Greg Bedard: Jerod Mayo’s contract buyout was MASSIVE
Greg Bedard of BostonSportsJournal.com joined Felger and Mazz on Wednesday to discuss the latest with the New England Patriots. While on, Bedard hit on Jerod Mayo’s rumored contract buyout with the Patriots had they chosen to move on from him that Mike Florio brought up on yesterday’s show and how much the buyout was rumored to be.
How much was Jerod Mayo’s contract buyout rumored to be?
Felger: Quite a couple important details have come out in the last 24 hours about the Patriots staff. That’s one of them that not just was Jerod Mayo promised the head coaching job in writing, but that if they didn’t give it to him, they were going to owe him a buyout. So not only are they paying off Belichick probably, Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal, what do you know about a Jerod Mayo buyout?
Greg Bedard: So the rumor down in Mobile, Alabama (where Greg was for the Senior Bowl) is that the buyout for Jerod Mayo was $10 million dollar. Now that’s just a rumor, I don’t have anything fact based, but that was the rumor among NFL people that the reason that they went with Mayo and they didn’t open up anything, head coach or GM. And I think Mazz was asking the question like, does this pertain to Eliot Wolf? I don’t know, but that there was a $10 million buyout for Jerod Mayo’s contract.
Mazz: Well, that’s a whopper.
Felger: So just to jump ahead quickly, Eliot Wolf looks like he’s assumed GM duties and we’ll get into this coming up, But Mazz asked the same question, was there language in his contract similar to that of Mayo and that’s why we got Eliot Wolf and no G.M. search?
Greg Bedard: It’s certainly a valid question. I mean considering you have Jerod Mayo, who didn’t interview any place else. You have Eliot Wolf, who didn’t interview any place else. And I don’t know, maybe Eliot Wolf has fallen off the map for other teams and he wasn’t requested by anybody, but normally when you have a transition period, you look for other jobs, you see what’s out there and that both of those guys didn’t talk to anybody else, to our knowledge, it makes you wonder, did both of them have contracts that stipulated they would be the next guy with buyouts?
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Greg Bedard: 3 Up and 3 Down for the Patriots in the 2023 season
3 UP
Christian Barmore
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 07: Christian Barmore #90 of the New England Patriots tackles Breece Hall #20 of the New York Jets in the second half during a game at Gillette Stadium on January 07, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
Greg Bedard: He became a top ten defensive tackle and led the team in quarterback pressures. That might have been different if Judon was healthy, but, um, outstanding. He really developed. Where he really went to another level was against the run. He’s become terrific against the run. I look forward to him being a dominating two way defensive tackle and they have to get an extension done with him this offseason.
Ezekiel Elliott
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 07: Ezekiel Elliott #15 of the New England Patriots carries the ball, defended by Sauce Gardner #1 of the New York Jets in the second quarter during a game at Gillette Stadium on January 07, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images)
Greg Bedard: I thought he was outstanding throughout from start to finish. He was a really good player for this team, arguably the most consistent offensive player this year. I thought he was great.
David Andrews
Dec. 6, 2020; Inglewood, CA: New England Patriots center David Andrews points to the Los Angeles Chargers defense during a game at SoFi Stadium. (Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports)
Greg Bedard: He was outstanding this season considering the absolute crap show that was going on next to him at the guard spots, let alone the tackle spots. I thought he had perhaps his best season this year. I thought he was terrific. He played every single game and every single snap. He was awesome.
3 DOWN
Atonio Mafi
New England Patriots guard Atonio Mafi makes his way to the practice fields for 2023 training camp in Foxboro. (Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports)
Greg Bedard: This is going to be a little bit unfair because he’s young and used to play a different position. But Antonio Mafi had the most allowed pressure this year. He did not play well when he was in there. I’m not saying he’s going to be a bad player. I think he’s got a lot of really nice skills, but he needs a lot of development.
Vederian Lowe
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 15: Maxx Crosby #98 of the Las Vegas Raiders and Bilal Nichols #91 of the Las Vegas Raiders sack Mac Jones #10 of the New England Patriots for a safety while Vederian Lowe #59 of the New England Patriots looks on during the fourth quarter at Allegiant Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Greg Bedard: Number two on my list was Vederian Lowe. He and Mafi were very close to each other. They just weren’t good enough. And the offensive line is what really did this team in this year.
Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 10: Bailey Zappe #4 of the New England Patriots looks on next to Mac Jones #10 before the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium on September 10, 2023 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Greg Bedard: The quarterbacks. The two of them. Mac Jones was a little bit worse than Bailey Zappy but they both weren’t good enough. Now do I think they were both a victim of circumstances? What went on here and about how, you know the turnovers, as opposed to Bill I don’t believe the turnovers just don’t just happen out of nowhere, I believe that they are a product of what you put around players, especially the quarterback position. And when you get them crappy blocking, no running game, and no targets, yeah, you’re going to have a lot of turnovers. But still neither quarterback was good enough. I don’t want to hear about either of them ever again. I want them both gone and a new regime and start fresh.
