Robert Kraft Eyes 2022 NFL Draft as Catalyst for Patriots Return to Prominence
Since purchasing the New England Patriots in 1994, team owner and CEO Robert Kraft has overseen the most successful run of any NFL franchise during that time span. The Patriots have made the playoffs 22 times in Kraft's 28 years as owner, winning 19 AFC East titles [including 11 in a row from 2009 to 2019], 10 conference championships and six Super Bowl titles.
Simply put, success of that type is a hard habit to break
For much of Kraft’s prolific run in the Patriots’ owners box, the team was under the direction of head coach Bill Belichick and led on the field by quarterback Tom Brady. However, for the part three years, [beginning with Brady’s final season with the team in 2019], New England has yet to taste playoff victory. This is a fact which does not sit well with Robert Kraft.
“I’m a Patriot fan, big-time, first. And more than anything it bothers me that we haven’t been able to win a playoff game in the last three years,” Kraft told reporters at the NFL’s Annual Meetings in Palm Beach, Florida. “I’m not happy that we haven’t won a playoff game in three years. I think about that a lot.”
New England’s last postseason victory came in Super Bowl LIII, capping the 2018 season. They lost each of their playoff openers in 2019 and 2021, while missing the playoffs in 2020, their first year following Brady’s departure. While some may consider frustration from a three-year playoff victory drought to be an embarrassment of riches, Kraft [like all Patriots fans] are not so eager to surrender their expectations for success.
Still, Kraft is savvy enough to see that the foundation is being laid for another prosperous period in Patriots history. Prior to the 2021 season, the Patriots uncharacteristically spent lavishly in free agency to secure the services of top flight free agents such as linebacker Matthew Judon, wide receivers Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne and tight ends Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry.
In addition, the Patriots also had one of the most successful Drafts in recent memory, procuring the services of quarterback Mac Jones, defensive Christian Barmore and running back Rhamondre Stevenson among others.
While Kraft recognizes that a more conservative approach to free agency in 2022 is prudent [given the Patriots’ current salary cap situation], he is expecting Belichick and the team’s brain trust to continue their stellar team building through the Draft.
“I’m happy that we had a great draft last year and it made up for what happened the previous four years or so, and I look forward to hopefully having a great draft this year,” Kraft said. “ It’s the only way you can build your team for long term and consistently that you have a chance of winning, is having a good draft,”
Despite team building being a task more suited to being a marathon than a sprint, Kraft believes that the Patriots days of success are close on the horizon.
“I’d expect [to be back in contention] as soon as this year,” he stated. “I think we’ve made the commitments as an organization. I think we have a lot of talent. Some wonderful young men from last year, and a couple in the weeds from before. It’s a chance for them to grow and hopefully come together, and the team comes together.”
It is often said that there is never a dull moment in New England when it comes to the Patriots. For as long as Robert Kraft, as well as the Kraft family, owns the team, the standard of excellence will continue to be at the highest level in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
