For most of this past offseason, the Patriots were in the unique position of having an overflowing roster of wide receivers and crucial decisions to make regarding what the future of the offense would look like for Drake Maye. Early on, it seemed apparent regarding who would make the team and who needed a standout training camp to make the cut, two of the most vulnerable being last year's draft picks, Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker.
Although the Jerod Mayo regime had the right intention of selecting positions of need during the draft, the wide receiver duo had an underwhelming rookie season and were far from secure in their roles with the Patriots for the 2025 season.
That inevitably led to Javon Baker being cut and eventually signing with the Eagles' practice squad, and Ja'Lynn Polk being traded to the Saints ahead of New England's Week 2 matchup with the Dolphins.
Patriots are trading WR Ja’Lynn Polk and a 2028 7th-round pick to the Saints for a 2027 6th-round pick, as @DMRussini reported.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 13, 2025
Polk is on injured reserve due to a shoulder injury, but Saints acquiring him for the future.
It was a shocking move, but not because Polk was traded. It was more unexpected that any team would be interested in acquiring him after how much he struggled during the 2024 season, and because he was placed on injured reserve this summer, meaning he can't suit up until next year.
But apparently, they see something in Polk that the Patriots weren't able to get out of him, and it was just another reminder to Robert Kraft just how much of a mistake it was to have Mayo and Eliot Wolf go about the 2024 draft the way they did.
The Patriots' consistently bad draft classes as of late are still haunting them
Throughout Bill Belichick's tenure, he became known for the number of players he passed on who went on to become superstars at their position, as opposed to the players he chose to draft, who often became busts.
The most infamous continues to be selecting N'Keal Harry in the first round of the 2019 draft instead of A.J. Brown or Deebo Samuel. And now, Mayo and Eliot Wolf's decision to trade back in last year's draft with the Chargers and eventually take Baker and Polk looks even worse, considering the Chargers got Ladd McConkey and Tarheeb Still, both of whom are impressing in their young careers.
The #Patriots traded back and gave the Chargers Ladd McConkey and Tarheeb Still for free…. pic.twitter.com/s89aGgAuju
— Carlos A. Lopez (@LosTalksPats) September 13, 2025
The Patriots got a firsthand look at just how bad their decision was when they faced the Chargers last year and saw McConkey dominate their defense in every way possible.
They'll continue to see that for the rest of his career and always regret believing Baker and Polk were the better choices instead.
It's likely why Wolf wanted to go about this year's draft from a vastly different approach, as he knew that his job was going to be on shaky ground. From what we've seen so far from this year's draft class, it looks like they hit more than they missed, and hopefully, it will remain that way.
They certainly cannot afford to have another draft class that empties just two years into their NFL careers, as was the case with the 2024 class, which has only Drake Maye as the lone active player on this year's roster. If they want to be a competitive team again, they need to start stringing together great drafts, or continue to be competing for the bottom of the division for the foreseeable future.