The New England Patriots just wrapped up their 2024 season which ended in a 4-13 record for the second year in a row and resulted in a head coach losing their job in consecutive years.
After Sunday’s season finale, New England fired Jerod Mayo after just one season, citing the coach’s inexperience and the team’s lack of development under his leadership.
However, owner Robert Kraft isn’t the only member of the organization who feels that the players should’ve developed more over the 18-week season. Executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf seemed to echo a similar sentiment while speaking with FOX Sports’ Henry McKenna before New England’s win over the Buffalo Bill.
“We’re 3-13, so not good enough. Let’s start there. We had a lot of needs. I would say that I guess personally, what I was expecting maybe a little bit more internal development, which is a good lesson certainly heading into next year, and that you can’t always rely on that,” Wolf said. “The rookie receivers didn’t have it really that much for us. And, you know, (Ja’Lynn) Polk was sort of in our estimation a plug-and-play. … Ultimately, to answer your question, our record speaks for itself. We didn’t do enough.”
Wolf took over as the team’s top front-office executive this past offseason with a ton of cap space and high draft picks to work with.
However, beyond the selection of quarterback Drake Maye with the third-overall pick in the first round out of North Carolina, Wolf’s additions didn’t make much of a positive impact in 2024.
The rest of his draft class either didn’t play well or didn’t play much at all. Rookie wide receiver Polk and Javon Baker struggled to live up to their pre-draft expectations. Offensive tackle Caedan Wallace missed most of the year with a fractured fibula, and when he did play it wasn’t great. Guard Layden Robinson was in and out of the lineup without much success. Marcellas Dial and Jaheim Bell played sparingly and quarterback Joe Milton III shined in Week 18, but those were his only snaps of the year.
Wolf’s free-agent signings also left a lot to be desired. Chukwuma Okorafor and K.J. Osborn, who were both brought in to be starters in 2024, didn’t finish the year with the team. Linebacker Sione Takitaki missed the start of the year due to injury and wasn’t great upon his return.
The two bright spots were tight end Austin Hooper and running back Antonio Gibson, who both did well as the second options at their respective positions.
So, while Mayo and his staff deserve a fair share of the blame for the issues with the roster this past season, Wolf should admit that he may have just made the wrong decisions.
It’s not hard to predict that bringing in two right tackles (Wallace and Okorafor) and expecting them to flip and become starting-caliber players on the left side would be challenging. Those are the type of moves that Wolf made, expecting a first-year head coach and his inexperienced staff to make it work.
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