Earlier this week, New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo nearly spoiled the team’s plans for this offseason.
During an appearance on the “Greg Hill Show,” Mayo said the Patriots will “burn some cash” in free agency.
“We’re bringing in talent, 1,000 percent,” Mayo said, via NFL.com. “Have a lot of cap space and cash. Ready to burn some cash.”
It didn’t take long for Mayo to retract those comments. He said it wouldn’t be wise for the Patriots to go crazy this offseason just because they have so much cap space ($77 million).
“You know, I kind of misspoke when I said ‘burn some cash’ but I was excited when you see those numbers,” Mayo said in an interview with MassLive. “But when you reflect on those numbers, you don’t have to spend all of it in one year.
“This is going to be a process. So I don’t want people to think, ‘you got $60 million, $70 million, whatever, so let’s get this guy, that guy, that guy … it may work for a couple games, or maybe a season, but it won’t work long term.”
Free agency will be critical for the Patriots. They’ll need to take care of a few positional needs before turning their attention over to the NFL Draft.
Speaking of the draft, it’s being reported that New England wants to select a quarterback with the third overall pick.
“The Patriots really want to draft a quarterback with the No. 3 pick,” Jeff Howe of The Athletic wrote. “The front office wrapped up its pre-free-agency meetings a week ago and seems to be on the same page that the best way to jump-start this rebuild and yield long-term success is to find a young quarterback in the NFL Draft to build around.”
This offseason could legitimately make or break Mayo’s tenure in New England.