Patriots NFL Draft woes, with underwhelming 2024 class at the forefront, have stunted the franchise's rebuild

The New England Patriots have dropped like a rock in the NFL's hierarchy. In the decades prior, it was nothing but deep playoff runs, Super Bowl appearances, and parades around Foxborough. If you were to take someone right from the moment the confetti started to fall after Super Bowl LIII and put them in a time machine to the present day, they'd think they're in some bizarro world. Tom Brady is part-Raiders owner/part-NFL color analyst only after winning a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Bill Belichick is now coaching in the ACC. All the while, the Patriots have been swimming in the swill at the bottom of the NFL barrel for the last five or so years. Life comes at you fast. 

Part of the reason why New England has endured such a fall from grace, headlined by back-to-back 4-13 seasons, is simple: They've completely failed in the NFL Draft, the central pathway toward building a sustainable contender. 

For at least the last half-decade, the Patriots have come up short in the draft, which has directly resulted in the team's demise and was a key element to the organization parting ways with Belichick. And they may have just hit rock bottom. As teams across the NFL whittle down their rosters from the 90-man units they held throughout the summer to the opening 53-man squad to begin the regular season, there was a noticeable development surrounding the Patriots that highlights how poor they've been in the NFL Draft. 

Specifically, the 2024 draft looks like it's going to be an outright dud after just one full season. After Drake Maye (an easy selection with the third overall pick in a draft that had a consensus top three quarterbacks), the Patriots swung and missed on virtually every other selection. 

Of the eight picks New England made in the 2024 draft, three players remain with the organization. Within those players, however, there are caveats. Receiver Ja'Lynn Polk -- who had an abysmal 12-catch rookie season despite playing 15 games -- likely would've been cut had it not been for him landing on injured reserve due to a shoulder injury. Defensive back Marcellas Dial is technically still with the team, but another draftee who is on IR. 

That leaves just Maye, third rounder Caedan Wallace as the only healthy bodies who made the roster from the 2024 class. Wallace -- who drafted as a tackle prospect -- is now a backup interior lineman after a position change this summer, Meanwhile, fourth rounder Javon Baker initially made the 53-man roster as as a bottom-of-the-roster piece on the receiver depth chart after a one-catch season in 2024, but was waived the next day. At best, he returns via the practice squad. 

Really, it's Maye, and that's it from last year's draft as a viable contributor for the team entering Year 2. That's a travesty for any team, but particularly one like the Patriots, who are in desperate need of young talent amid this rebuild. While the 2024 class may be one of the glaring examples, this has been an organization that has struggled in this area for years, creating cavities on the roster. 

Between 2020 and 2024, New England has selected 48 players. Of those picks, 14 made 53-man roster this year, which is roughly 26%. Moreoever, there have been just two Pro Bowlers (Mac Jones and Maye as alternates) and one first-team All-Pro (Marcus Jones in 2022 on special teams). 

If you want to narrow it down even further, let's look at the first pick they made in each of those drafts. Kyle Dugger was taken in the second round in 2020 and is making the 2025 roster after New England shopped him around the NFL before cutdowns. In 2021, Jones was supposed to be the quarterback who turned the tide after being the 15th overall pick, but flamed out. Cole Strange, selected No. 29 overall in 2022, has been cut. The only bona fide star of this group comes in Christian Gonzalez (No. 17 overall in 2023), who was a second-team All-Pro corner last season. 

Of course, Maye is promising, but the jury is still out as he enters Year 2. And even if Maye does pan out, it's hard to give the front office much credit, as they were slotted with the third pick in a draft with three quarterbacks, so they simply took what fell to them, as we noted.

Belichick was at the helm for most of these drafts and deserves blame for the sorry state of youth on the roster, but those under him that remain with the team shouldn't go unscathed either. Executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf spearheaded the '24 draft, and director of player personnel Matt Groh has been a key fixture in the draft process as well. With Mike Vrabel now leading the franchise and bringing with him the likes of Ryan Cowden (VP of player personnel) and John Streicher (VP of football operations and strategy), the old guard isn't exactly endearing themselves with their recent drafts this new regime is sifting through.