It is delightful to envision an enraged Bill Belichick, fuming over Tom Brady’s Super Bowl victory, plotting and scheming over the last month, waiting for the moment when he could heave wads of cash out of his office window into the arms of free agents. For anyone inclined to see it, the New England Patriots’ free agency blitz has all the markings of a coach driven mad by vengeance and spite, and there is nothing more fun in a sports than a rivalry built on those qualities.
Alas, those motivations must remain confined to the imagination. The Patriots’ spree is less about desperation and fury than recognition and opportunity.