Belichick's Greatest Hits No. 16: His Best Offseason

There's a term coined by the Jack Donaghy character on 30 Rock: Reaganing. Which he defined as making it through an entire 24-hour period without making a single misstep. Explaining, "The only other people who've ever done it: Lee Iaccoca, Jack Welch, and - no judgment - Saddam Hussein." 

If Reaganing could be accomplished over an entire NFL offseason, it was done by Patriots' GM Bill Belichick in the spring of 2007. 

It was lost on no one, least of all him, that the 2006 Patriots had achieved the limits of what can be accomplished when you give Tom Brady no one to throw to. Troy Brown, bless him, was reaching the end of his accomplished career. Kevin Faulk turned 30. And while he would still have some years ahead of him, that is the age at which running backs, 3rd down backs in particular, are typically ready to be humanely put down. And so Brady had to settle for a situation in which his top options were Reche Caldwell (61 receptions, 760 yards) and Ben Watson (49 receptions, 643 yards). 

As a result, the Pats were only seventh in the league in touchdown passes and just 12th in passing yards. And while they still managed to go 12-4, that lack of production cost them in the postseason. They barely escaped with a road win at San Diego, then couldn't hold onto a lead in the AFC title game at Indy. They couldn't go into another season without major upgrades. On both sides of the ball. But especially at the offensive skill positions. 

They wouldn't. GM Bill made sure of that. Beginning with being forced to coach the AFC in the Pro Bowl for losing the championship game, Belichick went to work rebuilding his roster.

Ty Warren.

The defensive tackle who came to Foxboro with the 1st round pick they got in the Drew Bledsoe trade was at the end of his rookie deal and prepared to hit the open market for huge money. He never got the chance. Belichick pre-empted everyone by giving him the coveted second contract every player plays for. He responded with 54 tackles, 4.0 sacks and a team-high 19 QB Hits, which put him tied for seventh most in the league. Impressive for anyone, but especially for a run-stuffing, two-gapping, 3-4 tackle. 

Other re-signees included FB Heath Evans, veteran LB Junior Seau (RIP), and CB Asante Samuel, who signed his franchise tag. But GM Bill was still only in the stretching-his-quads-and-hammies portion of this marathon.

Adalius Thomas.

At the Pro Bowl, Belichick made Thomas' acquaintance, and the two hit it off. A defense that finished second in points allowed couldn't get off the field as the game against the Colts and needed to get deeper and more athletic. So Belichick made to that point his most dramatic free agent move of his career, signing linebacker Thomas away from the No. 1 defense, Baltimore. Now bear in mind that this was a good two seasons before Thomas became perhaps the biggest malcontent of the Dynasty Era. This guy was the prize of his free agent class. 

As a fun side note, the day before the free agency period, notorious Belichick hater Ron Borges ranked Thomas as the top defensive player available in his MSNBC column. That was on Friday. On Saturday, Thomas signed with New England. On Sunday, in his Boston Globe column, Old Ctrl+C Ron reached out to as many people as he could find who were willing to say (anonymously), that Thomas was a fraud and a product of the Ravens system who'd never amount to anything without Ray Lewis. Good times. Anyway, a pre-discontented Thomas finished second on the team in tackles behind only Tedy Bruschi and just ahead of All Pro Mike Vrabel. He led the team with 10 TFLs, was third in sacks with 6.5 and fourth in QB Hits with 11.

Donte Stallworth.

Here's where Operation: Wideout Upgrade began. Stallworth had finished second in the league with 19.1 yards per reception for Philadelphia in 2006. His signing gave Brady one thing he had been lacking, which is a legitimate deep threat. He wouldn't be the last. 

Wes Welker.

Here's where the magic began. Though there was no reason to think Belichick had Penn & Tellered anything at the time. Welker was the definition of Just a Guy in the spring of 2007. He was 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, and went undrafted out of Texas Tech. In three seasons with the Dolphins he caught 100 balls total. The most notable thing he ever did against the Patriots was fill in for Miami's placekicker for a game. So he didn't move any needles when Belichick went after him. 

But go after Welker he did. Welker was a restricted free agent, therefore eligible in exchange for a 2nd round pick and a 1-year, $1.35 million deal, which Miami had the option to match. Reports at the time said the Pats were considering throwing in a poison pill that would make it harder for the Dolphins to match, but ultimately scrapped the idea and landed him for their 2nd and their 7th.

Good decision. It took Welker until the week before Thanksgiving to blow by his best season in Miami. And his league-high 112 receptions and 1,175 were more than his previous career totals. He then matched or surpassed those numbers in four of his next five seasons. And in the process, became the slot receiver all other slot receivers were judged by for an NFL generation.

Randy Moss. 

It shouldn't be lost to history what damaged goods Moss was considered at this point in his career. He was a barely productive shadow of himself playing for a terrible 2-14 Oakland team. He was miserable, sick of losing, and football wasn't fun for him. And didn't care who knew it. When Division 1-A decided to honor him with the Randy Moss Kick Returner Award, he was less than enthusiastic, saying, "Maybe because I'm unhappy and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so, my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood" The Raiders were no happier to have him around, so they called Belichick to see if he had any interest. 

They did. A deal was struck. Contingent upon Moss agreeing to a pay cut. Just to prove that he really meant it when he said he wanted to be happy playing football again, Moss astonishingly waived 2/3rd of his salary, going from $9 million to $3 milllion.

The shorthand is that on Day 2 of the 2007 draft, Belichick traded a 4th round pick for him. But it goes deeper. The original deal was only for a 6th rounder. Raiders CEO Amy Trask made the request and Belichick agreed. Until he got a call from Al Davis incredulous that she gave away Moss so cheaply. Belichick told him he had no intention of playing hardball; that was the asking price and he met it. But he didn't want to rip anyone off (especially one of the great figures in NFL history) and asked Davis what it would take to make him whole. And the 4th was agreed upon.

And just to add another layer to the intrigue, that 4th round pick  came in a Round 1 trade with San Francisco. The Patriots gave the Niners the 28th pick in exchange for that 4th (No. 110 overall), and San Fran's first pick in 2008. And who did they get with that pick?

Jerod Mayo.

What Moss did in New England can't be over stated. Almost 1,500 yards his first season, along with an NFL record 23 touchdown receptions. One that might never be broken, even under current rules. In all, he produced three years of over 1,000 yards and double digit scores, twice leading the league in touchdown receptions. And combining with Brady to form as good a QB/WR hookup as football has ever seen, albeit for a short window of time. 

Finding both Welker and Moss for next to nothing - especially in the shadow of that dismal 2006 offense - was like buying a painting at a yard sale and finding out there's a Picasso underneath. What happened at the very end of the postseason diminishes everything, obviously. But doesn't mean GM Bill's 2007 offseason doesn't belong on this list. 

Now we'll get back to HC Bill tomorrow. Of that I can assure you.