The mistake that was the Patriots offseason

On the heels of Albert Haynesworth being cut by the New England Patriots, I thought this would be a good time to look back to the moves they had at the draft and in free agency. While the Eagles got the "dream team" title, the Pats were right with them getting all the preseason hype. Trading for big names and with more big names returning from injury, most people believed the Patriots were poised to make a Super Bowl run. After 9 weeks, the Patriots sit at 5-3 and have one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Lets go back and look at the moves that lead to them being so weak on defense.

Returning Injured Players

Leigh Bodden- 30 years old, pro bowler in 2009, missed all of 2010 with shoulder injury. As soon as camp started, Bodden was back at his starting cornerback position and looked like a huge upgrade to their average pass defense. Somehow, Bodden only made their pass defense worse. With him in the lineup the Patriots were dead last in pass D. He was cut after week 8.

Ty Warren- 30 years old, missed all of 2010 with a hip injury. The life-long Patriot and long-time anchor of the defense was considered to be a big help this year but was cut just before training camp started

Both of these players were penciled in as starters around draft time and might have been part of the reason the Pats didnt pick defense players early in the draft. The Pats may have been affected in a big way by the lockout here. They didnt really have a chance to evaluate how healthy these guys were during the offseason and didnt know that both couldn't return to their old form. I can't give them full blame here, but it was still a mistake to rely on two guys that were over 30 and had suffered from major injuries.

The Draft

Round 1, 17 overall- Nate Solder OT

Round 2, 33 overall- Ras-I Dowling CB

Round 2, 56 overall- Shane Vereen RB

Round 3, 73 overall- Steven Ridley RB

Round 3, 74 overall- Ryan Mallett QB

While many thought the Patriots got great value with their many draft picks, they really didn't address their many needs on defense. The Patriots had 2 1st round picks going into the draft, but as usual, traded back to get better "value". They have been doing this for years now but over the past few years this strategy hasn't resulted in very many good players.

The Solder pick filled a slight need on the offensive line but would have been better spent on a pass rusher. Dowling filled a need in the secondary but has yet to really pan out. I have no problems with their 1st 2 picks. After Dowling the Patriots didnt take another defensive player until the 196th pick overall pick. The next 3 where the real mistakes are made.

Last year the Patriots were the 2nd best running team on a per play basis according to Football Outsiders. With BenJarvis Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead coming back, they looked like a team that was pretty much set at running back. Maybe pick a RB in the later rounds as insurance, but there was no real need to pick one early. Belichick has pulled running backs off the scrap heap for most of his time in New England, and of all people, he should know not to waste high picks on running backs. Not only did they draft an RB early, but they took 2. While Ridley and Vereen might turn out to be fine NFL players, they didn't fill any need at all and would most likely only turn out to be downgrades this year. Both of these picks should have been used on defensive players.

The Patriots final value pick was quarterback Ryan Mallett from Arkansas. Mallett was thought by many to have a chance to be a 1st round pick. Instead, he fell into the 3rd round. The Patriots decided that the value was too much to pass up and took him. While this move might work out way down the road, it doesn't help them at all this year. Tom Brady has said that he wants to continue playing for several years; so, this move might not pay off for as long as 5 years and has a pretty good chance of being a complete waste.

Trades for former stars

Albert Haynesworth- 30 years old. Former All-pro. Traded from the Redskins for a 5th rounder. Cut after week 9.

Chad Ochocinco- 33 years old. Former All-pro. Traded from the Bengals for a 5th and 6th rounder. 9 catches, 138 yards, 0 TDs in 8 games.

Both of these moves created the most hype for the Patriots. While both players were coming off of career worst years, many football experts believed that Belichick could get these guys back to their old form. ESPN Boston writer Mike Reiss wrote about how Haynesworth might have close to the same impact that Randy Moss had after he was traded to the Pats in 2007.

These moves could not have worked out worse for the Patriots. Ochocinco is apparently not smart enough to pick up the offense, and at his age might just be done as an NFL player. This year, Ochocinco has been a bull rider, soccer player, and NFL player but I am not exactly sure which of these he is worst at. WRs lose it quickly when they get older. Look at guys like Marvin Harrison and Torry Holt. His last 2 years in Cincinnati were not very good and he didnt really show that he had much left in the tank. On top of that, no player shut down Ochocinco better over the past years than Darrelle Revis. Over the past 3 years, in 4 games vs Revis, Ochocinco only had 11 catches, 126 yards and 0 TDs. Considering that the Jets are their main rival and the team that they are trying to get past every year, it doesnt exactly look like that best of moves.

Haynesworth showed some signs of life early in training camp, but fell back into his old bad habits and could barely get on the field during his 9 weeks with the Pats due to injury and poor conditioning. Both of these players also were being paid a fairly large amount of money. Between these 2 players and Bodden, the team had a lot of money wrapped up in guys that turned out to be useless. This most likely stopped them from going out and spending money on big time free agents like Nnamdi Asomugha. Nnamdi really seemed to be the perfect fit for the Patriots defense and could have fit right into the role that Ty Law played for this team on the Super Bowl teams.

Players traded away

Richard Seymour- former All-Pro, traded to the Raiders for a 1st round pick before the 2009 season.

Everyone forgets about this one but the Patriots are still really missing this guy. At the time it looked like this might turn into a top 10 pick down the road and net them a young pro bowler of the future. Unfortunately for the Patriots the Raiders were not that bad of a team last year and gave them the 17th pick. Seymour isnt the All-Pro he used to be, but he is still one of the better defensive linemen in the league. This is the type of guy the Patriots could have really used the past 3 years.

You add all these poor moves together and this is how you get the 26th ranked defense in the league. They also have not made many moves to improve the offense either. They are mostly relying on Tom Brady to go out there and win them every game by out-scoring every team. That just isn't how you win championships. When the Pats had a great defense they won 3 titles. Since 2007, when they became a great offensive team and ignored the defense, they have won a lot of regular season games but have not had the best results in the playoffs. The great Bill Belichick might be able to turn this ship around this year but it doesn't look good.