The Quest for 7: Inside Brady's camp, Patriots draft talk, Trade coming? Links 2.25.20

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. Need a perfect starter kit for New England's upcoming offseason? Boston Sports Journal's own Greg Bedard touches on a buffet of Patriots' morsels like the combine, Tom Brady talk, tight ends in focus, free agency, and contract tweaks. Also, if you missed it, here's Bedard on a recent podcast with Toucher and Rich. So that's what Greg sounds like when a certain two hosts aren't talking over him. Huh.

2. Adding a little more insight into this recent juicy rumor, Bernd Buchmasser of Pats Pulpit gives us his take on the Patriots reportedly exploring a trade for this tight end. After last season, I'll take tight ends here, tight ends there, surround me with every tight — wait ... you know what I mean!

3. Gregg Rosenthal and Chris Wesseling of NFL.com put their noggins together and share their updated 101 top NFL free agents list. As if Tom Brady doesn't have enough bulletin board material out there, wait until you see where these two have him.

4. Personally, if the player can help the Patriots, I don't care if he comes from a bocce ball league. Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report compiles a list of early XFL standouts who are catching the eye of NFL teams. Maybe the Hoodie should make an appearance at one of these matchups just before the combine, so teams start rushing their scouting staff to these games? #HoodieHeadGames

5. He might be retired, but clearly Dante Scharnecchia still has the itch. Alex Barth of 98.5 The Sports Hub reports that the GOAT offensive line coach isn't done helping the team just yet. Some people just have to stay busy. Thank God he's one of them!

6. Have to admit I haven't read anyone predicting this guy to the Patriots. Dan Kadar of SBNation shares his most recent 2020 NFL mock draft. Also, Mike Dussault of Patriots.com warns us to keep an eye on these 10 Patriots' draft prospects at the combine. Now these guys ... I've definitely seen tied to New England.

7. Ending today's links with a chuckle, Phillip Bupp of the Comeback says you won't believe what is more popular than Tom Brady in New England. Well ... this place is always packed. Hopefully Phillip's cah has Smaht-Pahk the next time he stahps by he-ah!

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 series. Here's my all-time overrated Patriots team of the past 20 years. Remember, this isn’t a bust list. Also doesn’t mean these players where complete dumpster juice. Some are actually amazing talents. It just means most fans and sports media think these guys were better than they actually were ... in Stupid Steve's opinion of course.

DEFENSE

Malcolm Brown, DT: It was amazing luck when this projected top ten pick slipped to the Patriots at 32. Patriots soon found out why.

Kyle Love, DT: Was considered a "Poor man's Vince Wilfork." Nope. Just poor.

Rosevelt Colvin, Edge: Big-ticket free-agent signing who had trouble staying healthy and only one good year, (2006.) No signature plays.

Chandler Jones, Edge: Great pass-rusher who I wish was still on the team, but when teams ran to his side, he'd drop a ninja smoke-bomb and disappear.

Jerod Mayo, LB: King of the 7-yard-down-field-tackle. Basically Anti-Big-Play Man. Just look at his eight years at middle linebacker: 4 forced fumbles, 8 interceptions, 11 sacks. Zzzzzzz.

Brandon Spike, LB: Like a redneck who hit on a scratch ticket right before the 4th of July, it was fun watching him blow up everyone in sight. Unfortunately, that's all he did, and nothing else very well.

Duron Harmon, FS: Made a career out of being in the right place at the right time. Never seen batted and bobbled balls land in one person's hands so often. Constantly a step late on deep passes, (his actual job.) Never made one play where I thought, "Damn. That was impressive!"

Brandon Meriweather, SS: See Brandon Spikes. Except throw in two dumb penalties a game.

Devin McCourty, FS/SS: Really good player. Love having him and what he has done for the team, but he's never been a game-changer. When you get paid like Ed Reed, or Earl Thomas for this many years, I expect words like, "greatness," not, "good and solid."

Ellis Hobbs, CB: No business being a starting corner. Felt like Belichick forced this to look good. Not a great tackler and seemed to have penalties at the worst time due to his size.

Logan Ryan, CB: Would like to have kept him at four to five million a year, his actual worth. Titans overpaid. Good tackler, average at everything else. Master at giving up 8 yards on 3rd and 7.

OFFENSE:

Matt Cassell, QB: Gets a ton of praise for going 11-5. He took over nearly the same roster that went 16-0 the year before, and finished five games worse. Had wins against the Dolphins (11-5) and Jets, (9-7) otherwise, he lost to every team he faced with a winning record.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, RB: Belichick was clearly in love with the fact that Green-Ellis never fumbled. To the point where he was blinded by Green-Ellis being a zero on the dynamic-scale.

Sony Michel, RB: Unfair to judge this early? I've seen enough. When the hole is there, he's fine, (like any running back.) Don't know if he finished in this spot, but toward the end of the season, he was second to last in the league at creating missed tackles. For a first-round pick, that is horrendous.

Nick Kaczur, RT: I remember yelling at the TV, "F***ing Kaczur!" a lot, and he reeked in Super Bowl 42.

Shaq Mason, RG: Has had one great year, one good year, two average years, and a horrible year. When you're one of the highest-paid guards in the league, you wear the cone-of-shame.

Brian Stork, C: Thankfully kept it together for one Super Bowl run in 2014, but the rest of his short career was full of missed blocking assignments and a bleep-ton of bad penalties.

Logan Mankins, LG: 2009, Patriots at Denver, tie game, less than 2 minutes. Patriots just over mid-field, Mankins' squared up against Vonnie Holliday, and literally doesn't lay a finger on him. Brady fumbles, game goes to overtime. Patriot lose. Mankins still sees Justin Tuck in his nightmares from Super Bowls 42 and 46. Gave up four sacks and numerous pressures in those two games. Under the brightest of lights, Mankins constantly melted like butter in a microwave.

Nate Solder, LT: The human matador. No one Ole'd more pass-rushers and nearly got Brady killed as often as Solder. Almost too tall for football. Anyone with a low center of gravity or speed was getting by him.

Ben Watson, TE: When you're a first-round pick, fast enough to run down Champ Baily who had a 10-yard head start, and you are playing with the GOAT quarterback in his prime, and you don't put up Tony Gonzalez type numbers for a season or two? Sorry, but that's disappointing.

Chris Hogan, WR: Was fine as a 5th target drawing the least skilled defender in coverage. Got lucky several times where defenses just lost track of him and left him alone, (shows you how concerned they were with him.) And ultimately, he fell out of Brady's circle-of-trust. I will, however, be forever grateful for his one-handed catch in the 2018-19 AFC Championship game.

Wes Welker, WR: Might as well be roommates with Logan Mankins. Great player in the regular season in low-pressure situations, but in the biggest games, crumbled like a stale cookie. We all know about the crushing drop in Super Bowl 46, but that drop in the 2012-13 AFC Championship game against the Raven coming out of the half flipped the Patriots' momentum on its ear. A true warrior for the beating he took, but unfortunately, was no Troy Brown or Julian Edelman.

See you tomorrow for the most underrated team! (If you don't hate my guts at this point.)

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!