PHOENIX -- Bill Belichick is always working. Working. Working. Working.
Can call him arrogant if you like, or brand him a cheater. But even to the most jaundiced anti-Patriot eye, you cannot call him lazy. He's all football. Talk to people who know him well, who have worked closely with him, and they paint a portrait of a driven and single-minded football man whose appetite for this game is never sated. That why, even as the most acclaimed coach of the salary-cap era, a man a win away from his fourth Lombardi Trophy as a coach who runs every aspect of the Patriots football operation -- coaching and personnel -- spends his coaching "free time" watching film on potential waiver claims, studying college game tape on players about to become available on the cheap.
That's why he always finding treasure in someone else's trash.
Hallmarks of the roster
It's why, despite a team and roster that is in the hunt for the Super Bowl literally almost every year, he can find a starter, a special teams ace or a specific player to help him win on a particular down-and-distance in the discarded personnel debris of bottom dwellers like Tampa or Tennessee. He can see a tackle or a linebacker who can help him catch touchdowns. He can envision a receiver who can play corner. And he has constructed another winner this season, by making shrewd free agency signings (like Brandon LaFell, late of Carolina -- a club under fire for having no proven pass catchers), unloading Logan Mankins' bloated contract before the season, making astute swaps at an otherwise barren trade deadline for linebackers deemed expendable by Tampa and Tennessee's awful defenses (Jonathan Casillas and Akeem Ayers respectively), and finding his starting tailback for the second half of the season, LeGarrette Blount, after patiently waiting for him to clear ways.
Make no mistake, this team is Belichickean at its core. As one former Belichick assistant said: "He's always grinding, there is no wasted time; he is constantly efficient."
Said another who has worked with Belichick: "He's just so good at evaluating players. And he has to be. Look, it's hard to draft at the bottom of the draft every year. People want to kill for some of his drafts, but it's hard to draft bottom of draft. But he knows, and he does so much work on players and even if he doesn't get them now, he knows he might be able to get them down the road and he understands how they could fit in.
"He does a really good job of defining their role and what he wants. He never asks a guy to do something he can't. With a lot of these moves, he's not looking for a complete player. He just needs a guy to come in and fill a role and he's buying low on these guys for the most part."
New England was judicious for the most part in free agency. With Darrelle Revis, shockingly, deemed a non-scheme fit by Tampa's Cover-2 wedded coach Love Smith, New England was crouching in the weeds, ready to pounce. Belichick knew, above all else, getting past a team like Denver -- or perhaps even Indianapolis -- in the postseason, teams with elite quarterbacks and plentiful weapons, required an improved secondary. They viewed Revis as an upgrade over departing free agent Aqiib Talib, to say nothing of his improved attitude and off-field actions over Talib. The Pats also made an astute signing of corner Brandon Browner , despite a four-game suspension to start the season. They'd be playing quarters, and dabbling in Cover-4 with multiple dropping linebackers no longer. They could man-up on any team in the NFL, and like their chances.
LaFell was the other key signing because New England needed more depth and versatility in the receiving ranks, especially with Rob Gronkowski's health a concern well into this season. Making the free-agent rounds, LaFell visited the Pats and his market was a little softer than some anticipated. He was a big receiver who could play outside or in the slot -- a bigger target for Tom Brady with Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola on the shorter side. And by inking him to a modest, three-year, $9 million deal, it allows New England to cut him after any season without significant cap ramifications, this was a win for Belichick.
There were some snickers this summer when Belichick remade his offensive line, going younger, with mid-round draft picks in some cases. Mankins has been a warrior for Belichick for a long time, but sentimentality has little merit in these parts. All the battles and injuries had taken a toll. He's 32. Much closer to the end than his prime. The base salary of $6.25M, and his $7M cap hit for 2015, that got shifted to the Bucs, and desperate for the ability to run some two down-field tight end sets again (post-Aaron Hernandez), Belichick picked up Tim Wright in the deal, as well as a fourth-round pick that, with Tampa picking first in each round and New England possible last in each round, could provide some unique trade or drafting possibilities come May.
"That contract was huge," said one member of the Pats organization, "and it's never just about this year here, it's about next year, and the year after that. It's not just about winning here; it's about winning consistently."
Belichick was wheeling and dealing again in October -- in a league where many executives are shy to trade -- making a flurry of moves in a one-week span that all paid dividends. On Oct. 21 he acquired Ayers, a second-round pick of the Titans in 2011 who was not seeing the field for Tennessee's new regime. The Pats had lost linebacker Jerod Mayo, their leader on that side of the ball, for the season because of injury, and needed a starter. Belichick liked Ayers' pass-rushing ability coming out of college and was impressed by Ayers' 2012 game film and thought he would work in his system. He grabbed him for a sixth-round pick, knowing if it didn't work out Belichick would waive him and move on, and he found a solid starter.
At the Oct. 28 trade deadline, New England made another move with the Bucs -- new Tampa GM Jason Licht used to be in the Pats' front office -- sending a late-round picks for Casillas. The Pats were now down Mayo and Chandler Jones as well to long-term injury, and needed fortification. Casillas had been deemed a scheme-fit back in the summer, and had he not signed an extension with Tampa, the Patriots wanted to bring him in then.
Over the years Belichick has found it increasingly difficult to find linebackers who can play key roles on special teams, and he was seen as a potential replacement for Dane Fletcher, a linebacker New England lost prior to the season in free agency. He was worthy of being on the field in third-down situations, with ability to thrive in space in coverage, and could be a boost to special teams as well. Casillas has made some key plays and been a strong rotational player for the best team in the AFC after wearing out his welcome for the last-place Bucs.
The next day, the Patriots signed defensive lineman Alan Branch, who had been cut by the rival Bills following a preseason DUI arrest after signing a lucrative contract with Buffalo. New England's run defense was still suspect at the time, especially without Mayo and with Vince Wilfork not getting any younger. In Branch they found the inside run-stopper they coveted, and did so on a bargain-basement one-year, veteran-minimum deal.
The genius of the Blount signing
Blount may have been the greatest stroke of all. Of all these signings he may play the biggest role in the Super Bowl against that incredibly stout Seahawks defense. He'd already played for the Pats, so his off-field issues were no concern there. He'd toed the line for Team Belichick before, and after the Steelers released him following Blount leaving the sideline before the conclusion of a game in which he'd barely seen the football, he'd do so again in the future.
Truth be told, New England wanted Blount back in the spring. But, as always, it was right player at the right price, and the Steelers had more money on the table and New England had decent depth in the backfield.
"Bill is always going to be pretty disciplined about what he's willing to pay, and what he's not," said the Pats staffer. Then the Patriots lost starter Stevan Ridley for the season with a torn ACL and MCL in early October.
Blount was waived in late November. At the same time, so was Browns running back Ben Tate. Three teams desperate for backs claimed Tate -- including the Colts, who lost out on him. Frankly, Indy would have done much better by claiming Blount, who is far superior. With Blount deemed a character concern, the Patriots knew the only other teams he has played for -- Tampa and Tennessee -- were rebuilding and would not claim, and their recon work indicated no other team would, either.
So rather than claim Blount, and be responsible for the remainder of his current contract, Belichick took the educated gamble the running back would clear waivers and be an unrestricted free agent. And he was. So they signed him to a very team-friendly two-year deal on Nov. 20 -- the extent of Ridley's injuries put his 2015 productivity in doubt -- giving New England insurance next season as well. Others teams would be scared off by his past transgressions, the Patriots bought low again, and Blount destroyed the Colts in the AFC Championship Game with 30 carried for 148 yards and three touchdowns in the 45-7 blowout. Not bad for a guy who any of the 32 teams in the league could have snagged on waivers.
Scouring the college ranks -- for plays
But that's Belichick and this is hardly an anomaly. Not these transactions. Not these results.
He's scouring and plotting and planning. This is simply how he's wired.
That explains why, as he watching LSU and Alabama play on Nov. 8, he jotted down some notes about a trick play his buddy Nick Saban ran, with a four-man offensive line and an eligible receiver throwing a long scoring pass to a teammate. He knew he'd use it, knew it might catch someone off guard, maybe make an opponent's coaching staff, sitting up in their box in the mezzanine, think there were only 10 Patriots players on the field.
It might engender some dirty looks and complaints, as it did from the Ravens when he pulled it on them to reverse the course of the AFC divisional game after Baltimore had just gone ahead by 14 points again.
He was watching, he was studying and he was waiting to deploy it. And it worked. You can bemoan whether the Ravens had sufficient time to substitute or whether the officials botched the handling of the declaration of ineligible and eligible receivers, but you cannot hate the man's hustle, work ethic and guile.
He's back again. A sixth Super Bowl. He's still working, working, working. His team has been great again this season. I suspect it will be next year, too. There are no real mysteries as to why. His approach does not waver.
