The New England Patriots have hit rock bottom. They are on track to be selected No. 1 in the NFL Draft, a dubious distinction. Still, it’s no surprise. The course was set in the first months of 2024 and the mistakes continue.

The Patriots themselves are the reason for their downfall. They have made huge mistakes over the last six years that have led to their downfall as a football team and franchise. And all of this with full approval at the top.

Here we’ll just focus on the last 10 months and four major mistakes that laid the foundation for the realization of football’s version of a Shakespearean tragedy. And the worst part is that it probably never had to happen.

The Patriots’ offseason began with the sudden firing of future Hall of Fame coach Bill Belichick. Belichick was named both head coach and general manager, although it might have been wise to simply hire a recruiter who knew what he was doing.

Owner Robert Kraft was the architect of the firings and hiring of Belichick’s successors. Kraft had the opportunity to right the ship. Instead he huffed. In clear evidence of his “he’s a nice young man” human resources management policy, he made two ill-advised appointments.

Kraft initially hired Eliot Wolf to lead the human resources team. Wolf had no experience as a general manager. Additionally, since Belichick’s personnel management was poor, it was ridiculous to hire perhaps his best recruiter as a replacement.

Kraft then made the problem worse by appointing Jerod Mayo as head coach. Mayo had no experience as a head coach at any level or as an official coordinator. As we will show, both new hires failed in their respective roles.

Better decisions like successful head coach Mike Vrabel were available. A team with Louis Riddick as GM (or another experienced guy) and Vrabel as coach would have rocked. Instead, Kraft showed no understanding in his attitude and restarted the team’s attack. The results were predictable.

The Patriots’ 3 field flops that helped the 2024 season

Wolf failed miserably in free agency. His top signing was Jacoby Brissett, for whom he overpaid. Brissett led the team to a 1-4 record as a starter, throwing just two TD passes.

He also signed Chuks Okorafor, a right winger who was on the bench in Pittsburgh last season, and floated the idea that he could play left wing. He couldn’t even play properly and left the team after two games. Free agency grade: F.

Wolf continued his mistakes in the draft. After a brilliant first pick that brushed aside ridiculous talk of a “trading down,” he chose quarterback Drake Maye. It received an A+++ grade here and gave cause for serious hope.

Unfortunately, Caedan Wallace, another right tackle, operated under the illusion that Okorafor, or a fourth-round tackle (at least he took a tackle!), could play left tackle and did not sign or draft one. There were no left tackle(s), nothing. After the first pick, the draft delivered zero.

Mayo came into play with his coaching decisions, the most egregious of which were the most obvious to some. Drake Maye won the quarterback job in training camp. He had outstanding skills and was able to help mitigate many given the team’s shortcomings.

By starting Brissett, Mayo immediately lost the season, causing the team to suffer a setback. Maye needed all of the first team representatives in training camp and throughout preseason. You learn by playing, not by sitting.

Mayo also helped turn its solid defense into a cloud of powder. Certainly injuries and trading Wolf for the team’s best player, Matt Judon, have weakened him. But Mayo compounded the disaster by moving their current best defensive player, Keion White, out of position.

White is a pocket-collapsing nightmare on the defensive line in a gap that can’t be blocked by an O-linemen. Still, Mayo often plays him on the edge. Even when no one else is there, his greatest influence is inside. White’s pocket collapsing is negated at the rim and puts him amazingly in coverage on zone attacks (at 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds).

There are four reasons why the Patriots are arguably the worst NFL team in 2024. This team, with Maye at quarterback from the start, could have been 3-3 or maybe 4-3 after seven games. It’s not an exaggeration to say that.

Maye is turning heads as a starter with five TD passes in two games. If he had played from the start, had an O-line, especially a left tackle, and a top receiver, he would have turned things around this season and had the Pats right in the middle of the AFC East race. This is the biggest shame of all.

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