Getty Patriots owner Robert Kraft faces a big challenge going forward with the franchise.
The New England Patriots appear headed back to the “dark ages”, the days before the team drafted quarterback Drew Bledsoe with the No. 1 pick in the 1993 NFL Draft.
That’s the picture NBC Sports Boston’s John Tomase painted on Monday, October 16, amid the team’s 1-5 plunge. New England’s overall record and volume of playoff wins since 2020 now resembles the pre-Tom Brady era, and more like the pre-Bledsoe era before the Patriots enjoyed four winning seasons and a Super Bowl appearance in the 1990s.
With the No. 1 pick in the 1993 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots select Drew Bledsoe:
“To fans under 35, the franchise’s laughingstock era is limited to NFL Films, but students of history recognize that no dynasty lasts forever, whether it’s of the Ming, Holy Roman, or Belichickean vintage,” Tomase wrote. “So, welcome to the bad old days. The barbarians have reached the gates of Gillette Stadium. It was always going to end this way.”
Tomase highlighted the Patriots’ overall marks broken down by 1960-2000 before Brady followed by his time as the starter and then the post-Brady era. The Patriots had a .465 winning percentage with seven playoff wins before Brady from 1960 to 2000. New England’s post-Brady era looks worse already with a .464 winning percentage and no playoff wins.
Patriots Starting to Look Like AFC East Rivals’ Past Trajectory
Bledsoe to Brady appears to be the closest the Patriots will get to a strong quarterback succession. It didn’t happen after 2019 when Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as Cam Newton nor Mac Jones provided an answer for the Patriots as Tomase pointed out.
20 years ago, a 6th-round draft pick named Tom Brady came in for an injured Drew Bledsoe…
Y’all know the rest… 🐐🐐
“That’s a recipe for a decade of darkness, much like the [Miami] Dolphins have won but a single playoff game since Dan Marino retired in 1999, or the [Buffalo] Bills needed 25 years to replace Hall of Famer Jim Kelly with All-Pro Josh Allen,” Tomase wrote. “Joe Montana to Steve Young and Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers are the exceptions. Following Marino with Jay Fielder, Gus Frerotte, Cleo Lemon, Chad Henne, etc. — that’s the rule. So are Cam Newton and now Jones.”
Patriots May Not Fix QB Problems With 2024 NFL Draft
New England isn’t set for grabbing one of the top two or three quarterbacks in the 2024 draft. The Carolina Panthers (0-6) are on track for the worst record, and then there’s a line of four other teams with 1-5 records besides the Patriots.
North Carolina’s Drake Maye, USC’s Caleb Williams, and Washington’s Michael Penix could easily come off the board before the Patriots pick if the season ended today. Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Oregon’s Bo Nix, and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders are more likely to be available if the Patriots can’t finish higher in the draft order than the Panthers, Chicago Bears (1-5), Denver Broncos (1-5), and New York Giants (1-5).
If the Patriots can’t strike gold in the draft and don’t spend big on free agency, similar results to the past three years will likely loom. As Tomase noted, “it’s probably going to get a lot worse before it gets better” this season and possibly beyond.
“Now they are history,” Tomase wrote about the Patriots dynasty. “That’s the way of the world, and eventually it gets everyone. We believed it would never end, but their reign was always temporary.”
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