Robert Kraft Doesn’t Want Patriots Making This Kind Of Move

The Patriots’ offseason has been lackluster for the majority of fans and analysts, but the team’s top brass continues to preach patience.

Head coach Jerod Mayo sent that message at the annual NFL meetings in Orlando, Fla. this week, and owner Robert Kraft expressed confidence in his new head coach and New England’s front office led by de facto general manager and director of scouting Eliot Wolf.

The patience wore thin for Patriots fans when they missed out on Calvin Ridley, though that might not have been primarily due to financial reasons. Still, New England’s roster is bereft of talent, and the Patriots owner explained how the team can balance patience with urgency.

“Well, you know that’s a function of, ‘Have we put the right people in place to make it happen?’ I’d like to think there will be a big improvement next year,” Kraft told reporters, per team-provided video. “That’s my hope. But we know we have to be patient. Everything is new. I think we have 20 new coaches. Just to be able to integrate them into a system. I think Jerod has terrific people skills. And I think Eliot and Matt (Groh) have really good knowledge of our product and what has to be done. I’ve told them, ‘Look, I don’t want to do splashy things just to get attention and get good headlines one day.’ I want us to do the things that are substantive for the short-term and long-term. I think, look, this will be my 31st season. We’ve never been drafting in the third position.

“I hope it will be similar; I think back to coming in as an owner in ’94 and we were drafting fourth, and we got my fifth son, Willie McGinest. He really kicked some butt and helped bring a certain attitude to the team and we made the playoffs that first year (in 1994). But who knows? But we have a chance to get really good personnel in this draft, and another small thing, a position we’ve never been in: After the draft, people cut players when they fulfill their needs. Some very good players sometimes. We’ve never been in a claiming position of No. 3. There are a lot of little things that can happen. And also, the way our coaching, there is a new feeling in the coaching staff and everyone is contributing. But in the end, what the bottom line is, how do we do game day? Wins and losses.”

Kraft might not have an interest in “winning the offseason,” but New England does seem to be putting all of its chips in the 2024 NFL Draft. It will be vital for the future of the franchise to make the correct choice with the third overall pick in fear of larger backlash over another nightmare season.