These guys know how to connect with you about Boston sports.

Say that more slowly because I'm stupid.

Pelker and Mazz on 985. The Sports Hub. What's good, Gaspur? Nothing much. What's going on? How are you surviving this week? Pretty good. Pretty good. You look healthy and happy. Thank you. You know, it's been a little bit of a grind here. but I do have to ask you,

the Patriots,

the players throughout the league still want to come play

for the Patriots,

because it feels like this team has lost a little bit of its luster here this offseason.

I think there are still guys that want to play for the Patriots, but I'm not sure the brand value, the brand equity, as Robert Kraft once put it to me at the owner's meetings in Dana Point, California in about 2009.

You know, this was always part of their plan.

That guys would take less to stay and that they would take less to come, that they wanted to play with Tom Brady and be coached by Bill Belichick and have a chance at a ring.

It's something that they factored in for years.

And it seems like maybe it doesn't have the same effectiveness or it's not quite resonating

the same way. But I also think you have to look at these cases individually with the guys

on their team who left. I think there were other factors besides, you know, the Patriot,

way, brand not resonating as much. For example, with Dionne Lewis, you don't think it played a part that he's had injuries over the years. There's guaranteed money, but also that at the beginning of the year, they basically were like, yeah, you're going to be fourth or fifth on the depth chart. You don't think there were some, you know, some, there would be some resentment over that where it would be like, I want to go somewhere where they see me for who I really am, not where they're like, hey, Mike Gillisley is going to get your snaps here because he's the new toy and Burckhead's the new toy.

So, sorry.

Oh, there was obviously frustration on his behalf throughout the season.

He had said a couple of weeks ago that he didn't feel like he was used enough early, which I agree with completely.

He was completely correct.

And in the Super Bowl. They mothballed them. You know, they had new toys to play with and they put those guys first. We all know the Butler situation. I don't have to talk about that. And Amandola, all the pay cuts he took. So I don't know if it's so much a referendum on the Patriot brand and not having that same brand equity as much as when you look at the situations those guys were in that maybe the way they were treated here made it easier for them to walk away.

Do you think Brady wanted Amandola?

I do.

...