Kraft Set The 2022 Goal For The Patriots, "Advance In The Playoffs!"

It's been a long time since Robert Kraft took over the Patriots. Scott Secules is no longer the Patriots number 10 and the uniforms have come a long way but how close are the Patriots to their 90s teams? In 2021 the New England Patriots went on a huge spending spree and the owner took notice. This was two seasons after their last superbowl appearance and one season since they lost Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback to play the game. And only a few weeks since they realized Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham weren't the future.

Kraft was not happy in 2021 when having to spend. Here are three quotes from Kraft about his spending spree in March of 2021.

"We're not in the business to be in business. We're in this business to win..." "In my 27 years as owner, I've never had to come up with so much capital before..." "We always made fun of the teams that spent a lot in the offseason. So we know nothing is guaranteed, and I'm very cognizant of that."

All 2021, it seemed the Patriots were searching for their identity and they eventually found it. The Patriots went to the playoffs in 2021 for the first time since the 2019 season but looked unprepared for their matchup. The Patriots identity in 2021 was a wildcard team. Not a playoff winning team but simply a wuidcard team and again Robert Kraft took notice.

In March of 2022 the Patriots owner said, "More than anything, it bothers me that we haven’t been able to win a playoff game in the last three years.”

Fans have been going nuts because the Patriots have not been spending huge piles of money and mortgaging the future by messing with contracts. Fans have expressed confusion as they found it easy to restructure contracts to make up cash to sign big name free agents now. Robert Kraft had this to say about what it takes to win. 

Kraft said, "I look forward to hopefully having a great draft this year. That’s the only way you can build your team for the long term and consistently that you have a chance of winning is having a good draft.” 

Fans have been saying fire Belichick, at least as general manager. That Belichick's inactivity this free agent period means he doesn't know how to be a general manager. With Kraft's comments, anyone upset with the Patriots offseason needs to direct their anger at the proper person.

As for Kraft, Kraft doesn't care that Fans want to win in 2022 or maybe 2023 before going into a long rebuild. Kraft wants to be in the playoffs every year and isn't going to let the Patriots sacrifice three of the next five seasons, to win one a ring in one of the upcoming two seasons. It sounds like Kraft has set the goal for the 2022 season for the Patriots. 

It's win a playoff game or bust. The Patriots were a wildcard team in 2021, do they have the talent and coaching staff and can they draft well enough to win a playoff game? The Bills and Dolphins have certainly made it a lot tougher. They may be able to sneak into the playoffs again in 2022 but winning in January is another story. And at the moment on paper, the Patriots may actually be worse than where they finished last season.