Jerod Mayo admits to ‘rookie mistake’ from first radio interview
April 29, 2024
Jerod Mayo regrets his “burn some cash” comment from January. (Jonathan Wiggs /Globe Staff)
Jerod Mayo had Patriots fans buzzing just days into his tenure as New England’s head coach.
In his first WEEI interview after succeeding Bill Belichick, Mayo pledged that his team was going to be aggressive during the offseason when it came to adding talent.
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“We’re bringing in talent, 1,000%,” Mayo said back on Jan. 22. “Have a lot of cap space and cash. Ready to burn some cash.”
It was a comment that loomed over a Patriots offseason where the team has retained plenty of key cogs like Mike Onwenu, Hunter Henry, Kyle Dugger, and Kendrick Bourne — but have come up short when it comes to attracting marquee free agents to Foxborough.
Some of that will be allocated to Christian Barmore’s hefty contract extension and other deals for 2025 and beyond. But Mayo’s comments haven’t aged very well, especially with New England whiffing on top targets on the market like Calvin Ridley.
Speaking on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday morning, Mayo admitted that his cash-burning comments were not the right tone to set before the start of free agency.
“That was a rookie mistake. That was a rookie mistake by me,” Mayo said. “As soon as I got downstairs, (Patriots vice president of communications Stacey James) slapped me in the head, like, ‘What are you doing?’
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“You understand what I meant, though. What I really meant, though, is we’re going to be, obviously, smart with cash and smart with acquisitions. I was just very excited. At the same time, I feel like we’re building the roster the way we
want to build it.”
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