For a still-rebuilding New England Patriots team, Sunday’s 28-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams was about as good of an outcome as you could ask for, outside of a win.
No team would ever root for a loss, at least not publicly. But if Drake Maye can continue to shine during close losses for the Patriots, it’ll instill hope in the fanbase while maintaining a solid draft position.
Assuming things stay the same for the Patriots, with no major regression or sudden playoff push, they’d be in a pretty solid position heading into the offseason.
The Patriots are currently projected to end up with the sixth overall pick. Add to that a whopping $139 million in cap space, and the team is poised to gain major ground in the coming offseason.
But is the Patriots’ head honcho, Eliot Wolf, whose official title is executive vice president of player personnel, capable of seizing the moment in what could be a turning-point offseason for the franchise?
WFAN host and former NFL MVP Boomer Esiason weighed in on that topic during his weekly appearance on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show Monday.
“They’ve got a lot of building to do, there's no question about it, especially on the offensive side of the ball,” Esiason said.
New England’s defense, like its quarterback, may be closer to a finished product just by virtue of Bill Belichick’s tenure as the team’s head coach. Second-year corner Christian Gonzalez is obviously the standout. But the Pats also have Keion White and Marte Mapu, young players who contribute heavily to the defense.
“The one thing I can't dispute, though, I can't dispute the intensity, the competition level, I can't dispute that,” Esiason said.
The disparity between New England’s receiving corps was put on full display when comparing it to their opponent, the Los Angeles Rams, who have a two-headed Pro-Bowl-caliber monster in Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua.
“I can dispute the lack of playmakers [on New England] and the fact that they have to rebuild this roster,” Esiason said, alluding to the lack of receivers.
“The hard part's done. The quarterback’s there. Now they’ve got to build around him,” Esiason said.
For a fanbase accustomed to a 20-year dynasty, where every year was Super Bowl or bust, it may be hard to see this season as a success. But, in Esiason’s mind, it is a successful year.
“I know it's hard to go through the season, but, you know, openly and honestly, Week 1, we talked about what the expectations were for the Patriots, and this was after they beat the Bengals, and I still said that I didn't think that they were a playoff team,” Esiason said.
Outside of Maye and the few standouts mentioned earlier on defense, the talent level of this year’s Patriots team just isn’t there. Esiason believes that fans shouldn’t have expected anything more of New England this year.
“I think it's going to be a long year, and there's going to be a lot of headache and heartache going through this year, so I'm not surprised by any of this,” Esiason said.
The real work for New England starts this offseason when Eliot Wolf and the front office will have a mountain of cap space and high draft selections at their disposal to further build up the team.
With those resources, the Patriots should be able to address the lack of talent at the receiver position and give Maye more protection on the offensive line.
“This [offseason] will be Eliot Wolf's crowning achievement, or he'll be looking for another job this time next year,” Esiason said.