Who Is The 3rd-Most Important New England Patriot? [Poll]

When speaking earlier this off-season at the NFL League Meetings in Florida, Robert Kraft said he thought the Patriots will compete and have a chance in 2022 because they have "a good head coach and a good QB."

It's the foundation of success in the NFL. Look at every true contender in the league, each has stability at those two most crucial spots. So if we can all agree Bill Belichick and Mac Jones are the two most important members of the New England Patriots' organization, who is No. 3?

That's where things get a little more gray in Foxboro. You see, for two decades, it didn't really matter who No. 3 was, because Belichick and Tom Brady were better than any other team's top-5. That being said, there were still plenty of worthy #3's over the years from Moss-to-Welker-to-Gronk-to-Edelman. Even on defense the team has always had stars: McGinest/Seymour/Bruschi/Harrison/Law/Revis/Gilmore/Mayo/Hightower/Jackson...the list goes on and on.

And we mustn't forget about Ernie Adams, who silently had his fingerprints on pretty much anything to do with football operations until his retirement last May.

While Kraft is undoubtedly owed as much credit as anyone for his part in the triumvirate that has ruled in New England since 2000, he pretty much cuts the checks and leaves the decision making to the experts. So for the purpose of this question, lets limit it to those individuals that fall under the football operations umbrella.

Yesterday on Merloni & Fauria, the subject was broached that Matt Patricia is now the third most important member of the organization. I don't know about you, but if that's the case, it doesn't inspire a ton of confidence in me...

What do you think? Is the current 3rd-most important Patriot playing in games on Sunday, standing on the sidelines or watching from a booth above?