Building blocks

Has it been three weeks already Mike?

That's an interesting breakdown. Now you've got me researching to see who is who.

Hi John. I believe it was 15 days, and a lot happened with the Patriots since then. I'm looking forward to sharing some of my thoughts on that in the coming week as I ease my way back into the mix. I'm also hoping to have a mailbag on Tuesday. On this particular breakdown, my curiosity would be how it compares to other clubs.
--Mike

Mike, Please don't leave again!

You'd be a tough boss to work for Dave KC. No vacations? Man, that's tough :) Had a lot of time to think about things and am anxious to ease my way back in to the blog. This is definitely a passion of mine. Also, there is no shortage of Patriots-specific items to talk about/analyze/dissect.
--Mike

Welcome back Mike!! Hope you are refeshed and invigorated for what is shaping up to be one heckuva Patriots season!! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on things, definately not the same here without your input. Thanks for all your effort, keep up the good work!
GO PATS!!!!

Welcome back, Mike! You have terrific colleagues who are great writers and they kept us up to date, but there is no substitute for the real thing. I hope you had a great vacation. You are going to have a lot of people wanting your thoughts on Peppers vs. Taylor, Galloway, and the draft. Welcome back!

Wow, interesting! I guess you are coming back with a fresh and rested perspective. Welcome back, the crew did a decent job filling in, but we still missed you. Admit you were tempted to send in some of your top notch analysis (we won't tell your family)

Have to give a major thank you to Christopher Gasper, Chris Forsberg, Chad Finn, Dave Lefort, Steve Silva and Gary Dzen for posting here. I work with them every day, and they're top-shelf. Great colleagues, and people as well.
--Mike

congratulations, mike; best of luck. i'll bet you haven't been getting much sleep.

as of the day you left, there had been zero uses of the term 'bromance' in this blog. now we're up to one. i hope that we can all move on and forget this terrible abomination.

Mike,

Since you have so much free time now...how do Pats numbers you posted compare to other teams?

Welcome back, Mike! Great analysis. I would be very interested to see how these numbers compare with other teams in the league.

Welcome Back Mike!! Hope you enjoyed your vacation because you deserve it. Of course, a lot has happened since you left. Thanks to Gasper, Forsberg, and company for keeping us going, but there is no substitute for the best football beat writer in all the lands. I can't tell you how many times in the last couple of weeks I've wondered what you think about a particular issue and wondered when you would return. Glad to have you back and look forward to what should be a very exciting season....

ok so how does that compare to other teams

Tell them to not mention BROMANCE ever again in anything related to Patriots!
WELCOME BACK THANKS

Mike, hope you enjoyed your time off! Definitely looking forward to your thoughts in the coming weeks.

Can we stop with the ass kissing.

Thank god you're back Mike!

Yes Gasper did a good job while you were away but I don't think anyone understands my relationship with my football team like you do or is as committed to providing as much quality detailed information as much as you.

I hope you had a GREAT vacation and don't take another until after next year's Super Bowl.

Where do I send my contribution to make sure that you keep covering the Pats regardless of the Globe's situation?

Thanks for all your hard work and insight!

jeez Mike did you even stay on vacation for the full 2 wks. its the off season welcome back Mike

Great to have you back Mike, I appreciate reading your stuff and all the hard work you do with the blog. Thank you!

With all the hard work you put in, I hope you had an awesome vacation Mike, because it looks like our team has given you a lot of things to get caught up on, and they're just getting started. Looks like it's going to be a very interesting season this year :-)

I'm expecting 3 "Pieces" updates tomorrow and you owe the rest of the crew lunch for their great work and everyone gets the week off if the Pats sign Peppers (including me).

Hey Mike..

Two things..

First, were you on a true vacation, or did you experience an addition to the family as some have suggested? If so, hope everyone's healthy and all's going well..

Secondly, looking forward to your perspective on the FA signings, as well as the Cassel trade now that time's passed. Looking back, I believe that the Patriots handled it pretty well, considering the alternative could've been a Julius Peppers type CAP hindrance..

MIKE,
I've never missed a journalist as much. Since you were away (well deserved) I've been scouring the internet to obtain Pats info. GLAD YOU ARE BACK!!!

Mike, first off welcome back. Second, with all the Peppers talk that has been going on there are a couple of things I'd love to hear your opinion on. I have seen some people say that a source close to Peppers has said that NE is definitely one of the teams he'd like to play for. Assuming that is correct, do you think Peppers is aware that regardless of cap room if he were to sign with the Patriots it would be for less than what he'd get anywhere else and most likely less than what Brady makes because of how the Patriots do things and because Peppers would be changing to a DE/OLB hybrid most likely and couldn't demand top dollar when he'd be playing a new position. All that being said knowing that the Patriots only have 7.8(from what I hear) of cap room open would it be safe to say Peppers would consider a significant pay cut from his 16.68m he'd get under the tag now?

Another situation that that I've wondered about. With the concern of somewhat tight cap space now to try to sign Peppers, and having to resign Wilfork and Seymour also. Is it possible for them to restructure/extend their current contracts to open up more cap space this year so that they would be able to give Peppers more than 7m if they were able to get him?

Mike glad to have you back. I miss your columns and news. Keep up the good work. Carl Parisien Natick MA

Mike,

How was the time away? Damn good to have you back....damn good!

Welcome back, Mike. Hope you had a relaxing break. We're glad though to have you back and have missed you the past couple of weeks. Thanks for your great work, Nate.

Mike Reiss has a posse

great to have you back Mike. It ain't the same without your mailbags :). Hope you can give us some insight on the draft soon.

Welcome back Mike, my favorite sports read is this blog, keep up the great work, hope that vacation went well!

Welcome back. Looking forward to your thoughts leading up to the draft, and all the stuff rumored at the owners meeting.

Hope you had a great spring break :)

Welcome back Mike,
I hope you enjoyed your vacation. What's your though on Mr. Belichick singing performance ;-) ...

Welcome back, Mike.

Mike,
I like the idea of comparing other teams' choices in this area. Perhaps you could compare some of the consistently best (Indy, Philly, Pitt) with some of the consistently worst (Det, SF, Oak) and see if the percentages are really that different.

Mike, I have never read so many positive comments before, I also enjoy your work but Wow! what a fan club You have alot of people excited. If you had a baby congrats.