The New England Patriots are less than 48 hours from officially kicking off their 2024 season, starting with the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1. That means it's time to set the bar for first-year head coach Jerod Mayo's squad as it enter a clean slate in hopes of keeping its 4-13 finish last season in the rearview mirror.
New England got busy this offseason, adding a trio of quarterbacks by signing veteran Jacoby Brissett -- the team's current starter -- and drafting Drake Maye (third overall) and Joe Milton III (193 overall). On the flip side, the organization missed out on a few potential blockbuster additions such as Calvin Ridley and Brandon Aiyuk, leaving it up to the youngsters to make an impression and begs the ultimate question: What's a fair way to define success for the Patriots in 2024?
"When I think of success, I don't think about wins and losses at all," NESN's Sean McGuire explained on the "Foxboro Rush" podcast. "... When you think about success for the Patriots, it has so much to do with the young guys; and it's about the young guys progressing, developing. That way when you're going into that next year in 2025, you have this to look back on. Obviously, the most important aspect of all that is Drake right? You wanna see him. This isn't a when he is gonna replace Jacoby? How many games is he gonna play? How many wins is he gonna compile? It's not about that. It's kind of a simple how does he look when he's out there?"
Mayo's given the starting nod to Brissett (for now), although that still leaves plenty of regular-season action on the table for change to occur and Maye to get his feet wet on the turf. It's more likely than not that New England is poised for another dissapointing bridge year, meaning expectations can't be competitive-based beyond the regular season and what the up-and-coming hopefuls prove to the franchise.
It'll all begin Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.
You can watch the full episode of NESN's "Foxboro Rush" podcast here:
