Why James White thinks it’s a ‘stretch’ Patriots fire Jerod Mayo, Eliot Wolf
"It's hard. It's tough. But just give it time."
The heat is on for both Jerod Mayo and Eliot Wolf amid a disastrous season in New England.
Few expected the 2024 Patriots to be a competitive team. But brutal roster construction, multiple whiffs in both free agency and the draft, and poor coaching from a first-year coach in Mayo have seemingly bottomed out a franchise that has somehow been worse than last year despite striking gold with a rookie QB in Drake Maye.
With one game left on New England’s 2024 schedule, all eyes will be on Robert Kraft to see if a potential three-win season prompts drastic changes — especially in regards to both Mayo and Wolf.
But don’t count former Patriots running back and three-time Super Bowl champion James White among those who think New England needs to clear house among its top brass.
“To say, ‘Fire Jerod Mayo, fire Eliot Wolf’ — I think that’s a little bit of a stretch, in my opinion,” White said on the “Money Down” podcast. “I understand what they have done so far hasn’t looked great. The draft picks, aside from Drake Maye, haven’t done much so far, but cool.
“Look, I got drafted in 2014 — I didn’t play nothing but three games. I didn’t do [anything] my rookie season. So I’m sure a lot of people were saying I was garbage … in my rookie season as well. So guys like [Javon] Baker, [Ja’Lynn] Polk, give them some time for those guys to get right. They’ll have an opportunity to help the team going forward.”
Even if Wolf’s draft haul beyond Maye has left a lot to be desired, White also believes that both Wolf and Mayo need to be given some time to learn on the fly — even with the evident growing pains that were put on display throughout 2024.
“As far as Mayo and Eliot Wolf, look — this is an important offseason for those guys,” White said. “First time being a GM, first time being a head coach — the first season, you kind of learn on the fly. You’re gonna learn from the ups and downs. You’re gonna figure it out.
“Then that next season, obviously you’ve got to see improvement. And that’s what I want to see. I think it’s hard to judge coaches. Year one is a lot. A lot that was going on. And obviously you lose Bill Belichick: greatest coach of all time. Now, they struggled last year, so it’s kind of hard to think Mayo was just going to walk in here and completely shift everything that was going on. So I think everybody has to be a little bit more patient.”
While it remains to be seen if Kraft and Co. will end up making such a drastic course correction with both Mayo and Wolf this offseason, White did add that whatever job security both have this offseason will dissipate in short order of the 2025 season also leads to underwhelming returns.
“It’s hard. It’s tough. But just give it time,” White said. “It’s a very important offseason as far as the draft and free agency. Just let it work out. Let Mayo and Eliot Wolf figure it out, and then look — if things aren’t great next year? Fine, have at it. Let it fly.”
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