Just when we were beginning to think Bill Belichick was getting all sentimental, he reminds us that he is evermore a bloodless tactician - interested only in what is good for the future of his football team.
And so Richard Seymour is gone. In a New England Minute. Dispatched to Oakland, which is only a pooch punt from Alcatraz.
Thanks for the three Super Bowl rings and the five Pro Bowls, big fella. Now take a hike and see how you like things at theOakland-AlamedaCounty Coliseum.
On paper, this makes a lot of sense. For the future. Seymour makes big dough ($3.685 million) and is in the final year of his contract. The Patriots figured they wouldn’t be able to sign him after this season. He turns 30 next month and his best speed rushing is behind him. The Patriots have some depth in their defensive line and are looking to score a top-10 draftee in 2011. The trade presupposes that the Raiders are going to stink for another couple of years, a safe bet with calcified Al Davis at the helm. There’s also a chance that there will be a rookie salary cap by 2011 - which makes a top pick far more attractive to the ever-fiscally responsible Patriots.
Nonetheless, it’s a shocker. More shocking than trading Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel to the Chiefs. More shocking that the retirements of Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi. Patriots fans, ever worshiping at the altar of Hoodie, are stuck with thousands of XXXL No. 93 jerseys. And New England’s pass rush is weakened. The defense is dented. The 2009 season starts a week from tonight and the Patriots just got worse. For this year.
Last week Belichick got jammed up when talking about Bruschi. For a minute we thought Flatline Bill might start blubbering at the podium. It was his Oprah moment. He called Bruschi a “perfect player.’’
Now this. No tears. No heart-wrenching news conference. No gold watch. Just a piece of paper stating that the coach feels Seymour has been “one of our premier players for nearly a decade . . . ’’
Indeed. Seymour came to Foxborough in 2001, the year everything changed. He was there for all of it: New Orleans. Houston. Jacksonville. 18-0. Following Bruschi out the door, he leaves Tom Brady, Kevin Faulk, Matt Light, and Stephen Neal as a Club of Four. The rest of the three-ring guys are gone. In the last year Patriots fans have said goodbye to Vrabel, Larry Izzo, Lonie Paxton, Troy Brown, and Bruschi. Now Brady, Faulk, Light, and Neal stand alone. They are the only active Patriots players who can talk about Walt Coleman and the Tuck Game. They’re the only guys who dressed in the old Foxboro Stadium locker room.
