New Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo experienced his first NFL Annual Meeting this week before jetting off to Pro Days to watch more quarterback prospects.

Here’s everything we learned from Mayo and owner Robert Kraft about the future of the Patriots before the league meetings wrapped up Tuesday afternoon.

Related Articles

Ex-Patriot, Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcolm Butler charged with DUI

Callahan: Robert Kraft, Patriots must preach patience at start of long rebuild

How Robert Kraft plans to fix Patriots’ low marks in NFLPA report card

Why Robert Kraft believes Patriots didn’t close deal with Calvin Ridley in free agency

Patriots owner Robert Kraft reacts to ‘The Dynasty’ criticism

1. Patriots need ‘conviction’ with QB at No. 3

Mayo said that the team will need to feel “convicted” to take a quarterback at No. 3 overall. Executives around the NFL do expect the Patriots to select a quarterback in that spot, and with USC’s Caleb Williams expected to go to the Bears first overall, the top options remaining will be UNC’s Drake Maye and LSU senior Jayden Daniels.

Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy has entered the early-round mix, as well, recently. One scout told the Herald this week that while there’s a lot to like in McCarthy’s game, he’s a step below the top three.

Mayo also referenced there being five players in this class who could be solid quarterbacks in the future. One scout said Bo Nix was the fifth-best QB in this draft class while another executive told the Herald that there are a couple of different players who could hold that title of fifth QB.

The Patriots met with Williams, Maye, Daniels, McCarthy and Nix at the NFL Scouting Combine.

The team has preached a collaborative approach all offseason. While talking about QB prospects, Mayo referenced something senior personnel executive and longtime scout Alonzo Highsmith told him.

“He’s been doing it for a long time, and he said all the bad picks that he’s seen, it’s really been where everyone wasn’t on the same page,” Mayo said. “And you would hope that you could get everyone on the same page, coaches and also scouts.”

So if Mayo, Highsmith, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, de facto general manager Eliot Wolf and other top executives like Matt Groh and Pat Stewart are all sold on a quarterback, then the Patriots should feel comfortable taking him third overall.

2. Patriots see value in trading down

The best argument for taking a quarterback third overall is that this is believed to be a good quarterback class, and there’s no guarantee that the Patriots will be picking as high as third overall again soon.

But the team has more needs to fill than just at quarterback, and there is significant value in acquiring more first-round picks, including ones in the future.

Mayo and Kraft both know that.

“Honestly, the guaranteed way to win is to accumulate more picks,” Mayo said. “So if we don’t feel convicted at No. 3, to your point, like we are willing to do that, as well.”

Kraft said he would like to see the Patriots “get a top-rate young quarterback,” but he’s going to leave it up to the “team” to make that decision. He also sees the value in moving down.

“We’ve never been in the third draft position since we owned the team,” Kraft said. “What happens, a lot of people behind are really desperate to move up. We’re going to be open to whatever can come our way.”

Ultimately, Mayo said it would take a lot to move down.

“We sit at a very enviable spot at No. 3 where we can take someone at three or if someone offers a bag, as we would say — you know a lot of first-round picks — we definitely have to talk about those things,” he said.

3. Patriots wanted to set the free agency record straight

On Monday, Jerod Mayo said five separate times that ownership is committed to letting the front office spend as it sees fit in free agency. He was not asked once about spending or the Krafts’ willingness to invest.

On Tuesday, Kraft singled-out Calvin Ridley’s wife (referring to her as “his girlfriend”) as the reason Ridley didn’t sign in New England. He admitted the Patriots made a hard push to sign Ridley, then the best receiver in free agency, and finances were not an issue.

Those were the sounds of a Patriots team that has heard the criticism about the team’s lack of free-agent activity. Specific to Ridley, it’s likely the Patriots’ quarterback situation and the Titans’ more favorable tax situation factored as heavily, if not more so, than his wife’s say. However, the Pats remain the NFL leader in cap space available, and are aware enough of their surrounding narratives that their head coach and owner wanted to set the record straight in their eyes.

Mayo also shared his view on free agency in general, a way to provide clarity on the team’s approach.

“I know we have a lot of cash to utilize, but we are going to utilize it the right way,” he said. “We have to be very convicted when we do spend that cash. But ownership has done a good job of just letting Eliot and I know that we have the cash to spend — just try to spend it smart.”

4. Kraft disappointed in ‘The Dynasty,’ dodges criticism

Speaking on “The Dynasty,” a 10-part docu-series about the Patriots’ championship years, Kraft echoed a common fan sentiment saying he was disappointed in the amount of time dedicated to the team’s controversies versus its on-field success.

“I felt bad that there was so much emphasis on the more controversial and, let’s say, challenging situations over the last 20 years. I wish they had focused more on our Super Bowl wins, our 21-game win streak,” Kraft said. “I felt bad there were players who gave hours and hours of interviews, and they felt only the negativity — people like Devin McCourty and Rodney Harrison and Matthew (Slater). Although, I didn’t — I just heard quietly that they’ve all felt that way.”

Kraft split with one common criticism of the docuseries, however, when asked whether Bill Belichick had been unfairly maligned. Kraft said he felt privileged to have Belichick coach his team and looks forward to one day inducting him into the Patriots Hall of Fame, but did not mention Belichick’s portrayal in the docuseries specifically.

5. NFLPA report card applies pressure

In the latest NFL Players Association survey, the Patriots ranked 29th out of 32 teams and were downgraded for having what players regarded as the league’s worst weight room, plus no daycare available on game days. Kraft said the team is working to improve in both areas, citing a $50 million facility adjacent to the team’s current headquarters for football operations.

“We have to correct anything. I was not aware, even of this daycare issue. That’s something that’s fixable and we want to do. Look, the players are the heart and soul of the business. I’d be very surprised if that didn’t improve.”

6. Kraft will evaluate Wolf’s position after draft

Wolf will have final say over the roster until the draft, at which point Kraft will decide whether or not to make his role permanent.

Wolf’s current title is director of scouting. The Patriots did not hold a general manager search after parting ways with Bill Belichick, and no one’s title in the front office changed.

“I’m excited with what I’ve seen so far, and we’ll evaluate after the draft and see how that’s gone and decide where we go from there,” Kraft said of Wolf.

Kraft has received positive feedback about Wolf dating back to the combine, and the belief is that if all goes well during the draft, he’s the odds-on favorite to land the top role in the front office moving forward.

The Patriots have never used the title of “general manager” since Kraft bought the team in 1994, so even if Wolf is the top dog in the front office, that might not necessarily be his title. The team has used “vice president of player personnel” and “director of player personnel” in the past.

It’s unclear whether or not the team will need to hold an official search if Wolf’s title is not officially “general manager.”

Currently, there is a lack of clarity moving forward for those in the Patriots’ front office with expiring contracts. Their future has not been communicated, and at this point, they’re planning to learn their future after at some point after the draft.