00:00And Curtis, you had a question this morning based on what is being written about the New England Patriots.
00:06Elliot Wolfe on Monday, I think that was, said he'd be anxious to trade a first-round pick or two
00:15if he could add value to this team.
00:17But there's some question about that, I guess.
00:20Yeah, the Athletic this morning, Chad Graff, does not agree with Wiggy and I think most of us
00:25that they need to make a trade to improve the roster.
00:27He said the Patriots are three weeks away from kicking off a season with good vibes and high hopes
00:33thanks to new coach Mike Rabel.
00:36It doesn't make much sense for the Patriots to trade either of their two biggest names,
00:41I'm sorry, to trade for either of the two biggest names on the trading block, Terry McLaurin or Micah Parsons.
00:46Success for the Pats this season isn't going to be defined by wins.
00:51They've been victorious.
00:52This is an unbelievable stat.
00:54They have eight wins in their last 35 games.
01:02That's 27 losses.
01:05That's like a decade of the prior Patriots in three years.
01:09And he notes in the Athletic, because of that, expectations are manageable for Rabel.
01:14What matters more is that he builds a culture and gets a team to play disciplined football.
01:19And I think that there is an equation where every organization should follow it.
01:26You need to have both a competent coach and a team that can win relatively quickly so that there is buy-in and then culture is able to be established.
01:36You don't build culture.
01:38Wiggy can correct me if I'm wrong.
01:39Nobody talks about the great cultures in losing organizations.
01:43So this actually, in my view, would expedite the culture arriving in Foxborough under the tutelage of Mike Vrabel because they would be more likely to be winning than losing.
01:53Well, I mean, in order to get those guys, you know, the superstars, I think you have to win some games.
02:02Like, I don't think the true legitimate game changers are going to want to come somewhere where you're upping your win total by, you know, a game or two this season.
02:15But you played the game, you know, so tell me differently.
02:20Well, I think it's, and maybe Curtis might have had this before, and as you start to look at, like, the top free agents every year, the superstars don't move unless they're traded, right?
02:37When we start to think of that, Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, like, those are the top free agent, well, would have been free agent wide receivers.
02:47But they ultimately re-sign with their teams, and the only way you get a guy like that is true with trade.
02:53You see with DK Metcalf, if you want to put him top 10 wide receiver in the league.
02:58Like, and, like, Micah Parsons, does he ever really get to free agency, or does the team trade for him?
03:08So it's not more about a guy saying, all right, I'm picking New England to go play there.
03:12It might be those, like, second-level players that hit that free agency point.
03:18So, like, those elite guys, I feel like you have to get those guys through trades.
03:23I will agree with it in the sense that I brought up earlier, where I think Mike Vrabel has been given a long leash by these guys.
03:34And has, you know, they went through what they went through with Gerard Mayo, and so they're not going to make a change when it comes to head coach for a considerable amount of time.
03:44So he has the luxury of having some time.
03:48Does he?
03:48Yes.
03:49What's, you don't think so?
03:51We had this conversation while you were gone, and Curtis, I believe it was Curtis's lead at one point.
03:56I might be wrong about that, but it was, like, Mike Vrabel has a long leash, whereas Drake May does not.
04:05Like, if Drake May doesn't perform, like, he's on the chopping block.
04:09Yeah.
04:09They're not going to, Robert Kraft is not going to pay three coaches at the same time, meaning fired Mayo, fired Vrabel, and hiring a new guy.
04:16But what's a long leash?
04:17Three years.
04:18Okay, so, see, I, you know, I feel like two years, let's say they win seven games this year.
04:28Yeah.
04:29And win seven games next year.
04:32Well, then I think that third year, he's going to have to win more than seven games.
04:36I don't, but I think that they're, you know, you win seven games this year.
04:41I think fans, some of the fans are disappointed.
04:44Some are like, all right, we're going in the right direction.
04:47I would be disappointed if they only, if they win seven this year and then they come back and win seven again, I would be disappointed.
04:55So I'd be disappointed if they won seven games this year.
04:58I would look at it and go, wait a second, what?
05:00You only won seven games this year?
05:03I mean, think about that.
05:04Seven games.
05:05Because you won four last year with Drake May in his rookie year, not playing the entire season.
05:10Well, you really won three last year.
05:12Like, I don't count.
05:13But you won four.
05:14Like, that's what, and with Gerard May, I was the head coach.
05:18Like, that is, that is a big jump regardless of not having weapons around.
05:22Drake May and the O-line struggling.
05:24And if they win seven, that is almost the win total of the last two years combined.
05:28Seven is nuts, though.
05:30But just take this, kind of like, play it out on how it would look, right?
05:37So we used to split it down when it was a 16-week season.
05:41Now they play 17.
05:42So let's say the first eight games of the season, they go three and five.
05:51We're sitting here going, wait a second, that's not very good, right?
05:56That's not very good at all.
05:57Especially with the teams they're playing.
05:58Right, and so then if the second half of the season, there are nine games left, they win four more.
06:03You're looking at it and going, that's not a good season.
06:06There's no way to win.
06:07Unless one of those wins comes against Baltimore.
06:09And it's like, oh, this team is turning it around.
06:11This team is getting more competitive against good teams.
06:13So then explain the dramatic declaration by Elliott Wolfe.
06:17Is that just interest kinging?
06:19Yeah, somebody gave the kid the microphone by accident.
06:22I view him as just like, I get so enraged when I hear him speaking on behalf of the organization.
06:29He has no business.
06:31Even if it's a title and name only, look at the drafting he's been a part of.
06:35It has been an abomination.
06:37But then why say it?
06:39Like, if you're going to say, yeah.
06:40Because Kraft loves that people say that they're going to invest.
06:42Kraft is doing the anti-Belichick.
06:44He wants the team to be in the news.
06:46He wants the fans to feel like they're in pursuit, the interest kings of McLaurin.
06:52That they aren't ignoring the wants and needs of the fan base.
06:55That's why they like it.
06:56If there's a player out there that we feel like can help us, then, you know, and it costs that, then we would consider doing that.
07:01I would give virtually whatever they want to get McLaurin.
07:05Oh, yeah.
07:06I would do that in five seconds.
07:08And the reporting today is, or the speculation is, that they want too much for him.
07:13Like, I don't care what it is.
07:16Do it.
07:17Right.
07:17Improve the football team.
07:19I would be willing to say.
07:22And, you know, I don't think there's a Patriots fan out there that would be satisfied if this team won seven games.
07:32I mean, there's a 978 texter on the Subaru of New England text line.
07:36Find your authorized Subaru retailer at SubaruofNewEngland.com.
07:39I expect seven to eight wins.
07:41I will be fine with that.
07:42So, there's a fan.
07:43And what about the 93 Patriots, as an example, Wiggs, where it was Belichick's first year or second year?
07:4993, you said?
07:5093.
07:51You mean Parcells?
07:53Parcells.
07:53Yeah, Parcells.
07:53Yeah, sorry.
07:54But it was Bill Parcells' second year here.
07:56And they won four or five straight to end that year.
07:59They won, I think, they went five and 11.
08:01And they were definitely on the come up.
08:04You could tell that Bledsoe and the defense and the guys that they had started to put around that roster with Bill Parcells leading it
08:11was building towards something and it was something you could palpably touch.
08:15The Lions just did that a couple years ago under Dan Campbell.
08:18They were 3-13 their first year.
08:20Right.
08:20And then the second year, I think they finished 9-7.
08:22But they rattled off like six of their last seven.
08:25Right.
08:25And so it's like, oh, nice.
08:26Here we go.
08:27Remember that press conference Campbell had where he was catatonic?
08:29Yeah.
08:29In Gillette Stadium?
08:30We all thought he was a punchline.
08:32Now he's like one of the most popular coaches in the NFL.
08:34But I don't think the fans...
08:36It doesn't matter if you have one ass cheek and three toes.
08:39I will beat your ass.
08:40Why would you beat someone for having three toes?
08:42I just feel differently for the Patriots fans of now versus the Patriots fans of back then.
08:49Right?
08:49I think the Patriots fans of back then, they were just looking for any type of silver lining.
08:57Well, I think the Patriots fans of today, their expectations are a lot higher.
09:02And then with Mike Vrabel, his first year going to Tennessee, he's 9-7.
09:06And granted, I get that Tennessee was coming off a better year before he became head coach.
09:13I just don't feel like that...
09:15I know I won't be satisfied with seven wins.
09:18I know, but you're suffering, like many, from dynasty bias.
09:22Like, if you looked at a team and said they had four wins, and maybe you could call it three,
09:27and they come back the next season, and they have seven, or maybe eight,
09:32most would be delighted by that.
09:34That's a successful progression.
09:36Yeah, absolutely.
09:37You're doubling your win total from the year prior.
09:39And I have dumb luck, Greg.
09:40So, 91-92, the Patriots had, wait for it, eight wins combined.
09:46So, exactly where the Patriots find themselves entering this year.
09:50And in 93, they went 5-11, but beat the Bengals, the Browns, the Colts, and the Dolphins in overtime
09:56to close out that season.
09:58They end up 5-11, and the next year they beat...
10:01They are beaten by Bill Belichick's Browns in the first round of the playoffs.
10:05So, pretty darn good comp.
10:08But if they start good, like if they have a Gerard Mayo like week one,
10:11and then they pee down their leg for, you know, ten games, nobody's going to be excited.
10:15All right, that's Chad Graff in The Athletic today, right, Curtis?
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