| |  Super Bowl champs ... now what?
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
NEW ORLEANS -- As he stepped down off a podium late Sunday night, his
trembling hands having clutched the Vince Lombardi Trophy in a vise grip
only minutes earlier, New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft was asked about
the potential for a Super Bowl repeat in 2002.
|  | | Bill Belichick and the Patriots can't celebrate for long. |
"Can I just have a little time," Kraft said, sighing, "to appreciate this
one first?"
Unfortunately for Kraft and coach Bill Belichick and the rest of the Patriots organization, the time limit on celebration in the NFL is an increasingly brief one. By the time the team's brain trust had awakened here Monday morning, all of the key decision-makers operating on just a couple hours of sleep, it was already time to get back to work and begin plotting for the 2002 campaign.
The Patriots must submit their list of unprotected players for the expansion
draft Tuesday, have to think about coaching staff and roster changes, must
begin juggling salary cap figures, and can't avoid the resolution of what could
be a sticky quarterback situation.
When he appeared at an early-morning press briefing, Belichick somehow
managed to look fresh, but he acknowledged that the flight back to Boston
would be spent more on discussions about the future than on revisiting
Sunday night's Super Bowl XXXVI upset victory over St. Louis. With the way
that the game has evolved, there is no rest for the winners in
the NFL these days and the euphoria of Sunday will give way soon enough to
the stark reality of tough decisions in several areas.
"It's a reality of the game anymore that there are going to be some
changes," Belichick said. "We'll do what we can do to keep as many people as
we can. We'll do what we're able to keep this team together as much as we
can. But, no, it won't be the same team when he line up for the first drill
of training camp in six months. That's the way this game is now."
New England is luckier than some past Super Bowl champions in that the
Patriots don't have an abundance of key unrestricted free agents to attempt
to retain, nor does the franchise face the sort of salary cap crunch
confronted by some clubs after the title game. There isn't a wealth of
salary cap wiggle room yet -- New England has committed $69.004 million in
salary cap charges for the '02 season according to NFL Players Association
documents obtained by ESPN.com -- but this is a team that should be able to
create space by dealing off a few expendables.
Perhaps the most pressing priority for the Patriots is to try to keep
offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, whose contract expired last week and
who in a practical sense became a free agent as the 48-yard field goal by
Adam Vinatieri sailed through the uprights as time expired.
Weis clearly is a man in demand. There is a very slim chance he could
interview for the Tampa Bay head coach position, but it is more likely the
Bucs will try to determine if he might join them as offensive coordinator.
Weis is a close friend of new Carolina coach John Fox and it's believed the
Panthers will ardently pursue him. The Buffalo Bills might also want to talk
to him about their offensive coordinator post. Weis probably won't
approximate the three-year, $2 million deal that the Atlanta Falcons just
awarded new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, but could come close.
"Keeping him is a high priority for us," Kraft said Sunday night. "He's done
a marvelous with our young quarterback (Tom Brady) and he knows we want him
to stay."
Belichick on Monday said that contract discussions will begin with
Weis on the flight home. Indeed, Weis performed a masterful job in 2001 in
keeping Brady on a short leash but still providing him enough leeway to
develop as a player.
In terms of the roster, NFLPA documents indicate the team has 11 pending
unrestricted free agents and one restricted free agent. The key performers
in that group include linebacker Roman Phifer, tailback Antowain Smith,
Vinatieri, punter Ken Walter and "nickel" cornerback Terrell Buckley. Most
of the potential free agents are from a group of castoffs the Patriots
signed during the past offseason, role players who settled for modest
contracts, and made up some of the financial difference through incentives.
The other unrestricted free agents: cornerback Ray Hill, defensive tackles
Brandon Mitchell and Riddick Parker, linebacker Bryan Cox, offensive tackle
Grant Williams, tight end Rod Rutledge.
But whether some of those players will agree to return for the same price
remains to be seen. Phifer, for instance, resurrected his career and could
generate some interest. There are rumblings that Smith might like to play
for the expansion Texans in his hometown of Houston. Vinatieri will watch
very closely the contract negotiations of Denver veteran Jason Elam, the
other notable kicker eligible for free agency.
Some of the free agents, armed now with a Super Bowl championship on their
resume, might overestimate their value in the market.
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“ |
Part of what made this team a champion was the chemistry.
You'd hate now to see the whole thing blow up. But it's a fact there will be
a few changes. The front office will have to swallow hard on some
decisions. ” |
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— Roman Phifer,
Patriots linebacker |
Losing some of the middle-level free agents on the roster might not be so
dramatic except for this reality: Many of those players were brought in by
Belichick and personnel director Scott Pioli to enhance the chemistry in the
locker room and altering the dynamic of this selfless team could be a step
backward for Patriots management. The Baltimore Ravens found that out the
hard way this season when they replaced popular quarterback Trent Dilfer
with Elvis Grbac.
"Part of what made this team a champion," said Phifer, "was the chemistry.
You'd hate now to see the whole thing blow up. But it's a fact there will be
a few changes. The front office will have to swallow hard on some
decisions."
None more so, of course, than the fates of quarterback Drew Bledsoe and
prodigal wide receiver Terry Glenn, neither of whom figures to be back on
the roster in 2002. Unless officials change their mind, Bledsoe and Glenn
will not be exposed in the expansion draft, since the Patriots feel both
have trade value. Dealing the still-marketable Bledsoe could net New England
a first-round choice in the draft and ameliorate some future salary cap
crunch. The team would take a cap hit of $1 million on Bledsoe, but that is
palatable.
Right now, the Pats are about $2.8 million under the projected 2002 cap
limit. They may need to restructure contracts of players such as middle
linebacker Ted Johnson (cap charge: $6.577 million), cornerback Ty Law
($6.834 million), linebacker Willie McGinest ($8.288 million), and strong
safety Lawyer Milloy ($3.562 million). Some of those players, notably
Johnson and McGinest, may be released.
New England has never been a major player in high-profile free agent
acquisitions and probably won't be this offseason, either. But they can
create some cap room and Kraft will have improved cash flow with a new
stadium set to open for the coming season.
One other change for the Patriots, as with all teams, is realignment and the
new schedule format. New England will remain with longtime rivals Buffalo,
Miami and the New York Jets. And the remnants of the old AFC East figures to
still be a difficult division. Remember, the Patriots were a last-place team
in 1999 and 2000 before catapulting to first this season, and finishing the
year with a tremendous nine-game winning stretch.
This is a veteran team and experienced coaching staff that realizes the trip
from the penthouse to the outhouse can be a speedy one.
Coming off the field Sunday night, with the red, white and blue confetti
stuck to his game jersey, wide receiver Troy Brown allowed the moment was
simultaneously sweet and bittersweet. More than most of his teammates, Brown
seemed to know that the galvanizing moment would never be repeated, that in
the league's time-space continuum, Sunday represented a brief swatch of
history.
"Enjoy this moment," he said to a teammate. "Take it all in because you
never know if there will be another one like it."
Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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