How do you feel about the Pats today?

[mwonow]

End of the 2024-2025 season went nearly as badly as it could, a good performance by a late-round rookie QB on one side of the ledger, a massive loss in draft capital sitting on the other. Many teeth were gnashed, much outrage was vented.

As of today, how do you feel about the Pats? What might point towards a path back to relevance? How likely are the key developments or milestones?

In another thread, a poster said that he's "flipped the switch" and is in LFG mode. If you're using a fader rather than an on/off switch, where are you? And what would persuade you that the organization is also in LFG mode?

 

[jsinger121]

I feel much better now that Mayo was shown the door. Still wish we didn’t win that game yesterday but they can turn this around with right coach/front office. I feel like the coaching staff this year was so pathetic and that outside of the QBs developed no one.

 

[bankshot1]

I think we knew that whoever took over from BB was going to fail by comparison. It was sort of baked into the cake.
Without delving into messy details, we are now beyond that guy who paled and failed, and hopefully we are ready to rebuild and become a competitive non-inept, non-laughing stock, smart and contending team once again.

 

[cshea]

Talk to me in a couple of weeks after the coach is hired.

There's a lot to like. Maye looks like a franchise QB, they have a gazillion dollars in cap space and a high draft pick. That's not a bad spot to be in. I'm not as down on Wolf as others are and think the impact of a new HC can raise their floor quickly.

 

[Mooch]

Hopeful and nervous at the same time. If we come out of this offseason with a rebuilt O-Line, at least one impact offensive weapon, a shored up front 7 on defense and a solid head coach, I'll feel like we're heading in the right direction.

 

[BigSoxFan]

I feel like this team is light years away from being good or better but a good offseason away from being decent. Like most, will be nervously following this coaching search and the draft. Really need to sign some impactful guys in FA, at basically any position outside of QB.

 

[ShaneTrot]

I feel like we are now the Browns. Hunter Henry will be on his fifth offensive coordinator in 2025 in the five years he has been with the team. Besides Maye and Gonzalez, the roster stinks. I thought Mayo had a very rough year but they were not expected to do much based on preseason projections. At one time 3/5 of their offensive line were players that were released on the 2024 cutdown day. This is a below replacement level roster and I don’t care who you hire, if this roster isn’t vastly improved we are looking at 5-12 or 6-11 next year.

 

[dirtynine]

Before GPS, you could get lost. At some point you’d admit it and turn the car around. I think that’s more or less where the Pats are today. In just as bad a spot as yesterday, but facing in a better direction. That’s a positive feeling.

 

[Jungleland]

Before the Giants loss last weekend, a top 5 pick and new coach would have been enough to get me very optimistic. I think Maye’s rookie season was a legitimate B+ at minimum and probably A+ when accounting for the line and receivers. They are thin but Gonzo is a borderline all pro and they have the quarterback. (I’m also convinced that Boutte is an NFL receiver, though that’s far down on the significance list.)

I’m really bummed at the own goal of going all out (3rd string QB or not) against a team not trying and costing the first overall, but I’m trying to remember that I’d have been thrilled with where we are today just a week and a half ago. They need to get the coach right and not blow this draft but I honestly think the sky is the limit on the 4 year outlook with Maye at QB.

 

[streeter88]

I feel better that Mayo is gone, but wish that Covington had also explicitly been let go. I get that injuries played a big role, but there really was no spark apart from Gonzalez.

Very concerned about who is going to be doing the team building, but the new head coach will have much stronger ideas about system and player fit than Mayo did, which will influence what they do in the front office. Keep Wolf through the draft, the new head coach will push roster construction through free agency, and there are a few bright spots in all three phases (Maye, Gonzo, Schooler) so maybe there is a path forward for next season.

 

[jsinger121]

I feel better that Mayo is gone, but wish that Covington had also explicitly been let go. I get that injuries played a big role, but there really was no spark apart from Gonzalez.

Very concerned about who is going to be doing the team building, but the new head coach will have much stronger ideas about system and player fit than Mayo did, which will influence what they do in the front office. Keep Wolf through the draft, the new head coach will push roster construction through free agency, and there are a few bright spots in all three phases (Maye, Gonzo, Schooler) so maybe there is a path forward for next season.

Covington will be fired too. None of this staff is likely to return.

 

[MillarTime]

Feel much better than yesterday despite screwing up the #1 pick. Forget competing for championships, they need to get back to being a competent organization. Maye is a tremendous start to the rebuild. Get Vrabel in here to stabilize things and build a competent program, build from the OL and DL out, etc.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Assets:

• a QB
• lots of cap room
• very good draft capital, even after fucking up getting the #1 pick
• a blue chip CB#1
• another player with game-breaking potential (Marcus Jones)

Liabilities:

• a generally weak roster coming off a season of poor coaching on offense and defense

The Mayo move absolutely had to happen, so it is impossible not to feel good about that.

I think there are enough assets here to interest good coaching candidates AND give the new coach something to work with/rebuild around. Of course, they still have hire the right guy and make the right moves, so nothing is assured.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

I think they are halfway there. Mayo had to go, he was incompetent. I think Wolf should go as well, but I can understand the logic of not ditching the FO close to the draft.

They still need a good draft this year and I'm not sure Wolf can provide it, but at least Mayo is gone. They were never going to progress under him.

 

[RS2004foreever]

There is no surer way to screw up a QB than firing the OC after the first year.
Which the Pats just did.
I have seen this movie with the Bucs for over a decade.
The key is the GM - players play after all. Light ended the Tampa horror show.
The year Brady came he picked one of the best OL's in the league at 13th to protect him - and he came because there was a ton of talent on both sides of the ball.
The Bucs got 4 starters out of the 2024 draft.
I don't think the Pats got 1.
Wolf is a much bigger problem than Mayo IMHO.

 

[Old Fart Tree]

Fucking furious. All the “losing the top pick wasn’t a big deal” is Dr Pangloss bullshit. This team is still far from competing and a moronic win yesterday lengthened the trip.

Fuck everyone and everything associated with this team, myself included.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

I probably feel better about them than I did at this time last year, mostly because of how Maye looked with next to nothing to work with in his rookie year. Just getting the QB pick right (and it at least looks plausible that they got it right) puts them in a much better place than when BB was fired after the end of last season.

I was on board with letting BB go after last year (though personally I would have given him another year), but hated that they handed the job to Mayo. But, ultimately one year of Mayo got them another high draft pick, and they at least realized the mistake and moved on immediately after the season ended. Needless to say they cannot miss that badly on the next coaching hire. Hopefully they've learned something from the Mayo error.

 

[JimD]

Before GPS, you could get lost. At some point you’d admit it and turn the car around. I think that’s more or less where the Pats are today. In just as bad a spot as yesterday, but facing in a better direction. That’s a positive feeling.

This sums up my thoughts as well.

Even with a potential franchise QB, there is still a long road ahead and a lot can go wrong, but hopefully they have averted the slide to Jetsdom.

 

[BigJimEd]

There is no surer way to screw up a QB than firing the OC after the first year.

You hear this a lot but how much truth is there to it? I would think keeping the wrong/bad OC would screw up a QB worse. Not that I think AVP did poorly, more speaking in the general sense. If you don't think you have the right coaching staff, the quicker you move on the better imo.


I think I have more questions about Maye than most. Still optimistic though. Big offseason for the organization but I also said that last year.

 

[Eric Fernsten's Disco Mustache]

Before GPS, you could get lost. At some point you’d admit it and turn the car around. I think that’s more or less where the Pats are today. In just as bad a spot as yesterday, but facing in a better direction. That’s a positive feeling.

That's a fantastic analogy. Very much captures my emotional state.



...


Sidebar: Losing out on the first overall pick stings.

And part of me says that this is part of the price you pay for the lost season of Mayo. His hands were on the steering wheel until the last game was over. And going from the 1st to the 4th pick is like hitting that last deep pothole (that takes a hubcap off and messes up the alignment) just before the car comes to a stop.

Unlike a year ago there are far fewer illusions about what this team is and might be, in the short term. There's a certain freedom to that.

Onward

 

[cornwalls@6]

Better after parting ways with Mayo(and i assume most if not all of the coaching staff). He was in over his head, and was pushed into a job he wasn’t ready for. I think the entire operation needs a re-boot ultimately, but understand that may be a longer timeline , ie, after the draft. I would still prefer the model of hiring a new gm, then hiring the coach, but it seems that might not be how it goes. If they’re going to hire the coach first, someone with a previous experience and a strong presence like Vrabel probably makes sense. Though ideally I would prefer an offensive guy to come in and help develop Maye. They have draft capital (despite yesterday), cap room, and the most important position in place. They simply cannot fuck this up again, without facing likely a decade or more of futility and irrelevance. Get to work guys.

 

[8slim]

I'm alternating between wait-and-see and cautiously optimistic.

It can't be overstated how critical it is that we have Maye. Most lousy franchises flop around like dead fish because they can't solve the QB position. All signs point to Maye being at least a competent QB for years to come, with massive upside.

We have the resources, both financial and draft, to begin to rebuild the depth of the team.

It all comes down to who gets hired. We know from decades of experience that a home run hire can turn things around in a hurry. And we know from experience that a poor hire will continue the failure.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Giving away probably 3 Top 40 picks is going to haunt me forever, but at least Mayo is gone. They are still in pretty good position to build a roster from, and they already have the most critical piece (and maybe a legit backup?), but all of this could have still been true with those extra picks. Just asinine.

 

[BaseballJones]

I'm excited for the future. I really wanted Mayo to be good. But it was clear he was in way, way over his head. Credit to Kraft for recognizing it and swallowing some pride (Mayo was HIS guy after all...that couldn't have been an easy decision) and making the move right away. They have a potential stud at QB, an all-pro level CB, two fairly exciting young WRs in Douglas and Boutte, a lot of cap space, a very good draft slot (weeps over giving away #1), and a HELL of a lot of work to do.

But let's get to it. I love what @Eric Fernsten's Disco Mustache said at the end - there are no illusions now about what this team is. They suck. So embrace it and get to work fixing it.

 

[streeter88]

One other thing - when Maye was drafted we heard a ton about how bad his footwork was, how he was prone to make bad decisions, and how he was going to get killed behind the replacement level OL they assembled to protect him. He (and some good coaching) fixed his footwork, he has mostly not made bad decisions (how many of his INTs were in and out of one of his WRs hands?) and he is very much still alive. And he has at least one highlight reel throw per game. Now if he could just learn to slide... LFG.

 

[jsinger121]

While I would love to see guys like Tee Higgins and Ronnie Stanley to fill huge needs I’m not sure they will reach free agency. But they really need to attack this free agency like Belichick did for the 01 season. They need to get to at least a competitive floor level. Look for guys that might be undervalued elsewhere.

 

[BigSoxFan]

Giving away probably 3 Top 40 picks is going to haunt me forever, but at least Mayo is gone. They are still in pretty good position to build a roster from, and they already have the most critical piece (and maybe a legit backup?), but all of this could have still been true with those extra picks. Just asinine.

Should have canned him after Chargers game. I don’t care how it would have looked. Organization needed to have complete control of the tank.

 

[tims4wins]

Fucking furious. All the “losing the top pick wasn’t a big deal” is Dr Pangloss bullshit. This team is still far from competing and a moronic win yesterday lengthened the trip.

Fuck everyone and everything associated with this team, myself included.

Yeah this. Sure, I'm relieved Mayo is gone. But the amount of draft capital they lost by pointlessly winning is astounding. By draft charts it was anywhere between the 3rd and 11th overall pick. And that is without accounting for whatever bonus trade value they might have acquired by trading down to a QB-needy team. Trading back from 1st to 4th would likely at a minimum have also added the ~35th pick this year and a 2nd round next year. At the LEAST. And still would have put the Pats in the same position to draft the exact same player this year. It's so, so frustrating.

 

[NextBigThing8184]

I think they are halfway there. Mayo had to go, he was incompetent. I think Wolf should go as well, but I can understand the logic of not ditching the FO close to the draft.

They still need a good draft this year and I'm not sure Wolf can provide it, but at least Mayo is gone. They were never going to progress under him.

I don’t understand the “don’t ditch the FO close to the draft”

they don’t have to completely clean house until April but it would be irresponsible of Kraft to allow Wolf to bungle his way through another offseason as the lead decision maker

Washington hired Peters last January and cleaned out some staff after the draft and that didn’t seem to have any ill effects on their offseason

Wolf needs to go in the next few weeks once the coach becomes clear. Groh and the scouting department can stay through April

 

[OnWisc]

After yesterday's debacle I don't trust that anyone currently associated with the management of this team has the ability to right the ship. You do not win that game yesterday. So lucky they landed Maye last year to at least offer some sense of promise. If there's one silver lining from yesterday it's that perhaps Wolf is less likely to trade down from 4 and will have to actually draft a decent player rather than fucking up a package of later picks.

 

[jacklamabe65]

The Kraft's HATE to be laughing stocks, and that could actually be to the advantage of Patriots fans because the ownership knows that whatever capital they had has now been used up.

By the way, would Brian Daboll be a possible Offensive Coordinators candidate that you folks would support or not?

 

[MillarTime]

By the way, would Brian Daboll be a possible Offensive Coordinators candidate that you folks would support or not?

He is being retained by the Giants

 

[deanx0]

I want Wolf gone as well, and am surprised that the other shoe of his dismissal did not happen at the same time. That concerns me that Kraft is trying to half measure this, but I will give it time.

As I told a friend, just when I was worried that the Pats were heading back to being the worst-run team in the league, the Jets are there to comfort me:

 

[Youkilis vs Wild]

Ambivalent I guess. It is good to get a fresh start with a new coaching staff. I really, really wish they lost yesterday. I think the last 12 months have shown real organizational weaknesses, though I appreciate that Kraft at least acknowledged them with the firing yesterday. Higher level, in many ways, I can justify this season and the last few as penance for everything that happened in the 20 years prior.

Mostly I'm guided by this: the most important thing that could happen this year, did happen -- Maye looking like a keeper. There's pretty much no season I wouldn't suffer through for that outcome. If that hadn't happened, it would have been the least enjoyable season of my fanhood by a wide margin. (Granted, I became a fan in the mid-to-late-'90s, so I haven't seen a lot of tough times.)

 

[jtn46]

Eh. The roster stinks and now they are just like every other reactionary team in a big market. Mayo looked like a bad head coach but why would a good candidate to replace him want this job? They have to figure out how to hold onto a job for a few years with one of the worst rosters in football. Pats fans will likely be calling for the new head coach to be fired a year from now because the Pats will probably be pretty bad again. We're basically the Jaguars now.

 

[8slim]

... why would a good candidate to replace him want this job?

There are 32 NFL head coaching jobs and hundreds of guys who want one of them. Only a few come open every year. The Pats have one of the best young QBs in the league. The team has oodles of cap space and the #4 pick. After this year's debacle a candidate likely has unique leverage to demand a large say in personnel matters.

People go wayyyy overboard with the "no one will want to coach here" stuff. This is a very attractive job.

 

[Jimbodandy]

I want Wolf gone as well, and am surprised that the other shoe of his dismissal did not happen at the same time. That concerns me that Kraft is trying to half measure this, but I will give it time.

As I told a friend, just when I was worried that the Pats were heading back to being the worst-run team in the league, the Jets are there to comfort me:

View attachment 94322

Never thought that I'd say this, but thank god for Woody Johnson.

To answer the OP, I feel no different today. I'm issuing my opinion on April 27.

 

[RS2004foreever]

You hear this a lot but how much truth is there to it? I would think keeping the wrong/bad OC would screw up a QB worse. Not that I think AVP did poorly, more speaking in the general sense. If you don't think you have the right coaching staff, the quicker you move on the better imo.


I think I have more questions about Maye than most. Still optimistic though. Big offseason for the organization but I also said that last year.

The best example is probably Winston - who went through 5 OC's in 5 years - and got progressively worse. I would not have moved on from AVP - who I think did a pretty good job with Maye.

Firing the coach and keeping the GM seems backward to me.

 

[PayrodsFirstClutchHit]

I feel like the Pats were an overwhelming chip leader in a poker tournament with 4 players left. They end up losing their entire stack with an ill timed bluff and end up finishing 4th for 100k instead of winning it for a million.

 

[Saints Rest]

A lot of sound, well thought-out posts in this thread so far.

Giving away probably 3 Top 40 picks is going to haunt me forever, but at least Mayo is gone. They are still in pretty good position to build a roster from, and they already have the most critical piece (and maybe a legit backup?), but all of this could have still been true with those extra picks. Just asinine.

Ed nails my overall feelings. Positive in general with a bitter taste of what was lost in winning yesterday.

I'm excited for the future. I really wanted Mayo to be good. But it was clear he was in way, way over his head. Credit to Kraft for recognizing it and swallowing some pride (Mayo was HIS guy after all...that couldn't have been an easy decision) and making the move right away. They have a potential stud at QB, an all-pro level CB, two fairly exciting young WRs in Douglas and Boutte, a lot of cap space, a very good draft slot (weeps over giving away #1), and a HELL of a lot of work to do.

But let's get to it. I love what @Eric Fernsten's Disco Mustache said at the end - there are no illusions now about what this team is. They suck. So embrace it and get to work fixing it.

For years, the mantra around here, and rightfully so, was "In Bill We Trust." That started to crumble with the hirings of MP and JJ. For much of this year, there was little to trust coming out of One Patriot Place. Firing Mayo may have turned the car around (as @dirtynine wonderfully put it). But there is indeed a HELL of a lot of work to do.

While I would love to see guys like Tee Higgins and Ronnie Stanley to fill huge needs I’m not sure they will reach free agency. But they really need to attack this free agency like Belichick did for the 01 season. They need to get to at least a competitive floor level. Look for guys that might be undervalued elsewhere.

BB's approach to free agency in those early years certainly seemed like the smart one in terms of bringing a barren roster up to competency, but also in terms of overhauling the team culture. Mayo being wholly a product of The Patriot Way (read: The Belichick Way) didn't afford him much leeway to do anything other than bring back the same vets from the previous season. I expect that whomever we hire as HC -- be that Vrabel, Flores, Johnson, or someone else -- will look to bring in "his guys" for both reasons (competence and culture).

The more I think about Wolf, the more I think that the decision about him is not driven by any desire for draft continuity, but rather to see how the new HC might match up with him in terms of player acquisition philosophy. I also wonder if Vrabel might feel like he has enough leverage to demand to wear both hats.

 

[BaseballJones]

There are 32 NFL head coaching jobs and hundreds of guys who want one of them. Only a few come open every year. The Pats have one of the best young QBs in the league. The team has oodles of cap space and the #4 pick. After this year's debacle a candidate likely has unique leverage to demand a large say in personnel matters.

People go wayyyy overboard with the "no one will want to coach here" stuff. This is a very attractive job.

100%

And as much frustration with Kraft we express in these parts, I'm pretty sure most people in and around the league have a favorable opinion of him, and think he's a good owner.

I'm not sure why a real good coaching candidate would *not* want to coach here.

 

[lexrageorge]

The glass half full case:

- Pats will have the most cap space in the league going into the offseason.
- Pats will have the opportunity to draft a highly rated prospect in the first round at #4.
- Pats have fair bit of draft capital in the later rounds as well.
- New coach always leads to anticipation of what can be.
- Drake Maye will have a crucial offseason to work on things with the new coaching staff.
- As bad as the newly drafted OL looked, there are numerous examples of offensive linemen making a big leap from year 1 to year 2.
- Aside from the Bills, the rest of the division is meh or worse. Miami looks like a team that missed their window and is now stuck in NFL purgatory, while the Jets are the Jets.

The glass half empty case:

- The roster is truly bereft of quality NFL talent in a multitude of positions. OL and WR corps are bottom of the league bad, but they have significant holes in all 3 levels of the defense as well..
- Coaching alone will not fix this team. Maybe a best-in-class coach gets 1 or 2 more wins with this sorry roster, if that. The roster is horrible.
- Barmore and David Andrews are likely done. And Bentley's injury raises some concern about his career going forward.
- Lots of teams struggle to come back from these depths of roster hell; some take many years or even a decade or more.
- Maye will likely need to adapt to having a new offensive coordinator and possibly QB coach.
- Not all QBs make the leap in their sophomore seasons - some take longer, and some never make the leap. Mac Jones regressed badly. You never really know how this will work out.
- For the most part, the last draft was abysmal, which really hurts a rebuilding team.
- Not a lot of draft capital to be gained by trading the #4 pick in this draft; #1 would have been much better.
- Draft class is rated as being pretty much below average, and the following season's draft class is rumored to be one of the worst ever.
- No incoming coach is going to be perfect. Vrabel and Flores had issues with their respective front office personnel, while Ben Johnson will be taking the head reins over for the first time in his career.
- And, yes, the roster is horrible.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Eh. The roster stinks and now they are just like every other reactionary team in a big market. Mayo looked like a bad head coach but why would a good candidate to replace him want this job? They have to figure out how to hold onto a job for a few years with one of the worst rosters in football. Pats fans will likely be calling for the new head coach to be fired a year from now because the Pats will probably be pretty bad again. We're basically the Jaguars now.

This is imo, the best opening by far for a potential coach. They have the most important piece, and maybe even 2 good young QB, and basically a blank slate with low expectations and tons of resources available. It's pretty much a dream scenario for a job opening for a non-hall of fame coach who just gets to walk into elite situations once in a while. Losing the first pick hurts significantly, but it's still clearly the best opening, unless you believe in Caleb Williams and want to deal with all that, and I guess you could maybe make an argument. But I'd disagree.

 

[grsharky7]

End of the 2024-2025 season went nearly as badly as it could, a good performance by a late-round rookie QB on one side of the ledger, a massive loss in draft capital sitting on the other. Many teeth were gnashed, much outrage was vented.

As of today, how do you feel about the Pats? What might point towards a path back to relevance? How likely are the key developments or milestones?

In another thread, a poster said that he's "flipped the switch" and is in LFG mode. If you're using a fader rather than an on/off switch, where are you? And what would persuade you that the organization is also in LFG mode?

Cautiously optimistic. I feel like we have the most important piece going forward, a good young QB. Also Kraft quickly saw that Mayo was a mistake moved on instead of digging in his heals and running it back with a bad staff. Look at Jerry down in Dallas with McCarthy. RK has hired three coaches here at two are going to be in Canton and one was a disaster. It's the NFL, you can turn things around in a hurry with a good coach and qb, we have half of that already, lots of cap space, and a high pick. Lets go!

Edit: The coach who came after Bill was always going to have issues because they're not BB and they don't have TB12. It happens anytime you replace a legend, look at Alabama right now. Now we've moved past that stage.

 

[Justthetippett]

I feel great. Great QB prospects. High pick. Lots of cap space. A real coaching search with even the default (Vrabel) being a marked improvement. This is the best I have felt about the team since Brady left. Hope springs eternal.

 

[Cellar-Door]

A step in the right direction, but I want to see them run a real search. My concern is they hire Vrabel after some fake interviews, learn nothing, plug him in, have some average draft/FA periods, get stuck in the 6-9 win treadmill for most or all of Maye's rookie deal.

 

[jasail]

The good news:

1. They have Maye and Gonzalez who are two young stars that play the most important position on their side of the football.
2. They have a ton of cap space and high draft picks.

The bad news is everything else sucks. The coaching staff sucks and was shown the door; the roster is in shambles pretty much across the board; they've drafted poorly; and the person on staff most responsible for the roster will remain in place as GM through the better part of another off-season cycle because that's the way football works.

They're likely years away from being a compelling team but they have the cornerstones in place if they can figure out the rest of it.

 

[jtn46]

This is imo, the best opening by far for a potential coach. They have the most important piece, and maybe even 2 good young QB, and basically a blank slate with low expectations and tons of resources available. It's pretty much a dream scenario for a job opening for a non-hall of fame coach who just gets to walk into elite situations once in a while.

Mayo had the lowest of low expectations and got fired anyways. The Pats had a ton of cap room this year and no one wanted to take their money. If the Pats lose 13 games again next season, which is a ton more likely than them winning 10, what makes Ben Johnson or Mike Vrabel or Brian Flores safer than Mayo? I guess if Kraft guarantees them a huge pile of money he has an incentive to not fire them, but how does that set the Pats apart from the Jets, Bears or Jags, who all have much more talented rosters?

 

[tims4wins]

Mayo had the lowest of low expectations and got fired anyways. The Pats had a ton of cap room this year and no one wanted to take their money. If the Pats lose 13 games again next season, which is a ton more likely than them winning 10, what makes Ben Johnson or Mike Vrabel or Brian Flores safer than Mayo? I guess if Kraft guarantees them a huge pile of money he has an incentive to not fire them, but how does that set the Pats apart from the Jets, Bears or Jags, who all have much more talented rosters?

They have to spend it. Also maybe guys will want to play with Maye. Also, Kraft is highly unlikely to fire back to back coaches after one year. And finally, they have significant draft capital.

By definition there is no perfect available job in the NFL. This opening seems a hell of a lot more appealing than most. And vs a year ago.

 

[snowmanny]

I am annoyed they blew the #1 pick. It likely cost them at least one more decent player. I hope they make the right choice at #4 and will be disappointed if they trade down because I don't trust them on that.

I have to say, though. It looks as if they have the easiest schedule imaginable in 2025 so I will be excited if they don't screw around this off-season. A halfway decent team could sleepwalk to 7-8 wins.

Hiring Vrabel would add 0% to my excitement level, but he'd be better than Mayo.