new england starters - 7 Free Agents/ 15 drafted

not counting kickers etc

I feel the same way. I look at the Ravens, with Eric DeCosta, and look at all the players that they DRAFTED. NE hasn't had that kind of success. They're great at getting the most out of the talent they have; which is coaching, not just evaluation.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against Pioli, I just wanted to see if someone had information as to why he's so sought after.

Why Pioli?

Here is why. As fans, we don't know shit. So, we look at teams with winning records go to the team site and look at all the guys listed under the GM who have something to do with personnel issues. We then automatically assume that they too are really good at their jobs and no other candidate will do.

That's what i figured.

Look at this list and tell me that the Patriots drafts were good under Pioli.

He hit on his OL, and hit the lottery with Brady.

There are a LOT of misses on this list.

This.

That and because the East Coast media tells us he is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I would not mind the hiring of Pioli, he comes from a top notch organization and guys under him have gone on to success, most notably Dimitrioff in Atlanta. But his unwillingness to pursue jobs and the fact that other successful guys have failed when they changed settings leave some doubt as to whether he could duplicate the success here. I have no doubt that there are other, less exciting names out there who would do as good or a better job for this organization that we would royally rip because we've never heard of them...

Can they use it simply to extract trade compensation?

It is impossible to predict that who ever is brought in will have success. I just look at the bright side in knowing that his name will not be Carl Peterson and hope for the best.

I think it will be more like 12-14 million...

I think you can find threads on here that I started dating back to 2003 or so calling for Pioli as the GM to replace King Carl.

Yes, they are SMART. We all know that Cassel is going to cash in... might as well get some picks out of it.

Yep. The franchise tag does not count against the cap until the contract is signed. So, they can designate him, and then trade him.

I don't see why the draft gurus want a guy like Pioli...he is going to give Mecca a stroke...the Patriots make picks every year that are considered ridiculous reaches...but the scouts always give them a pass because they are the Patriots.

As OTWP pointed out...the Pats have had some historically bad drafts this past decade...Maroney/Chad Jackson/Dave Thomas??? Yikes. Plus they drafted Mayo 15 picks early...even though he had a good rookie campaign.

That actually wouldn't be very smart, unless they can be assured that a team would be willing to pay his tag amount or restructure to a long term big money deal they would be stuck with over 12 mil in a backup.