The New England Patriots once were able to make the most attractive pitch to NFL free agents.
It included quarterback Tom Brady, head coach Bill Belichick and the consistent chance to win a Super Bowl each and every season. That's gone now.
Brady, as you may have heard, led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Super Bowl LV earlier this month. Belichick had arguably his biggest down year in large part because of a pedestrian group of pass-catchers and key defensive veterans who opted out of the COVID-19 campaign. And lastly, the Patriots looked far away from a group which can compete for the Lombardi Trophy in the short term.
And now, especially with former Patriots including Danny Amendola speaking out against The Patriot Way, a once lay-up of a free-agent pitch has taken a serious beating. It's led Pat McAfee, for one, to think New England could be in for a "long, hard road."
"… With all these narratives coming out that that's how it is up there, who's going to want to go up there?," McAfee said Tuesday on his own "Pat McAfee Show."
"Cam Newton went up there. OK. He was a free agent for what 86 nights or whatever? Paid him a million bucks. Matt Stafford did not confirm nor deny that he said anywhere but New England. Everybody is like, 'That must be because of Matt Patricia.' I don’t think that's because of Matt Patrcia," McAfee continued. "I think that's because -- much like me, I’m 33 years old right now, could go punt balls if I really wanted too -- but if I was to get back into the league… If I was to go back, there's only certain places where you're like 'OK, I would do this.'
"… But you could see how he (Stafford) was like 'I want to go to a couple places, maybe warm too, I'm getting older, maybe warm would be nice?' So, everybody is like, 'He's saying that because of Matt Patricia' but maybe he's saying that because he's like, 'I do not want to go do the way The Patriot Way is. I have talked to Danny Amendola, (he) and I are very, very tight. I just don't want to go do entire we're miserable, everybody is the same thing when it's proven that other ways win as well.' And I think that can be the biggest tough thing going forward."
McAfee continued to express how he thinks Belichick the general manager and the Patriots could have to start from the ground up with drafting, player development, etc.
"Unless you can draft and create, which they haven't proved that they can in New England yet of as late," McAfee said, adding how pick No. 199 on Brady two decades ago was an obvious home run. "They're going to have to build, I think, this thing from a young team moving forward. You got players who opted out last year, they're going to come back. Hopefully they play again and play well. But it does look like it's potentially a long, hard road for the ole New England Patriots moving forward."
It is important to note how McAfee's thought, which started with Stafford, wasn't exactly straight forward. After all, the former Detroit Lions quarterback still was under contract, but essentially chose where he wanted to go (like a free agent) before being traded to the Los Angeles Rams.
Stafford reportedly did have the Patriots as the only team he didn't want to end up with, though.
And now the Patriots will have to bring in another quarterback -- maybe Cam Newton? -- whether it be in free agency of the 2021 NFL Draft.
