Before the New England Patriots‘ Super Bowl run earlier this month, the organization had not won a playoff game in this decade. Back-to-back 4-13 finishes bookend three straight losing seasons.
In year one of head coach Mike Vrabel, a 14-3 regular season gave way to a record-breaking three-game playoff run.
But don’t call it a rebuild.
At least the executive vice president of player personnel, Eliot Wolf, will not.
He told reporters at the combine on Tuesday that he loathes the term.
“I don’t know that I’d call it a rebuild,” Wolf said. “I think we have a nice core of players. Whether that’s a core of veteran players that we rely on or some of the younger, up-and-coming players like the rookies that were mentioned earlier.
“I just think every year is an opportunity, every year is different. Every year is an opportunity in free agency and the draft to improve the roster. And you know, it’s not just free agency and the draft. It’s trades, it’s waiver claims, it’s restricted free agency, all those things. We’re going to explore everything that we can.”
With more than $40 million in cap space to work with this offseason, the Patriots are uniquely positioned to make a handful of big-time acquisitions. We’ll see if Wolf and the rest of the front office can make good on their big talk, or if it’s all just offseason lip service.