PALM BEACH, Fla. — Patriots owner Robert Kraft is an eternal optimist.

And even when he knew he should temper his excitement and expectations, he couldn’t help himself from expressing high hopes over what new head coach Mike Vrabel is building with the 2025 Patriots.

“I’ll get chastised for saying it, but I think we’re ahead of (the rebuilding phase),” Kraft said Tuesday morning at the NFL Annual Meeting. “I think we have some real talent in the locker room. I think we’re privileged now to have a head coach that has learning curve experience and has really come in and created a great atmosphere. I remember him as a player and his competitive attitude. He has grown as an individual in terms of having that edge but also being able to build a sense of team and cooperation. It’s unusual when every part of the building feels that he’s someone that they can relate to and he’s cooperating and he’s putting team-first. It’s really created a great sense of camaraderie.”

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Kraft was asked what would make this season a success for him, and his answer was simple and to the point: “To make the playoffs.”

The Patriots owner expressed similar optimism at the NFL Annual Meeting last year, saying his “hope and expectations” were to make the playoffs. Kraft last spoke to reporters in January after the team fired Jerod Mayo after just one season as the Patriots head coach. He began Tuesday’s session by saying the last two years, when the Patriots had back-to-back 4-13 seasons, have been the worst of his team ownership.

But he said Tuesday that expectations are greater this season.

“I think that’s fair, yes. Ever since I’ve owned the team, the objectives were for the team to make the playoffs,” Kraft said. “Because once you make the playoffs, anything can happen. I think we have experience over the last few decades of seeing how that happens.

“I know I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but after my family, this team is the most important thing in my life. The bottom line is winning games. These last two years have been brutal, really. I want to try to do whatever I could to get back to a system and a situation where we had hope and we had a chance to do anything. I really think we’re on that path now.”

Kraft, just like many Patriots fans, still sees potential areas of improvement for the Patriots. Vrabel and executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf boosted their defense by signing defensive tackle Milton Williams, outside linebacker Harold Landry, cornerback Carlton Davis, linebacker Robert Spillane and safety Marcus Epps, among others, but their offensive additions weren’t as high-profile.

The Patriots entered the offseason with wide receiver and offensive tackle as their most glaring needs. They came away with right tackle Morgan Moses and wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins, but Kraft sees more work needs to be done.

“Most people would say given Coach’s experience and what we’ve done on defense and his knowledge of that area and the personnel that we’ve improved greatly and I think that’s so,” Kraft said. “I know I don’t know, but I’m excited.

“We’ve always had a strong defense and I think that any of us that are fans of the team know we want to try to strengthen the offense a little on the line, in the receiver area, maybe a speed running back. But I’m talking as a fan. I have confidence that this group is all on the same page and the most important thing is everyone is putting team first. In this business, you can’t have little groupings who have their own ideas. The fact that it’s starting fresh and everyone expressed how they feel, it’s been very exciting for me.”

Kraft rightly acknowledged that the Patriots have not drafted well in recent years, and that’s hurt the overall construction of the roster. The Patriots haven’t signed a player selected in the first round to a second contract since selecting linebacker Dont’a Hightower in 2012. Their early-round fortune has seemingly changed with the selections of Christian Gonzalez in 2023 and Drake Maye in 2024, but the front office has still struggled to fill out the roster with mid-to-late-round finds.

Kraft has confidence in Vrabel and Wolf to draft better this spring.

“I think the culture now is an open culture where people are free to express opinions. There are a lot of different points of view, and it’s healthy,” Kraft said. “In life, it’s important to know what you don’t know and then get the best people around you. I think having the infusion of the new people, and having a plan and being able to connect the dots and put it all together, I see it happening, and I’m probably too excited. But I am. The truth is I’m very excited about this coming year, and I can’t wait for the games to begin.”

The 83-year-old owner said he hopes to never pick fourth overall in the NFL Draft again during his lifetime. He also believes the organization has “reshuffled” its priorities and values in hopes that it will make an impact in the draft.