Fans seek safety

Page 7 of 19 -- Nick, have you ever had your boss make a clearly wrong decision while articulating a lot of right reasons? The Milloy release was good for the cap, good for future negotiations, good for signing some key player (Sapp?) or draft choice in the future maybe even good for the safety position (Harris is a great ball hawk). But it was a wrong decision, just plain wrong. They had a chance to win it all this year. Now that's gone (watch Don Banks change his prediction within 24 hours). As somone who bleeds Patriots blue, I never thought I would feel this doubtful about my commitment to this team as a fan. It is shocking to me how I now look on them and suddenly don't care whether they stabilize that LT spot or play the vertical game or whatever. Shocking and sad...like the loss of a landmark building.
-- Timothy Cardozo, New York, NY

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A: Don't jump off hust yet Timothy. Wait and see what the effect will be first. As I wrote in the lead to this mailbag, you have to give Belichick some benfit of the doubt on this one. Let it play out.

Why weren't the Pats able to trade Milloy rather than cut him and have nothing to show for it?
-- Frank Ryan, Salem, MA

A: I think they tried to trade him in the offseason, but were offered more for Tebucky Jones.

Enjoy your Q&A sessions a lot. This question may be answered by Friday when your column appears on line, but if not I'd like a clarification. In today's (Wednesday) Globe, in Ron Borges' article, he says of the Patriots' cutting of Lawyer Milloy - "If they wanted to retain Milloy, the Patriots could have simply guaranteed his base salary of $4.4 million, thus turning it into a bonus..." Is he saying the Patriots could have done this on their own, unilaterally, without Milloy's agreeing to it; or to do so, would Milloy have to agree. Borges does not make it clear which is true and to my mind it makes a hell of a lot of difference whether the team alone could have done this but chose not to; or whether they needed Milloy's permission, offered him this deal, and he said no. Thanks.
-- Gene Devita, Charlestown, MA

A: Milloy would have to agree, but he agreed to do it the three previous seasons so I'm sure he would have done it again. That type of restructure doesn't cost him any money.

Great to have the mailbag back for another season. I think I speak for a lot of Pats fans when I say that the release of Milloy disgusts me. I've been trying to think of an analogy to the Red Sox and the best I've come up with is if they lost Varitek. Same thing- his contributions to the team don't often show up in his stats. I know the salary cap can be draconian, but c'mon, this wasn't just about that. They thought he had lost a step and was overpaid. Simple as that. Bottom line: If the Pats win, the decision won't look so bad, but if they don't, Belichick / Pioli / et al. deserve all they criticism they get. I think they made a major miscalculation. I hope I'm proven wrong. Your thoughts? P.S. Good Pats bar in the D.C. area is the Shark Club in Merrifield, VA (just outside the Beltway on Lee Hwy.).
-- Patrick Boulay, Fairfax, VA   Continued...