Why Jerod Mayo is using Texans’ turnaround to ‘kind of’ plead patience on Patriots rebuild
Mayo reportedly recently pointed out that former Patriots exec Nick Caserio needed multiple offseasons in order to build the Texans into a playoff team.
While many Patriots fans have pointed to the Texans’ turnaround in 2023 as a reason for hope in 2024, Jerod Mayo wants people to know how Houston got to that point.
Speaking to season-ticket holders recently, Mayo pointed to the work that Patriots executive Nick Caserio put in over his first two seasons with the Texans as a big reason why they made the postseason with a rookie quarterback in 2023.
“Remember, Caserio had been building that team for [two] years before they got C.J. Stroud in that position,” Mayo said, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “So when you look at our team — I’m not asking for patience, but I kind of am. It’s a process. It’s not only about the quarterback. Obviously you want to have that QB1 and build around him, but it doesn’t always happen when you want it.”
When Caserio became the Texans’ general manager in 2021, Houston was coming off a 4-12 season after firing head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien earlier in the year. But things got worse before they got better in Houston. The Texans didn’t hold a selection in the first two rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft, owing the third and 36th overall picks to the Dolphins.
The Texans wound up going 4-13 in 2021 as Deshaun Watson was inactive for the entire season after several accusations of sexual assault and misconduct. Head coach David Culley was fired after his only season in Houston.
Caserio was able to slowly turn things around in 2022. He traded Watson for three first-round picks from the Browns and selected standouts Derek Stingley Jr. and Christian Harris in the draft later that spring.
Houston was actually worse in 2022, going 3-13-1, and Lovie Smith was fired after one season. However, the Texans were in a spot to not only draft Stroud with the second pick, but they were able to move up to the No. 3 pick to select Will Anderson with one of the first-round picks they received from the Watson trade.
Lending further credence to Mayo’s point of pleading patience, Caserio didn’t really make any big splashes in free agency or in the trade market over his first three offseasons in Houston. The Texans didn’t hand out a contract with a total value of over $20 million or more to an outside free agent and only traded one pick in the first three rounds for a veteran player during that stretch. Most of their big spending went to retaining players, notably extending offensive linemen Laremy Tunsil, Tytus Howard, and Shaq Mason in 2023.
Of course, Caserio changed his approach this offseason. They gave a big-money deal to star edge rusher Danielle Hunter and traded a second-round pick for Stefon Diggs. They also re-signed tight end Dalton Schultz to a pricey deal while adding defensive end Denico Autry and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair on contracts with average annual values north of $10 million.
All of those moves though came after the Texans went 10-7 to win the AFC South and reached the AFC Divisional Round under first-year coach DeMeco Ryans.
So far, de facto general manager Eliot Wolf has taken a similar approach to what Caserio did in his first few offseasons in Houston. Despite having over $100 million in cap space, the Patriots didn’t give out a contract worth more than $11.25 million to an outside free agent, opting to mostly spend on re-signing their own players.
From a draft capital standpoint, the Patriots it in a better spot than the Texans did in Caserio’s first offseason. But they aren’t loaded with picks like the Texans were entering the last two drafts, either. While the Patriots have the No. 3 overall pick, they only hold one selection in each of the first five rounds.
Does that mean the Patriots are more likely to trade out of their top pick in order to accumulate more picks? Who knows, but if the Patriots are hoping for a Texans-like turnaround, it might take a couple more seasons before they reach the playoffs again following a 4-13 season in 2023.
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