The Patriots continue to dominate the league

with advantageous contracts."I just posted an article showing how the New England Patriots’ approach to adding defensive talent was much more cost-effective than the Kansas City Chiefs’. The Chiefs spent a first round pick to change their pass rusher from Dee Ford to Frank Clark; the Patriots went from Trey Flowers to Michael Bennett and will effectively receive a fifth round pick (based on the value of draft picks).The Patriots continue to win because they’re just smarter than other franchises and these contract victories add up into six Super Bowl titles and three more appearances over the past two decades.And now two more AFC teams are showing why the Patriots are so great. The Baltimore Ravens just signed kicker Justin Tucker to a record-shattering deal Color Rush Jarrett Stidham Jersey , while the Pittsburgh Steelers extended Ben Roethlisberger to make him the second-highest paid quarterback in the league.Here’s how Tucker’s contract compares to Stephen Gostkowski’s new deal, and how Tom Brady’s potential deal would stack up to Roethlisberger’s.Justin Tucker vs Stephen GostkowskiThe Baltimore Ravens just signed the 29-year-old Tucker to a 4-year, $23.05 million extension with $12.5 million guaranteed over the first two seasons, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This contract dwarfs the 2-year, $8.5 million contract the Patriots gave to the 35-year-old Gostkowski earlier this month, and the 4-year, $17.2 million deal the Patriots gave Gostkowski in 2015- then the largest contract for a kicker in NFL history.Tucker is the all-time leader in field goal conversion rate, while Gostkowski ranks third, and yet Tucker is making over $1.5 million more per year than Gostkowski. For the record, Gostkowski is tied for the third-highest paid kicker in the NFL, assuming that Robbie Gould signs his franchise tag or a comparable deal elsewhere, so it’s not like he’s poorly compensated. The Ravens are just paying Tucker that much more.And Tucker is that good. If we look at the past four seasons, when the league made multiple changes to the kicking game like moving back the extra point line and changing the strategy of kickoffs by moving touchback from the 20-yard line to the 25-yard line, Tucker has been incredibly valuable. Of kickers with 50+ field goal attempts and 100+ extra points over that time frame, Tucker rates second in field goal conversion and first in extra point rate. Gostkowski ranks fourth and fifth, respectively. Matt Bryant (released by the Falcons), Saints K Will Lutz (signed a 5-year, $20.25 million contract in March), and Matt Prater are the only other kickers to rank in the top 10 of both categories.If we want to look at advanced stats, Tucker and the Ravens have dominated Football Outsiders’ special teams rankings, with the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Ravens ranking first, second, and third for the best kicking and kickoff units over the past four seasons. The 2018 Ravens ranked a respectable 16th of 128.Over those four years Youth Jarrett Stidham Jersey , the Ravens lead Football Outsiders’ kicking metrics by a large distance, followed by the Philadelphia Eagles thanks to two great years in 2015-16, and then a grouping of the Patriots, Falcons, Chiefs, and 49ers. The Patriots’ 2018 kickoff unit ranked last in the NFL, through no real fault of Gostkowski, so the measurement of kicker value isn’t perfect, but this is still a solid ranking of kicker value.Tucker is the best kicker in the NFL by a mile. Gostkowski leads the next tier. Both kickers are compensated as such. But within the context of positional spending, the Ravens are giving Tucker roughly 35% more per year than the Patriots’ are giving Gostkowski. That’s a big premium that New England should be able to use on a key special teams player or two.Ben Roethlisberger vs Tom BradyThe Pittsburgh Steelers just signed Roethlisberger to a 2-year extension, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a flurry of new deals for the older quarterbacks. Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, and Philip Rivers are all free agents after the 2019 season and are in need of new deals.Roethlisberger, Manning, and Rivers all signed matching 4-year deals over the 2015 offseason worth between $20.8-$21.9 million per season. Brady and Brees signed extensions ahead of the 2018 season. All should be watching this Roethlisberger deal for a blueprint on how their next deals should look.Roethlisberger’s 2-year extension is for $68 million and includes a $37.5 million signing bonus, per NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. That average of $34 million edges out Aaron Rodgers ($33.5 million per year) and puts Roethlisberger behind Russell Wilson ($35 million per year) as the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL.That figure is bonkers and Rivers and Brees could very well see deals in the same price range. It would be a surprise if Manning received that much money, but it would be funny if it happened.Brady and the Patriots could reach an agreement to make Brady one of the top 10 highest-paid quarterbacks in the league at $25 million per year- a big increase over Brady’s previous deals- and have a major bargain at the position. But I wonder if the Patriots continue to do what they’ve done with Brady in recent years, by signing him to below-market level deals. Ever since the Patriots made Brady the highest-paid player in the NFL with a 4-year, $72 million contract in 2010 (those numbers sound laughable now), New England and Brady have basically agreed to instead sign Brady to a middle-of-the-pack deal and invest in other positions on the roster.(The Patriots have surpassed Kraft’s lofty goals of a couple more Super Bowls, so I’d call this strategy a major success)And so if Brady is willing to continue taking below-market deals at the same $15 million range that he’s received since 2013, that gives the Patriots a nearly $20 million per year team-building advantage over the Pittsburgh Steelers, allowing the Patriots to build unrivaled depth across the roster.Roethlisberger should absolutely sign for the largest contract he wants, don’t get me wrong. But the advantage of Brady’s cheap contract grows with each passing megadeal. In a Super Bowl snoozer featuring a single touchdown by victorious New England and the high-scoring Womens Jarrett Stidham Jersey , newfangled, all-the-rage Los Angeles Rams managing a measly three points, the MVP trophy went to Patriots receiver Julian Edelman.Where's the love for the defense?Sure, Edelman caught 10 passes for 141 yards, including two grabs on the drive that ended with rookie running back Sony Michel plowing into the end zone with the game's lone touchdown. Yet, if there ever was a case for another defensive MVP like Von Miller in Super Bowl 50, this was it.Of 54 MVPs (Cowboys DT Randy White and DE Harvey Martin shared the honors in 1978), 42 have been offensive players, 11 were defenders and one was a special teamer (Desmond Howard in 1997).There were plenty of worthy candidates from the Patriots defense that hit Goff 16 times, collected four sacks, broke up eight passes and picked off another.Two defenders really stood out:—Jason McCourty raced across the field to break up a would-be touchdown toss to Brandin Cooks, who was wide open — but … had … to … wait … forever … for Jared Goff's rainbow pass that was knocked away just as it arrived.—Stephon Gilmore intercepted Goff's pass in front of his end zone with 4:17 remaining on a pass intended for Cooks to seal the sixth title for Tom Brady, who outplayed Goff, and Bill Belichick, who outsmarted Sean McVay. Calais Campbell , for one, insists Gilmore was the real MVP of SB53 after forcing a fumble, intercepting a pass, breaking up three other throws and collecting five tackles."The offense only scores 13 points and they give MVP to Edelman but the D only gives up 3 points and Gilmore" does all of that, Campbell complained on social media. "Smh no respect for the masterpiece on defense."The Rams may very well represent the future with their 33-year-old coach and 24-year-old quarterback, but the 66-year-old coach and his 41-year-old QB still reign supreme in 2019 — thanks again to a defense that allowed the duo to survive another masterful game plan by Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.Brady's worst Super Bowl — three scores in 11 drives that didn't end in kneel-downs — also was his easiest — a 10-point margin of victory was his highest ever. McVay and Goff both accepted the blame for a miserable showing in which Rams never adjusted to New England's zone defense and aggressive D-line and managed to score just once in a dozen drives, the first eight of which ended in punts.When it was over, the high-flying Rams, who led the NFC in scoring with a 33-point average, had nine punts Authentic Jarrett Stidham Jersey , an interception, a field goal and a missed field goal to show for all that firepower that had so many NFL teams trying to find the next Sean McVay.After the red-white-and-blue confetti was cleaned up with leaf blowers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor became the third assistant hired off McVay's staff. He was hired as head coach the Cincinnati Bengals. At 35, Taylor becomes the second-youngest head coach in the NFL behind his former boss. The Dolphins hired Brian Flores , the Patriots linebackers coach and de facto defensive play-caller who has cut his teeth in Foxborough since 2004.With those two hires, the coaching carousel has eight new head coaches, six of them with offensive roots, as owners seek the next McVay or Kyle Shanahan to keep up with all this innovative run-pass optioning, jet-sweeping, scoreboard-busting offenses.The kind that didn't show up in this Super Bowl.Vic Fangio, who spearheaded Chicago's dominant defense, was the only other defensive assistant hired as a head coach this cycle, replacing Vance Joseph in Denver.The other jobs all went to offensive minds promising innovation in this age of change.The Packers hired Matt LeFleur, who was McVay's offensive coordinator in 2017. The Cardinals dipped into the college ranks to hire Kliff Kingsbury, who tutored MVP Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech.The Cleveland Browns promoted offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, who worked wonders with Baker Mayfield after his midseason promotion from running backs coach. The Jets hired Adam Gase, Peyton Manning's former OC who wore out his welcome in Miami, and the Buccaneers brought Bruce Arians and his deep offensive roots out of retirement.Miami fans should be ecstatic about the arrival of Flores, 37, after watching him help their AFC East rival win yet another Super Bowl title.Saints fans didn't pay much mind to Super Bowl 53.Thousands of New Orleans football fans partied in the French Quarter while the Rams and Patriots were trudging into the fourth quarter tied at 3.A "Boycott Bowl" festival and a jazz funeral procession putting the football season to rest encapsulated how New Orleans residents felt about the Super Bowl, and even the city's police department got in on the disenchantment.NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports the New Orleans Police Department made a spoof video showing their investigation into the infamous "no-call" in the NFC championship that the Saints lost to the Rams.The newspaper's nearly blank front page also summarized what those in the Big Easy thought of the Patriots' win over the Rams on Sunday: "Super Bowl? What Super Bowl?"