By Andy Backstrom
NEFJ Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS – The New England Patriots were 4-13 last season. More plainly, they just weren’t good enough. And as Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf admitted Wednesday at the NFL Combine, the organization “just didn’t get enough done.”
He took the blame for a roster that was among the NFL’s worst in 2024.
“Certainly the free agency class didn’t live up to our expectations,” Wolf said. “The draft class, it’s too soon to tell, but we were expecting a bigger impact from some of those guys, and we’re still hopeful that they’ll get to that point.”
Wolf highlighted the silver lining of last offseason – now-second-year quarterback Drake Maye, a potential franchise cornerstone – and how excited he and the Patriots are about the former UNC star. This time around, Maye will be coached by Mike Vrabel, who Wolf also highlighted in the optimistic portion of his opening statement in front of reporters at the Indianapolis Convention Center.
But Wolf made a point to acknowledge the frustrations of a fan base that relished in pro football’s best dynasty only to now go five straight years without an AFC East division title.
“I share those frustrations,” Wolf said. “It’s been difficult. Every hit on Jacoby [Brissett] or Drake during the season, I felt responsible for that. Just, ultimately, we didn’t get enough done up front. The game is always won on the lines, offensive line, defensive line – not just because of the Super Bowl – it’s always been that way.”
Wolf reiterated: “Ultimately just didn’t do enough to improve the roster to get it to where we need it to be.”
He and the Patriots will take another swing at the NFL’s always-challenging 53-man puzzle this offseason. Wolf spoke of his draft and free agency strategy in 2025, his collaboration with other front office power players in New England – as well as Vrabel – and a whole lot more.
Here’s what we learned…
Wolf is open to anything at No. 4 overall: trading up, trading down or staying put
“It’s an advantageous position,” he said. “I’d say there’s maybe less clarity this year about what’s going to happen in front of us, but there’s some good players available, and we’re open to anything. We’re open to moving down, we’re open to moving up, we’re open to sitting there and picking. Just whatever the case may be, in terms of making the team better.”
Wolf ultimately has final say on New England’s roster, but ‘the best decisions are made together’
Vrabel made it clear on Tuesday at the Combine that he’s confident in his ability to have an impact on the Patriots’ roster. So it was only natural Wolf fielded questions about the power structure of New England’s front office operations the following afternoon.
“Ultimately it’s my final say,” Wolf said. “But … Mike wouldn’t have taken this job if we weren’t comfortable with each other. There’s not going to be Mike’s guys or Eliot’s guys. They’re going to be Patriot guys, and we’re excited to share the vision to work together to improve the roster.”
Minutes earlier in the press conference, Wolf noted: “I would just say, listening to Coach Vrabel, there’s not a lot of GMs or people in my position in this business that are going to force players on a coaching staff.”
Wolf explained that, in addition to Vrabel, he’ll be working on player acquisition with VP of player personnel Ryan Cowden, VP of football operations and strategy John Streicher and the team’s scouting department.
Wolf isn’t particularly high on the receivers in this year’s draft
“I think it’s OK,” he said, when assessing the value of the 2025 NFL Draft receiver class. “Again, I think this draft is probably a little meatier in the middle than it is at the top in a lot of ways. I think the receiver position is probably reflective of that as well. So there are some players up there that I think – not only up there but throughout the rounds – that can help us.”
The Patriots desperately need more receiver production than they brought to the table in 2024, and, at No. 4 overall, they’d likely get the first crack at a wideout in this year’s draft. But, considering Wolf’s brief assessment of this draft’s receiver class Wednesday, it sounds like the Patriots might wait on adding new blood to its receiver corps until at least their second pick.
As for position groups that are quite deep in this year’s draft, Wolf pointed to the defensive linemen, running backs and tight ends as standouts.
That said, it’s hard to rule out two-way prospect Travis Hunter
“Yeah, I mean Travis Hunter’s a tremendous prospect, as a number of these guys are,” Wolf said of the Colorado superstar wideout and cornerback. “He’s obviously been very unique, won the Heisman Trophy playing both ways.
“He’s really unique and instinctive at both positions. So I think there’s a scenario where he’s probably going to major in one and minor in the other. But I think there’s a scenario where he can play both ways.”
Hunter is expected to primarily play cornerback in the NFL, except Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry turned heads Tuesday, going on record saying that he sees Hunter as a receiver first.
The Patriots have what they didn’t have in free agency last year: a quarterback
“Offensively quite a bit but defensively some as well,” Wolf said, describing Maye’s importance to New England’s pitch to free agents.
“Drake showed tremendous improvement throughout the season. There’s still plenty of room to grow, but having that guy in place is paramount to our success. We’re really excited about the future that he can bring to our organization.”
Later, Wolf was asked about his evaluation of Maye’s development in Year 1, which was flooded with highs and lows, as is often the case for talented-yet-mistake-prone rookie signal callers.
“First of all, the person with Drake is phenomenal,” Wolf said. “He’s a tremendous worker. He’s a tremendous teammate. All of that’s really genuine, and you can see the work and effort he put in and how his teammates gravitate to him. Those are all things that we’re really looking forward to. Again, we won four games. Drake obviously did some good things. He made a lot of mistakes, I think he’d be the first one to tell you that. And so, as we move forward, it’s positive, but it’s not where we need it to be.”
Wolf wants to be ‘more thorough’ in free agency
Vrabel wants the Patriots to be more aggressive in free agency, and Wolf is on the same page, as long as acquisitions are being made to do what’s necessary to improve the roster.
“Whether that means aggression or having a plan or being able to pivot off, ‘This is number one, this is number two, this is number three,’” Wolf explained, “just being able to pivot when something doesn’t go as expected.”
Wolf pointed out that it’s probably not responsible for the Patriots to use up all of their cap space in free agency, except, of course, if there are the right players to fill the right roles, he said.
After reflecting on last offseason’s free agency missteps, Wolf wants to be “more thorough” in 2025.
“Just some of the information that we got on some of the players wasn’t as thorough as it needed to be, so I think, just moving forward, we have a tremendous opportunity with this coaching staff,” he said. “A lot of these guys have been other places. They’re familiar with these guys and just having that familiarity with players is going to be an advantage for us.”