Throughout the Patriots’ recent struggles, owner Robert Kraft has repeatedly stressed the importance of drafting well.
Throughout the Patriots’ recent struggles, owner Robert Kraft has repeatedly stressed the importance of drafting well.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
When the Patriots selected guard Cole Strange in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Rams coach Sean McVay’s eyes widened in surprise.
The Rams didn’t have a pick that night — they included it in their deal for quarterback Matthew Stafford — so they started live-streaming a news conference with McVay and general manager Les Snead before the first round had finished. In the middle of Snead’s answer to a question, McVay couldn’t hide his reaction to New England’s selection.
“Wow,” McVay interrupted. “Cole Strange just went. How about that?”
“Oh, my,” Snead replied. “UT Chattanooga to the first round.”
“And we wasted our time watching him thinking he’d be at No. 104, maybe,” McVay quipped, before letting out a hearty laugh.
The clip went viral, prompting McVay to clarify and say his reaction was “misunderstood.”
Three years later, it sure looks as though McVay had every right to be stunned.
The Patriots released Strange as part of their roster cuts on Tuesday, marking the end of his underwhelming three-year tenure. Strange started all 17 games as a rookie, but that season proved to be the high point.
Of the 32 first-round picks in 2022, Strange is one of only three to have been waived. (Wide receiver Treylon Burks and safety Lewis Cine are the others.) Four have been traded, while 25 remain with the teams that drafted them. Of those 25 players, 14 had their fifth-year options exercised and five already have signed lucrative contract extensions.
Even when looking at the second-round picks in 2022, only one player (defensive end Drake Jackson) has been waived. Another six, including 50th overall pick Tyquan Thornton, were traded, but the other 25 remain with the teams that drafted them.
So, 78 percent of the players taken in the first two rounds in 2022 are still with the teams that drafted them. The fact that Strange didn’t finish out his rookie contract with the Patriots is a massive disappointment — and a failure by the personnel department.
As the Patriots continue their third attempt at a rebuild without quarterback Tom Brady, it’s become increasingly clear that they can’t afford to swing and miss on Day 1 (or even Day 2) picks. Drafting miscues are hampering the organization’s ability to build a competitive roster.
Of the 10 players the Patriots drafted in 2022, only their third-round pick, cornerback and punt returner Marcus Jones, remains. Their retention rate that year (10 percent) is the worst in the league. The other 31 teams have an average retention rate of 55 percent.
The results are better in 2023, when the Patriots came away with cornerback Christian Gonzalez in the first round, edge rusher Keion White in the second, linebacker Marte Mapu in the third, and a trio of contributors — wide receivers Kayson Boutte and DeMario Douglas, and punter Bryce Baringer — in the sixth.
Their retention rate that year (50 percent) is more respectable, but still closer to the bottom of the league (tied with three teams for 25th). The rest of the NFL has an average retention rate of 66 percent. These numbers are expected to be higher than 2022 because they’re more recent.
But things declined once again in 2024. Even though the draft was just a year ago, the Patriots have only two of their eight picks — quarterback Drake Maye and offensive linemen Caedan Wallace — still on their active roster. Wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk and cornerback Marcellas Dial are on injured reserve; the rest have been waived.
New England’s retention rate last year (50 percent), which includes the two players on IR because they are still with the organization, is only higher than Jacksonville’s (44 percent). The rest of the NFL has an average retention rate of 80 percent.
By the end of Bill Belichick’s tenure in 2023, members of the coaching staff and front office expressed frustration with Belichick’s unilateral decisions. They say the departure of longtime director of player personnel Nick Caserio following the 2020 season was a factor in Belichick’s refusal to listen to recommendations from the scouting department.
After Caserio left, the Patriots promoted Dave Ziegler, only for him to also leave the following season. They then promoted Matt Groh to director of player personnel in 2022, before promoting Eliot Wolf to executive vice president of player personnel in 2024. During this stretch, the organization changed head coaches three times — parting ways with Belichick after the 2023 season, firing Jerod Mayo after the 2024 season, and hiring Mike Vrabel.
Once Belichick was gone, the Patriots intended on fostering a more collaborative environment. If the returns from last year’s draft are any indication, however, the organization still has a ways to go in identifying potential building blocks.
Throughout the Patriots’ recent struggles, owner Robert Kraft has repeatedly stressed the importance of drafting well.
“The real way you build a team is through the draft,” Kraft said in 2021.
“In the end, to be good in this league, you have to draft well,” he said in 2023. “Given the salary cap and the value of people you draft, as opposed to hiring them as free agents, that’s where your greatest return comes from.”
Now, with Vrabel as well as two important hires in vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden and vice president of football operations and strategy John Streicher, the Patriots are hopeful they can hit the reset button one last time before returning to contention.
Eleven rookies, nine drafted and two undrafted, made the 53-man roster, with several in line to play meaningful snaps.
Will Campbell is slated to start at left tackle. Running back TreVeyon Henderson appears to be one of New England’s most dynamic playmakers. Kyle Williams and Efton Chism hope to earn roles as wide receivers. Jared Wilson is in contention to start at left guard. Craig Woodson is projected to be part of the starting safety rotation. Andres Borregales won the kicking competition. Marcus Bryant appears to be the team’s top swing tackle.
Asked what changed between this year and last, Wolf pointed to the group’s “vision.”
“We’ll see what happens here,” Wolf said this month. “It’s been positive through two preseason games. Obviously, those don’t count, so we’ll see how they do moving forward.”
Added Cowden: “The baseline that you expect for those guys is just to compete. You’ll hear Coach [Vrabel] talk about it, talk about earning a role. That’s the expectation for each one of those guys. Each one of them may have a different role, whether that’s a starter or a backup or a special teams player. But the idea is you want to see those guys come in and compete and earn a role on the football team.”
It’ll take some time for the Patriots to determine which of the rookies can serve as key contributors moving forward.
But it’s become abundantly clear that the Patriots need to start hitting on these draft picks if they want to finally take a step forward in rebuilding the roster. They can’t continue to release the large majority of their selections early in their rookie contracts.
As Kraft once said, “Having a solid draft is the foundation of building a team and sustaining it.”
Nicole Yang can be reached at nicole.yang@globe.com.Follow her @nicolecyang.