The Demaryius Thomas Era is Over in NE. Let the Gunnar Olszewski Era Begin!
Welcome to the state of the Patriots 2019 wide receiving corps. Where the only constant is change.
Here was the depth chart before the draft:
Julian Edelman
Demaryius Thomas
Phillip Dorsett
Maurice Harris
Bruce Ellington
And the suspended ghost of Josh Gordon
This is it today:
Antonio Brown
Edelman
Gordon
Dorsett
Jakobi Meyers
Gunner Olszewski
And in 7 weeks when he’s eligible to come off IR, N’Keal Harry
It’s a massive upgrade to be sure. But not nearly what it could have been if Thomas was anywhere close to what he was when he was rattling off 1,300 yards every year and once had over 1,000 with Trevor Siemian under center. In the only action Thomas saw, that final preseason game where he lit up the Giants for 7 receptions, 87 yards and 2 TDs, he certainly looked like it. But obviously that was going against the bottom of the Giants’ pre-cutdown depth chart. What he looked like from where I sit as the head coach of my couch, I had dreams of him doing amazing things. Of Tom Brady Making Demaryius Great Again.
Guess not. The coaches are the only other ones who got to see Thomas, since he missed virtually all of camp. The only way to explain the urgency to trade for Brown and trade Thomas to the Jets for some pizza coupons is that they didn’t have faith he’d be good enough. The very fact they sent him to the Jets is probably a good indication they don’t feel he can be any good at all. (No disrespect.)
So now they are fully invested in Brown and Gordon. With all the inherent risks of both. And while I’m mentioning investments in wide receivers, it’s an excuse to break out this nugget, that I find fascinating, but not blog-worthy all by itself:
And now you can subtract Thomas’ $2.9 million hit from that equation. So now the entire Patriots wide receiver depth chart has a $16.7 cap hit, or $2.5 million less than Sammy Watkins. You hate to give so much credit to the accountants, but that’s how winning is done.
The best news out of all of this is that it means that the Cult of Gunnar gets to see our golden god survive another week and beyond. Any man this eloquent deserves to stay.
Thanks to Demaryius Thomas for his service. All Hail Gunnar Olszewski!