The Patriots today, according to an ESPN report, signed linebacker Jahlani Tavai to a 2-year, $4.4-million extension.
Tavai has gone from a practice squad member last season, to a starter this year. In most of the games, he's done a nice job. He's shown himself to be extremely smart, tough and versatile. He plays all four downs. Well, we'll just let Bill Belichick take it ...
"Yeah, Jahlani's done a good job for us," the coach said today. "Played a lot of football. He's played on every down. Smart, versatile player that's earned playing time."
In October, after the Browns' victory and before facing the Bears, Belichick was in a much better mood (a loss to the Vikings ahead of a Josh Allen visit to Gillette will sour your day too) and was more verbose on Tavai.
"Well, I think Jahlani [Tavai] has a few things going for him," Belichick said. "One, he's a pretty smart kid and he's played both inside and outside in college, and then with Matt [Patricia] in Detroit. So, when we got him last year, he had a lot of familiarity with our system and a lot of techniques with things that we did and so forth. Just overall, he kind of has that skillset that he can play on the end of the line, play off the line, has some pass rush ability, plays on all four phases of the kicking game. He’s a pretty versatile player and can plug into a lot of different spots which is helpful, because not everybody can do that or has to be able to do that. But, somebody has to be able to do it. He kind of fits that. He's got good size, runs pretty well, got good playing strength, and he's smart."
I have nothing, like Lil'Jordan Humphrey, against Tavai personally. I have been critical of his placement on this team — not him (I don't know him) — since training camp. He's done well this season for the Patriots, probably better than I figured, but it doesn't change my overall assessment of Tavai and his standing on this team: he is not a starting NFL defensive player, and this is the only team he would start on in the league outside of injury issues.
And this extension is a joke.
I don't have a huge problem with them signing Tavai to an extension. Like Kyle Van Noy (who was way better), Tavai has the ability to give you depth at just about every spot in the front seven, from end to middle linebacker, and is a core special teamer. Every team needs those guys, especially the Patriots would despite the NFL changing, continues to collect those players like Tom Brady does first-place finishes.
But the league minimum the next two seasons is a little over $2 million total. The Patriots just gave Tavai double. Why? Who exactly are you bidding against? You can't draft someone, like Cam McGrone, to do that on a rookie deal (that's my universal complaint about Belichick's special teams' obsession when those plays are increasingly devalued every year due to rule and game changes i.e. more teams going for it on 4th down)?
I really don't have all that much of an issue with the money because we've sort of accepted Belichick is going to overvalue marginal players who play special teams. It's part of who he is at this point, like his refusal to answer pointed questions after losses. It is what it is.
To me, the issue with the Tavai experience is that it represents everything that has contributed to the Patriots becoming a mediocre, run-of-the-mill team since Brady was shown the door (23-22, facing 23-23 as a home underdog Thursday):
1. Failure to have any succession plan.
After Tedy Bruschi came Jerod Mayo. After Mayo came Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins. Pretty good. After those two ... nothing to write home about. Ja'Whaun Bentley is a solid MLB, but he's not making any Pro Bowls anytime soon, or ever. The Patriots knew Hightower was coming to an end at some point and as far as the draft:
2021: Cam McGrone, 5th round: Fail.
2020: Anfernee Jennings, 3rd: After being tried inside, only stuck as role edge player.
2020: Cassh Maluia, 6th: Fail.
The cupboard was so bare, they traded for Mack Wilson, who is just a role player to this point. Same for free-agent Raekwon McMillan.
They tried McGrone, Wilson and McMillan all ahead of Tavai in training camp and they all couldn't get it done. Tavai got his role by default. If anyone else worked out, Tavai would not be playing.
2. Players for yesteryear.
Like Davon Godchaux (a two-down player who got a two-year, $20.8-million extension after the Patriots had no young talent coming up and passing in the draft), Tavai is a relic of a bygone era in NFL defense. At the time, I asked one league source about the Godchaux deal.
"Sometimes I wonder if Belichick knows what year it is," he said. The source was referring to paying all that money to a player who supposedly stops the run in a pass-happy era in the AFC East where it matters more how you stop the passing offenses/QBs for the Bills and Dolphins than fitting a gap against the run.
Same thing with Tavai. I would love Tavai playing a lot ... in 2002. Not 2022. He's a big and slow linebacker. Who is running to play, let alone pay, those types of guys outside of New England?
3. No speed.
In the offseason and after getting embarrassed by offenses down the stretch in 2021, we heard both Matt Groh and Jerod Mayo talk about how the defense wanted to get faster.
“We’re going to look to get faster, more explosive and put more playmakers on the field,” Mayo told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” in February.
Great. Sign me up. Here we go.
(Crickets)
That has yet to come to fruition (we're holding out a sliver of hope Belichick will pull something out for the Bills on Thursday that actually does this). Did anyone think the Patriots looked fast against the Dolphins, Packers, Bears, Vikings and Ravens?
Coincidentally, Tavai's lowest-graded games by me and PFF were all of those losses. Tavai and Bentley were gangbusters against Detroit, Pittsburgh, the Colts and the second Jets game. Wonderful. Is anyone measuring this defense by those games?
The old NFL adage is if your middle linebackers are slow, your defense is slow. Bentley ran a 4.75 40-yard dash coming out of school. That's practically lightning compared to Tavai's 4.86. Some comparisons:
Mayo, 4.54
Collins, 4.64
Devin Lloyd (available in Cole Strange draft spot), 4.64
Hightower, 4.68
Bailey Zappe, 4.88
When one of your linebackers is as fast as your backup QB who can't run ... Groh must be thrilled.
"You want to get faster, you'd better get fast guys," Groh emphatically said after the Patriots' speedy draft this year, his first.
4. Nepotism/comfort over
Because of his 40 time (and Tavai plays like that too), Tavai was considered to be a 7th-round pick/priority free agent in the 2019 draft. Guess who decided to draft Tavai 11th in the second round — 43rd overall? Former Lions coach Matt Patricia.
When Tavai was released following Patricia's firing after just two seasons, guess who was the only team to sign him ... to the practice squad at that? The Patriots, where Patricia was in a senior advisor/front office role.
Guess who gave Tavai double over the minimum salary? The Patriots, where Patricia has become Belichick's offensive coordinator/offensive line coach/shadow.
Is signing Tavai now about locking up some big piece for next year, or is this about helping Patricia look right for over-drafting Tavai?
Tavai being given a big role on this team says everything about how the Patriots long ago tossed aside difference-makers in favor of versatility and, lately, just overall comfort. A guy who is going to do exactly what the Patriots coaches want and be in the right spot, is way more important to Belichick than any of the explosiveness Mayo talked about ... even if that player has no chance of covering any of the Dolphins' speedy running backs in space.
Look, this is really about what happens going forward with Tavai. If he's a rock-solid, four-down backup/special teamer, that's fine, even if it's a ridiculous pricetag — if they don't cheap out on free agents-to-be like Jakobi Meyers or Jonathan Jones. If they draft or sign some stud(s), and Tavai rarely sees the field, it will irritate me but it's all good.
But does anyone really think, after watching how Belichick has operated the past few velvet years, that Tavai is not going to have a major role on defense next season and that the Patriots are giddy thinking they got a starter-type at cheap money? You know that when push comes to shove and they might have to outbid another team for a faster linebacker, that Belichick is going to push away and say, "We have Tavai locked up, I know he's going to be in the right place, and I can't say that about the other guy. We're fine, let's pass."
Meanwhile, Belichick forgets, again, to ask the important question for today's NFL: Which guy is going to make more game-changing plays and actually tackle a member of the Bills, Dolphins, Chiefs, Ravens or Bengals in space?
That's the continuing issue with the Tavai experience and those of his ilk on this roster, who don't appear to be departing anytime soon.