Daily news and links for Tuesday
The autopsies have begun trickling out. This being a double homicide, analyses will be written about both the Patriots’ 2024 DOA season and its doomed-from-the-start head coaching position. Fans still reeling from losing Tom Brady a couple of years too soon, and Bill Belichick who was the last tie to the Dynasty years, were ambivalent about ownership’s response to all of the changes.
The new era being somehow worse than expected, Robert Kraft admitted failure, apologized to Mayo, and will try fixing it once more. But what did Kraft actually admit to in his presser yesterday?
- Putting Mayo in an ‘untenable situation’.
- Maybe for not allowing Mayo to make decisions on players or his staff. — deduced from what he says the next head coach WILL be allowed to do.
- Maybe for raising his own expectations after the Week 1 win over the Bengals because he points to that being the highlight and being unhappy watching the team regress from there.
- Admitting the win-loss record DID matter to him, when a year ago he said it wouldn’t. Saying without saying directly that the “multi-year process” to get back on track was hinged on a relatively upward trajectory in Year 1.
- Jonathan Kraft is involved in all of Robert’s decision making. But we knew that.
- The scouting department, led by Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh, is not off the hook. They changed their grading system but Kraft has not liked the recent drafts outside of Drake Maye and Joe Milton III.
Here’s what he didn’t admit to:
- Taking back control from Bill Belichick in his last years, and allowing other decision makers (the collaborative) to have input. Jonathan Kraft and Robyn Glaser included.
- Not allowing Belichick a proper rebuild period— including QB bridge years until the right draft or free agency situation came along, before firing him. Example: Bill Belichick was not in favor of drafting Mac Jones. The collaborative also nixed the idea of trading Jones in 2023 and potentially signing in Baker Mayfield.
- That he had had enough of Belichick’s disrespect towards him (assuming on my part) and wanted control over his team back with a more deferential head coach. That’s the real reason he fired Bill (again, assuming on my part). The team’s abysmal record gave him the proper-sounding reason to do it.
This isn’t to say Bill Belichick bears no blame. If he was upset about personnel decisions being taken out of his hands, he should have done a better job making personnel decisions — including how he instructed his scouts on what he was looking for at each position. It’s clear he was still involved with the defense, but his offense was a mess regardless of the quarterback. No excuse for that.
The tensions between the Krafts and Belichick were too high to salvage the relationship. Kraft thought he could replace him — just like he thought he could smoothly transition to Mac Jones after Tom Brady. Turns out that was never possible. Nothing will ever replace the magic of Belichick and Brady together. It’s time to stop comparing that era — how it was built, its path to winning championships — with anything the team is trying to build now. Admit that and we can all move on.
TEAM TALK
- Transactions: Patriots sign seven players to futures contracts.
- Press Conference transcript: Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft,
- Press Conferences: David Andrews, Christian Gonzalez, Davon Godchaux, and Deatrich Wise Jr.
- From the NFL – 2025 NFL Draft first round order.
- Patriots Unfiltered: Reaction to Jerod Mayo departure and Robert Kraft press conference. (2 hours)
LOCAL LINKS
- Conor Ryan lists 12 reasons why the 2024 Patriots season turned into a disaster. /Good read.
- Karen Guregian notes Joe Milton III couldn’t have scripted regular season debut much better.
- Mark Morse shares 15 Observations as the Patriots lose by winning. 3. Jerod Mayo’s inexperience as a Head Coach cost the Patriots at least three games. I thought the owners would give him another year.
- Zack Cox reports Patriots captain David Andrews hopes to return in 2025; Drake Maye ‘big reason’ why
- Andrew Callahan explains why Robert Kraft must stick the landing in this coaching search.
- Alex Barth notes New England will go through a full coaching search, led by Robert and Jonathan Kraft, joined by Alonzo Highsmith and Eliot Wolf.
- Alex Barth points to multiple reports saying the Patriots have put in a request to interview Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson for their head coaching job.
- Andrew Callahan highlights Robert Kraft revealing the team’s next steps in the head-coaching search.
- Karen Guregian thinks keeping the same front office in the same roles could be a dealbreaker for the next head coach.
- Phil Perry takes a look at what the future holds for Eliot Wolf in New England. “There is no guarantee Wolf will be leading the personnel department in 2025.”
- Justin Leger’s Patriots 2025 coaching staff tracker: News, rumors, and more.
- Nick O’Malley updates the Black Monday list: Which teams fired their head coach today?
- Nick O’Malley catches us up with what happened to Matthew Judon after his trade to Atlanta.
- Chris Mason passes along a report that another ex-Patriots staffer, strength and conditioning coach Moses Cabrera, joins Bill Belichick at UNC.
- Pats Procrastination podcast: Clare and Chudders discuss and debate all things Patriots after the win at home against the Bills and the release of Jerod Mayo. (31 min.)
- Locked On Patriots podcast: Mike D’Abate and Steve Balestrieri discuss Mayo’s firing, the Pats Draft position and the standouts in their Week 18 season finale. (39 min.)
NATIONAL NEWS
- Jori Epstein (Yahoo! Sports) As Patriots search for next coach, they should be honest about role of Bill Belichick remnants. “But to assume Mayo and his staff could not dig out of the hole they created presupposes they created the hole. In reality, it preceded them.” /The hole was dug by Belichick alone? I beg to differ. Decisions were being made by “the collaborative” at that point. Bill knows it. Kraft knows it.
- Jordan Dajani (CBS Sports) Ten crazy 2025 NFL offseason predictions: Deion Sanders, Shedeur Sanders team up; Garrett Wilson traded away.
- Eva Geitheim (SI) GM Joe Schoen speaks on Giants’ potential interest in Shedeur Sanders. Giants pick 3rd.
- Judy Battista (NFL.com) Ranking head-coach openings in 2025 hiring cycle: Bears – Patriots – Jets – Jags – Saints.
- Jordan Dajani (CBS Sports) NFL Black Monday winners and losers. Loser: Colts, Giants, Jaguars fans. No Pats.
- Karl Rasmussen (SI) Colts fire DC Gus Bradley after missing playoffs for fourth straight year.
- Christian Arnold (NY Post) Rex Ryan believes he’ll ‘100 percent’ be next Jets coach.
- Brian Costello (NY Post) How much it’ll cost Jets’ Woody Johnson to cut or keep Aaron Rodgers.
JEROD MAYO FALLOUT
- Mike Kadlick (SI) Patriots owner Robert Kraft takes blame for Jerod Mayo ‘situation’.
- Ian Logue relays Albert Breer who was hearing there was ‘dissension’ internally ahead of firing Jerod Mayo. It sounds like the final month leading up to Mayo’s departure yesterday wasn’t exactly great.
- Matt Geagan explains while Jerod Mayo deserved to be fired, he’s not the only one to blame for disastrous season.
- Khari Thompson gives us six takeaways from Robert Kraft’s comments about Jerod Mayo’s firing. Team’s regression put Kraft over the edge; New coach will have input on staff; More.
- Taylor Kyles and Mike Kadlick discuss Robert Kraft taking the blame for the lost season. (5 min. video)
- Khari Thompson shares some thoughts on the Patriots blowing the tank and firing Mayo.
- Nick O’Malley notes Robert Kraft promises the Patriots will open the checkbook to get back to winning. /File under: Believe it when we see it.
- Nick Shook (NFL.com) Patriots owner Robert Kraft explains Jerod Mayo firing: ‘I felt we regressed’.
- Zack Cox hears from the players who were shocked at Jerod Mayo’s firing after one season as head coach.
- Mark Daniels points out that after getting fired, Jerod Mayo didn’t get a chance to address his team. “Wish we all could’ve said goodbye,” Deatrich Wise said. “I didn’t really get a chance to see him. It really happened so fast.”
- Lauren Campbell relays Rodney Harrison explaining why he thought firing Jerod Mayo was disingenuous.
- Chris Mason tells us how Bill Belichick weighed in on the decision to fire Jerod Mayo. “The Patriots situation, honestly I don’t have too much of a comment on that. Robert Kraft, Jonathan Kraft, Robyn Glaser, they’re the decision-makers there. Who exactly does what and so forth — Mayo was hand-picked by Robert — but in the end the decision making is something that they’d have to comment on and identify. They’re the ones that are really making the calls there, so they’re the ones that should comment on that. …” /Hahahahaha