Belichick The General Manager Excelled At Building Roster For Belichick The Head Coach

With the release of defensive end Cassius Marsh on Tuesday, a renewed debate has surfaced about the quality of New England Patriots' offseason and early season roster moves.

On one hand you have the glass-half-empty, told ya so crowd that contends, aloud, that Bill Belichick the general manager screwed Bill Belichick the head ball coach by missing badly in free agency, on the trade block and along the waiver wire, while on the other hand you have the glass-half-full crowd gang who feel that Belichick the G.M. set Belichick the H.C. up for late-season success.

Of course, Belichick complained bitterly that he was two-weeks behind every other team in terms of getting a start on the 2017 season, by virtue of that annoying Super Bowl victory over Atlanta, but he made up those couple of weeks quickly when the 2017 league year started, trading a fourth round selection in April's draft to Indianapolis for tight end Dwayne Allen...

...then a first-rounder to New Orleans for that Brandin Cooks guy and a second-rounder to Carolina for defensive end Kony Ealy and the Panthers' third round selection - in between, signing Buffalo Bills cornerback Stephon Gilmore and re-signing centerfielder Duron Harmon to free agent deals.

As busy as he's ever been in free agency, Belichick then turned his sites on Ravens' five-tech Lawrence Guy and Cincinnati runner Rex Burkhead, then resigned a slew of his own free agents including linebacker Dont'a Hightower, running back Brandon Bolden, defensive end Alan Branch and swing tackle Cam Fleming - a week later signing Bills' restricted free agent runner Mike Gillislee.

A couple of weeks later, he filled out his camp roster with a gaggle of undrafted free agents, with defensive tackle Adam Butler, offensive guard Cole Croston, tight end Jacob Hollister and linebacker Harvey Langi eventually making the 53-man roster while wide receiver Cody Hollister, and defensive back David Jones reverting to the practice squad.

Rob Ninkovich retired halfway through camp, sparking a bevy of moves in the linebacker corps, Belichick signing former Jet David Harris, trading a seventh-rounder to the Bengals for Marquis Flowers and a seventh and fifth-rounder to Seattle for Cassius Marsh - also trading a seventh-rounder to Detroit for corner Johnson Bademosi and swapping quarterback Jacoby Brissett for the Colts' wide receiver Phillip Dorsett.

Ealy was released in that flurry of activity, and was picked up by the New York Jets, as he was badly outplayed by fourth-round pick and reportedly developed an attitude, ala Jamie Collins, and quickly felt Belichick's boot as he was shown the door.

The big shocker of the season came at the trade deadline, however, as Belichick dealt off quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers for their 2018 second-round pick, the filled his spot behind starter Tom Brady with former Patriots and well-traveled Brian Hoyer - then brought us up to date by signing defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois, putting in a waiver claim on tight end Martellus Bennett and the releasing Marsh and filling his roster spot with Buffalo taxi-squader Eric Lee.

All told, Belichick made nine trades, signed eight veteran free agents, claimed one player off of the waiver wire,  re-signed six of his own free agents and kept eight undrafted free agents - and out of those 31 transactions, 23 are on the active roster, two are on the practice squad, two are on the injured list, and two became future draft picks, meaning that only two players - Ealy and Marsh - have been released.

The rest have contributed to the Patriots' 8-2 record thus far - some more, some less - but it goes without saying that Belichick's track record with personnel as a general manager is far from screwing Belichick the head ball coach - and has, in fact, rounded out the 2018 draft selections as outlined below:

2018 draft picks

1st round
2nd round (from San Francisco for Garoppolo)
3rd round
4th round (projected comp for Jabaal Sheard)
4th round (projected comp for Martellus Bennett)
6th round
7th round
7th round (projected comp for LeGarrette Blount)

The Patriots' original 4th rounder belongs to Philly for the completion of the Eric Rowe trade, who would have cost New England a third rounder had he played 50% of the defensive snaps this season, but who has missed all but three games in 2017 because of injury.

Hell, even with misfortune, Belichick comes out smelling like a rose...