New England Patriots 2/06/24 – Option routes: Where the Pats stand, what’s ahead at wide receiver

Daily news and links for Tuesday.

TEAM TALK

• Patriots 2024 Mock Draft Tracker.
• Evan Lazar’s Film Review: Deep dive into how the offense will look under new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.
• 2003: The Super Sequel Part I (65 min) and Part II (77 min). /Worth a listen.

LOCAL LINKS

• Matt Dolloff takes a look at every Patriots wide receiver ahead of the NFL offseason.
• Mark Daniels looks at the wide receiver position. It won’t be easy for the Patriots to get out of some of these contracts.
• Mike Kadlick discusses 7 potential free agent scheme fits for Alex Van Pelt’s offense.
• Andy Hart suggests a solution to the NFL’s first-round QB bust problem: Red shirt. “Forcing quarterbacks to sit back and watch for their first professional season might just be the answer to greater chances for long term success.”
• 98.5 The Sports Hub talks with The Athletic’s Chad Graff on how Pats WR coach Troy Brown was wearing a generic Senior Bowl shirt at the Senior Bowl, unlike other coaches who were wearing their NFL team shirts — suggesting that Brown might not be coming back to the Patriots this season.
• Mark Daniels notes Jakobi Meyers revealed the Patriots wouldn’t come up $1 million to match the Raiders offer.
• Mike D’Abate reports former Packers defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery is expected to join the Patriots to fill the role previously held by DC DeMarcus Covington.
• Mike Kadlick says the Packers to Patriots pipeline continues: New England reportedly hires DL coach Jerry Montgomery.
• Andy Hart goes all “Get off my lawn!” over the Alex Van Pelt hire. ‘From the outside looking in, it feels like the Patriots were foraging for one thing in their OC search and came away with another. Like they wanted a young, up-and-coming modern mind and settled on a longtime journeyman QB coach.’
• 98.5 The Sports Hub guest Phil Perry explained why some offensive coordinator candidates were scared off by expectations with the Patriots.
• 98.5 The Sports Hub guest Albert Breer joined Zolak & Bertrand on Radio Row to offer some insight into the idea that Eliot Wolf is calling the shots in the front office.
• Mike D’Abate reports Steve Belichick will step out from his famous father’s shadow for a prominent role as defensive coordinator at the University of Washington.
• Alex Barth notes Super Bowl-winning RB Rex Burkhead announces his retirement. /All fond memories, Rex.
• Locked On Patriots podcast: Patriots Mailbag: Mike and Murph tackle the Pats’ drafting strategy, their future QB, Senior Bowl standouts and more. (41 min.)

NATIONAL NEWS

• Albert Breer (SI) Super Bowl Week Takeaways: How the Commanders found their new head coach in Dan Quinn; Plus, the Chargers’ chase for Jim Harbaugh, Baker Mayfield’s future and more.
• Sheil Kapadia (The Ringer) Super Bowl Cheat Sheet: The 25 things you need to know about the Chiefs-49ers matchup.
• Cody Benjamin (CBS Sports) Super Bowl Opening Night takeaways: 49ers fans out in full force, big Vegas vibe.
• Katie Baker (The Ringer) Is this the year Kyle Shanahan changes his Super Bowl legacy? ‘As the offensive coordinator of the 2016 Atlanta Falcons, he helped build a 28-3 third-quarter advantage over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl … only to lose 34-28 in overtime.’
• Myles Simmons (ProFootballTalk) Patrick Mahomes tried to pour some cold water on any comparisons to Brady: I’m not even close to halfway to seven rings, so I haven’t thought much about it.
• Kevin Patra (NFL.com) One offseason move for each AFC team. Patriots: Build a support system for a rookie QB.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) NFL to play in Brazil on Friday night of Kickoff Weekend.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Goodell says NFL needs to “find a way to keep the kickoff in the game.”
• Jori Epstein (Yahoo! Sports) Roger Goodell addresses integrity of NFL games ahead of Super Bowl in gambling hotbed of Las Vegas.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Roger Goodell: “blah, blah, blah … to try to improve officiating.”
• Danny Kelly (The Ringer) The NFL Draft prospects who made an impression at the Senior Bow
• Lance Zierlein (NFL.com) 2024 NFL mock draft 1.0: Falcons, Patriots make trades to land QB.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism’s Super Bowl ad will feature Dr. Clarence B. Jones.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Roger Goodell once again sidesteps the question asked in 2022 and 2023 by Jim Trotter. The NFL newsroom has zero Black managers, zero Black copy editors, and zero full-time Black employees on the news desk. Why hasn’t there been any change of hiring in that area?

BELICHICK

• Boomer & Gio (Twitter) Boomer Esiason says he was told by an NFL executive that the Falcons offered Bill Belichick the head coach job, and Bill turned them down.
• Mark Maske (Washington Post) No NFL team wanted Bill Belichick. Could that change in a year? [Free]. /Recap: Belichick was proactive in talking with teams for a job. Didn’t find the right fit in this hiring cycle. Will look again next year. Can’t imagine anyone paying for this story.
• Matt Dolloff explains how the Patriots’ dismal handling of their QB situation hurt Bill Belichick.
• Lauren Campbell relays Julian Edelman: Teams not hiring Bill Belichick aren’t ‘about winning,’
• Lauren Campbell notes Roger Goodell praises ‘extraordinary’ Bill Belichick.