Bill Belichick always has a plan.
After inside linebacker Dont’a Hightower, right tackle Marcus Cannon, safety Patrick Chung, running back Brandon Bolden, fullback Danny Vitale and lineman Najee Toran chose to leave the 2020 NFL season amid concerns. For coronaviruses, things began to look bleak for the Patriots season. . But a league executive who spoke to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday remains confident that Belichick will find a way to make the situation work for his team.
“Bill is planning all of this somehow,” the source told Schefter by text message.
A growing roster of NFL players has been pulled out of the season, coincidentally when MLB deals with the Marlins’ coronavirus outbreak, though the trend has hit the Patriots organization disproportionately hard. According to CNN, New England’s exclusion options comprise about a third of all players who choose not to participate in the league.
“I do not know [what the reason is]! So that’s who he is! the added font.
Without further details provided, one possible interpretation (which many concluded on social media) is that Belichick views his team’s declining star power as an organic way to find a successor to six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who he went through free agency on the March, without having to intentionally tank.
The logical target, not just for the Patriots, would be Clemson’s quarterback Trevor Lawrence. But given that Heisman’s favorite is expected to be highly sought after and a favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the team would have to end the season with an abysmal record in a mild East AFC to even have an opportunity when writing it.
Intentionally losing would normally be anathema to the stern head coach, and the “tank for Trevor” theory was quickly rejected by current and former players alike.
“No way in hell are Belichick tanks this year,” former Patriots cornerback Darius Butler wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “Anyone who says that has never been close to the boy!”
Chung chimed in and quoted Butler on Twitter: “Whoever said that is dumb.”
Belichickian or not, the reality is that the calculation has changed significantly this offseason. The abandoned coach and de facto general manager have to rebuild the dynasty he and Brady built on their 20-year career together, with a quarterback room comprised of Cam Newton, Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer.
The team was unable to chase a high-ticket quarterback during free agency due to salary cap limitations, and eventually signed Newton, the 2015 NFL MVP and former No. 1 general pick, to a veteran minimal deal. in June.
If healthy, the 31-year-old double threat could go a long way in the Patriots’ offense, but Lawrence offers a more attractive long-term solution.
The 20-year-old Lawrence led the Tigers to a National Championship in 2019 as a freshman and has won a host of awards to date, including USA Today’s 2017 High School Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year. ACC 2018, 2018 Cotton Bowl MVP, 2018 CFP National Championship MVP, 2019 All-ACC First Team and 2019 Fiesta Bowl MVP.
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