The New England Patriots are fully committing to their rebuild. After back-to-back struggles in the post-Tom Brady era, the team finally found a spark in quarterback Drake Maye, and that prompted Robert Kraft to build a system around him. Whether it was signing a veteran receiver like Stefon Diggs or making several bold moves in free agency, it was all to help Maye.
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Surprisingly, though, the billionaire owner also brought in a new coaching staff for the young QB, parting ways with Jerod Mayo after just one disappointing season.
As expected, Mayo paying the price without a second chance did not sit well with many, including Barstool Sports founder and die-hard Patriots fan Dave Portnoy. He claims that Mayo was wronged by Kraft.
“I don’t know if you can say two things can be true, [but] Mayo got screwed,” Portnoy said during his appearance on Club Shay Shay. “I don’t know how you can give a guy one year, and how he can be your guy. The team sucked before he got there, what were you expecting?”
Portnoy argued that Mayo was not handed the team in good shape to begin with. The Patriots hadn’t even functioned well under Bill Belichick in his final few years with the team, especially after Brady was shown the door to Tampa Bay.
So, if even Belichick’s ‘Patriots Way,’ which had a proven track record for over two decades, couldn’t get the team back on track, how could Mayo be expected to fix the leaks in his debut year?
“By the way, they were bad with Belichick at the end of his tenure, horrible,” Portnoy continued. “So I don’t know what people are expecting. And to me, it’s like you got your quarterback, Drake Maye, who I think was great, so you got a structure.”
Despite a 3-13 record in 2024, the Patriots did come out of the season with a plus in Drake Maye. After many years of trials — signing prospects like Mac Jones or trying out free agents like Cam Newton — the Pats didn’t find what they were looking for. Until, of course, they found the QB to build around. And who better to coach Drake than Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels?
However, Portnoy still insists that Mayo was wronged. “I love Vrabel as a coach, so I would have been okay either way, but it’s like, Vrabel’s probably not going to be there if you don’t get him this year. So I love Vrabel as our coach, having said that if I was Jerod Mayo, I’d be p*ssed… and he got screwed.”
Now that the Patriots have taken full advantage of free agency and the Draft, they look all set to make a comeback, almost like what the Commanders did last year. If that happens, fans like Portnoy might quickly forget how the team sacked Mayo after just one year.
