The 2024 season is not one that most Patriots fans will choose to remember for many reasons, with one of the most prominent being their failed draft class. Beyond the impressive selection of quarterback Drake Maye, who looks to be their next franchise star, the rest of the group were almost deemed immediate busts.
Despite Jerod Mayo and Co. targeting every position of need at the time, the players they chose were not the right ones, and that was made clear well before the 2024 season began. Among the most regretful choices was wide receiver Javon Baker, who made headlines for all the wrong reasons as soon as he was selected.
He was given another chance with the team this year under Mike Vrabel, but after a chaotic few months, he was eventually cut and signed with the Eagles' practice squad. But that didn't last too long, either, as the reigning Super Bowl Champions released him, too, earlier this week.
#Eagles have released WR Javon Baker and RB Audric Estime from the practice squad.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) October 14, 2025
Unfortunately, Baker is just the latest player from last year's draft class who is struggling to continue his NFL career, further solidifying just how bad the Mayo era was for the Patriots.
The Patriots' 2024 draft class just keeps looking worse and worse
Going into the 2024 offseason, there was a lot of hope that the Patriots would make just enough moves to put them on the right track and hopefully be competitive as soon as Week 1 began. That might have been a tall task, given they didn't have the most cap space to use, but they had excellent positioning in the draft and a motivated new head coach to get things going.
Once the Mayo era began, however, it was clear things weren't going to go as planned, and they seemed to fall apart much sooner than they had gone smoothly. It was also clear that players didn't want to sign with New England as they had in previous years, making it nearly impossible to improve the roster through free agency.
Then the players they drafted beyond Maye didn't live up to their draft status or the hype as soon as training camp began, creating a lot of concern well before the season even started.
As the season progressed, not much improved, leading to nearly every player from the 2024 class being released or traded, with just Maye and Craig Woodson remaining. So, seeing the Eagles cut Baker is not exactly shocking, but it doesn't make the Mayo era look any better.
It is a disappointing update for a player who seemed capable of being exciting to watch and contributing to the offense, based on his performance at UCF. We're yet to see that, however, and we might never get to unless he is picked up by another team this season.