Eh, dunno about that. They took a fairly calulated step back in a year that was 50/50 whether it was even going to play out, plus were losing their starting QB, half the defense left as FAs, and 8 guys opted out. Can't blame them for not being all in last year, and they accelerated some money into last year so they could reload moving forward. They're now in a spot with a ton of cap room in a year where the cap went DOWN, so other teams are cutting players or not competing for FAs like they normally would. Allows Belichick to have a lot more buying power, so he filled the cart. They're now at a point where they filled a ton of holes they had, and still have their entire draft board (and more cap space). They can draft anyone they like without fishing for need, or package picks to move around and get almost anyone they want.
Looks a bit different than when, say, the Jets 'win' March. When the coach and owner aren't dumpster fires, better chance the money spent will improve the team and not just grab headlines. Never know, and obviously the QB situation is still in flux, but hard to hate most of those moves. Went with more WR2/3 types instead of a true WR1, but got a top pair of TEs, so that ought to help, especially if they roll out a young QB.
They had a good defense last year, and just added several big pieces (a few of which have played here before), so it should improve. Added a bunch of offensive weapons and still have their entire draft to shop for a couple more. I feel ok with where they are at the moment...
Only if you assume Cam was intended as the long term plan. Spending more money on a Fitzpatrick or Dalton type is more of a punt IMO, as you're unlikely to win with them, but you're signaling that you're going to kinda try. Cam's contract only has 5M guaranteed, so he's playing for roster bonuses and pro-bowl votes, etc. That's less than backup money, unless he goes off, in which case, 14M was a bargain if he earned it all somehow. That contract says that they needed a placeholder for if they draft a rookie QB, or if they can't find a veteran QB trade they like (JimmyG, Watson, etc.). Cam isn't just being handed the QB job, not with the contract set up that way.
Pretty clear they still have a ton of draft capital and cap space, and addressed most of the obvious needs, so willing to go out on a limb and guess Bill's checking out the draft board (and trades) and going to figure out where he wants to go with QB.
