Patriots are on pace to reap the greatest reward from a terrible season

The 2023 season was one to remember for Patriots fans, but not for good reason. Besides being Bill Belichick's final year, it was a season filled with struggles from top to bottom that ultimately led to the team's worst win/loss record in nearly two decades.

Because of that, most began looking ahead to the 2024 NFL Draft and considered it the light at the end of the tunnel, mainly due to the Patriots' likely high positioning and the probability that they would have the opportunity to select their next franchise quarterback.

While that was a way to put a positive spin on a disastrous situation, it wasn't a great feeling to be so focused on next year's draft in late October, but that's where the fanbase was, and that sentiment is being felt a year later.

With Drake Maye looking like a home run for the Patriots' dire quarterback situation, plenty of positions will need to be dealt with early in the draft. The assumption heading into Week 8 is that they likely won't be winning many more games, despite Maye being an upgrade under center, and should have high positioning in the first round.

But to make another year of a bad situation much easier to digest, the current projection for the Patriots' first-round pick is potentially exciting enough to make fans accept the inevitable fate of another bad season in 2024.

Why is that? Because they currently have the highest chance of holding the first overall pick next year.

If that remains accurate, New England will have gold at their fingertips. It will be the most desirable positioning for quarterback-needy teams wanting to trade up, which the Patriots could very easily oblige with a massive return.

Or, if they chose to, they could stay with the pick and have their choice of the best left tackle, wide receiver, or pass rusher.

It's a sticky situation, given the more losses they accrue, the better their chances are to remain the favorite for the first overall pick. It's never easy for fans to hope their favorite team continues to lose, but it might get to a point (like it did last year) when losing is actually more beneficial to them in the long term than the short-term satisfaction of a win.

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