Walk with me back to 2018. The New England Patriots had just wrapped up another dominant 13-3 regular season and were back in the Super Bowl for the third time in four years. But instead of hoisting another Lombardi Trophy, they ran into Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tom Brady threw for over 500 yards, and somehow still lost. Sloppy execution, missed opportunities, and the infamous Malcolm Butler benching all played a role in the unraveling.
Still, the machine didn’t look broken. Brady was aging, sure—but still elite. The roster had holes, but it was the Patriots. We’d seen this cycle before. Re-tool, re-load, repeat. With Brady unsure about returning for season 19, the next logical step was clear: find his successor, let him sit, and build for life after 12. Simple… but that’s not what happened.
Instead, the Patriots entered the 2018 NFL Draft with two first-round picks and walked out with neither a quarterback nor a long-term plan. No heir to Brady, no developmental project—just a tackle who couldn’t stay healthy and a running back who never lived up to first-round billing. Then came pick No. 32, when the Ravens traded up with Philly and grabbed Lamar Jackson. The rest, unfortunately for New England, is history.
Lamar Jackson is the one that got away from Bill Belichick... twice
In his new book The Art of Winning, Bill Belichick admits what Patriots fans have known for years: not drafting Lamar Jackson was a colossal mistake. And not just once—twice. With the 23rd and 31st picks in that draft, the Patriots selected Isaiah Wynn and Sony Michel out of Georgia. The Ravens then grabbed Jackson at No. 32. The optics were bad then. They’re brutal now.
Jackson didn’t light the world on fire his rookie season, but by Year 2, he was the league MVP. He’s now a two-time MVP, the face of a perennial contender, and still somehow getting better.
Meanwhile, Wynn struggled to stay on the field, Michel flamed out after a brief flash, and the Patriots continued to act like quarterback succession was a back-burner issue—until it blew up in their face.
Once Brady left ahead of the 2020 season, New England’s quarterback carousel kicked into full gear. Cam Newton got a shot. Mac Jones showed early promise before spiraling into irrelevance. Bailey Zappe was briefly the next big thing until he wasn’t. Belichick’s failure to solidify the most important position in football cost the team more than wins—it cost him his job.
Now, with Belichick off coaching college kids in Chapel Hill, the Patriots are once again trying to climb out of a hole of their own making. The good news? They might finally have something real in second-year quarterback Drake Maye. He’s got the tools, the upside, and—maybe most importantly—a fresh start unburdened by the post-Brady weight that crushed his predecessors.
But make no mistake: they wouldn’t be here if Belichick had pulled the trigger in 2018. The dynasty didn’t have to die. It was mismanaged into extinction. And for the first time, Belichick is finally admitting it. Kind of, sorta.