Assuming the offense goes back to roughly what they were in 2021--diversified and efficient if not explosive--I would hope all the drama about Mac dies down a little. It's hard to believe Mac was ever drafted to be the next Mahomes or whatever -- if I had to guess, Bill thought he could zag with an efficient game manager who makes good decisions a deep, diversified attack just as the league was going all in on "playmakers."I've never completely bought into the narrative that we "went around the coaching staff". I know it was played up in the media when it was noted that he talked to his former coaches at Alabama, but it's not uncommon for NFL players to stay in touch with their old coaches from time to time and pick their brains. The reporting was never precise enough or well sourced enough to make a conclusion as to whether Mac was simply "picking the brains" of his former coaches, or whether he was truly complaining to his old coaches and subsequently making those complaints public in an attempt to undermine Patricia/Judge. Or whether the entire story was planted by someone in locker room or coaching staff that simply hated Mac Jones.
It may be that Mac is nothing more than an entitled crybaby who will be nothing more than a "footnote in the NFL". But it's also true that the coaching staff royally fucked up big time by not getting out a goal line play call in time, not once but IIRC on several occasions. I remember Charlie Weiss talking on the radio once (and this was before last season even started) where he mentioned that as an offensive coordinate, you not only have to have the current play ready, you need to already be preparing for the subsequent play call as well because there is just not enough time otherwise. The fact that the team consistently failed at doing so means that there were serious problems that had nothing to do Mac Jones.
If Mac can run a top-10 offense, there's no reason to believe this team can't compete, even in a tough division. The problem last year against teams like the Bills wasn't the defense -- they actually kind of slowed them down. The problem was that the offense couldn't stay on the field and the D got tired. If nothing else, that should be addressed this year and the OTAs at least suggest things are on track so far.