The New England Patriots have a budding young quarterback in Drake Maye and one of the best emerging defensive stars in the game in cornerback Christian Gonzalez. Outside of that, this roster is so putrid that New England has been relegated to laughingstock territory.
The Patriots, in their first season under head coach Jerod Mayo, have gone 3-11 in a year that will all but guarantee this team will be picking in the Top 10 once again. This Patriots rebuild was always going to be a slow burn that took time, but that doesn't take the sting out of the constant losing.
While the fanbase is starting to turn their ire towards Mayo, who doesn't always help himself at the podium with some controversial quotes, the biggest reason the Patriots have looked so feckless this season is what has been going on behind closed doors in the front office.
Bleacher Report places the blame for this season on GM Eliot Wolf, claiming that he pinched pennies in the offseason and left Mayo with a roster it is impossible to win with. Whatever your opinion on Mayo, he hasn't been handed a ton to work with in his first season.
Patriots GM Eliot Wolf primarily blamed for tough 2024 season
Wolf left over $35 million in cap space unused, choosing to sign cheaper veterans like Antonio Gibson and KJ Osborn (who was recently released) instead of paying for a high-end WR1 or investing more in an offensive line that ranks as one of the worst in the entire league,
While Mayo hasn't looked like Bill Walsh, it's hard to win games with DeMario Douglas as the No. 1 wide receiver and an offensive line that lacks any long-term high-end starters. The Patriots were expected to be bad this season because of Wolf's roster and the shrapnel Belichick left in his wake, and they are meeting those expectations.
Wolf (and Mayo, to an extent) can redeem themselves this offseason. With over $100 million in cap space and multiple impact players at positions of need, New England can finally create a roster they can use to properly evaluate both Maye as a quarterback and Mayo as a coach.
In a sense, Mayo was set up to fail this season by Wolf giving him a roster that had no shot at competing for a championship. Things could change soon, but they will only do so if Wolf is much more aggressive than he was in his first Patriots offseason.