At this time last year, Robert Kraft wasn’t a happy man.
The Patriots had just come off their first losing season since 2000, and when he spoke with reporters via teleconference, he explained why he had to make a huge splurge in free agency.
It came down to the draft.
The Patriots owner bemoaned the fact that his front office hadn’t “done the greatest job” the previous few years when it came to building the team through the draft. And those poor draft classes were the primary reason he needed to spend what was then record-setting guaranteed money to cover the Patriots’ roster holes.
Kraft was right.
The drafts from 2016-2019 were pretty much busts, each providing only a player or two who wound up valuable contributors. The hauls from 2014 and 2015 weren’t much better.
So, fast-forwarding to Kraft’s remarks this year, it was interesting to hear the Patriots owner say last year’s class, which brought him Mac Jones, Christian Barmore and Rhamandre Stevenson, had made up for all the previous whiffs.
“I’m happy that we, I think, we had a great draft last year and it made up for what happened the previous four years or so,” Kraft told reporters Tuesday at the league meetings in Palm Beach, Fla. “And I look forward to hopefully having a great draft this year. That’s the only way you can build your team long-term and consistently that you have a chance of winning, is having a good draft.”
Sure, landing a franchise quarterback can cure a lot. As we witnessed with Tom Brady for two decades, his greatness made up for deficiencies on offense, not to mention a few bad drafts along the way.
Add a pass rusher up front in Barmore, and the Patriots appear to have landed a couple of cornerstone pieces with their first two picks. Add Bill Belichick, arguably the greatest coach in football history, and the Patriots are in good shape in several key places.
But let’s get real.
While having a good draft in 2021 certainly helps, there’s still a lot of work to do to make up for several years of failing to develop players into important franchise cogs and longstanding staples of the team. A string of bad drafts can cripple a franchise, and that is what’s led to the Pats having to overspend on free agents last year, just to get back into the game.
Jones is certainly a promising prospect. He had a very good rookie campaign. There is no reason not to be encouraged about his future. But he’s not Brady.
He’s not at a point where he can make up for all the warts. He can still lead the team to success in the coming years, but at this stage, he’s going to need more help. That brings us to Kraft’s second point — needing to have a great draft this year.
After largely sitting out free agency, the Patriots must score again in April. They can’t come up with another overall stinker with the draft. But they not only have to hit the jackpot this year, but continue along those lines for offseasons to come.
Kraft’s remarks from last year perfectly illustrate the point.
"In the end, if you want to have a good, consistent, winning football team, you can't do it in free agency," Kraft said. "You have to do it through the draft because that's when you're able to get people of great talent, whether it's Willie McGinest or Tom Brady. You get them at a price where you can build the team and be competitive.”
Free agency provides a quick fix. We saw that with last year's team, going from 7-9 in 2020 to 10-7 and a playoff berth in 2021. The Patriots did experience a bump up. But it can't stop there, especially with the Patriots losing several key starters to free agency (J.C. Jackson and Ted Karras) and trade (Shaq Mason), along with many in the coaching staff, most notably offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. And that was essentially Kraft's message.
In the end, the draft is the true lifeblood of a team. And since Belichick has opted not to go back and tap into free agency for top of the line talent, the Patriots once again need another infusion of talent from the draft to stay at a competitive level with the rest in the AFC.
Their needs are pretty much the same as when they started in free agency. Even while adding Malcolm Butler and Terrance Mitchell, they desperately need a top man-coverage corner in the draft. They need a guard, having lost Karras. They need more speed at linebacker. And they could use a true slot receiver, or a legitimate deep threat on the outside, to help Jones make the Year 2 leap.
So yes, the 2022 draft is important going forward in terms of supplementing the team. It's crucial to building on the base they established last year, and allowing their primary asset from last year's draft — Jones — to flourish.
The burden is on Belichick to hit it again. The Patriots owner basically put it in his lap. The head coach needs to make it work once again, given all of those failed drafts.
As Kraft also said at the Breakers on Tuesday, he's bothered that the Patriots haven't been able to win a playoff game in the last three years. That has to change.
As presently constituted, however, it's tough to imagine the Patriots getting to the playoffs, much less winning a game. But there's still time for Belichick to add some more pieces.
As Kraft suggested, most of those will come in another draft they can't afford to miss.
