The day after the Patriots’ second preseason game of 2018, Bill Belichick answered a few questions in a conference call with reporters.
While classically taciturn in his response on a number of issues, Belichick elaborated on the issue of player evaluation. Specifically, how he tries to discern value in a player who might not be in the right system.
The Patriots, whose system hasn’t always proven readily understandable to new players, have nonetheless profited from the “buy low, sell high” concept over the years. All stages of the Belichick era has witnessed this, from low price free agents like Mike Vrabel to undervalued draft picks like Marcus Cannon (and, to an extent, Rob Gronkowski).