To steal a phrase from legendary Boston baseball team-builder and now once-again Red Sox executive Theo Epstein, the Patriots rebirth and rebuild will be “multifactorial” in its makeup.
There is no one-step or simple path from the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft thanks to a four-win, last-place season to the top of the football mountain where New England once resided on a seemingly annual basis.
Nope. There’s lots of layers and decisions along the way toward new-age redemption for Robert Kraft, Jerod Mayo, Eliot Wolf and the rest of the collaborative chugging along these days in Foxborough.
And in many ways those varied interests and approaches will be crossing paths this early April Monday at Gillette Stadium.
Representing the sexy, simple, supposedly direct side of things will be LSU Heisman-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels. The lanky modern playmaker with the swift feet and strong arm makes an ESPN-worthy, not-top 30 visit to New England just a couple days after fellow top talent Drake Maye was in town on Friday.
The two star quarterback prospects represent the most meaningful potential path toward Kraft’s publicly-voiced goal of his team returning to contender status on an annual basis. At least one of the two is a virtual lock to be on the board when New England is on the clock on April 25. Each has his promotors and detractors. Each has obvious talent and upside. Each could be the key cog in the swift rebuild, the kind of stabilizing franchise foundation that Joe Burrow became in Cincinnati or, as recently as a few months ago, C.J. Stroud somewhat unexpectedly and immediately became in Houston.
But while all of Patriot Nation is focused on the top of the draft and the franchise QB opportunities that it presents, that is far from the only aspect of the post-Bill Belichick transition that’s taking place. The Patriots officially begin their offseason program on Monday, a step that’s both symbolic but also tangible. New players and returning vets alike are in town and telling us all about it via their various social media accounts. Guys are adjusting on the fly to what their life in New England is all about, both in terms of football and real world.
To put it bluntly and over dramatically, today is the first day of the rest of our lives of the actual new football program in Foxborough. The foundation upon what this and future seasons may be built on. The first real step in the new culture in New England that sledge hammered silos and eradicated egos but lavishes players with plenty of love. And answers their “why?” as the new staff and new leadership begin anew, a new era in the still-looming shadow of the greatest dynasty that the NFL has ever seen.
There is a new brain trust trying to earn the trust of the outside world.
There is a focus on drafting, developing and retaining talent, as we’ve seen all offseason, most notably with the weekend re-signing of young stud safety Kyle Dugger to one of the more lucrative contracts ever given at his position. He follows guys like Mike Onwenu. And Josh Uche. And Hunter Henry. And Kendrick Bourne.
Sure, a cynic will say such signings are just keeping together a band that played terrible, losing music last fall.
Those who want flashy, sexy change have not been fulfilled and are now focused on draft night to quench that thirst for star power, which either Daniels or Maye would certainly seem to do at No. 3 overall.
But if the Patriots are to turn things around and do so in the most expeditious of ways, it’s going to take a lot of good decisions in a lot of different areas.
Keeping the right core players.
Adding the right mix of new faces.
Setting the right tone in the weight room and workouts of the offseason program.
Making the right decision with the franchise-altering No.
3 overall pick.
Multifactorial is crossing paths with collaborative today inside Gillette Stadium, just as the moon is crossing paths with the sun.
And in both cases, all of New England is excitedly watching to see what it’s all about.