The good news for Bob and Jonathan Kraft is that they have control of their franchise for the first time this century.
For the last 24 years, the team was largely under the powerful thumb of Bill Belichick, who won 17 AFC East titles, nine conference championships, and six Super Bowls. It started to go south when Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay in the early days of the COVID pandemic in 2020, and four days after last season’s final game — a home loss to the (gulp) Jets — Belichick was fired by Bob Kraft.
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“We’re looking for collaboration,” Bob Kraft said when 38-year-old rookie head coach Jerod Mayo was introduced Jan. 17. “This is the first time in a quarter of a century we had to make major changes, and we want to see what we have in-house, look what’s out there in the marketplace, and then do what we think is right.”
In addition to Mayo, the Krafts named 42-year-old Eliot Wolf the team’s new executive vice president of player personnel. In April, with input from a team of advisers in and outside of Gillette Stadium, the Patriots drafted their future quarterback, 22-year-old Drake Maye.
On the eve of a new season, according to the NFL Players Association, the Patriots have an NFL-tops $49 million in salary-cap space.
New coach. New player personnel boss. New franchise quarterback. Plenty of cash to spend . . . There will be no pinning the tail on the Hoodie if things don’t start getting better soon.
It’s all on the Krafts.
The official Patriot masthead lists Robert K. Kraft, Jonathan A. Kraft, Daniel Kraft, and Josh Kraft under “Ownership/Board of Directors.” No one else.
Jonathan A. Kraft is president of the Kraft Group, always at the side of his father on game days, and I believe he’s the power behind the throne in the Patriot hierarchy. Longtime Patriots PR boss Stacey James insists Jonathan has nothing to do with the football operation, but I have trouble buying that. Like Prince Charles, Jon Kraft has waited a long time to take over, and this should be his time. Alpha boss Belichick is gone. The Krafts have their team back.
Unfortunately, the “under-new-management” 2024 Patriots might be bad and boring. In a league of high-powered aerial offenses, the Patriots plan to rely on their running game. And they have almost zero offensive star power.
This explains why the Patriots — once NFL Prime Time Darlings — have been relegated to the pedestrian 1 p.m. time slot for most of their 2024 schedule.
The Flying Elvises still sell out every home game and have a season-ticket waiting list, but there’s a restlessness in Patriot Nation. Poor drafting, tight-fisted spending, bungled coaching, and the abject mishandling of 2021 first-round quarterback selection Mac Jones have driven them to the AFC East basement. Despite Gillette Stadium’s nifty new lighthouse (on a clear day, you can see Providence), Foxborough is no longer a destination for NFL talent.
In late April, the Patriots drafted Maye with the third overall pick — the team’s highest selection since Drew Bledsoe was taken No. 1 overall by Bill Parcells in 1993. Maye has a big arm and a nice attitude, but we have no idea what he’ll be, and the three-game preseason did little to answer fans’ questions.
Mayo, the novice head coach (and just a few years removed from playing sidekick to Tom E. Curran on NBC Sports Boston’s “Quick Slants”), delivered confusing messages throughout Maye’s first pro summer. The young boss said there’d be “competition” for starting jobs, later acknowledged that Maye “outplayed” Jacoby Brissett, but ultimately decided Brissett is the starter.
It was clear with the Patriots’ Swiss cheese offensive line that Maye needs to be benched for his own protection, but we know there’s going to be nonstop noise to play the kid if the Patriots lose a bunch of games before Halloween.
“Fans always want to see what’s new, particularly if you’re losing games,” said Parcells, the Hall of Fame coach who has known Brissett since he was a 15-year-old high schooler in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Drafted by the Patriots in 2016, Brissett started two games while Brady was serving his Deflategate suspension. He went on to play four seasons with the Colts, one with the Dolphins, one with the Browns, and last year got into three games with Washington before coming back to New England. He’s a 31-year-old veteran of eight NFL seasons (48 starts), a stand-up guy who should be a great role model for Maye.
“I’m excited for this week ahead,” Brissett said Wednesday. “I’m excited for our team to go on the road the first week and kind of make our imprint this year in what this 2024 season is going to be.”
Swell. So why do I feel like I need to cover my eyes Sunday at 1 p.m.?
In August, the Patriots traded their best player (linebacker Matthew Judon) to Atlanta for a third-round pick. This is a pretty good indication that your local football team is in full M.L. Carr Tank Mode for 2024. Some of the fan base would be fine with a winless team that gets the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft.
With Maye on the bench, the Patriots are going to be a tough watch. Fair or unfair, Mayo, Wolf, and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt start the season on the hot seat.
“We try to hire the best people we can find and let them do their job and hold them accountable,” Bob Kraft said in January. “If we’ve hired the wrong people, then we’ll have to make a change. But we’re going to try to enjoy it as fans.”
Sour Bill is gone. The Krafts are back in control. Let’s see how this tastes.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.
