With Jamie Collins Trade, Bill Belichick Sticks His Neck Out -- Again
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- There are many, many folks in the New England region who still to this day point to one single kickoff as the reason the Patriots lost postseason home-field advantage last year and thus did not make it to Super Bowl 50.
Even though that kickoff -- launched by noted rugby man Nate Ebner -- only cost the Patriots 21 yards of field position, there are many who will tell you that the singular decision by Bill Belichick to try an unorthodox kick while leading 14-0 in the second quarter of a game at home cost the Patriots the game and, yes, the season.
So, it's a slight understatement to say that Belichick has stuck his neck out quite a bit with Monday's shocking trade of Jamie Collins.
Of all the post-trade reaction, the words from longtime Belichick confidant Michael Lombardi presented perhaps the most accurate picture of what might have led to the trade's commencement. Lombardi -- whose history with Belichick goes back to the Browns days and who worked on the Patriots staff the past two seasons -- said that Collins did "whatever he wants" on a play Sunday that resulted in a 28-yard run for Buffalo.
"Been happening all year," Lombardi tweeted. "It was not going to continue."
Take Lombardi's commentary, add in the reports of Collins turning down a $10 million raise and wanting Von Miller money, and the story starts to take shape.
Still, even if the reasons behind the trade are beginning to materialize, there is simply no way one could argue that a football team improves by shedding a player of Collins' caliber in the middle of a season.
And certainly, the safe move for any leader of any Super Bowl contender would be to keep the player, try to minimize any negative effect of soured contract negotiations, and hope that nothing destructive takes place in the locker room or on the field. Doing so would bring zero scrutiny on the head coach in charge of personnel.
Trading a second-team All-Pro linebacker when your team rests at 7-1 and looks to be the best team in the NFL? That requires a sense of self-certainty that exists in few men not named Bill Belichick.
The head coach, obviously, has taken risks before. Dumping Lawyer Milloy 10 minutes before the '03 season didn't sink that team's Super Bowl aspirations. They went 14-2 and won the championship. Trading Richard Seymour days before the start of the '09 season didn't work out quite as well. The Randy Moss trade in 2010 was shocking, but the Patriots went 11-1 without him and Tom Brady had one of the best seasons of his career.
It's not just trades and transactions, either. Belichick decided to yank Kyle Arrington off the field in the middle of Super Bowl XLIX, inserting an undrafted rookie out of West Alabama in his stead. The move to play Malcolm Butler led -- quite directly -- to a championship. Hell, the decision to let a second-year quarterback who was starting his 17th NFL game lead a drive in the final minute of another Super Bowl was the decision that got this dynasty kick-started in the first place.
On the flip side, one can't engage in a conversation about Belichick for five minutes without the famed fourth-and-2 call of 2009 invariably coming up at some point. When he implored his defense to "Make them go to Manningham" in Super Bowl XLVI, it was proven to be a most unfortunate strategy. And the decision to go for it on a fourth-and-13 instead of attempting a long field goal backfired, partly costing the Patriots their perfect season in 2007.
The point is that no coach can make any decision without being subject to scrutiny. And no man in football seems to care less about the potential for criticism than Bill Belichick.
And when you have a region where many people are still upset about a "mortar" kick that gave the opponent the ball at the 41-yard line instead of the 20-yard line in one game in early December, the knives will assuredly be out when Belichick trades a Pro Bowl type of talent without getting anything in return that can help the team win a Super Bowl this season.
In reality, if the Patriots win the Super Bowl this year, it won't happen because of this trade. Likewise, if they lose a playoff game somewhere along the line, it will be wrong to point to the absence of Collins as the reason. Football just isn't that simple.
But in a world where a short kickoff can become so much more, a trade of this magnitude surely represents a significant risk for Belichick in terms of public scrutiny and criticism. If the Patriots lose the Super Bowl on a defensive lapse, this trade and the man who executed it will become the epicenter of all blame.
And if we know anything from the man's 22 years of running NFL teams, it's that he absolutely, positively does not care.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
