Zolak & Bertrand: The narratives surrounding the Brandon Aiyuk negotiations

On Monday's edition of Zolak & Bertrand, Nick Cattles reacted to Albert Breer's latest report on the Brandon Aiyuk negotiations.

Nick Cattles: 

The Guaranteed money group has taken a shot today. Tough Labor Day for those guys. So, I've been hearing a lot about the guaranteed money narrative. James Stewart and I have gone back and forth a little bit on Twitter regarding the guaranteed money narrative from Felger and the other guys from 2:00 to 6:00. Let me first say this. Nobody knows the exact guaranteed money offered. Nobody knows that. So, we can play this game, we can say, well we don't know the guaranteed money, so I'm going to say that they didn't put a lot of guaranteed money on the table. I could say, well, we don't know the guaranteed money. I think they put a lot of guaranteed money on the table. What you've got to do is you've got to string together all the reports that you read from different spots, whether it's national, local, radio, TV, and you put together all of that information and you come up with a reasonable educated conclusion. Every report that I have read, every single one has said the Patriots offered more money than anybody else. Matt Maiocco in the Bay Area said it. Mike Reiss here said it. As a matter of fact, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, came out a few weeks ago and said that the Patriots offered quote, “top tier guaranteed money” unquote. Top tier guaranteed money. Well, what's the number? Again, nobody knows the exact number. But are any of these people saying that the money wasn't top tier? Any of these legitimate credible reporters saying that the guaranteed money wasn't top tier? Every single one of them agreed with this. You just heard it from Albert Breer’s lips, that he was told flat out that if the deal was just about the money, New England would have won. On every level, average annual value and guarantees. It's time to put this to bed. It's time to tell the truth. It's time to live in reality. The Patriots were at the bottom of the league in spending for 20 years. Nobody can deny that. Nobody is denying that they messed around and screwed around with contract structure the vast majority of the years Bill Belichick was here running the ship and if Robert Kraft is the one that's messing around with the structure, nobody is going to argue that. This is a different conversation. It's a different regime with different people, different philosophies, different approaches. 

As the Patriots get ready for their first game week of the 2024 season, they'll do so with a full practice squad. The filled the final two spots on Monday, announcing the signings of linebackers Joe Giles-Harris and Yvandy Rigby.

Giles-Harris spent all of last year with the Patriots on the practice squad, and didn't appear in a game. Back with the team this summer he had a strong preseason, but was let go during final roster cuts. He's entering his sixth NFL season, with stops in Jacksonville and Buffalo where he played primarily on special teams.

Rigby is a UDFA out of Temple who spent the offseason with the Ravens, who signed him following the draft in May. In three preseason games in Baltimore he made 18 tackles on 104 defensive snaps, playing mostly in coverage against the pass.

With these signings, the Patriots' practice squad is now full. They have the maximum of 16 players, plus defensive end Jotham Russell who doesn't count against the total as a member of the NFL's International Pathway Program.