 Guys, last year I will say on Christmas Eve you looked at the team and you thought, okay, this is just a Matt Patricia Joe judge problem. If you can just get Mack Jones an offensive guy, I can't laugh at myself, an offensive coordinator who works this time next year on Christmas Eve, we're going to be talking about a different Patriots team. That's at least what I thought. Did you guys think that one year, Phil, we would be in a worse position and by we I mean the Patriots would be in a worse position than they were last year at this time? I never assumed that would be the case because I assumed after last season and as bad as it was that they would have gone into the next off season to really go hard at finding solutions to the problems. I think they did. Robert Kraft essentially making it clear you're going to have a real offensive coordinator next year and they got one and I certainly didn't think that they would be where they are today, this past off season. So there's a lot of time between last Christmas Eve and this one, but Bert, if you asked me July 24th of 2023, if this is where they would be, I would have said no shot. Yeah, I think you look like feel a little bit more ridiculous looking straight at the camera at yourself and like this sort of thing, but you're gonna power through it. I would absolutely agree with both you guys and that like I think like even like the signs of the beginning of the off season, right? Like when we got the statement from Robert Kraft and when we got the full on offensive coordinator search and when Gerard Mayo was inserted into the offensive coordinator search and you wind up with Bill O'Brien who has experiences in NFL playcaller in two different places, you know you figure okay like this is the start of a very serious off season and then they didn't address the tackle problem and then they nickel and dime the receiver issue and then you look at it, it's like I think we were all kind of under the assumption where it was like the way that last year went a quarterback was going to be the harbinger for an overall change on offense and a change in philosophy and how they put the offense together and we got that first piece of it when they hired O'Brien, but then the rest of it was never there and you know now you've pissed away what was that advantage that you had of a quarterback on a rookie contract and we've seen teams use that advantage to get the Super Bowls over the last five years habitually and it's just it's just disappointing because it feels like there's so much they could have done and I don't even know that we have like a full answer on who Matt Jones is going to be as a quarterback. I don't think anybody's sitting here saying he's a franchise quarterback, but I don't think anybody can say either that we have a full read on what he is as an NFL player. Will we get Cole in our stocking next year again with the Patriots like when you think about you said if you would have asked me on December 24th or July 24th I wouldn't have predicted this you look ahead what what do you think we'll see how should it look this time next year? Well if if Cole means are they going to be a three or four win team by late December next year the answer to that unfortunately for them is maybe but at least that was not what I was expecting you to say Phil. Well listen they have a path right now though Trendy where you're looking at maybe having a rookie quarterback and a complete rebuild especially on the offensive side of the ball we saw the Bengals do this a few years ago they nailed the quarterback pick when they had the first overall selection and they took Joe Borough. They still only won four games that year and Borough ended up hurt so just because you get that pick and just because you have almost a hundred million dollars in cap space doesn't mean that they're going to have everything solved or that they're even going to be all that much improved by this time next year. I mean the Bengals are a good example because you had an idea that they got it right on Borough and T. Higgins was on the roster and you started to see some pieces on defense that they had gone and gotten in free agency and guys like Sam Hubbard were coming along and it's like okay there's a foundation here and then they draft Jamar Chase Fifth overall like I think that that's what you've got to look for next year it's not where they are in September or October because again if they may have a rookie quarterback they may have a first time head coach they may have a reworked coaching staff like so there's going to be a lot of new things here and so if we're sitting there in September and October and litigating who they are on a week-to-week basis we're being morons about it because next year is probably going to be a full reset what you're going to be looking for next year is when you get to November when you get to Thanksgiving when you get to Christmas that is an ascending group where you can look at it and say in 2025 it looks like this team's going places. Both of you point to the Bengals as a good example of if the Patriots play their cards right get the right quarterback and move forward the Bengals is a blueprint that maybe they could follow on the opposite side of the spectrum I would say is the team they're going to play this weekend in the Broncos the Broncos have not had much success as of late just like the Patriots the last time Denver made the playoffs I couldn't believe this when I looked at pro football reference today 2015 with that 24-10 win over the Panthers in Superbowl 50 which said Peyton Manning into retirement with the Lombardi trophy fill you know when I look at this game this weekend and sometimes I feel like this too and I know Miami's having a successful season right now but it just took so long John Elway you look at um Dan Marino down in Miami like what happens if you are a franchise the New York Giants the New York Jets all these teams that cannot find a quarterback to me the Broncos are an example of a very proud franchise with someone like John Elway in charge who has too much power and people listen to him almost too much and then you find yourself in a position where you're not successful anymore and I guess that's why not to compare Bill Belichick to John Elway but both were very successful in what they did in the time that they did it but neither to me has been able to really adapt to this new NFL and it put their franchises in a tough spot yeah and I just look at the Broncos between then that last playoff appearance and now and how many opportunities did they even have at getting the franchise level quarterback and they thought they had one and Russell Wilson and he's playing much better this year I'll grant him that but I don't know how much longer he's going to be in Denver even with all the money they've given him I'm not sure he is that franchise guy and so that to me is the key if you're the Patriots Burt and you're looking ahead and you have an opportunity maybe with the first or second overall pick and you have the shot to roll the dice on the face of your franchise you have to take it because the Broncos and there have been other teams they are in some ways not always well positioned and Broncos to get that next guy I've heard a lot of people say well draft Marvin Harrison and then come up at the bottom of the first round and get your quarterback that way or draft Olufus Shana or or John all and then come up at the bottom of the first round and get your quarterback that way the Broncos to me are a cautionary tale on when you try to nickel and dime the quarterback position or you don't go all in the odds are longer doesn't mean it can't work but if you look at it right like so Brock Oswiler second round pick drew locks second round pick Paxton Lynch that's a end of the first round pick right those three guys were all what top 50 picks right so they spent three top 50 picks on quarterbacks in a five year span and that's the biggest reason why they were in the position they were in and why they had to go out and they had to overspend to get Russell Wilson and then that doesn't work out either so like I think it does what happened with the Broncos does highlight I think where it's not a perfect science taking a quarterback first overall second overall third overall but you got a better shot doing it that way than you have doing it the other way we at least think that the Patriots are probably gonna have to choose not just a quarterback but also a new head coach in terms of success and this might be a what comes first the chicken or the egg what's more important picking the right quarterback or picking the right coach because we have also seen if you don't pick the right coach and I think of the chargers in this then you waste a good quarterback there's no doubt although I would also say if you don't get the quarterback right then there's almost no chance for the head coach to have success I mean what great head coach is out there that has had nothing at quarterback I mean you have to go back to somebody like Joe Gibbs right who won a Super Bowl with three different starting quarterbacks so that to me is is in your right I think it is a chicken or the egg sort of question to me I think you have to get the head coach right just so that you at least while you're on this path a path that is probably going to be bumpy regardless of who you have a quarterback for 2024 at least you're going in the right direction at least people around the organization from top to bottom are bought in depending on that coach's message if you get it right at the coaching spot it can make everything a little bit easier to swallow if and when things get tough and I think like we can look to it like the environment the quarterback goes into is really really important like Lamar Jackson had John Harbaugh Patrick Mahomes had Andy Reid that's not saying those guys wouldn't have made it otherwise but it certainly helps you know if you have a guy who knows what he's doing is your head coach he puts the quarterback in a better position to succeed and I also think a lot of a lot of times like the coach identify the guy who's identifying the quarterback is important too like Kyle Shanahan is a good example in San Francisco we talk about a guy who didn't spend high end first round capital to find his guy well he did at one point right he tried right but like he was good enough at identifying quarterbacks to trade for Jimmy Garoppolo and get like a three or four year answer there for a second round pick and then get Brock Purdy at the end of the draft now it doesn't mean that you need to be it doesn't mean you're counting on like a seventh round pick to become your starting quarterback but if you have a guy who knows how to identify quarterbacks it certainly does help