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The Patriots grabbed the headlines at the start of the league’s new year thanks to owner Robert Kraft opening his wallet and spending a load of free agency cash. While appealing to Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry, Matthew Judon and others expected to improve the club in major ways in 2021, the reason New England had to continue this spending frenzy is due to the club’s poor drafting these last years. These signings weren’t made to push the Patriots to the top, it was to bring them to sea level, which isn’t exactly the perfect way to build a championship club. If the Patriots had been able to hit some of their recent picks in the draft, there probably wouldn’t be as many holes as there were to fill via free agency.
Fortunately for the club, this does not seem to be lost on the Patriots.
“Look, at the end of the day, if you want to have a good, consistent winning football team, you can’t do it in free agency,” Kraft told reporters Wednesday, via WEEI.com. “You have to do it through the draft because that’s when you are able to recruit some really talented people, whether it’s Willie McGinest or Tom Brady – you get them at a price that allows you to create a team and to be competitive. on their first contract and they are Superstars, you can only balance a limited number of them. And so really, the teams that write well are the ones that will always be good. “
Building a core through the draft has been a struggle for the Patriots in recent years. In the first round in particular, New England haven’t been able to find a solid piece to their foundations since the selection of Chandler Jones (No.21) and Dont’a Hightower (No.25) in 2012. However , it’s not just a first-round number for the team. Of the 22 players selected from 2016 to 2018, only five remain in the organization.
“I don’t think we’ve done the best job in recent years and I really hope, and believe – I’ve seen a different approach this year,” Kraft added. “At the end of the day, it all depends on what’s going on on the pitch and how well people execute. You really don’t know about a draft – how good a draft is – for at least two years. And especially in it. ‘environment where we are now where I’m not quite sure what our training and learning abilities will be like in the offseason. This is something that we are working very hard with the union today and I think last year the young players were really at a disadvantage because they didn’t have the time to come and learn and be a part of it. “
During the squeeze, Kraft called the Patriots’ 2020 7-9 campaign “horrible” and noted that “we want to win, and when we don’t, we’re not happy.” For New England to bounce back in a major way in 2021, they will need to have better draft success, starting at No.15 overall where they could aim for a quarterback to lead their franchise for the foreseeable future.
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