There’s a term coined by the Jack Donaghy character on30 Rock:Reaganing.
Which he defined as making it through an entire 24-hour period without making a single misstep.
Troy Brown, bless him, was reaching the end of his accomplished career.
Kevin Faulk turned 30.
And while they still managed to go 12-4, that lack of production cost them in the postseason.
They couldn’t go into another season without major upgrades.
On both sides of the ball.
But especially at the offensive skill positions.
GM Bill made sure of that.
He never got the chance.
Belichick pre-empted everyone by giving him the coveted second contract every player plays for.
Impressive for anyone, but especially for a run-stuffing, two-gapping, 3-4 tackle.
But GM Bill was still only in the stretching-his-quads-and-hammies portion of this marathon.
At the Pro Bowl, Belichick made Thomas' acquaintance, and the two hit it off.
1 defense, Baltimore.
This guy was the prize of his free agent class.
That was on Friday.
On Saturday, Thomas signed with New England.
Here’s where Operation: Wideout Upgrade began.
Stallworth had finished second in the league with 19.1 yards per reception for Philadelphia in 2006.
His signing gave Brady one thing he had been lacking, which is a legitimate deep threat.
He wouldn’t be the last.
Here’s where the magic began.
Though there was no reason to think Belichick had Penn & Tellered anything at the time.
Welker was the definition of Just a Guy in the spring of 2007.
He was 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, and went undrafted out of Texas Tech.
In three seasons with the Dolphins he caught 100 balls total.
So he didn’t move any needles when Belichick went after him.
But go after Welker he did.
It took Welker until the week before Thanksgiving to blow by his best season in Miami.
And his league-high 112 receptions and 1,175 were more than his previous career totals.
He then matched or surpassed those numbers in four of his next five seasons.
It shouldn’t be lost to history what damaged goods Moss was considered at this point in his career.
He was a barely productive shadow of himself playing for a terrible 2-14 Oakland team.
He was miserable, sick of losing, and football wasn’t fun for him.
And didn’t care who knew it.
A deal was struck.
Contingent upon Moss agreeing to a pay cut.
But it goes deeper.
The original deal was only for a 6th rounder.
Raiders CEO Amy Trask made the request and Belichick agreed.
Until he got a call from Al Davis incredulous that she gave away Moss so cheaply.
And the 4th was agreed upon.
The Patriots gave the Niners the 28th pick in exchange for that 4th (No.
110 overall), and San Fran’s first pick in 2008.
And who did they get with that pick?
What Moss did in New England can’t be over stated.
Almost 1,500 yards his first season, along with an NFL record 23 touchdown receptions.
One that might never be broken, even under current rules.
What happened at the very end of the postseason diminishes everything, obviously.
But doesn’t mean GM Bill’s 2007 offseason doesn’t belong on this list.
Now we’ll get back to HC Bill tomorrow.
Of that I can assure you.
