The Quest for 7: Critical CBA date, Patriots reinforcements coming, Love off the gridiron, Links 2.17.20

Morning! Welcome to The Quest for 7, where volunteer writer, Steven Viner, scours the net for seven Patriots related articles from other sites offering different points of view on the six-time champs. Paid subscribers not only get to read all seven, but they also get to check out his always fiery "Steve's Soapbox" at the end.

1. Boston Sports Journal's own Greg Bedard did some digging, earned his Ph.D. in cap-ology, and lets us know in his recent column why Tom Brady's return to the Patriots, and other NFL moves could hinge on new CBA agreement. I've been begging the Patriots to sign off on Brady visiting other teams now in hopes of getting a deal done early. This information seems to support the idea.

2. Feels like someone doesn't know that fantasy football is over. Ricky Doyle of NESN lets us know who thinks New England is eyeing A.J. Green and Hunter Henry to help Tom Brady. If it's shiny new weapons the GOAT is looking for, these would qualify as a couple of nukes.

3. While most Pats fans are looking to free agency and the draft for reinforcements, Bernd Buchmasser of Pats Pulpit reminds us that the Patriots are getting considerable talent back from injury in 2020. The "Ones who caught the Foxboro flu" group is the most intriguing.

4. So this is pretty much exactly how I imagined it would be like. Hunter Noll of Clutch Points reports on what former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson said it's like to negotiate a contract with Bill Belichick. Wonder if this conversation was similar to when the Hoodie sat his kids down to talk to them about the "Birds and the B—" Actually nevermind ... I don't want to know.

5. With all the attention to detail that goes into their game, I used to think Madden simulations were as close to reality as you could get. Now? I'm not so sure. The king of videogame football ran a test, and Henry McKenna of Patriots Wire lets us know how Tom Brady fared on all 32 teams in the "Madden NFL 2020" video game. The thing's clearly defective. Maybe they needed to blow harder into the game cartridge? #OldPeopleJoke

6. Aj Shulte of Pro Football Network has the Patriots drafting a risk with tremendous upside in his 2020 NFL draft. (Just pleeeeeeease don't let him be another Dominique Easley.) Also, Chris Roling of Bleacher Report plays Sandman and fills us in on every team's dream target for the upcoming draft. Could the next Ed Reed slip to New England at 23?

7. Valentine's Day was Friday, and it rained hearts all over the Patriots. Conor Roche of Boston.com reported both Hallmark moments. First, Dont'a Hightower and his girlfriend announced they are having their first child. Then, TB12 and JE11 sent loving Valentine's Day messages to the special girls in their life. I bought the wife a vacuum, and I'm now serving 2 to 3 years of no-football probation.

STEVE'S SOAPBOX

The place where Steve gets to give his take of the day from the perspective of a Patriots fan.

Part 1 of 2. The top dozen all-time Patriots since this dynasty started who aren't named Tom Brady.

#12 Kevin Faulk: career started shaky, rivaling Stevan Ridley with severe fumble-itis, but he recovered quite well to become an amazing security blanket and playmaker for Tom Brady. He was clutch with 333 career rushing and receiving first downs, (nice number to go with his jersey number 33, unless you add the 42 more he made in playoff games for a total of 375) and he was a damn good kick returner.

#11 Matt Light: The guy had his problems against speed rusher, (particularly Jason Taylor) but he did an admirable job protecting Brady’s blindside for over a decade. In 11 years, he only had 14 holding penalties against the best pass-rushers in the game, made 3 Pro Bowls, and was First-Team All-Pro in 2007. Any stat geeks out there know his career sacks allowed? Couldn't find it.

#10 Willie McGinest: Admittedly, this list will be a bit biased toward playoff performances, and Willie always showed up when the lights were brightest. The man has the most career playoff sacks in NFL history with 16, and he won an academy award for his performance on the Indianapolis’ 1-yard line that still pisses off Colts fans to this day. Plus he's a big fan of Mike Felger.

#9 Vince Wilfork: The Human Mountain stood up to double teams like no other, and from day 1 when the Patriots plopped him in the middle of their defense, they had to seldom worry about the run. Never generated big sack numbers, but was always pushing linemen into QB’s faces, disrupting their comfort zone. He practically single-handedly won the 2011 AFC Championship game against the Ravens by tossing around the interior of their O-line like the Hulk having a bad day.

#8 Dont’a Hightower: Similar to McGinest, the guy was good in the regular season, and epic in the playoffs. He’s known for game-changing and game-saving (Glad that Marshawn Lynch tackle before Butler's interception gets the recognition it deserves) plays in the Super Bowl. Not having him against the Eagles in Super Bowl 52 absolutely impacted the defense, although it would have been nice to have one more decent cornerback in that game. (Thinking man emoji)

#7 Teddy Bruschi: The lovable middle linebacker had more than the greatest football name known to man, he was a true leader and tackling machine, (he eclipsed 100 tackles 5 times.) His 70.5 combined sacks and tackles-for-loss are usually forgotten about, including his 12 interceptions with 4 pick-6’s. And these numbers don't include the playoffs.

See you tomorrow for the top-6!

Be on the lookout for more The Quest for 7 features. Want extra Salty Tears and Soapbox? Click on my name above and scroll down for previous Quests!