witherspoon. Oh, of course. And what are they saying? They're saying sing for
10:38your supper. This is, this is John in the car, John. Good morning. Hi, Greg. How are you?
10:44Great. How are you? They could sign this guy today and all the goodwill that they've built
10:53from the Superbowl to actually getting a wide receiver is gone for me because it's the same
11:00thing over and over again with this guy. If, if, Greg, if, if, especially with these NIL deal
11:06nows and who knows what these college kids are going to make, if, if, if, if I was a college
11:11player and I got drafted by the Patriots, I'd want to go back in the draft and go in next
11:15year
11:15because I don't want to deal with this when it's my turn to get paid. And that's all this is,
11:21is it's his turn to get paid. Witherspoon get paid. Gonzalez is the next in line. And that's how
11:29business is done in the NFL. Let you go to Foxborough. How can we think of anything, any different?
11:35I mean, the last time they signed anybody of any worth that they drafted was Gronkowski and
11:41he was a tight end and that didn't cost them big money. And that was a huge protracted,
11:50difficult negotiation. Like people bringing up the Gronk thing, like they gave them money. It was
11:55a months long fiasco that finally got the deal done. So it'd be more right, Curtis. And he's
12:02the best tight end to ever play football. And the best quarterback that ever played football
12:06had to leave and go somewhere else. And they put a belt up on, on Tampa Bay's mantle instead
12:12of a seventh one for your own. But how can I expect anything less, Greg? They'd have a
12:17bake sale to get the graphs into Gillette stadium so that they can have the FIFA. They almost didn't
12:24get there. They didn't pay Gary, the grass guy. So they almost had to move the world cup to
12:29Manchester, New Hampshire. And it's the same thing with, with the frigging security licenses
12:34that he wanted to sue the town of Foxborough for. Cause he already paid for licensing for
12:39the NFL, but FIFA is different. And he felt like he shouldn't have to pay for that. He must've made
12:43a trillion dollars on the, on the world cup. And I'm supposed to believe he can't take a few bucks
12:49and pay the cornerback. I have had it with this guy. This guy is beyond. Yes, Greg.
12:55Yeah. No, I want you to calm down because you're pretty, you might have a heart attack.
13:00But I do this every day. I've done it every day since the old EEI with Ted Sarantis. Believe
13:07me, my heart, I don't have a heart anymore. I'm a Vulcan. I've had too many daughters. I
13:11don't have an ego to bruise. I'm good.
13:15But does this change the mind of those who thought Bill Belichick was cheap? I mean,
13:23well, we've had, you know, for me, it's always been the, when Brady said it best, let the record
13:28show. Greg brought Belichick up. No, but Curtis, does it change your mind? No, it doesn't. Bill,
13:34Bill was very happy. He did the same thing in Cleveland. He, the only time he brought up the
13:38cash spending was when his team was bad. He was happy to do it because he thought it worked. He
13:42was the
13:42one defending the cap saying that the bucks and the Rams were going to be in cap jail on this
13:46show.
13:46Yeah. But you used to say that on the show a lot, that Bill was taking all the money. That's
13:51not the
13:51case now. Right. Oh no. There was a football budget and Bill was the highest paid coach in
13:57professional team sports while asking his players to take less. But yes, he was fine with it, but
14:02Kraft was able to use Bill as a shield. It was, it worked favorably for both sides. See, Bill was
14:07good
14:07at, and here's the difference. Bill was good at like, all right, Edelman, you want to try
14:13to find that deal? Go look for it. Yeah. Because, and then people weren't tripping about that. Fans
14:17would be like, all right, you found Wes Welker. You'll find, you found Julian Edelman. You'll
14:21find the next Julian Edelman. Right. But when it came to the superstars, the superstars said it
14:27themselves. We heard Brady say, go talk to Mr. Kraft. Right. We heard Grob Gronkowski say,
14:33in order to get paid, you, you're going to have to hold out. You remember Gronk said that?
14:39I get nervous saying this to you. We have to take a break. All right. All right. Is that okay?