Patriots owner Robert Kraft says last two seasons were ‘the worst years of my 31 years of ownership’

The New England Patriots haven’t had many poor seasons since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994. The team has made 22 playoff appearances in his 31 years as an owner, winning six Super Bowls. That’s a pretty incredible rate of success.

But things have fallen off since Tom Brady’s departure. And while the Patriots hung around .500 in the seasons just after his exit, things have really declined the past two seasons. The Patriots finished 4-13 in each of those seasons and found themselves at the bottom of the AFC East.

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That stretch has been particularly hard for Kraft, who called it the “worst years” of his 31 years of ownership.

While 2023 and 2024 were difficult, Kraft believes the team is on its way up in 2025. He spoke positively about the addition of new head coach Mike Vrabel and second-year quarterback Drake Maye, telling fans, “We’re going to have fun this year, I promise.”

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Things should be better moving forward. Vrabel is an established head coach with a track record of success in the NFL. He should, at the very least, bring stability to the team after it struggled under first-year coach Jarod Mayo last season.

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Maye is far from a finished product, but showed flashes of excellence as a rookie. He finished his first year in the NFL with 15 touchdowns against 10 interceptions, completing 66.6 percent of his passes. He’ll look to show improvement in Year 2, and the addition of Stefon Diggs should help with that.

Despite those improvements, the Patriots still face low expectations entering this season. The team ranks 25th in Yahoo Sports’ NFL offseason power rankings, though it did receive an “A” grade for its offseason.

With Maye and Vrabel, there’s a scenario where the Patriots show a ton of improvement in 2025. While taking the division back from the Buffalo Bills could take some time, getting back to .500 would be a massive accomplishment for the Patriots.

After two straight down years, that actually seems like a possibility again.