The Patriots 2024 Offseason

By Jayan Gandhi

Analyzing the Patriots 2024 Offseason

The Patriots had a crucial offseason in front of them after coming off a season with a 4-13 record, their worst season winning percentage-wise since 1990. Additionally, it will be their first season without long-time head coach Bill Belichick. The Patriots must start this post-Belichick area fast. The Patriots had the most cap space entering the offseason and the third pick in the draft. Expectations for the offseason were high; even new head coach Jerad Mayo said that they would “burn some cash.” Overall, the Patriots did some things well in the offseason but I believe there were things they did wrong as well. Let’s break it all down.

The Good

Retaining their players

By far, the best thing the Patriots did was pay their own players. Mike Owenwu, Kyle Dugger, and Hunter Henry are all players who have been productive for the Patriots and rightfully got paid. The Patriots gave these players all more than ten million dollars annually. These players should continue to be productive for the Patriots and are all good talents.

Moving on from Bill Belichick

This may seem a little controversial, but it was time for him to go. Belichick was making bad roster decisions that didn’t make up for his coaching ability. Belichick as the head of coaching and player personnel, wasn’t working. Since Tom Brady left the team, the Patriots have been 28-36 in four years, something that just isn’t up to the Patriots standard. Although Belichick is one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, he has an under-500 winning percentage without Tom Brady with the four years of head coaching on the Browns and Patriots. I give Robert Kraft credit for pulling the plug on something that wasn’t working.

Drake Maye

With the third overall pick, the Patriots selected quarterback Drake Maye from North Carolina. While it is far from a guarantee that Drake Maye is going to be good (many top quarterbacks don’t end up succeeding in the NFL) there is no doubt that Drake Maye has all the physical tools to be an above-average starting quarterback in the NFL. The Patriots needed a quarterback; they took a guy who can play very well.. The challenge now turns to developing him.

The Mixed

Jerod Mayo and the Coaching Staff

Jerod Mayo could be a great coach, but on paper, the hire is a little underwhelming. He was just the linebacker coach for the Patriots, not even a coordinator, and now the Patriots want him to make the huge leap to head coach. On paper, there were more qualified candidates like Jim Harbaugh, Mike Vrabel, and Pete Carrol. Again, Jerod Mayo could be great; however, it seems like there were better options. Additionally, the Patriots hired Alex Van Pelt, who had been working with the Cleveland Browns over the last several years, as their offensive coordinator. The Browns offense over the period that Pelt was there has been mediocre. Alex Van Pelt wasn’t the most flashy hire, and I have concerns with his ability to develop Drake Maye, but at least the Patriots hired someone with offensive experience, unlike their disaster with Matt Patrica, a defensive coach they hired for offense in 2022.

The Draft

The Patriots addressed many areas of need in the draft, including quarterback, wide receiver, and tackle. Nevertheless, some draft “experts” were dubious of several Patriots selections. Most notably Jayln Polk out of Washington, who the Patriots selected 37th overall. Rumors were that the Patriots were trying to trade up to the end of the first round to get a receiver (that wouldn’t have been Polk), but that didn’t end up happening. Ja’Lynn Polk is slightly underwhelming, as he wasn’t even the best receiver on his college team at Washington. This by no means means that Polk will be a bad player; it is just a slightly underwhelming pick for the Patriots.

The Bad

Lack of Robert Kraft Spending Money

The Patriots were expected to spend big during the offseason. It didn’t happen. Still, to this day, the Patriots have 52 million dollars in cap space, the most in the NFL. As of right now, the Patriots are just sitting on money that they could have paid to players to improve their roster in this upcoming season. They tried to bid on free agents such as Calvin Ridley and were outbid, but for the Patriots, it was worth attempting to overpay, especially when they had plenty of money. The only person who benefits from this is Robert Kraft who puts more money into his pocket as his reputation of being cheap starts to slowly grow.

Receiver/Weapons/Offensive Line

The Patriots needed to get some weapons for their offense, especially to help Drake Maye (or the quarterback playing) grow. Without weapons, it is hard for a quarterback to succeed in the NFL. The Patriots re-signed Kendrick Bourne and Hunter Henry who are both solid players but still lack the elite number one threat on offense. They tried to acquire Calvin Ridley but ultimately failed. It is too much to ask of Drake Maye or any other quarterback to come in without a number-one threat and a below-average offensive line and do a good job. While I doubt they will make a move, there are still really good receivers via trade (Tee Higgins and Brandon Aiyuk) who would help the Patriot's offense. However, they may cost a second-round pick at the minimum and a contract of around 30 million per year(my estimate). However, given the spot the Patriots are in, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Conclusion

Overall, the Patriots did some good things this offseason. It was time to move on from Belichick, and they finally started to pay their good players. However, I can’t help feeling disappointed because of the vast amount of resources they had and didn’t use. It is going to be hard for the Patriots to succeed this year, they are expected to be one of the worst teams in the league and given the lowest over/under win total at just 4.5 wins. In conclusion, the Patriots should have done more this offseason, and I feel underwhelmed by the coaching hiring and not adding more to the offense. However, Drake Maye is a small glimmer of hope for the future of the team.

Patriots Offseason Grade: C+