It's an over pay

@@UpChuckTheBoogie and so what? Why does that matter? Are you concerned about Robert krafts money?

Just go back to a best of 5 first round.

Isn’t half the team playing in the Olympics?

They just have so many other needs, to guarantee that kind of $ to a RB is questionable. And their offensive line sucks. So that's a bad combination

It’s relatively low pay for a top RB. 8.5 for two years is a good contract. Good for the player, good for the team. Pats have to spend money to get to the floor, and they didn’t spend on FA’s.

@tomtalley2192 top RB? Lmao. Dude Stevenson is not a "top RB", and he's coming off a bad injury. He's solid...but yes nothing special

They always find a way.

Except that he's a RB.

wtf is the benefit of cutting Thornton? Assuming juju is still getting no separation on every route then sure, cut his ass but Thornton is still young and the pats aren’t competing for shit this year might as well give him some run.. unless he’s still dinged too

and Boutte as well. Kid is a bust with all manner of off field issues including a possibly suspension from gambling

In theory, sure. But in practice, who are you actually talking about? There are no top tier tackles or receivers available even if we wanted to spend the money on them

You don't do that with a new young team with a rookie qb. Patience idiot.

This is a bad contract and probably a sign that Wolf can't handle this job. He signed no important free agents even though they had money. He traded almost no draft picks and they often ended with players they didn't really want to pick. And every pick was just at a position of need like they were just checking every box. QB, check. WR, check. OL, check. They are just resigning all their own players from a 4 win team and giving them all raises. And this contract is an abomination.

@@stickman1742 I don’t agree with any of the points you made here. Firstly, I’d like to ask you the same question I originally asked the OP- what free agents did you want them to sign? The fact that they have oodles of cash and cap space doesn’t change the fact that there were no game-changing free agents available. The closest would have been Calvin Ridley, but the Boston media has grossly overhyped how good of a player he is after the Patriots failed to sign him. At this stage in his career, Ridley is a high floor, low ceiling WR2 that adds reliability to a team’s receiving core. The Patriots did need that skill set, but at the price Ridley ultimately got it just made more sense to draft that skill set instead (more on that later). Secondly, how is it a bad thing that the Patriots drafted to fill the positions they most needed to fill? The biggest hole on the roster was quarterback, and they responded by drafting a guy with near-unlimited ceiling with the best asset they had. Then, they added fill in role players with their remaining picks, notably including Jaylen Polk, who is younger, cheaper, and a better fit for a rebuilding team than Ridley. Finally, I truly can’t comprehend why people are so upset about this deal that Rhamondre Stevenson got. He’s been a highly reliable player for the team for years now, and more to the point, the Patriots paid him relative pennies compared to the mountain of cash they still have, both now and going forward. At the end of the day, the team still has needs. We still need a WR1, and our LT position leaves a lot to be desired. But it’s fundamentally impossible to go from a 4 win team to a Super Bowl contender in one offseason. The Patriots did a good job building a solid foundation this year, and are well positioned to take a big leap in 2025 by adding a few impact players in key roles

​@@stickman1742 I mean people need to stop freaking out when they just see the initial contract. This is effectively a 2-year contract. There's an out after 2 years with only $2 million in dead money. Of the 17 million guaranteed, 6 million of it requires him to have 1,400 yd or make the pro bowl or All pro for it to even vest. I have no idea if wolf is going to be any good, I have my suspicions that he might suck but this contract is not anything what it sounds like when it's first reported. It reminds me of the Ezekiel Elliott contract where everyone was like. Wow! 6.5 million for this aging running back... And then you find out that only 2.5 million of it is ever likely to vest because the incentives for it to reach 6 million required him to be involved in like 75% of the snaps offensively

They should be miserable about a ridiculously bad contract. Means the gm is an idiot. If Maye ends up being a franchise qb, they can just dump Wolf and lure in real talent. This is just about evaluating Wolf and so far he looks like Chaim Bloom part 2. A guy that is completely not capable of handling this job.

@stickman1742 straight up casual!! Nothing about that contract is ridiculous. They're taking care of homegrown talent, what's wrong with that. Mondre is a beast of a RB and that contract is actually deserving. We had a 💩 online last year with a qb that couldn't throw a out-route. Mondre was literally the only bright spot on offense before he got injured. With a revamp offense I wholeheartedly believe we can compete with the teams we're going to face. Not to mention we will have a top 10 defense that will be giving us the ball back to give mondre more opportunities. Like you calling wolfe that just shows your own insecurities. Honestly you I'm starting to think you're just a Mac sexual that h@t3 the fact that Mac is gone.

@stickman1742 🤣 what did I say bud?

5.5 is still a ridiculous overpay.

What receiver?

He's a bit better than a solid player. He's an above-average starter at the position. He's gonna be around through Mayes rookie deal. I would be upset if we paid him that and made no effort at receiver, but we at least have potential with Polk and Baker, so now I think it's worth locking down another position. you can't sign another wideout at this point. Maye 4 years, 4 years, baker 4 years, pop 3 years, big mike 4 years, 4 years. we have a potential core now as opposed to transient players

Their offense is sub par- at least they’re paying their own players- $8.5 is not that big a deal. They need offensive line help. Good for Stevenson

"They should pay receivers" is not an argument against signing Stevenson. 17 million guaranteed is nothing. 9 million a year is nothing. This is a good contract.

It's a really, really bad deal. Only shills and fanboys would say otherwise. With the media, we need to understand that many of them are in love with the new guys because they treat them all sweet and nice. That's all these media twerps want. Most of them were losers in school and got picked on all the time. To have athletes and powerful people treat them nice makes them feel so much better about themselves. Plus they just need some stupid quotes to fill out the articles. They always loved Lou Gorman no matter how horrible a gm he was because he asked them how their wife and kids were doing. These media people are so goddamn pathetic.

He didn't

I think we now know that Breer is acting just as a shill for Kraft. To not destroy this contract is absurd and unforgivable. Breer has no credibility, he is nothing but a shill hoping to keep whatever pathetic job he has.

@stickman1742 I don't hate the contract it's just...he's a RB. I don't like paying rb's. This team needs receivers...not rb's.

I don`t know if you seen him lately. Big beer belly. Looks out of shape.