Robert Kraft spoke with the media at NFL league meetings and shared what success will look like to him for the Patriots this season.
After four losing seasons, three head coaches and zero playoff wins in the five years since Tom Brady's exit, the New England Patriots could use some urgency.
And team owner Robert Kraft was happy to provide some Tuesday morning.
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When asked by reporters during his annual NFL Owners Meetings media session at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., what would constitute a successful 2025 season for the Patriots, Kraft didn't hesitate in his answer.
"If we make the playoffs," Kraft replied.
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That may seem like a lofty goal for a team that's gone 4-13 and fired its head coach in back-to-back seasons. But Kraft clearly wants to move past the last 24 months as quickly as possible.
"The last two years have been really, really difficult -- the worst two years of our ownership," Kraft said. "So, we tried to create the foundation of a new beginning, and I'm pretty excited about what we have."
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It's hard to argue with Kraft's assessment. The Patriots had just two losing seasons in his first 25 years of ownership (1994 to 2019), and their worst season in that span -- a 5-11 record in 2000, Bill Belichick's first year as head coach -- was followed by the franchise's first Super Bowl title.
The Brady-era dynasty is long gone, however, and after two ugly seasons in 2023 and 2024, Kraft showed a new level of urgency this January, firing Belichick's successor, Jerod Mayo, after just one season. He then took just seven days to announce Mike Vrabel as the Patriots' head coach.
Vrabel showed urgency in NFL free agency with a massive spending spree that revamped the defense and brought in Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs to pair with Drake Maye. This month, the 2025 NFL Draft looms as a significant opportunity for New England to build its core. And Kraft made it very clear he wants to see results.
"I hope that we’re never drafting fourth again," Kraft said. "But today, it’s a good opportunity. In the end, if you want to build a team that is going to win and sustain winning, you have to have good drafts. And unfortunately, over the last few years, we have not done a good job in that area.
"I think the organization has reshuffled how we do things on priorities and how we value. And I hope we start to see the impact of that over the next couple of years."
Despite all that reshuffling, Kraft seemed more optimistic about the team's direction under Vrabel than at this point last season under Mayo. But he's also reserving judgment to see the results.
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"I’ll get chastised for saying it, but I think we’re ahead of that," Kraft replied when asked if he believes the team is at "ground zero" in its rebuild. "I’m probably too excited.
"... I don't want to get ahead of myself, but after my family, this team is the most important thing in my life. And the bottom line is winning games.
"These last two years have been brutal, really. So, I wanted to try to do whatever I could to get back to a system and a situation where where we had hope and a chance to do something. And I really think we're on that path now."
Now it's up to Vrabel and the new-look Patriots to prove their boss right.
