Ultimately, talent will decide where the Patriots go in 2024 and beyond.
Once the game kicks off, it’s generally decided on the field. Jimmys and Joes and such.
But getting to and through an NFL season – all that goes into it beyond the 60 minutes of game play 17 times a year – challenges the best of athletes and most ardent of competitors.
Leadership is a must to allow talent to break through on the field and the scoreboard in the NFL.
So while all the world of Patriot Nation seems appropriately focused and fixated on how New England will retool and rebuild its roster in terms of talent, Tuesday’s retirement of all-time Patriots GOAT leader Matthew Slater is a reminder of the less tangible aspects of the team-building process.
As right-hand personnel man Scott Pioli used to love to say in the infancy of the dynasty in Foxborough, it’s not just about collecting talent it’s about building a team. And teams have leaders.
In less than a year the leadership aspect of the Patriots’ makeup has taken a Hall of Fame-caliber collective hit. Longtime captain and do-the-right-thinger Devin McCourty retired. Bill Belichick, the ultimate tone-setter, parted ways. Slater, as versatile in the locker room and handling the toughest questions behind a microphone as he was on the field, called it a career. Lawrence Guy and Adrian Phillips, fading players on the field, were released and take their culture guiding experiences and approaches with them.
Make no mistake, as questionable as the talent is these days in New England, the Patriots leadership structure may be just as dubious.
And that’s not necessarily a shot at Jerod Mayo, that longtime team captain and assistant coach who’ll by definition set the leadership tone at Gillette Stadium as he spreads his head-coaching love to a new generation and mix of players.
There’s no doubt that returning, remaining captains David Andrews, Ja’Whuan Bentley and Deatrich Wise Jr. are as capable of doing their part off the field as they are on it, maybe even more so at this point in their careers.
But you can’t watch the Route 1 career tail lights of the likes of Belichick, McCourty, Slater, Guy and others and simply expect the next man up on the depth chart to be the next man up in terms of leadership.
Leadership is an art much more than it is a science. It’s feel thing as much as a skillset.
Projected and expected leaders can be derailed at any turn. Leadin’ isn’t easy! Mac Jones’ meltdowns and broken nature are a perfect example of a guy seemingly destined for on and off-field football success who just couldn’t stay projected course.
The Patriots absolutely need to focus on injecting a significant level of talent to the roster this spring via free agency at the draft. That is the clear priority.
Winning, after all, cures all. More talented teams can get by with lesser leadership through winning ways. Success on the scoreboard can help set a culture.
But as a four-win Patriots team tries to turn things around, as new veterans and rookies arrive to inject productive playmaking life into the squad, there also will need to be a fine-tuned focus on developing leaders throughout the roster to work through the problems and pitfalls that are sure to come in the coming months and years.
Do the Patriots need a lot of talent to get back to winning and competing at a high level?
Absolutely, but as much or more than that, New England will be in need of new and strong leadership to help the team through the tough, losing times that are probably going to be an on-going reality for the next couple years.
It’s a struggle to replace unique, elite talents like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.
It might be just as much of a struggle to replace unique, elite leaders like Slater and McCourty.
New England may be in the midst of learning both lessons the hard way.