Patriots rumor suggests ownership made a football decision late in 2024 season
Once you have ownership making football decisions, your team is the epitome of dysfunction.
So, it’s no surprise that the 2024 New England Patriots, one of the region’s most embarrassing teams of the 21st century, are believed to have done just that. Granted, the latest exposé on the team from Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed at the Boston Herald presents the most damning detail for Patriots ownership as just a “rumor,” but Callahan and Kyed obviously heard enough about it to feel comfortable including it in their story.
The rumor concerns linebacker Jahlani Tavai, who sparked one of the season’s bigger public controversies when he openly criticized Patriots fans for booing the team and chanting “Fire Mayo” during their 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17. Tavai said fans should “know their place” when it comes to criticizing coaches. He then sat for the entire first quarter of the Pats’ Week 18 win over the Bills.
Who decided to sit Tavai? From the Herald: “A rumor spread inside the building that ownership had ordered Tavai to be benched for his comments that incited an already angry fan base.”
Ownership had to have taken serious issue with Tavai calling out the fans, a.k.a. the team’s paying customers, the people that ultimately pay everyone’s exorbitant salaries. Even if Tavai was expressing his true feelings – he was, as evidenced by how he basically doubled down and gave a half-assed apology after the fact – he just can’t say stuff like that publicly.
So, Tavai deserved to be benched, if not cut outright, for his ill-advised public remarks and lack of accountability. It wouldn’t be shocking if he eventually ended up off the team for this, despite being under contract for the next three seasons. Unless the next head coach is happy with Tavai continuing to play poorly and get booed off the field, like he did in 2024.
The real issue with this rumor, however, is that ownership is ostensibly now meddling with the football operation. Perhaps it wasn’t “ordered.” Maybe it was strongly suggested, or a conversation took place. But if it was ordered, that’s a terrible sign for how things are being run at Patriot Place.
It speaks to weak leadership on the coaching staff, as Jerod Mayo apparently lacked the heavy hand or decisiveness to bench Tavai himself. And it also speaks to an ownership group that is overreaching when they should not be handling any football decisions, beyond who they put in charge of the operation.
If and when the Patriots hire Mike Vrabel to be their next head coach, the hope would be that they back away from the football department and let him handle it. It’s likely that, if put in Mayo’s position, Vrabel would have put Tavai in his place.
This whole mess at the end of the season simply points to an organization in desperate need of a functional, competent, and strong football operation. That’s why an experienced head coach like Vrabel should be at the top of the list. Then, if and when he takes the helm, ownership won’t have to tell him who to play and not play.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
