SAN FRANCISCO | It’s not just the Montreal Canadiens who know how to rebuild a team. You just have to look at the two Super Bowl LX finalists, the Patriots and the Seahawks, to be convinced.
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The Patriots won just four games in 2023, before getting the same results the following year. After their long dynasty furnished with six Super Bowl conquests, from 2001 to 2018, they seemed destined for a necessary exile in purgatory.
The wait will have been much shorter than many anticipated, but how did they manage to land so quickly at the Super Bowl once again?
Of course, the selection of quarterback Drake Maye third overall in last year’s draft greatly accelerated the process. Just like the arrival at the helm of Mike Vrabel. Ironically, it was the same Vrabel who ended the Patriots dynasty when he led the Titans into the 2019 playoffs in Tom Brady’s last game with the team.
Vrabel did not hesitate to equip himself with an experienced staff in his second opportunity as pilot, he who has three assistants who have already occupied the role of head coach.
Aggressive approach
Milton Williams finds himself at the Super Bowl for a second year in a row, after his presence with the Eagles a year ago. – Getty Images via AFP
In addition to Maye, the Patriots are banking on some young impact players. Their most recent draft class yielded two starting offensive linemen. Safety guard Craig Woodson is another rookie who has earned a starting job.
It’s often said that the Patriots are young, but they haven’t stopped themselves from spending to give themselves a potential shortcut to success. Often this tactic doesn’t pay off, but they hit the nail on the head.
With a cool $364 million (including $209 guaranteed) in contracts on the free agent market last March, they hit home runs, like with defensive end Milton Williams, linebacker Robert Spillane and receiver Stefon Diggs.
In total, only six of the Patriots’ 22 starters played more than 10 games with the team a year ago.
A remarkable transformation, which impresses one of the veterans who lived through the last moments of the dynasty, the marauder Devin McCourty, today an analyst on the airwaves of NBC and met this week.
“Their draft players and free agents have been exceptional this season,” he responded.
A different team
The man who threw 35 interceptions for the Patriots himself won three Super Bowls with them, in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
“But we had Tom Brady,” he said, when asked if the current team had any similarities with the Patriots that McCourty knew.
“Every year with Tom, the goal was to win the Super Bowl. Expectations were high at this point. In the case of this year’s Patriots, they were coming off a four-win season. No one had any expectations of them. We have to give them a lot of credit for having found the right players to believe in the project and above all, a coach who made people believe in this project. They are very different from what we were, but they found their way to be successful,” he continued.
Transformed Seahawks
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is playing rain and shine with the Seahawks. – Getty Images via AFP
The Seahawks are certainly not far behind in terms of rebuilding success.
In their case, the channel landed in 2021, with a 7-10 season. Head coach Pete Carroll, a landmark in Seattle after bringing the city its only Super Bowl championship in 2014, was stagnant.
He was replaced by Mike Macdonald in 2024, who on Sunday could become the fifth coach to win the big game before turning 40.
The only common denominator between the previous Seahawks and the current Seahawks is the presence of general manager John Schneider. By trading quarterback Russell Wilson in 2022, he helped begin to unlock a new world of possibilities.
Cornerback Devon Witherspoon attracted the interest of journalists during the various media sessions during Super Bowl week. – Getty Images via AFP
Of the five draft picks obtained, four became players who will play a key role in the Super Bowl: tackle Charles Cross, cornerback Devon Witherspoon and defensive linemen Boye Mafe and Derick Hall.
With their own picks, the Seahawks got their hands in the first round on a national treasure in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, offensive player of the year in the NFL, as well as running back Kenneth Walker III.
Schneider also opted for aggressive trades in the middle of the season, notably to get dominant tackle Leonard Williams and linebacker Ernest Jones.
On the free agent market, the acquisitions of quarterback Sam Darnold and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence paid off.
Colorful TSN analyst Luke Willson, who played for the Seahawks for eight seasons, including the 2014 Super Bowl, seemed ecstatic when we caught up with him this week.
“How many times in the media, and I include myself, do we say that a quarterback with a new team needs time? In Sam Darnold’s case, everything clicked right away. As for Smith-Njigba, he had a historic season.
“We have to take our hats off to the captain of the crew, Mike Macdonald. It still feels weird not seeing Pete Carroll on the sidelines anymore, but Mike has managed to install a completely different culture in two years. It’s incredible,” said the friendly former Canadian tight end from Windsor.
A pleasant surprise
This highly improbable Super Bowl brings the greatest pleasure to Willson.
“That’s the best thing about the NFL, compared to other sports leagues. You look at baseball and it seems like the teams that spend the most, like the Dodgers right now, will be at the top every year. The NFL, with the salary cap and the draft, has really understood that fans like surprises,” he concluded.
