This spring, when the New England Patriots complete their nationwide search, fulfill all the NFL’s fake “Rooney Rule” requirements and hire Elliot Wolf as their President/GM/Big Cheese, remember this week.
Remember. This. Week.
For what it is worth, the Patriots tucked tail when the bell rang on free agency. They didn’t catch the butterfly and get back in the race. They disengaged.
Wolf has not even been named to the job, and he’s buckling, relying on his daddy Ron’s game plan that made the Green Bay Packers what they are today.
To compare the state of this franchise to the current Boston Red Sox is thoroughly unfair — to the Red Sox. According to spotrac.com, the Red Sox may have dropped out of the top 10 in payroll, but John Henry is doling his dollars out to the 11th highest paid team in the game.
The Patriots, as constructed right now, could hand out million dollar bonuses to every player on the 53-man roster and still wouldn’t reach that height in the NFL.
We crucify the Red Sox … with good reason. But, they’ve got four titles since 2004, the same number as the Patriots. Does the team hear about it? Of course not. It’s Mac Jones’ fault. and Bill Belichick’s fault.
This is Wolf’s plan, totally endorsed by ownership. For obvious reasons, it is being consumed in hefty portions by New England’s gluttonous football media.
Interestingly, as I was typing this, the team emailed about the Mac Jones deal, to Jacksonville for a sixth-round draft pick.
A few higher-profile quarterbacks, even if they were only a temporary fix, might have appeased the fanbase. Instead, the Patriots decided to bring back Jacoby Brissett for $8 million per year. AP file photo
Nobody who watched Jones in 2023 is surprised by the move or by the team giving up on him. But it is difficult to swallow New England choosing Jacoby Brissett, at $8 million a year, to be the bridge quarterback to the future, to whomever the team drafts in April.
Justin Fields is available. Sam Howell was available — for a song. Neither of them is 32 years old, with an 18-30 record as a starter on four different teams.
They have a chance — albeit slight — to perform.
I don’t even get the Brissett over Jones choice. Meanwhile, isn’t Baily Zappe — 4-4 on a team that went 8-18 otherwise — at the top of the depth chart right now?
Did Wolf give Brissett $8 million to backup Zappe until the rookie-to-be-drafted is ready to start?
A competitive NFL quarterback, one with a pulse and a sliver of potential, might have gone a long way in quieting the discontent in the fanbase, even though that would have merely been a temporary fix. The future there will be decided on draft day.
Wide receiver Calvin Ridley could have calmed the uproar, too. The Patriots chose not to pay to get it done. He ended up in Tennessee.
So much for Wolf’s need to “weaponize” the offense.
Wolf ignored the huge problems that still exist — a second corner, a left tackle, a real honest-to-goodness NFL receiver. All could have been solved by cash.
Instead, he needs potentially the best draft in NFL history to make the Patriots viable in 2024.
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