Source: Patriots.com
The economic principle I’m exploring is “ Because of scarcity, people choose. All choices have an opportunity cost. ”My research question to help me study the economic principle is "How should NFL teams allocate scarce resources like payroll & draft picks to maximize their profitability & chances of winning?”
The article published in The Guardian titled “ How shapeshifter Bill Belichick has beaten a league built for parity for 18 years” demonstrates this economic principle by showing how the most successful team plays offense, plays defense, and the genius behind it, Bill Belichick.
First, The New England Patriots, a dynasty in football and arguably the most successful franchise as of today plays offense. It begins with the players, and Bill Belichick has the most successful quarterback Tom Brady at the helm but he also relies on a running game. As stated in the article, "The other New England running backs are made to feel like they matter too: James White and Rex Burkhead both make north of $3m while fullback James Devlin is the fourth-highest earner at his position in the league. All of them play a bunch of snaps, and they’re routinely deployed together in any number of pairings – the Patriots have used two backs on 36% of downs this season, trailing only the San Francisco 49ers." shows that New England values their running backs.
Belichick has relied on them to be successful by pounding the football, wanting to average as many rush yards as possible. This strategy allows for Tom Brady then to throw quick passes and move the ball quickly. This strategy has worked since Belichick has been in the league and has stayed with it consistently.
Second, Belichick's defensive system depends on changing it. Belichick's defense is always changing based on what he believes is the best. If one system gets too popular then he chooses another, he always is changing, never wants anyone to know what he is doing. The article states, "The brilliance is in the timing. Belichick reintroduced the 3-4 defense to the league back in the early 2000s. When it got too popular (thanks to the Patriots’ success), he switched back to a 4-3, where he could unearth some cheap gems. He was also an early adopter (around 2011) of the up-tempo spread offense that’s become ubiquitous in 2018." in order to show success under both defenses, he has had to time it well. Belichick has used multiple systems, he has just been the first to figure out how to use them and how to use them to perfection.
Third, Belichick builds his team by getting bigger players. He prefers players to be heavier. As shown in the article, "According to a recent study, New England are the third-heaviest team in the league. And that’s by design. Belichick, an economics major, is constantly looking to find market inefficiencies to exploit." Belichick loves to go against the status quo and do the opposite of the system. Belichick does this by constantly creating schemes to challenge the status quo and allow for his system to benefit. Without Belichick, the patriots would not be the same and they certainly would not be as successful as they have been for so long.
In my next blog post I will research the question: When signing a franchise player to the team, meaning signing a big hefty contract, what are the opportunity costs of this signing? What is the team losing out on?
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