So far, the Patriots have only addressed half the problem.
Firing Jerod Mayo made sense. He didn’t do a good job and it was too clear too often that he wasn’t ready to be a head coach leading New England’s massive rebuild. But he was coaching a roster that too closely resembled an expansion team. George Halas couldn’t have turned that collection of players into a playoff team.
When the dust settles, the Patriots’ personnel department needs addressing.
In his press conference on Monday, Robert Kraft said that Eliot Wolf, who led the department last year, would not only be staying on but part of the coaching search. Kraft left the door open, and subsequent reports indicated that staying on doesn’t necessarily mean in the same job. If Mike Vrabel is the top candidate and wants to bring a personnel chief along with him, it’s unlikely that would be a deal breaker.
But if New England hires Ben Johnson or someone else who doesn’t have a general manager riding sidecar, the Patriots can’t stick with the status quo.
Wolf dodged the scythe that claimed Mayo on Sunday night, but the franchise can’t endure another player-acquisition year like they had in 2024, no matter who is calling the shots.
Under Wolf, the Patriots missed on free agency, missed on the draft, and couldn’t sell Brandon Aiyuk or Calvin Ridley on coming to New England. Wolf didn’t blow the Drake Maye pick by taking J.J. McCarthy or trading down. He got good value for Matthew Judon and Austin Hooper has turned out to be a better-than-expected tight end.
After that? For a team with glaring offensive line issues, Wolf signed Chuks Okorafor, a free agent offensive lineman with a history of being unreliable, who turned out to be really unreliable, a couple of Ocean State Job Lot bottom shelf guys and then overreached on draft picks.
He signed two receivers who didn’t distinguish themselves and drafted one who couldn’t catch and one who couldn’t line up properly.
The Patriots can fix some of that in a hurry. They’ve got a ton of cap space, a high draft pick and a promising quarterback already in place. A personnel department that hits on even 50 percent of their picks and free agent signings likely will be able to boast a significantly improved football team in 2025. But it has to happen now. It’s not like the Patriots can just say “Oops” next year and start over from there. A year from now they won’t have the same cap space. And if they’re in the same draft position again, they’ll be digging out of an even deeper hole.
Kraft acknowledged the draft problem.
“I think that the department evolved a lot, and a lot of things were changed. We changed our grading system this year and have done things. Our drafts have not been good for a while,” he said. “If you want to compete long term and be good in this league, you’ve got to have good drafts because those rookie contracts allow you to go out and get the people you need to surround people. … But I think we’ll hopefully see a big improvement this year.”
That big improvement is unlikely to come with a status quo. If there isn’t a new personnel czar in place, Wolf needs to take advantage of the second chance Mayo never got. He needs to learn from a lot of mistakes and improve his staff, his evaluation methods, his grading, whatever.
This is an important offseason. If they manage it well, it could be a building block. But if they don’t, it won’t matter who replaces Jerod Mayo.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
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