How are the Cardinals like the Patriots?

[overseascardfan]

Hard to poke holes in that statement.

I hope we draft a little better than the Patriots have.

Yet, the Cardinals have done a decent job getting mid-range free agents (something the Patriots did before it was cool in the league) for a couple seasons now.

We will see, but one can only hope.

A proving ground for this thought is what happens at NT this offseason.

NE does draft very well. Most of their team is built through the draft. Sure they do a good job bringing in FA's to fit their team but you can't argue they don't know how to draft.

 

[40yearfan]

Well, they both wear helmets and (usually) field 11 players at a time, both have 53 man rosters with 45 men active on game day, etc., etc.

There's nothing exceptional about building through the draft. What, of course, 40 leaves out is that the Pats had two high-profile free agents at the corner positions in the game.

Further, the "no real standouts" flies in the face of the Reality that the Pats Super Bowl team fielded at least three Hall of Famers in Revis, Brady, and Wilfork and a possible fourth in Gronkowski. How you don't consider any of those for "standouts" is beyond me.

Without Gronk in particular (after Brady), this team comes nowhere near the Super Bowl. If you have a franchise QB, you have an opportunity to win a championship. Every team "coaches guys up."

The meaningful difference is

The Patriots build players. Then when the players want more money or get too big for their britches, Belichick gets rid of them and plugs in the next guy up. Just like the Cards did with Dansby this year. The Patriots have gotten rid of a bunch of big name players over the years without missing a beat.

I believe BA is following the same technique and hope he becomes as successful as Bill B. has been.