For much of the last two decades, the Patriots were the team to play for due to the presence of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Of course, their habit of winning a lot of games and many Super Bowls made New England a top destination for players who hoped to accomplish their highest dreams.
A lot of that changed, however, when Brady left for the Bucs in 2020, and the Patriots' success plummeted even with Belichick still calling the shots. They were no longer a team players clamored to play for, even if a future Hall of Famer would still coach them with an unmatched resume.
Now that Belichick is out, too, and given the team's rough patch during the 2024 season, most have deemed New England one of the worst teams to play for, completely disregarding their rich history of winning. To an extent, this makes sense because you're only as good as your last season, even more so the last handful of years.
But NFL insider Jay Glazer doesn't believe the Patriots have lost their aura, which is an interesting point that not many are willing to make or consider.
Jay Glazer shuts down the idea that the Patriots have been damaged by their recent seasons
During an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub on Wednesday, NFL insider Jay Glazer and host Marc Bertrand discussed the Patriots brand being negatively impacted by how much they have fallen into mediocrity or worse.
Bertrand feels the team has suffered the consequences of not being adequately prepared for life post-Belichick and Brady. And while that might be true to a point, Glazer believes they're still a team players will want to play for because of their impressive history, which didn't end that long ago despite how it might feel.
"No. I wouldn’t characterize it as they did damage to the brand at all. I still think there’s a mystique there. It’s the Patriots and what they’ve done. Look, the Cowboys, they haven’t been shining but they’re still the Cowboys, right? I wouldn’t say that at this point. You still have people who want to play for the same team Tom Brady played for. I want to play for the same team that Bill Belichick coached. I want to play for the same team that Rob Gronkowski was on. All those great teams, there’s still that mystique.
I mean, Steelers still have it and it’s from the Terry Bradshaw days. The Bears haven’t been good for a long time. But you’re still like man, I want to play where the 1985 Bears were. I wanted to play where Brian Urlacher played. It’s still there."
For the most part, Glazer makes a good point. It's hard to completely ignore the unmatchable success the Patriots have accomplished and not wanting to play for a team with that kind of history, especially when it involves legendary figures like Brady, Belichick, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Tedy Bruschi, etc.
On the other hand, it's fair to assume that some players have also not wanted to come to New England for different reasons, mainly that they are not a team that has been willing to pay up for star players, deterring them from even considering New England a place to entertain an offer.
That hopefully won't be an issue this offseason with a new regime calling the shots and a head coach with a solid tenure with the Titans to help prove he is the right guy for the job. It also helps when players on the roster are already recruiting free agents or players on the trade block to come to Foxboro even before working with Vrabel, which might go a long way.