 Flip in Tennessee. First it was DeAndre Hopkins. Now it's Calvin Ridley. Second time in less than a year, the Tennessee Titans signing a star receiver that Patriots fans desperately wanted. Ridley agreed to a four-year $92 million deal with the Titans with $50 million of that guaranteed. Sports Illustrated's Albert Brewer reporting just a little while ago that he heard yesterday the Patriots offer was around $22 million per season. Jags are around $20 million per Tennessee's offer coming in above both. $23 million per season. Plus, Tennessee has no state income tax, so the best remaining free agent receiver is off the board. Perhaps the Patriots social media team, though, saw this coming. They posted this around four o'clock. Patriots social media team is not responsible for free agency decisions. Yeah, Kern, your face was all of our face when we saw that welcome in. Trendy Casey here alongside Andy Hart from WEEI, Tommy, the surprise, Tom E. Kern and Phil Perry. I mean, are you bummed? How do you feel about not getting Calvin Ridley? Go around the horn here. I mean, it doesn't feel great. I think we all had wide receiver impact receiver among the top needs heading into free agency. And then you read these numbers if they're reported as true and you lose out on a receiver for like a million bucks. It feels like that story is something that's similar to last year when you lost out at Jacoby Myers for a million bucks and you had the money to sign him. I don't think he's a great player. I don't think he's the perfect fit. But as I joked to Phil before he came on, I go to the grocery store every week and things that I don't think are worth what they are charged. I buy and I eat because I need to eat. And I feel like that's what Calvin Ridley was. He was the overpriced grocery store item that I hold my nose and I buy. I think it sucks that they didn't get him. He clearly was a cut above everybody else at the wide receiver position. What he's done last year, the fact that he is young, was he too expensive? Was that as a limit that the Patriots got to 22 million and said, you know what? We're not going any further than that. Was Calvin Ridley looking at and go, it's not just the state tax of Massachusetts. It's also the millionaires tax of Massachusetts that I'm going to get slapped with doesn't make sense for me to go play up there. So to me, there's a point of which the Patriots might have had to be out on the guy anyway. But it sucks because you went into free agency with needs in wide receiver quarterback and tackle. And now in cornerback, too, and nothing has really been addressed. There's always a point at which their hands are tied or they did all they can do. And there's a point at which you have to say, I'm out on this, but they have to have raised that level. All right, before we get to fill, we want you to join the conversation by voting in our poll. Your reaction to the Patriots missing out on Calvin Ridley should have offered more, wanted him but too expensive or Pat's actually dodged a bullet here. You can go to NBC Sports Boston.com slash early edition. You can also scan the QR code on your screen, scroll down to the poll. For you, it was Calvin Ridley or bust. How you hold it up big guy? Yes, really disappointing. The Patriots should be disappointed. Patriots fans should be disappointed. It sounds as though they were in the right range. And it sounds as though they understood their need at the receiver position. It's obvious to anyone that's watched this team, not just last year, but the year before that. You can go back even two years before that. This has been a problem. He's not a great player. I agree with Andy Hart there, but this was your arguably biggest need. He was the best player available. You had the cap space to offer him the kind of deal or better than what he got in Tennessee. And is it an overpay? Yes. Is that how free agency works? Also, yes, this would have been not just an investment in Ridley or the offense or the team's ability to compete in 2024 training. This also would have been an investment in the young quarterback that I think they're probably bringing in here this year would have made that player's life much easier. That would have been worth the overpay. The fact that they didn't do it is a disappointment. Let me ask you guys this. Do you think that they looked at the situation and I'm not making excuses for the Patriots. I'm just thinking like how maybe a family. Okay, if you are. No, I'm not. I agree with you guys. But like, do you think they looked at the situation and in talking to Calvin Ridley and his agent that the number they would have had to go up to, or maybe there was just an idea that no matter what number they went to, he wasn't going to come here anyway. Yeah, that's what I was alluding to. That's what I'm alluding to. Millionaires tax. Do I want to play there? It's a place that's in disarray. They have no quarterback in Tennessee. It's in the same boat to an extent. I'm going to stay here where it's a little warmer. To me, what's interesting is this all in a vacuum we're looking at, okay, these are the things that have been done since Monday that lead the Patriots to be in this position with Calvin Ridley. But it's not. Deandre Hopkins was there for the friggin taken last year. That was a built Belichick driven decision because of a lack of practice time spent by Deandre Hopkins he perceived. They gave Davante Parker a friggin raise because he had his nose out of joint about Deandre Hopkins. The rest of the team want ownership wanted Deandre Hopkins last year. Bill said no, no go. Now you look at this and you have this problem that looks like they had to pay 22 million for this guy. And Hopkins would have still been under contract. It all tracks back to and they'll be digging out of my point is the mistakes made going back to friggin Nikhil Harry, if you want to go back is what they're doing now. And that's what free agency is. It's ketchup. If you draft well, then you don't worry about these things. You draft develop the packer way that they're trying to go down the road of. I would throw something else out there to that is secondary to football, obviously, but you mentioned Mr. Kraft wanting Deandre Hopkins or throwing Lamar Jackson out there or throwing the they are still an entertainment entity. And at some point you have to give fans reason to go to the pro shop and buy a jersey go to the game and watch the game right like they and Calvin Ridley for whatever level he is. Fans would have been excited today. If you gave them Calvin Ridley at $100 million, wearing number zero in for the first time as a patriot, there would have been excitement. Right now you have the opposite of exciting. You have Phil. There is there is value in that there should be value in that. I just wrote about this for NBC Sports Boston.com. It's not just about the team and the offense and the quarterback. It's about your fan base. That matters. It should matter. And I think it also would have the secondary effect of not just creating excitement, but maybe maybe taking a little pressure off of your new head coach and your new general manager because oh, I don't know. You might actually be halfway decent this year because you have good players at important positions. Now that's a real question. I think that to this actually is something that is in their minds from my perception of the Patriots since I've covered them in the 90s. It was always very important for them to have a franchise hood ornament and they haven't had one since 2019. It's been built and Kim Newton didn't fit the bill. Mac certainly didn't fit the bill and now they don't have one. So it's going to force them even further into a quarterback situation because if they don't love Drake may but feel as if we need fanies and seats and they take them, we're going to be back here in 2027 still talking about the same things. Well, maybe there's a plan B at wide receiver. The Chargers did just release Mike Williams. Hollywood Brown is still on the board. The Raiders caught Hunter Renfrow. They could also go to trade route for a guy like T Higgins or Brandon IU. What would be your plan B calendar and the guy over there? Go Perry. Yeah, for me, it would be the guy that's off the list, Mike Williams. Again, not a great player and not one of my favorite receivers in the league, but he is a legitimate boundary option. He's a legitimate X receiver. He is everything that Bill Belichick probably thought Devonte Parker would be your 5050 ball guy down the field ball guy. He is somebody though who hasn't been able to stay on the field. And if you didn't like the idea of overpaying for Calvin Ridley, guess what you have to do for Mike Williams? As a free agent, you probably have to overpay for him too. And so that to me would be the top option, Tom, because in my opinion, you need two starting caliber receivers, not one. This would be one. Then maybe you get another in the second or third round of the draft, but you have to start somewhere. You can't hope that you bring in three or four rookies at that position and hope two of them hit. That's not a viable plan. No, you need an X receiver, a boundary receiver, Devonte Parker. You can absolutely go in with a straight face saying to Mario Douglas is a starting level slot. No question. But to me, you have to fill it out those other spots and you have he's coming off an ACL, Mike Williams, Kendrick Bourne's coming off an ACL, Hunter Henry's coming off an ACL. There's a point at which you hit your max with recovering ACLs. So you're now into this position where is there a 2024 version of Deandre Hopkins that you can find as well? It's left tackle quarterback wide receiver. And if this window passes, which it appears it's going to, with no high end talent, you're left looking at the end of April for a bunch of 22 year olds. The only reason I say Mike Williams is because it's just money. Some of those other big names that we talked about, I don't know how Andy feels about them. You have to give up a draft pick and pay the guy to get them. Absolutely. You'd have to invest the draft pick and the money. But history tells us that's where you get a number one receiver. If you didn't draft one history tells us you don't just sign one because real number one receivers don't hit free agency. So Brandon Iuk, T Higgins, again, plug your nose, send them a draft pick and hand them 125 or 130 million dollars. Well, speaking of the draft, CBS Sports is Josina Anderson posting this on X. Patriots will mainly turn their attention to the draft to address wide receiver. I'm told they've moved on. Remember, splashes come in the win-loss column. That leads to today's Fanatics Sports Books storylines. Well, we can discuss that a second. Got to pay the bills first when you bet up to $100. The Fanatics Sports Book, you'll get up to $100 in bonus bets every day for the first 10 days, win or lose. That's a possible total of $1,000 back in bonus bets. You can earn up to 5% fan cash back on your bets. Scan the QR code to get the app claim you're offered today. Here are the odds for the first receiver to go off the board in the 2024 draft. Marvin Harrison, Jr., the clear favorite at minus 1500. LSU's Malik Neighbors is next at 8 plus 850. Washington's Rome, a dunes a plus 1200. I'm not sure what that means. I guess I'm assuming when they say the real splashes and wins and losses and they feel like they can make a splash on the draft, Andy. First of all, that feels defensive, that last line. Winds and losses decide everything. You don't win anything in March. Well, OK, great. That's right. Be the hard-o. And I'm a hard-o. I know it's a living to say that or to the Patriots. Do you know I think that I'm hoping all of that is attributed to the source, but I don't know in there. And I also would ask the source. So you only had one receiver. You're just moving on. You're giving up on all veterans and now it's just a rookie. No, Mike Williams is not an option. None of these like that doesn't make any sense to me. But in terms of the rookie receivers, I would not be taking one of those guys because I would not be taking the receiver in the top 10. I mean, they're taking a quarterback at three or I'm trading down a little bit more significantly probably out of the range of those guys. 80 Mitchell's the guy I've fallen in love with. I know we don't have to get into Texas. Yeah, big fan. I think he's gonna be an absolute superstar. It's gonna go in the middle of the first round. He might actually go towards the back half. And I like the back half of the first round from 34 overall. Maybe that's your guy. I think there are Tom gonna be some intriguing options at 34 overall. If you stick there and you want to use a receiver at that spot. The only issue for me is there aren't a ton of these number one types outside of a D Mitchell that will be available 34 some interior guys, some really talented slot guys. But I don't think you're finding your next one quote unquote at 34. And I guess that's what the Patriots confront. They have what do they need to find first because they can't find ones and everything. This offense is a wreck. It was left in a smoking heap of rubble. So you need a left tackle. You need a quarterback and you need a wide receiver. Are you gonna be able to find all those in the draft? Are you gonna be able to find all those in the draft and free agency free agency virtually eliminated for number ones. So I would doubt that you're gonna be able to staff all three. I would prioritize quarterback and left tackle.