OT: A John Mara Rant

[Bill Lee]

I sure hope that the Patriots have not fallen into the meddling owner treadmill, but I suspect they have.

Tell us why.

IMO I think if BB was still here he would have played this draft totally differently by trading down to maximize draft capital and filling QB later in the draft, but I can see how Eliot Wolf would do exactly what he did without any ownership meddling.

I'm pretty sure BB would have taken Mac right where he did without meddling. The team badly needed a QB, Mac was Saban's boy, and was perceived to be good value at #15.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

Tell us why.

IMO I think if BB was still here he would have played this draft totally differently by trading down to maximize draft capital and filling QB later in the draft, but I can see how Eliot Wolf would do exactly what he did without any ownership meddling.

I'm pretty sure BB would have taken Mac right where he did without meddling. The team badly needed a QB, Mac was Saban's boy, and was perceived to be good value at #15.

I said I only suspect that Krafts are meddling and there is no proof either way. However Bob Kraft's statement before the draft about how the Patriots needed to land a big-name QB in the draft sounded suspicious. Did he force Wolf to draft Maye instead of trading down? We will probably never know.

There is no BB on the staff anymore to stand up to the Krafts , and the Krafts may be reverting to the old post-Parcells mode of draft screwups. The FA period certainly does not seem like it was managed by a professional, and I have to wonder about the draft also; in a draft class that was historically stocked with WR and LT prospects, the Patriots somehow managed to go through the draft without landing a blue-ship WR or LT.

 

[Bill Lee]

I said I only suspect that Krafts are meddling and there is no proof either way.

Right, and I only asked you to tell us why you suspect they are meddling.

However Bob Kraft's statement before the draft about how the Patriots needed to land a big-name QB in the draft sounded suspicious. Did he force Wolf to draft Maye instead of trading down? We will probably never know.

I think there's a big gap between an owner publicly pointing out a position of need and privately forcing his staff to draft a specific player.

I think if that's how it went down we'd get insider leaks saying just that, and a big controversy.

I think in this case Maye was a really obvious choice given how the draft went down and no 'hidden hand' is needed to justify his selection.

I think the whole 'Kraft is a meddler' thing feels like typical sports talk radio ****-stirring.

If you want to make yourself miserable if/when you decide Kraft is a meddler, fine, but you're stuck with him till he drops dead then you get his son so prepare yourself for a lot of misery.

There is no BB on the staff anymore to stand up to the Krafts , and the Krafts may be reverting to the old post-Parcells mode of draft screwups. The FA period certainly does not seem like it was managed by a professional,

I think the FA period has been focused on signing our own players, which is a classic Packers/Wolfe thing to do.

No complaints from me.

and I have to wonder about the draft also; in a draft class that was historically stocked with WR and LT prospects, the Patriots somehow managed to go through the draft without landing a blue-ship WR or LT.

It's easy to explain: as valuable as WR and LT are, a potential franchise QB is far, far more valuable.

That's exactly why those other teams were offering us huge packages to try to get #3: they wanted the player we ended up getting, very badly!

Once you decided to take Maye you didn't have the draft capital to move up to get a blue-chip WR/LT without over-spending, because all the other teams also want those same players.

IMO people need to chill on the whole 'the Krafts are evil and our management is incompetent' thing.

There's plenty of time to be miserable once we see who is on the field for the first game.

 

[DarrylS]

The new Giants uniforms are butt ugly..

 

[JohnJH]

Right, and I only asked you to tell us why you suspect they are meddling.



I think there's a big gap between an owner publicly pointing out a position of need and privately forcing his staff to draft a specific player.

I think if that's how it went down we'd get insider leaks saying just that, and a big controversy.

I think in this case Maye was a really obvious choice given how the draft went down and no 'hidden hand' is needed to justify his selection.

I think the whole 'Kraft is a meddler' thing feels like typical sports talk radio ****-stirring.

If you want to make yourself miserable if/when you decide Kraft is a meddler, fine, but you're stuck with him till he drops dead then you get his son so prepare yourself for a lot of misery.



I think the FA period has been focused on signing our own players, which is a classic Packers/Wolfe thing to do.

No complaints from me.



It's easy to explain: as valuable as WR and LT are, a potential franchise QB is far, far more valuable.

That's exactly why those other teams were offering us huge packages to try to get #3: they wanted the player we ended up getting, very badly!

Once you decided to take Maye you didn't have the draft capital to move up to get a blue-chip WR/LT without over-spending, because all the other teams also want those same players.

IMO people need to chill on the whole 'the Krafts are evil and our management is incompetent' thing.

There's plenty of time to be miserable once we see who is on the field for the first game.

And, with us picking in the Top 3 again next draft (where there are at least 2 Blue Chip LT's and possibly 3), and having a boatload of money for next years FA Period, we can address a multitude of sins for the 2025-26 Season and beyond (especially if Maye shows Franchise potential). Players will want to come here (and we can pay them too), and there may be a better selection of young and talented FA's available.

 

[jmt57]

And, with us picking in the Top 3 again next draft (where there are at least 2 Blue Chip LT's and possibly 3), and having a boatload of money for next years FA Period, we can address a multitude of sins for the 2025-26 Season and beyond (especially if Maye shows Franchise potential. Players will want to come here (and we can pay them too), and there may be a better selection of young and talented FA's available.

I certainly don't expect the Patriots to have a winning season in 2024 - but should we really assume for the Patriots to already be guaranteed to be one of the three worst teams in the NFL?

Look, I am expecting another top ten draft pick - which I agree will/should be used on a longterm LT. But every year there are teams that unexpectedly regress (just like the Patriots did in 2023), often due to unexpected injuries to key players.

The most notable single-season declines in NFL history

As turnaround success stories spawn, the NFL has certainly seen its share of memorable letdown seasons. Many of which ended successful eras. Here are the most significant decline seasons in league history.

www.yardbarker.com

To me it's a tad early to assume the Patriots will have that early of a draft pick next April.

 

[FCB02062]

Rooneys and Maras are a cesspool of elitism

 

[JohnJH]

I certainly don't expect the Patriots to have a winning season in 2024 - but should we really assume for the Patriots to already be guaranteed to be one of the three worst teams in the NFL?

Look, I am expecting another top ten draft pick - which I agree will/should be used on a longterm LT. But every year there are teams that unexpectedly regress (just like the Patriots did in 2023), often due to unexpected injuries to key players.

The most notable single-season declines in NFL history

As turnaround success stories spawn, the NFL has certainly seen its share of memorable letdown seasons. Many of which ended successful eras. Here are the most significant decline seasons in league history.

www.yardbarker.com

To me it's a tad early to assume the Patriots will have that early of a draft pick next April.

It's also a tad early to assume that they won't.

 

[raduray]

I said I only suspect that Krafts are meddling and there is no proof either way. However Bob Kraft's statement before the draft about how the Patriots needed to land a big-name QB in the draft sounded suspicious. Did he force Wolf to draft Maye instead of trading down? We will probably never know.

There is no BB on the staff anymore to stand up to the Krafts , and the Krafts may be reverting to the old post-Parcells mode of draft screwups. The FA period certainly does not seem like it was managed by a professional, and I have to wonder about the draft also; in a draft class that was historically stocked with WR and LT prospects, the Patriots somehow managed to go through the draft without landing a blue-ship WR or LT.

It's not like Kraft was the only one who said the Patriots needed t land a big name QB in the draft.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

It's not like Kraft was the only one who said the Patriots needed t land a big name QB in the draft.

Bob Kraft seemed emphatic about landing a Big Name QB in the first round so I am assuming, possibly incorrectly, that he forced the Maye pick. Gresh speculated as much also but the real person behind the pick will remain murky.

If Maye turns out to be great and he was a Kraft pick, you can be sure that this will leak out. If Maye turns into a flop and Kraft made the pick, then we may never know for sure. If Maye turns out to be a flop and Wolf is fired then we surmise.

One thing seems likely: Fans like us will have to be patient with Maye. His first year will be tough because he will have a dubious OL and uncertain WRs, I am hoping that Baker and Pop will fill the bill.

 

[Bill Lee]

And, with us picking in the Top 3 again next draft (where there are at least 2 Blue Chip LT's and possibly 3), and having a boatload of money for next years FA Period, we can address a multitude of sins for the 2025-26 Season and beyond (especially if Maye shows Franchise potential). Players will want to come here (and we can pay them too), and there may be a better selection of young and talented FA's available.

It's pretty clear that signing your own rookies to 2nd and 3rd contracts helps make the team more attractive. We all know Green Bay is not the most attractive NFL city. Wolf et al learned they had to do stuff to make players want to stay. They learned that signing their own helped. Younger players knew if they performed well they were likely to get paid.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

We got the QB we needed, why does everything have to be a conspiracy? I'm pretty happy with the draft overall although there's a couple question marks.