Since naming Drake Maye the starting quarterback in Week 6, the Patriots finally have some promise stemming from their games, even if they have resulted in more losses than wins. The rookie looks like the future of the franchise and has all the skills to be a competitive quarterback in the NFL for a long time.
That puts a lot of pressure on the Patriots to ensure they properly build a team around him starting next offseason. With the amount of cap space they'll have to spend and their expected ideal draft positioning, they should be able to accomplish this fairly easily.
But there's also a lot riding on surrounding Maye with the right coaching staff to give him the best chance to develop and grow as an NFL quarterback, which is even more crucial for the Patriots, as they have struggled to find the right guy for the job since Tom Brady left four years ago.
That has allegedly resulted in Robert Kraft asking around about the best way to handle a young quarterback, as Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer detailed this week. He first spoke about it with NBC Sports Boston, and because the story has blown up, he addressed his report further with 98.5 The Sports Hub on Wednesday afternoon.
In discussing the latest rumor, Ted Johnson shared his take about it not making the team look too good, mainly because the fact that Robert Kraft is asking around for help was leaked to the media and the negativity that might fall on the shoulders of Jerod Mayo and Alex Van Pelt because of it.
Given where the Patriots are right now and the calls for the head coach and offensive coordinator's jobs already this season, it's probably not great that now what their boss is doing is out to the public and putting a more magnified focus on what they're doing at every second of the day.
"I don't like that it's getting out. It makes the head coach look bad and it puts a lot more pressure on Alex Van Pelt." @Teddyjradio weighs in on reports that the Krafts are asking around on right way to handle Drake Maye pic.twitter.com/nEP3caMqFB
— Patriots Coverage on NBCS Boston (@NBCSPatriots) November 13, 2024
The intention of Kraft is likely in a good place, especially since the success of the team impacts his pocket, and he's seen how poorly the last few years have been due to the Mac Jones experiment.
However, keeping his dealings behind closed doors would've served the team better. There are enough rumors and speculation regarding what is going on in New England as it is and enough pressure from the fans and media for the staff to perform at a high level that this new story just doesn't help.