🏒 Swayman's shootout with the Bruins

Good Morning, Boston.

🏀 Derrick White gets knocked out. Not literally, of course: the Olympic gold medalist was eliminated during a game of “Knockout” Wednesday by a young man in Abu Dhabi during the Celtics’ preseason trip overseas. Joe Mazzulla’s going to hold that over White’s head all season, isn’t he?

What’s on tap today:

• Patriots lose their leader

• Will Red Sox “walk the walk?”

• Jaylen Brown’s hot week

Let’s get into it…

LEADING OFF

“Swayman v. Bruins” and the Boston contract Hall of Shame

Jeremy Swayman’s contract standoff is escalating. The Bruins still haven’t signed their potential franchise goalie to a new deal with their season opener looming next Tuesday. Now, team president Cam Neely is ramping up public pressure on Swayman, suggesting Monday that Boston offered him a $64 million contract. Swayman’s agent fired back on social media, claiming the goalie received no such offer prior to Monday. Contract disputes are part of the game, but sometimes they get contentious and burn bridges. Unfortunately, Bostonians know that all too well.

Swayman’s contract drama is a unique case. The 25-year-old Swayman was unhappy about going through a fraught arbitration process for his one-year, $3.4 million contract last season. Still, he responded with an All-Star campaign in 2023 and a stellar playoff run. His ascension as Boston’s top goalie seemed inevitable after the team traded Linus Ullmark this summer, but the team hasn’t matched the eight-year, $68 million Swayman is reportedly seeking. That would make him one of the five highest-paid goalies in the NHL – a steep ask for a player still under team control for two seasons and with just 132 games played.

Swayman joins a sad list of unhappy Boston athletes. The Swayman saga follows ominously in the footsteps of other high-profile contract clashes in Boston, including:

• The Red Sox’s decision to trade Mookie Betts rather than extend him.

• Letting Tom Brady finish his career in Tampa Bay. 

• Trading star edge rusher Matthew Judon instead of giving him a lucrative payday.

Each of those moves saved teams money but made the on-field product significantly worse. Losing Swayman would likely mean the same for the Bruins.

The fallout hurts teams, players, and fans. Contentious contract battles leave lasting scars. Boston fans still lament the losses of Betts and Brady — even more so because both won titles after leaving town. Former Pats safety Lawyer Milloy once said he was “disgusted” at Bill Belichick telling him to take a pay cut or get cut in 2003. Now, these stalemates play out through the media and over social media with both sides trying to pressure the other to cave. The longer these contact disputes drag on, the worse the optics look for all parties. 

Hopefully, the Bruins and Swayman can patch things up … before any bridges get permanently burned. Though Swayman told Amazon’s series “FACEOFF: Inside the NHL” that he wants to stay with the B’s, Monday’s back-and-forth could prompt a trade request. That could well add to the list of woeful Boston departures and serve as another reminder of how brutal the business of sports can be. The Bruins shouldn’t let it get there.

POLL

🤔 Should the Bruins meet Jeremy Swayman’s demands?

BOSTON SPORTS

Quick hits & headlines

🩼 Patriots will lose David Andrews for the year. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday that Andrews will get surgery to repair the shoulder injury he suffered against the 49ers, ending his season. That blow costs the Patriots their top captain and leader on offense and weakens an already struggling O-line. Jerod Mayo said QB Drake Maye’s playing time isn’t dependent on Andrews’ health, but losing the experienced center could compromise the rookie’s development. An already challenging Patriots season just took a turn for the worse.

🤨 Red Sox lay out hopes for 2025. Team leadership acknowledged how disappointing the 2024 season was at Monday’s season-ending press conference but insisted better days are ahead. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow stressed the need for quality pitching, better defense and some right-handed power bats (maybe re-sign Tyler O’Neill, then?). Manager Alex Cora even said he believes this three-year postseason drought will be “the last struggle” for this group. They said all the right things. We’ll see if they “walk the walk,” as team president Sam Kennedy said they must.

💪🏽 Abu Dhabi trip pushes the Celtics in preseason. The C’s will start their two-game preseason series in the United Arab Emirates with the Denver Nuggets tonight. Head coach Joe Mazzulla isn’t sweating the eight-hour time difference, challenging his team to adjust to the jet lag as they will during the season. The team also visited a renovated basketball court they helped sponsor and took a trip to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Maybe this team-building trip will pay off like the Celtics’ getaway to Rome before the 2008 championship run.

BEYOND BOSTON

Out-of-town report

Aaron Rodgers praises Jerod Mayo’s handling of Drake Maye. The future Hall-of-Fame QB commended Mayo’s restraint with the No. 3 overall pick on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” citing the benefits he received from sitting behind Brett Favre for three years. Jacoby Brissett’s no Favre, but Mayo’s patience with Maye makes sense if you’ve watched this Patriots offensive line block.

Chris Sale gets hurt again. The ex-Red Sox pitcher might win the NL Cy Young Award, but back spasms left him unable to stop the Atlanta Braves from getting swept from the playoffs by the San Diego Padres. The guy still can't catch a break, even when he’s out of Boston.

Kyle Van Noy lauds Bill Belichick’s coaching. The former Patriots-turned-Ravens edge rusher credited his old coach Belichick’s “football 101” education for his electric start to 2024, including his high-IQ strip-sack of Josh Allen last Sunday night. No wonder Belichick kept bringing this guy back to New England.

ON THIS DAY | OCTOBER 4, 2001

77’s special day

Bruins retire Ray Bourque’s number. Twenty-three years ago, the Hockey Hall-of-Famer became one of just twelve Bruins whose numbers rest in the TD Garden rafters. Bourque starred in Boston for 21 seasons – 15 of which he spent as a captain – and still holds the records for most goals and assists by a defenseman in NHL history. His lone Stanley Cup win came with the Colorado Avalanche at the end of his career, but he’s a Bruin through and through.

THE BEST THING I SAW IN SPORTS

Jaylen Brown’s scorching hot offseason

🥵 Jaylen Brown tries out “Hot Ones.” Were those sunglasses just for looking cool or for hiding the tears leaking out as “The Last Dab Experience” sauce melted his face? We’ll never know. Also, has anyone ever gotten on the cover of TIME Magazine – first Celtic to do that since Larry Bird, by the way – and done “Hot Ones” in the same week? Brown might have just had the most interesting offseason of all time.

🗞 That’s a wrap. I’ll be buying those Jaylen Brown sunglasses specifically for my next hot food encounter. I’m thinking Flames.

🤯 Did you know … Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez is one of just four NFL cornerbacks to not allow a catch longer than 15 yards this season? That’s even more impressive when you remember the second-year DB routinely puts himself on an island with the other team’s best receiver every week. The kid is good.

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