New England Patriots: Now that the Julio Jones door is closed

The New England Patriots failed to learn a major lesson from the past

This space was an early and vociferous proponent of the Jones trade. New England balked (for better or for worse).

The previous two decades were led by the greatest quarterback ever, Tom Brady, the great safety valve, punctuated by his brilliance not that of the personnel operation to any great extent except on rare occasions.

Rather, Brady’s magnificence overcame the ineffectiveness of the Patriots’ personnel department by his sheer personal excellence, not the other way around.

When they did provide a top wide receiver in 2007, Randy Moss, the result was predictable. They had the greatest season of all time and only narrowly missed out on a perfect season.

Yet, when Moss left, they didn’t learn the obvious lesson, give Brady weapons and he’ll dominate. They never did again. Now, without Brady, they still don’t fathom that lesson.

So, with the Patriots once again failing to fit perhaps the final piece of the puzzle for 2021 into the slot necessary to bounce back from the woeful 2020 season, where do they go from here? Fortunately, they still have options.

The Julio Jones saga notwithstanding, one of the weakest positions on the Patriots is still the wide receiver room. As noted, no one there is a bonafide No. 1 receiver or frankly even close.

The need remains. The question is, after all the hullabaloo about free agency and after a finally sensible draft, will the Patriots have the perceptivity to take what may be the ultimate step to make them a contender once again?

It doesn’t seem so at this time on June 7, 2021. Yet, there is still time to deal for the missing piece to actually fashion this team into a post-Tom Brady contender again, rather than an AFC East afterthought and an also-ran.

Brady was the single most important asset of the Patriots ever and the fashioner of their dynasty. He wasn’t appreciated in New England.

Now he plies his trade in Tampa Bay and wins Super Bowl(s) there taking a previously talented but moribund losing team to a Super Bowl-winning season in his first season there.

The Patriots conversely flopped and won a paltry seven wins and had no playoffs at all.