How did it come to this?

"We Haven't Located Us Yet"-The Darjeeling Limited

In the past month I have learned a few things. Tom Coughlin can outcoach Bill Belichek. Kevin Faulk and Willie Andrews like the ganja. No NFL contract is safe. Hank Steinbrenner is a meathead. Roger Clemens is delusional, and so is Bob Knight. I learned everything is Not everything, Life Is a hustle, and the Alli-Opp was invented in Flint, Michigan. I also learned that the Super Bowl may have been a highpoint for the NFL, from which it is never to return. The league needed to see perfection, so did the Patriots, and so did I .

After an 18-1 season the New England Patriots have entered the off season a team in flux. Asante Samuel has bolted to Philly. Dante Stallworth will find the seam for the Browns next year. Kyle Brady is done. Randell Gay, Roosevelt Colvin, and Special Teams stalwart Kelly Washington will inevitable find a new employer. Junior Seau had shoulder surgery and is staring retirement in the face. More importantly Randy Moss is reportedly pissed off no deal has been made since he became a free agent. The horrific thought of Moss landing anywhere outside New England, especially Dallas, would be enough for me to move to Manchester, England. After last the off season, this is all very confusing. Maybe the 2007/08 Patriots were the great perfect storm of luck and talent, the juggernaut whose clock struck midnight 3 minutes too soon. Is the organization going all the way back to the drawing board? You might as well redraft the league and start anew.

The inability to convince the often injured Gay to stick around will have real draft day consequences. The opportunity to take over for Samuel apparently is not his motivation. The team is letting Eugene Wilson walk, so they will have lost past starters at DB, Safety, and DE/LB in the past two weeks. The team has the # 7 pick in the draft. However, the chances of the team making and keeping that selection are slipping away as they put itself in a position to have to rebuild every aspect of the D. The #7 pick for a late first and an early second round pick give them a chance to pick up some depth. They are going to need it. Plus, let’s face it, for all the hoopla about Belichek and Pioli being geniuses, rounds 3-6 have not produced much in terms of on field production in recent years.

As we see the complete tranquility of Red Sox Spring Training, it really makes me wonder what the Patriots are doing. We have seen this mentality before, and it ended with Champ Bailey picking off Tom Brady in the end zone.