No one can deny former New England Patriots leader Bill Belichick’s talents as a head coach, but his talent for roster construction left something to be desired.
It’s been over a calendar year since Belichick left the Patriots and a stunning legacy in his wake replete with six Super Bowl trophies for New England.
But that didn’t stop WEEI’s Meghan Ottolini from featuring a Belichick personnel decision on a list of the worst Boston sports contracts of the 2020s, released Tuesday.
Ottolini ranked Belichick’s signing of Juju Smith-Schuster among his most regrettable decisions as a team-builder in New England.
“One of Bill Belichick’s final free agent signings in New England was also one of his more boneheaded decisions because of its surrounding context,” Ottolini wrote.
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“Patriots undrafted free agent project Jakobi Meyers had proven himself an adept volume receiver, but Belichick was happy to let him walk in free agency in 2023 to sign Smith-Schuster a three-year, ($25.5) million contract. Smith-Schuster played in just 11 games and had 260 receiving yards and one touchdown. Meyers, meanwhile, continues to thrive on the Las Vegas Raiders. He had over 1,000 receiving yards last season.”
Belichick, of course, has turned over a new leaf as head coach at the University of North Carolina.
Belichick will presumably play a major role in building the Tar Heels’ roster. Hopefully, he learned a ton from his less-favorable moves at the helm of the Patriots’ roster construction.
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