While preaching patience, Robert Kraft wants playoffs for 2024 Patriots

BOSTON -- On Monday morning, new Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo asked fans for their patience as the team tries to turn everything around after a 4-13 season.

A day later, team owner Robert Kraft said he understands the process and is willing to be patient. But he also has some hopes for the upcoming season.

"My hope and expectation is to make the playoffs," Kraft told reporters at the NFL owners meetings in Orlando. "That's something realistically -- we have a new leadership team, we're gonna have a lot of young players we don't know. A lot can happen. We might struggle more than I want. But the good news -- and when you're running any business is you try to figure out what the key variables are and then you try to put people in place that can react and adapt to what has to happen. I really feel we have a good young team. I just hope we don't struggle. But in the end, everything is chit-chat until you get on the field. X's and O's are where it's at."

Without mentioning Bill Belichick and Tom Brady by name, Kraft acknowledged the unique pressure in New England for the franchise to be operating at the highest possible level.

"So I say that to our fans and hope -- I believe we're going in the right direction," Kraft said. "We've gone through a tough three, four years. At the same time, we were privileged to have the greatest coach in the 100-year history of the game. He did amazing things. Combined with the quarterback we had for two decades, it's a pretty high standard. But we're happy we were able to put the pieces in place that allowed that to happen and flourish. And now we have to get back so we're competing at a range we're in a similar, hopefully, position."

While the ending of Belichick's tenure involved a 29-38 record over the last four years, Kraft noted that some re-signings this offseason -- Kyle Dugger, Mike Onwenu, Josh Uche, Hunter Henry, Kendrick Bourne and Anfernee Jennings, to name a few -- are reminiscent of the days when the Patriots were successful year in and year out.

"I think we've actually made some improvements," Kraft said. "I think we're getting the system of functioning the way we did, where this year we signed a number of younger players that we had drafted or been in our system, and as a foundation, if you want to win consistently, you have to draft well and then get those players on the second contract. And we started to do that this year."

Though Kraft admitted that he feels bad for fans who wanted some major acquisitions made in free agency, he also stated that he's not looking to make a "splash" just for the headlines in the offseason.

"I've told [Jerod Mayo, Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh], 'Look, I don't want to do splashy things just to get attention and get good headlines one day. I want us to do the things that are substantive and good for the short term and long term.' And I think, look, this will be my 31st season, we've never been drafting in the third position. I hope it'll be similar, I think back to coming in as an owner in '94 and we were drafting fourth. And we got my fifth son, Willie McGinest. And he really kicked some butt and helped bring a certain attitude to the team. And we made the playoffs that first year. But who knows? But we have a chance to get really good personnel in this draft."

Given that experience, Kraft knows that climbing back into contention can't happen overnight.

"You know, that's a function of have we put the right people in place to make it happen?" Kraft said when asked about the prospect of the team potentially putting all of its eggs in the basket of a rookie quarterback without the proper foundational support. "I'd like to think there will be a big improvement next year. And that's my hope. We know we have to be patient. Everything is new. I mean, I think we have 20 new coaches. Just to be able to integrate them into a system, I think Jerod has terrific people skills and I think Eliot and Matt have really good knowledge of our product and what has to be done."

While the demand to return to the playoffs -- and, theoretically, win in the playoffs -- having been on the table for the past several years, Kraft has shown some patience. But ultimately, he admitted that his undying optimism tends to guide his expectations.

"I think they're in tune and I'm excited. I mean, some people call me an eternal optimist, so I don't know how much you should take what I say," Kraft said. "But really, I'm excited by what's going on and the process, and they're thorough. They're very thorough. So I'm excited by what I've seen so far. And we'll evaluate after the draft and see how that's gone and decide where we go from there."