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Trade Deadline approaching- Will the Patriots be BUYERS? What position(s) are most of need? Former Patriots QB
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00:00Hey, Kabay J. Brown, I asked Mike Frabel if he was concerned about him.
00:03I am, are you?
00:05You know, Curtis, I get this question a lot,
00:07especially I got a call yesterday from my pal Danny in Waltham.
00:10You know, I'm trying to stay up with what the fans want to know,
00:13and I said, look, I'm not too concerned.
00:16The guy was just out for five weeks.
00:18He hasn't played football in a long time,
00:19and I really do believe this week going into Miami,
00:23we could see an Antonio Brown-like performance.
00:26When Antonio Brown came in, his first game for the Patriots down in Miami,
00:30I mean, Gino Smith threw for three touchdowns in 280 against the secondary.
00:33I have to imagine now with two weeks underneath him,
00:37back playing football and going,
00:39because I actually thought in the Jets game he looked phenomenal running the routes.
00:43I know there was a case of the drops.
00:46On Thursday night, I felt like Chicago was definitely trying to take him away.
00:49There was times, obviously, you would have liked to see him go up
00:51and get that ball in the end zone when Drake threw it up to him,
00:54but I'm not concerned yet.
00:55Let's just give it one more week where he's back playing football,
00:58another full week of practice.
00:59I even said last week, I thought it was interesting that they opened the window
01:03and he came back that first week.
01:05I would have liked to see, especially with three games over the course of 11 days
01:10or whatever it was, maybe easing him back into it,
01:13but clearly he wants to be out there.
01:14It shows the competitiveness for him.
01:16I'm not concerned.
01:17I think this is a guy who's been so productive in his career.
01:20It just takes a little time when you're not playing football.
01:23We always say the most important thing we do during the week,
01:26no matter how many meetings and walkthroughs,
01:28the most important thing we do is practice.
01:29And so I think another week of practice under his belt
01:32and more repetitions with Drake,
01:34you've got to remember they didn't practice last week, right?
01:36Everything was a walkthrough.
01:37So I really feel like this could be a breakout game,
01:39and let's revisit it next Wednesday when we talk
01:43because I have a feeling that this could be like a 10-catch,
01:46150-yard game for A.J. Brown against the Dolphins.
01:49Brian, when you've got a banged-up team and a trade deadline looming,
01:52if you're in that front office, are the Pats buyers in your opinion?
01:55And if so, what position?
01:57Yeah, I think a lot has to do with the next two weeks.
02:00You win these next two games,
02:01and it's clear that you're going to be a contender now.
02:03The one guy that I was hoping maybe they could go out and get,
02:06a guy I played with for one year in Indianapolis,
02:08is Quentin Nelson, and the Seahawks already jumped the gun on that
02:11because with the injuries at guard,
02:13even with Vera Tucker coming back,
02:15if you add a guy like Quentin Nelson and you could play
02:18and Vera Tucker comes back and kind of mix those guys in,
02:22maybe Vera Tucker goes to right.
02:23I would have loved to add him.
02:25Let's see.
02:26I think we're all assuming they're going to beat the Dolphins.
02:30If you beat the Packers,
02:32now you're really going into that Lions game,
02:35which the trade deadline is before that, going to Germany.
02:37So I do think you have to look around,
02:40especially with the amount of injuries.
02:41Now it seems like some of these guys who are on IR
02:45will have the eligibility to come back,
02:47but I think you have to add a piece or two really
02:50because of the amount of injuries,
02:51and you can't just bank on everybody coming back and being the same.
02:55Brian, when you look at the trade deadline,
02:56and I know it's a couple weeks away,
02:58and you obviously talked about the offensive line position,
03:01is there another area on this football team
03:03that jumps out to you where you go,
03:05oh, if the Patriots really want to make a deep run
03:08and get back to a Super Bowl,
03:09they should add at this position?
03:12I just, any area that's decimated by injury,
03:16so whether that's the secondary,
03:17whether that's the D line,
03:18I really do believe that they are in good hands
03:22with the two young guys at edge,
03:23but maybe you want to add another one.
03:25I don't know if Harold Landry's going to come back.
03:27So offensively, to me, it's the offensive line.
03:30I think the skill group is doing just fine.
03:32I love Eli Raritan more and more each week
03:35and pairing him with Hunter Henry.
03:37I like Kiner, but is there a running,
03:39I mean, Jonathan Taylor would be crazy.
03:41I don't think they're going to trade him,
03:43and I don't know what the asking price would be,
03:44but adding him to that running back room would be wild.
03:49There's probably some players out there
03:50that we're not thinking about right now
03:51that might become available over the next two weeks
03:54with their teams maybe basically saying,
03:56we got to sell off and prepare for next year,
03:58because that's really where some of these teams are at.
04:01Clearly, it's a fire sale in Indianapolis,
04:03so I don't know if anyone more is available.
04:05They traded Buckner yesterday too,
04:07but I just think it's more injury-based
04:09than it is knee-based
04:10because I think when they're healthy,
04:11I think the Patriots have one of the best teams in the league.
04:15Dolphins Sunday, you were on Patriots teams
04:18that struggled down there in Miami
04:20or early in the season.
04:22And any concern for you heading into this
04:25and a potential trap or whatever?
04:28No, I don't think so.
04:29I mean, the reality is,
04:30and I think Jeff Halfley's a good coach.
04:31I was with him in Cleveland and San Francisco.
04:33I really respect him,
04:34but this is a total rebuild for the Dolphins.
04:37I think they have like $160 million in dead cap
04:40of paying guys that aren't even on the team.
04:42They're literally playing probably the youngest roster right now,
04:46so they're playing a lot of young guys.
04:47They're learning on the fly.
04:49This is a game where the Patriots should go down
04:51and win very easily.
04:55I'm thinking like 35-7, maybe in the 40s.
04:58I just think this is one of those,
04:59and I don't want to call it a get-right game
05:01because I thought the Patriots actually did play well
05:03against Chicago.
05:04They just weren't able to finish it at the end.
05:06I think this is a game where they go down,
05:08handle their business, get back,
05:09and then you've got a big one against the Packers at home,
05:12and then you go to Germany before the bye.
05:14They really, I feel like the Patriots need to win
05:16these next three games and go into the bye
05:18with seven wins.
05:19Because after the bye, the schedule gets pretty tough, right?
05:23You've got Minnesota, you've got Kansas City, you've got Denver.
05:25They really, really need to win these next three games,
05:28get some time off, you know, recuperate,
05:32get some of these guys healthy,
05:33and then it's going to be a tough stretch.
05:35So these next three weeks are really important.
05:37You bring up the game at home, Packers,
05:40and that is when Gronk gets into the hall.
05:43Yeah.
05:44Any good stories about Gronk that we should know from you?
05:48Well, I got two.
05:49First and foremost, I threw him his first NFL touchdown pass,
05:51albeit it was in the preseason, down in Atlanta,
05:54on a seam route, and you knew, I mean,
05:56you knew when Gronk got there that he was a special character.
05:59Let's just put it that way.
06:01And he was always, he brought so much joy
06:03to a place that was always kind of known as doom and gloom.
06:06And the other story, in 2011, I believe,
06:12he and Jimmy Graham were kind of going back
06:13for setting the record for, I think, tight end yards in a season.
06:18And our starters were out.
06:20We were beaten, I think it was Buffalo
06:22or one of those AFC East teams, last game of the season.
06:26And we got word that Jimmy Graham had just gone past Gronk
06:29by like two or three yards.
06:31So I'm in the huddle.
06:32We're just running the clock out.
06:33And Bill O'Brien comes over in my headset.
06:35He goes, listen, we got to get Gronk like six yards
06:37to set the record for most yards.
06:40We're going to put him out wide,
06:41and we're going to throw him a hitch
06:42because a hitch is an easy six yards.
06:44Well, they go up, and the DB decides to press him.
06:47And, Wiggy, you know, a hitch versus press converts to a fade.
06:50And I'm sitting there, I'm like,
06:51I don't know if Gronk knows the rule on this.
06:53Is he going to still run the hitch?
06:55Sure enough, you know, as smart as he was,
06:58he runs the fade.
06:59I throw him a ball.
06:59He toe taps on the sideline.
07:01And he sets the record for most yards by a tight end
07:04in a season.
07:06So Gronk always tells me, you got my career started.
07:09Yeah, Tom got me, you know, to the Hall of Fame, basically.
07:12But you got me started, so I always appreciate that.
07:14Sick brag, bro.
07:15If he got an incentive, I hope he shared a little with you.
07:18Yeah, and it was still rookie contracts,
07:20so no incentive then.
07:21I think that was when, you know, he's down in Tampa,
07:23and Tom's like, no, you're staying in.
07:24I'm going to get you that extra million dollars.
07:26Well, you and I got something in common,
07:27because he said you got his career started.
07:30I got Brady's career started in the snow game.
07:32So you and I got something in common.
07:34Bing, bing, boom.
07:35Tom never says that to me, but I tend to tell everybody.
07:38You do tell everybody.
07:38I do tell everybody, if he ever answers the text messages,
07:41I'll just be like, hey, Tom, just for a heads up.
07:44Well, he gets right back to Brian.
07:45Well, that's definitely.
07:46Brian's in the inner circle.
07:47I will say this.
07:48I will say this.
07:48For Gronk, for the character he is, he's got a big heart,
07:51and he's always been, I thought, in a community,
07:56with whoever he comes across, he treats people the right way.
07:59He's the ultimate pro, and I'm so happy for him.
08:02And honestly, happy for all of us that get to go celebrate him,
08:06because we get to see these guys go in the hall.
08:08It's a great reunion for us, so I'm looking forward to it.
08:10It'll be a great event.
08:11It'll be a great weekend.
08:12Tom will be here, because he's calling that game,
08:14which is going to be cool.
08:15So it's always great to see guys, because once you're done playing,
08:19you don't have that camaraderie.
08:20So thankfully, with the family that has been made,
08:23with the Patriots organization, we get to have a lot of those events,
08:26and it'll be a great day to celebrate him.
08:27I don't know if we ask you this yet or not,
08:29but you are in the inner circle.
08:31Does Tom really want to play again?
08:34I mean, I think we all want to.
08:36I want to play.
08:36I'm watching that Bears-Patriots game, and I'm like,
08:40God, these are the games that you miss.
08:42And Bill Belichick always says, if you love football,
08:46then 8-15 at Soldier Field, that's where you want to be.
08:49And when you see those types of games,
08:52it's not just the 1 o'clock against Miami,
08:54but when you see those games, we all want to play.
08:56I mean, and then Tom, obviously, being the competitor that he is,
08:59I'm sure he wants to, but I think that ship is long gone.
09:02Yeah.
09:03Okay.
09:03All right.
09:04Yes, Curtis?
09:05No, I was just, I mean, Gronk is the ultimate.
09:07I mean, I don't know if there's ever been a guy as talented
09:09and as connected to the audience.
09:11Yeah.
09:11Like, just.
09:12Because he's real.
09:13He's real.
09:14He's the same guy he always has been.
09:16He's real, you know, from day one.
09:18And that's not the fine.
09:19At his best, there's never been an athlete in Boston better
09:22at what they do.
09:24Like, what he did was unprecedented in the NFL.
09:27His block, he's, Travis Kelsey may be as good
09:30or almost as good as a receiver,
09:31but he's a Hall of Fame tight end blocker.
09:34Yeah.
09:35Well, and I think, I don't know how much time we have left,
09:37but the reality is, and people will say I'm biased,
09:39he's the greatest tight end of all time
09:40because of his ability to do both.
09:43Like, Kelsey's great, and he's a Cleveland guy.
09:45I love him.
09:45But he's a big receiver.
09:46And what Gronk did was really,
09:49he was the best blocking tight end
09:51and he was the best receiving tight end
09:52at the same time for a very, very long time.
09:55And that's what made him unique
09:56because defenses didn't really know how to play him.
09:58Because if he could block that well,
10:00you had to honor him with a safety
10:02or a linebacker who covered him.
10:03And if those guys covered him, they had no chance.
10:06And if that DB covered him,
10:08because of his size and length and his quickness,
10:10I mean, he's the greatest tight end of all time.
10:13And there's no doubt in my mind,
10:15he will be a first ballot Hall of Famer.
10:18And on top of it all, the personality was just incredible.
10:21So he's truly one of a kind.
10:23Brian Hoyer, you're the best.
10:24We'll talk to you again next week.
10:26All right.
10:26Thanks, guys.