The hope heading into this offseason for the New England Patriots was that they’d come out a little further ahead than they did a year ago.
According to Patriots owner Robert Kraft, he believes they’re certainly much better off this time around than they were at this time in 2024.
Kraft, who spoke to the media on Tuesday down at the league meetings in Florida, has so far been pleased with how things have gone with his football team. With new head coach Mike Vrabel at the helm, the overall confidence level appears to be better, and it feels like things are in a good place.
On Tuesday Kraft said the last two years have been difficult for him, calling it, “the worst two years of our ownership.” However, given how free agency has played out so far where the club has added talented names like Milton Williams, Morgan Moses, Stefon Diggs, among others, Kraft is feeling pretty good about where things are at.
“I’m pretty excited about what we have,” said Kraft. “I’ve been told to calm down, but I really am.”
Still, given that they’re coming off a season where they were extremely limited from a talent standpoint, Kraft was asked on Tuesday just how far ahead they really are from last year, and if this remains a starting point in a rebuild that is still ongoing. Kraft added that unlike last year, they have a head coach who has more experience in making decisions on the fly, and he’s praised Vrabel for the culture he’s already starting to build.
“I’ll get chastised for saying it, but I think we’re ahead of that,” said Kraft. “I think we have some real talent in the locker room, and I think we’re privileged now to have a head coach who has learning curve experience and has really come in and created a great atmosphere.”
“I remember him as a player and his competitive attitude. He has grown as an individual in terms of having that edge, but also being able to build a sense of team and cooperation. It’s unusual when you have every part of the building feels that he’s someone who they can relate to, and he’s cooperating and is putting team first. It’s really created a great sense of karma.”
Like last spring, Kraft expressed his desire to see his team get back to the postseason. As we’ve seen from other young teams, most notably Houston the past two years, anything can happen in January, and it certainly changes the dynamics of the playoffs. His hope now is that it’s his team who starts having success, and it’s something he mentioned again as he was asked about his own expectations.
“Ever since I’ve owned the team, the objective was to have the team make the playoffs. Because once you make the playoffs, anything can happen,” said Kraft. “I think we have experience over the last few decades of seeing how that happens. I know I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but after my family, this team is the most important thing in my life, and the bottom line is winning games.”
“These last two years have been brutal, really. So, I wanted to try to do whatever I could to get back to a system and a situation where we had hope and a chance to do anything. I really think we’re on that path now.”
One other notable thing he said was the fact that this time around, everyone seems to be on the same page. Based on one of his statements, that didn’t appear to be tha case compared to how things played out a year ago.
“I have confidence that this group is all on the same page,” said Kraft. “The most important thing is everyone is putting team first. In this business, you can’t have little groupings who have their own ideas. The fact that it’s starting fresh and everyone expresses how they feel. It’s been very exciting for me.”
For now, based on how he’s seen Vrabel and the front office operate to this point, Kraft’s happy with what he’s seen. The feeling is that the operation has gone much better and they’re now in a better place, and he’s looking forward to seeing it all unfold later this fall.
“I think having the infusion of the new people and having a plan and being able to connect the dots and put it all together, I see it happening, and I’m probably too excited, but I am,” said Kraft. “The truth is, I’m very excited about this coming year, and I can’t wait for the games to begin.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
