One would think that, given the success they’ve had and how often they’ve been proven right, it would be pretty difficult to criticize the personnel moves that Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have made over the past decade and a half. No matter for former Patriot Ty Law, who thinks that those moves actually cost the team titles.
“I think it has cost them championships,” Law told ESPN of the team’s personnel philosophy, via ProFootballTalk’s Michael David Smith. “I think they let go of too many guys who can rally the troops and win Super Bowls,” Law said.
Law’s basic point is that the team was too quick to get rid of some veteran leaders who could have pushed the Patriots a game or two farther in years where they ended up falling short.
Is he right? Well, that’s impossible to say. There are a variety of reasons that the Patriots have moved on players. There have been cap reasons, there have been guys who didn’t buy in to the philosophy, and there have likely been guys that the Patriots felt no longer justified their salary and could be covered for. The Patriots have been so consistently successful and Belichick’s track record is so good that this just seems like nitpicking.
Either way, it’s not like Law’s criticism will make any difference with regards to how the Patriots operate. Just this week, they made the bold move of shipping Chandler Jones off to Arizona and replacing him virtually immediately.
