I won’t pretend to understand why the Patriots made the decision to trade Jamie Collins.

Yesterday’s trade, which shocked and baffled fans and media is now in its second day of debate.

The rants are predictable. The anger and confusion palpable, on Twitter; profane.

Jamie Collins is a marvel to watch. He did things no one in a Patriots uniform has ever done before. His athleticism is as jaw-dropping as the news that the Patriots essentially dumped him to the 0-8 Cleveland Browns for nothing more than what they would be expected to get in compensation if they kept him and let him walk as a free agent after the season.

Since the move makes no sense on the surface – not to fans, not to media who cover the league, nor probably to other league executives – it goes without saying that there is something more here.

What?

I don’t know. You don’t know. Mike Felger doesn’t know. Lou Merloni doesn’t know. Marc Bertrand sure as HELL doesn’t know.

Unlike them, I’m not going to speculate. What’s the point?

Instead, I’ll give you my reaction. I was at lunch when I got an alert on my phone. I saw the news. I was shocked.

My second reaction? I shook my head and smiled.

I smiled? Yeah. I smiled at the sheer audacity and for lack of a better term, balls, that Bill Belichick and the Patriots have. They truly do not care what anyone thinks about their moves.

You would think that after 16 years on the job, the man would begin to lack the ability to surprise. Apparently that’s not the case.

The standard answer – We did what we thought was best for the football team – is infuriating, yet completely accurate. I have no doubts that they have their reasons for thinking that shuffling off Jamie Collins was for the overall good of the team. Are those reasons valid?

We don’t know. Yet. But if there is anyone in professional sports who should be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to this sort of thing, it is Bill Belichick.

He does this time after time, the reaction is always the same, and yet…the team chugs along.

Whether it is Drew Bledsoe, Lawyer Milloy, Deion Branch, Richard Seymour, Wes Welker, Logan Mankins, Chandler Jones or Jamie Collins, the reaction from fans and talking head media is always hyperbolic, always irrational, always angry.

Then time passes, and while the moves still may not make sense, there has been little to no impact from the subtraction, people shrug and move on to the next drama.

One might think that after witnessing this occurrence time after time after time, one would begin to establish some sort of trust that the individual making these moves (or at least signing off on them) actually knows what they’re doing.

But instead, whenever this type of thing happens, the same, tired cliches and angry rants are spouted. HUBRIS! ARROGANCE! EGO! POND SCUM! THE GAME IS PASSING HIM BY!

Who knows, maybe THIS IS the move that finally sends the New England Patriots into the death spiral back to mediocrity. If it is, there will be no shortage of “experts” lining up to tell you they knew it all along.

Me? Shocking as this will be for some of you to read, I’ll trust that they know what they’re doing.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

11 thoughts on “So, That Jamie Collins Trade…”

  1. Coach Bedard, Felger, Mazz, Jones, Ordway, numerous brilliant fans, etc. KNOW FOR A FACT that the Pats lost to the Broncos because the game was in Denver. There was only one cause and without a doubt, that was it.

    This despite that the fact, that alleged Supermen, Chandler Jones & Jamie Collins were on the field that day.

    The aforementioned group also KNOWS FOR A FACT that if the Pats don’t win the Super Bowl this season, it will because (again only one cause), the aforementioned alleged Supermen are no longer on the team.

    It’s funny how that all works.

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    1. Being the complete Pats nerd that I am, I DVR all the games. So i watched the last three last night (hey, I live alone!). I didn’t notice that Collins was necessarily out of position at any point. At the same time, there were plays where it seemed, in the Buffalo game especially, that he got taken out of the play rather quickly. I don’t play pro football; I don’t know how easy or hard it is to block a linebacker like Collins. But let’s face it: None of us are experts. I trust the guy who is, the guy running the show. So we’ll see

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  3. Alex, I’ll take Dumbass Media for $200, please.

    I intentionally removed the source because it seemed to be like one of those pieces filed away by Borges or Shaughnessy, but it’s not.

    Excerpt:

    And don’t forget Belichick’s long history of cheating scandals. SpyGate, DeflateGate, accusations of headset tampering, trying to trade injured or retiring players. Sad!

    Has Belichick “lost his touch?” It’s unclear if he ever really had it. It’s obvious that the only way for the Patriots to keep moving forward is to fire Bill Belichick. Don’t let the best record in football, 15 consecutive winning seasons, five straight trips to the AFC Championship Game and 4 Super Bowl victories fool you. Belichick is a man whose only plan should be retirement.

    Turns out to be one, “Stephen Douglas.” I’ve got no clue if this is a parody.

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    2. Should have stopped reading at “accusations of headset tampering,” since this is clearly another media moron who has no clue that the NFL, not the home team, is responsible for the headsets.

      I have to wonder if it’s somewhat tongue-in-cheek, however, since he goes off and lists all of BB’s accomplishments and then cautions the reader not to be “fooled” by them.

      Just a completely bizarre thing altogether — another media unknown looking for clickbait and to have his 15 minutes, like that guy who asked BB about benching Brady if Jimmy G. played well enough during the suspension. I’ve already forgotten his name, by the way…..

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      1. I’m on the side of satire here. Apparently, Bedard’s idea that the results of Super Bowl 51 should be used as a referendum on the Collins trade and by extension, BB’s future was so ridiculous that it prompted the author to take it to its absurd extreme. Guy was just kidding, IMHO.

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        1. I’m leaning in that direction, too. For him to recite all of BB’s (incredible) accomplishments and then say “don’t be fooled by them” really does smack of satire. I think the only guy out there who truly believes all of BB’s success is one gigantic fluke is Borges, who has been waiting for the other shoe to drop on BB since 2001.

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  4. Always enjoy the insights from Derek.

    Don’t enjoy the ctl +c, ctl + p crowd. Add something, don’t regurgitate mediums you profess to not follow.

    Very few follow the ‘other’ side of the ball. All is good, no worries.

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