Former Patriot Lays Out ‘Scary’ Hypothetical For Team’s Offseason

The Patriots are starting to put more and more eggs in one basket this NFL offseason.

Despite having the salary cap space to do so, New England didn’t “burn some cash” in free agency like Jerod Mayo said it was going to when he replaced Bill Belichick. The Patriots also have been a non-factor in the trade market, even though multiple players who could address their needs were made available.

As such, those at One Patriot Place appear to be fixating most of their attention on next month’s draft. New England is in a comfortable draft situation on paper, but that luxury comes with pressure.

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“The biggest thing to me is that no matter what they did, it’s the draft that is going to make or break their offseason,” former Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich recently told ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “This could be a home run. At the same time, the scary part is that if they draft a quarterback at No. 3, and he’s not the guy, they’re in major trouble.”

You don’t need to tell Patriots fans how it goes when you swing and miss on a first-round quarterback. Mac Jones didn’t blossom into a franchise signal-caller after he was taken 15th overall in 2021, and his final two seasons in New England were miserable. That wasn’t entirely Jones’ fault, but he didn’t help the situation either.

Of course, the Patriots are much higher on the board this year than they were in Jones’ draft year. But that might only add to the nerves of New England fans.