Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Eliot Wolf's Accountability, Harold Landry, Davon Godchaux, NFLPA Survey

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

Can the New England Patriots turn their season around? With Eliot Wolf's recent press conference stirring the pot, the Patriots' struggles are under the microscope. The team, known for its storied past, faces challenges in the NFL, with potential trades involving Harold Landry and Davon Godchaux reshaping their defensive strategy. Host Mike D'Abate and guest analyst Thomas Murphy dissect these developments, questioning management's decisions and the impact of the NFL Players Association's report card, where the Patriots ranked near the bottom. Explore how these factors might influence the Patriots' free agency and draft strategy, and what it means for their future. Don't miss this critical analysis of the Patriots' path forward and the potential shifts in their organizational culture. #nfl #newenglandpatriots Find Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFm... Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-... And follow host Mike D’Abate on X, where he’ll be sharing the latest ne ws about the New England Patriots and talking with fans — @mdabateNFL  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuelRight now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

They say the first step towards healing is taking accountability, but for Elliot Wolfe and the New England Patriots, that may be the most important step they ever take together. Stick around, you're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots Podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I'm your host, Mike DeBate.

I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots country, so reach out to me. Let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL. You can also catch me over where the skies are blue at bluesky at MDABATENFL.psky.social. And if you're looking to follow Locked On Patriots and show them some social media love, please do so at LO underscore Patriots on X. Pats fans, the festivities continue in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The 2025 NFL Scouting Combine well underway. Draft hopefuls meeting with top-level brass of the NFL teams, including your New England Patriots. And top members of that brass continue to meet with the media. We're going to talk about one such meeting today here on Locked On Patriots as Patriots Executive Vice President of Player Personnel, Elliott Wolfe, meets with the media for the first time since Mike Vrabel took the reins as head coach of the New England Patriots.

We're going to talk about what Elliott had to say, his role in the Patriots' decline in 2024, and what the team needs to do in 2025 to keep moving forward. We're also going to talk about some potential Patriots on their way out and maybe one major defender on his way in. Last but certainly not least, it's double secret probation time for your New England Patriots. The great reports are in, and Dean Wormer is just aching to revoke the charter of your New England Patriots, barely above 0.0.

We're going to discuss that point and what it all really means in the long run for the future of the New England Patriots barely above 0.0. Murph and I are going to discuss that point and what it all really means in the long run for the future of the New England Patriots franchise. And joining me here today is the only man that could lend the opinions we need on the subjects we're going to discuss today. My good friend, the legend himself, the Count of Murphy Fisto, Thomas Murphy. Thank you for coming to me in friendship today. Don't Murph. Oh, we had me back before the end of the week. More Murph, Thomas Murphy. Thank you for coming to me in friendship today. Don't Murph. Oh, we had me back before the end of the week.

More Murph, more better. Absolutely. But more Murph, the merrier. It's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year. So is Elliot Wolfe. Well, we're going to get into what Elliot had to say, but there's no question about it. A lot of interesting tidbits to be extracted from this Murph.

But if I'm being honest, I think the biggest takeaway from this murph but if i'm being honest i think the biggest takeaway from this media meet was the word accountability look i don't think it's a stretch of the imagination bud to say that last year did not go as planned another 4 and 13 season certainly not where the patriots needed to be product on the field was clearly below par and the patriots performed as such so if we're going to give Gerard Mayo, now former Patriots head coach, a lion's share of the blame for the play on the field, then the product on the field really should be the fault of the guy in the GM seat,

and that is Elliott Wolfe. And when he spoke to the media on Wednesday, for all intents and purposes, Elliott, I think, said what Patriots fans were all thinking and what they wanted to hear from him. It's his fault for the product that's on the field. He ultimately takes responsibility for the roster building and also kind of

lent his wisdom and counsel, so to speak, as to what needs to be done to move this team forward. But I want to focus on the accountability for just a moment, but I'm quoting Elliott directly here from his presser on wednesday when he says okay last season ultimately the roster was on me we were 4 and 13 just didn't get enough done certainly the free agent class didn't live up to our expectations 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 before we get into your opinion on what it means for 2025 coming in what were your thoughts on Elliot Wolfe's assessment on 2024 is this enough accountability here for him to take or what were you looking for specifically uh when it comes to Elliot's opinion on why this team regressed in 2024? More smarminess. He backstabbed his way into the job. He backstabbed the head coach at the end of last season for, you know, if you remember right, you know, Wolf's quote was, well, you know, we are expecting more growth on the field from these kids. And it didn't happen.

And it cost Gerard Mayo his job, and rightfully so. And you know, and everybody else who's an everydayer knows that, you know, I agree. I believe it should have cost Elliot Wolf his job as well. He took accountability. But then, you know, he kind of backed away from it a little later on, didn't he? You know, it really, you know, it went back to coaching and, you know, we put too much on Jalen Polk's plate. So no, I really, I don't think that he took enough accountability. He didn't come out and say, you know, it's all on me. And, um, and I didn't have this, this team ready. We do, they talked about, uh, offensive line play and he

talked about, Oh, Oh, I felt terrible. Every time I saw Jacoby take a sack, it was, it was all on me. And, uh, it, it, it just, it, it just seemed like, you know, yeah, you, you caught me with my hand in the cookie jar, but you know, there weren't any cookies in it. I think it's a fair point. I think it's a good point. Look, bottom line, when you have the title of executive vice president of player personnel, the accountability is going to stop with you when it comes to roster building. I know a lot of people say, well, the head coach has to have a certain amount of input. And this year, I think that's going to be even more relevant than it was last year. And we're going to get into that in just a moment, folks. So stick around. You're

not going to want to miss our assessment on now 2025 and what that's going to mean. But you look at the moves that Elliott Wolfe made in the GM's chair. Most of the signings that the Patriots had last year were re-signings. And I'm going to be very blunt about that. There were Belichick's guys. There were Bill Belichick's's draftees there were bill belichick's signees that the team felt confident enough in to move forward with them as central figures in terms of what this rebuild was going to be you know guys like hunter henry guys like kyle duggar christian barmore getting a big time extension you knew these guys were going to be a central part of this rebuild, both from an on-field perspective and from an internal perspective, the locker room presence and the leadership that these guys bring.

But you look at the external free agents that Elliott brought in, and I really am hard-pressed to tell you one of the guys that came in that really made a positive impact, with the exception of Antonio Gibson. And again, I think Gibson was drastically underused. Chuk Sikorafor, Nick Leverett, K.J. Osborne, Sione Takitaki, these were the centerpieces of the external free agent class, not one of them hitting. Yeah, there's got to be a level of accountability taken. I'll give you Hooper. I'll give you Hooper, too.

That's a good point. You know, Austin Hooper had a decent year, but everybody else was a swing and a miss time and time again and i'll give you a foul ball on austin hooper and i'll give you a single up the middle on on gibson all right but other than that man he he he gave um drake may absolutely no help whatsoever none and uh it was terrible you could put a lot of it on on the coaching i think some coaches were shown the door that that uh probably didn't deserve to you know considering the fact that this was the team that uh that um wolf put together for them to work with but uh but no i i

don't think he took enough accountability i didn't like the way he backed off of it later on in his statement. And I think, you know, this year is going to be paramount. Wolf looked like a completely different person on that podium this year than he did last. He acted like somebody that was hanging on to his job by the skin of his teeth. And I think there's a good chance after this draft that he will not be with the New England Patriots. Oh, all right. Well, that's interesting. And you will find some within Patriots Nation that are going to support that 100%. Right now, in terms of what I'm hearing and in terms of what i'm seeing i'm not quite willing to

go out on that limb with you but i do think it's a possibility i'm not going to tell you that you're off base i'm simply not going to say yeah i really think you're more onto it than not i think the chances are probably right in the middle right now and i really think that's going to be the case though for all of the season when it comes to elliot wolf because the one thing that we are in full agreement on is the fact that I do believe Elliott Wolfe feels a tremendous amount of pressure heading into 2025. And assuming and building off of that, let's talk about what they're going to do in 2025, because they're going to approach this year's free agency class with an aggression, at least

according to what Mike Vrabel had to say on Tuesday, 130 plus million dollars expected in cap space so patriots clearly in the driver's seat they got the most in the nfl right now they're going to be buyers they're going to be looking to put that salary cap wealth into good use and if you listen to what elliott had to say he kind of addresses it again but he also kind of not addresses it again and i'll quote him verbatim so that way we're talking his words here just being more thorough and that folks is just a way of paraphrasing of saying how they're going to approach this off season especially when it comes to free agency just some of the information 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. Like a lot of these guys have been to other places. They're familiar with these guys. Just having the familiarity with the players is going to be an advantage for us moving forward. I think you hit the nail on the head. Looking to where this team is now, as opposed to where this team is going, it looks like that experience that should have been in the room last year this time around that is exactly what it tells me they've got competent guys in the room that are capable of making these decisions but it also tells me that those guys are in the room because you didn't do your job last year and if you don't do that job this year you're

going to be correct in your assessment Murph he's going to be out and a lot quicker than patriots fans this is why cowden is there this is why streacher is there that's it the other the other reason he might still be here is right now is the fact that he's under contract and you know nobody likes to pay somebody for doing nothing okay and if you show him the door you've still got to keep paying him so we'll'll find him something to do. And right now it's look awkward and stand at a podium and answer questions that, you know, you don't want to answer. And that's what he did yesterday. Well, ultimately, time will tell. The New England Patriots clearly have a number of holes to fill on this roster, not just through free agency, but also through the draft. And one thing again, Murph, that we are in complete agreement on is this team needs to hit home runs in both areas and significant home runs in order for the Patriots to feel comfortable about the product they're going to put on the field in 2025 for

Mike Rabel, the coach, and make sure that he's able to give Drake May the protection that he needs along the offensive line, beef up that defense, and also provide this team with something they have lacked for a very long time, and that's playmakers on both sides of the ball. There are players here that can do it, folks. You need more of them if you're going to contend for respectability, let alone trying to get back to the playoffs. So in that regard, Murph, the Patriots are already becoming central figures in some of the rumors going around out there.

And the Patriots may be rumored to be interested in someone who has a very close tie to the current head coach here in New England, Mike Vrabel, from their days together with the Tennessee Titans. We're going to talk about what that linebacker might mean to the New England Patriots if he's added. When this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. That's fans. Thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots.

As we continue to break down all the news and notes, all of the ins and outs, the ups and downs, coming from indianapolis indiana lucas oil stadium it is nfl scouting combine time joining me here today to discuss all the combine talk is my good friend of the legend himself thomas murphy of diehard boston sports fans.com one thing that does emerge from the combine at this time of year murph is teams like the patriots that are drafting high in this draft that are looking to upgrade several areas on their roster several positions become embroiled

in trade talks they become embroiled in free agency rumors yeah they also become the subject of a lot of draft chatter as well will they move up will they move down will they maximize the capital where will they go one such rumor that came down on wednesday morning though is really intriguing to me i know this is going to be intriguing to you because you've mentioned this gentleman's name several times here on these airwaves and for the first time in a long while but i think this one has a real chance tenn Tennessee Titans have granted permission to former Pro Bowl linebacker Harold Landry. And they've granted permission for Landry to go out and to seek a trade. Now, folks, this one absolutely makes too much sense for the New England Patriots not to be involved. In my opinion, I think it makes too much sense for them not to be the primary destination the headliner when it comes to

potential destinations this is a kid that started all 17 games last year 71 tackles nine sacks 18 pressures four pass deflections 31 and a half sacks in the last three seasons he's only 28 years old yep he played under mike vrabel at tennessee played with terrell williams in tennessee he knows the scheme that they're going to be putting through he's a boston college alum right murph i don't see a scenario in which harold landry does not become a patriot here am i viewing this through my foxborough rose colored glasses too much or i really i just don't see a scenario where this is not the best fit for him no not at not at all. He's already chosen to play here once and go into BC. I have wanted this kid since 2018.

Okay. And everybody said, why do you want him? We've got Zeus Hightower. Why are we getting linebacker? Look at what this man's done on the field. It would be egregiously bad choice if they don't make this happen. I don't see Landry going for more than a fourth-round pick. Okay?

I really don't. I think a fourth-round pick would get it done, considering his injury history. He's already had a blown-out knee where he missed an entire season, but he's two years off of that now. Two years, going into third year, off of that devastating injury. But that knocks his draft stock down a little bit in compensation. And no, get this done, whether you have to throw in a player or whatever.

I expect them to get this done. I don't expect anything more than the Patriots' lower third-round pick in this draft or maybe a third-rounder in next year's draft, but it would behoove everybody in that front office to get Harold Landry back in New England. He's spent a lot of time here. He speaks North Carolinian. The kid's from North Carolina. So, you know, speak well. We'll have somebody to interpret Drake May's all shucksness.

It's fantastic. It's fantastic. I want this to happen. I wanted it to happen in 2018. Belichick broke my heart. He ended up going in the second round. The Patriots ended up taking, you know, Isaiah Wynn and Sonny Michel and got a Super Bowl out of it. But in the long run, what would have been the better move?

I'm not sure. You know, they took Duke Dawson in the second. So they could have traded up a little bit. You know, we all know how well Duke Dawson ended up here. This kid is uh he's still a kid he's still young you can come in here run this system and run it really well communicate to everybody you know where you should be what you should be doing um it there's a a complete flip in going from a 3-4 scheme to a 4-3 scheme and I want this guy to come and uh and decipher

it for everybody else that's going to be on the field yeah absolutely and I'm glad that you mentioned decipher and I'm glad that you mentioned uh communicate because those are the two things that I think Harold Landry can bring to the table right as a veteran that maybe he wouldn't have been able to bring to the table in 2018, potentially having to learn a whole new style of football. I think this is exactly where he needs to be right now. So this to me would be even better of a hand and glove fit now than it was back then. And again, we talk about players on the team that are going to benefit from having someone like a Harold Landry in the lineup. Keon White comes to mind first off because this allows him to be able to

focus on his strengths and potentially beefing up his ability to be a run defender, but also someone that can get after the passer and someone that does have that dual threat capability, which we've been lauding this kid for since they dropped him out of Georgia Tech a couple of years ago, assuming he's going to be back in the lineup and one thing that i will give elliot wolf credit for is did give us a slight glint of hope that maybe the news coming about christian barmore might be better rather than worse if he's back in the lineup this really makes things a lot easier for christian because maybe at some point he won't have to always take on the double team to free up a pass rusher if you've got a Landry

and you've got a Keon White that they've got to attend to that makes things easier on Christian to be able to have it up there in the front so I love this move for a lot of different reasons but you're absolutely right Murph this does indicate a drastic switch in fundamentals a drastic switch in strategy and a drastic switch in technique. And that switch is the 3-4 to the 4-3. And that does mean that some players that have given you pretty good reps over the course of the last couple of years may find themselves on the outside looking in. And that appears to be true for nose tackle Devon Godshaw. Information coming out yesterday from NFL Network's Ian Rappaport that Devon has been

granted permission by the Patriots to go out there and to seek a trade right now this guy Murph 30 years old you know so there's still a lot left in the bank but he's not on the better side of 30 he's on the north side of it which means that things are going to start to break down a little bit but he's been durable 67 out of 68 appearances I thought he had a good year last year, but it's just, it's not a scheme fit any longer here in New England. No, no. Uh, he, he's, he's not that he's not hitting that gap.

That's, that's not what he's, that's not what he's built for. That's not what he he's done. He does. That's not what Elliot Wolf, um, uh, signed him to an extension for, but you know, it, these are the cards that are on the table. And no, I don't blame him for wanting to get out of town simply because it doesn't work. He's working on the last year of a contract

and he wants to look as absolutely good as he possibly can. Now, I know what you folks are saying out there, that this is just going to open up another hole in the Patriots lineup that they're going to have to fill. But that hole really needs to be filled anyway because Gottschall doesn't play this game. Right, exactly. You hit the nail on the head. The Patriots are going to be aligning in much more of a 3-4. The single gap is going to be the new norm here in New England.

And he's not that guy. Exactly. That's just not Devin's game. No. That's not how he plays. He's going to succeed a lot more as that clogging run stuffer that he's been doing a very good job with here in New England since they brought him in from Miami. So ultimately, I don't want to say addition by subtraction here because it's going

to make it sound like i'm listening what devon god shot right here in new england i have nothing but respect for the game i think he played at a high level i hope he can go out there get the maximum amount of dollars he can deserves every penny of it in my opinion but bottom line if you're not going to be in a scheme that's going to feature that or that's going to really cater to your skill set it's better for everybody to make the move away and i think that's what you're seeing here it's exactly what you're seeing here and uh i wish him nothing but the best i hope the patriots are able um to to recoup something for devon and it's just not you know a uh a release situation would that would be uh a question better off uh better asked of miguel as to how his cap hit is going to end up.

The trade will end up being the best scenario for everybody involved. And I'm not sure what, don't ask me what they're going to get back for Devin Gottschall. I think maybe a fifth round pick or a sixth round pick, something along those lines. And that's not a slight against Devin. It's just Devon. It's just the fact that, you know, it is who he is. You're moving a defensive tackle who is scheme sensitive and that has only one year left on his contract.

Absolutely. A contract which last year paid him $16.5 million guaranteed, as well as a maximum of $21 million with the latest deal that he signed. So, yeah, bottom line, folks, it will be interesting times in Foxborough moving forward, a seismic shift in the way this team does business on defense. But one thing I did want to revisit, especially when it comes to Landry and especially when it comes to this new aggressive type of violent defense that I know Terrell Williams wants to put through. How much of a ripple effect do you think a move like either bringing in Landry

or shipping out Godshaw is going to have on the Patriots draft strategy? Do you think that's why that a lot of the players they've been meeting with have been defensive linemen? I don't think it's a stretch of the imagination to say that they may be looking a little bit more deeply now into this class for potential draftees than maybe they were a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, no, no, no. Without a doubt, they've been looking at these players, but they've been looking at these players because they know Devon Gottschalk doesn't fit into this situation. They're still worried about Barmore. Barmore can play this. He did it in college.

But no, we talked time and time again about depth and the fact that this team did not have the depth last year to compete and get better. So it just makes complete sense that they're looking at defensive linemen and offensive linemen heavily in this draft cycle and in this free agent cycle that's about to hit. Absolutely. And again, it's going to be about how this team is able to sell itself, how this team is able to market itself to be an appealing destination to potential draftees, to free agents. Some of the things that we've been hearing from a lot of the guys that the Patriots have been meeting with is that they're very impressed with Mike Rabel and his business-like mentality and the trust that they have in him that he's going to follow through on the promises that

are being made in these interview rooms right now. You're hoping to hear the same thing out of the free agent negotiations when those start in a little bit next month however the wingland patriots may have a little bit of difficulty marketing themselves beyond the head coach because the nflpa released its most recent grades when it comes to their annual survey and once again the patriots are ranking just a little bit above john blutarski in a 0.0 grade point average yeah murph if dean wormer was reading these grades right now he'd be 31 out of 32 and yeah it's just not good anyway you slice it but how much of an impact could this have on the Patriots'

marketability in free agency and the draft? We're going to discuss that point and more when we break down the Patriots' dismal performance in the NFLPA survey when this episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots as we continue to delve deeper into all of the combine stories that are affecting your New England Patriots right now as the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine continues to churn on from Indianapolis, Indiana, Lucas Oil Stadium. A lot of cocktail sauce being served at St. Elmo's. A lot of interviews being had right now

between NFL brass and potential draft targets. And joining me here today to break it all down is the legend himself, Thomas Murphy, of DieHardBostonSportsFans.com. Murph, the Patriots continue to do their due diligence in terms of developing a strategy to upgrade this team from last season. A 4-13 finish is simply not going to cut it. No one is going to accept that three years in a row, least of all Mike Vrabel, the new head coach here in New England. So one of the things that I think

is so important around this time of year is what I like to call the curb appeal of your team, of your franchise. The appealability of the New England Patriots right now is not necessarily at its all-time high. Patriots, again, are a team that's languishing, trying to move their way back to respectability. We both believe they found their guy when it comes to a franchise quarterback we believe that they've got a solid cornerback in christian gonzalez that's going to anchor that defense for many years to come but beyond those two guys there's not a whole lot of certainty in new england which means that they're going to need a lot of money which they have 130 million dollars in available cap space So they clearly meet that regard.

And they're also going to need to have that curb appeal that I just talked about. Well, that curb appeal took a huge nosedive because the NFL PA released their annual report cards. And for the past few seasons, the Patriots have been showing steady decline in this area when it comes to their peers.

Well, they've nearly hit the bottom of the battle nearly hit the bottom of the barrel not quite but nearly folks Patriots ranking 31 out of 32 when it comes to NFL franchises right now and the opinions of the players when it comes to the franchise the ownership all of these things having a major factor. And these poor grades are going to continue to add up and it makes the Patriots look like a feudal franchise for which to play. So first of all, before we get into what this may mean for the Patriots moving forward, were you surprised by these results? And if so, or if not, what do you think it means for the

Patriots in the short term of what they need to do to repair their image? Well, no, I wasn't surprised. They've had a terrible report card from the Players Association for three straight years now. And Robert Kraft's answer to that was, you know, he's going to go study jumbotrons and lighthouses. That's where he put his money, folks, because it's not even a lighthouse. It doesn't look like a lighthouse. It's a platform. There's no cupola at the top where the light spins around. It's a platform. So, no, I wasn't very surprised.

Now, true, the Patriots have have broken ground supposedly on on a new training facility but you know there's some of the other grades that that that really stuck out to me the weight room they they did nothing okay training staff they got a c plus the weight room they got an f uh did the uh team travel they got an f you know yeah i'm sorry but i love the the the fact that the patriots own their own jets but there's no wi-fi on it dude what century is this there's no wi-fi um they still i understand it it's a well-built plane could you put in some new seats they have the original seats they didn't even put seat covers on them you know know, and it's, no, these are the things that lure potential free agents here, okay? It's not just that, you know, the strength coach has got a B on it, the training room got a C-, the locker room got a C-, and what was the training staff got a C plus. OK, now now maybe, you know, they maybe these are things that are being addressed, but they weren't addressed before.

Things like making fans comfortable where they can watch the game on the largest jumbotron in the world. OK, the largest scoreboard in the world, which which really doesn't matter. I'm telling you folks, you go there and most of it is just commercials running around the picture. It's, it's awful. It's terrible. I can't stand it. So, so no, this doesn't surprise me at all. Once again, they focused on the ownership, focused on the wrong things. The grades are basically the same. You know, the training staff has been awful. Maybe it's the fact that he's spending money in the wrong places.

We don't have enough physical therapists here. Okay, that's a terrible message to send to potential free agents in thinking that, yeah, this is where I'm going to get the best out of my body, out of my tool, is going to New England. That's not going to be the case. The crafts need to wake up. I understand that they spent their own money to build Foxborough, to build Gillette Stadium, but you have to keep reinvesting every single year, and the Patriots don't. Of all of the egregious grades that the Patriots received, and they received quite a few of them, Murph. I mean, you mentioned an F for team travel, an F on the weight room, the training staff,

you know, food service, things of that nature that really rank below a lot of their peers in the NFL. These are all tangible, fixable items that if you invest a little bit more time, invest a little bit more money, you can fix these. To me, the most disturbing is the D when it comes to ownership. group should be looking at and saying our players right now do not believe that we're contributing to a positive team culture or committed to building a competitive team that to me speaks volumes and if you have the majority of your players that are viewing you in that negative light something's got to change and something's got to change quickly that's not just a quick financial fix that's something that needs to change philosophically as well. There were people, there were people in, um, in that locker room that, that gave interviews after, after the fact, after the season saying that, you know,

we were out on this coaching staff two, two weeks into training camp, you know, and that, that opinion was not, was not a lone opinion. OK, that goes directly to whether or not the ownership is interested in winning. You know, when they just handed over the reins and sent the best coach in the history of the NFL packing for somebody who had little to no experience whatsoever. And threw together a coaching staff the way he did last year. It was it was It was awful. That's what commitment is. Things like weight and training rooms, things like dieticians,

things like, as I said, physical therapists. These people should be all over One Patriot Place, all over, and they're obviously not. I think that leads me quite nicely into my final question for you on this subject is to quote jack nicholson from a few good men uh these grades do not exactly paint a lovely picture of life in foxborough over in shangri-la yeah uh i don't think a lot of people are looking at this team and saying wow i really want to be a patriot based on what those new england patriot players are saying about the organization. You're a free agent.

You're a draft hopeful right now at the combine meeting with the Patriots brass. You're liking what you're hearing from Mike Rabel, but you're looking at these results and you're saying, where am I going? Where am I? Am I really going to the best spot for me when it comes to all of the all encompassing information that surrounds these teams. This counts for a lot with players these days. They want a complete living environment, not just a team on the field where they can succeed. If you're winning at a high clip,

they may overlook a lot of this stuff, but the Patriots are not winning right now. So they need to make sure that their players are happy, satisfied, and that they're well taken care of in all aspects of their lives. Do you think this potentially hurts their ability to recruit at this point? Sure. Without a doubt, you know, just to be glib about it. Yeah, it does. It just, it's, it's another factor where the Patriots are going to have to overpay. Along with many losing seasons in a row, along with the terrible tax situation that players have to deal with when they come here to New England, to Boston, Massachusetts, the taxes here are god-awful, folks. And, you know, it's just another log on the fire. All right. It's just something else

to overcome. And it's going to cost money. It's going to cost money to change the way players perceive this franchise in the short term, in the long term. And it's going to cost you on the field in bringing these players in here the bottom line is and i've said you know thousands of times there are two kinds of uh of uh free agents one's looking for a bag and one's looking for a ring the guys that are coming here are already looking for a bag and the bag is just going to have to be a little bit heftier absolutely so well said absolutely well said in every aspect and especially when it comes to what you said about need uh and really the necessity to overpay i think this just amplifies that point murph what can i say every single time we ask you to come on here on locked on patriots not only are you

willing but you're always competent you're always able and you always bring the wit and the grit the way only you can my friend so we wouldn't even think to tackle some of these topics without bringing in our good friend, the kind of Murphy Fisto here on Locked On Patriots. Before I let you go, buddy, please let everyone know where they can reach out to you, interact with you, and what you got cooking in Murph's kitchen between now and next week. Oh, you can follow me on Zitter at TMurph207S. Put that last S on there for savings. I don't charge you anything.

And you can check me out at Blue Sky at the same address without the S. Don't forget, the next time Murph will grace us here with his presence on Locked On Patriots, it's going to be another Mock Draft Monday, the first after the Combine. So you definitely want to get those Mock Drafts in. Continue to send them in, Preferably by email folks.

So we can keep them all in one spot. And make sure that everyone is on the same page. LockedOnPatriots at gmail.com. But if you want to send them in by Twitter. You can always tag either myself. At MDABATENFL. Or Murph at TMurph207S. And to that point folks.

I want to thank my good friend for his appearance today. On LockedOnPatriots. But I want to thank my good friend for his appearance today on Lockdown Patriots. But I want to thank all of you, each and every one of you everydayers, all of you occasional listeners and anyone joining us today for the first time for making Lockdown Patriots a part of your daily Patriots coverage today. And hopefully you'll be coming back for a lot more because we've got so much lined up in the coming weeks. You'll want to stick with us, folks.

The best is yet to come. In the meantime, on behalf of my friend Thomas Murphy, I'm Mike DeBate reminding all of you to stay safe, to stay well, to be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Locked on Patriots.