New England Patriots fans (Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
New England fans want linebacker Jahlani Tavai cut after he teed off on the Patriots’ faithful in a scathing rant.

Jahlani Tavai and the Patriots (3-13) wrap up their 2024 season against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. With a loss, Jerod Mayo’s group would finish with the franchise’s worst record since the 1992 squad that went 2-14.

During last week’s 40-7 home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, disgruntled Patriots fans chanted “Fire Mayo.” The former Pro Bowl linebacker was long viewed as the successor to Bill Belichick before receiving the promotion last year, after the team “parted ways” with the future Hall of Famer.

In his appearance on “The Greg Hill Show” on WEEI, Jahlani Tavai called out Patriots fans for vocally expressing their discontent with Mayo and the team:

“There’s a reason why they’re fans. Everybody can say what they think we should be doing, but in the long end they’re not qualified to do what Mayo is doing or whatever the Krafts are doing.

“They’re fans, I appreciate them at times, but sometimes they just gotta know their place and understand that it’s a work in progress. Rome wasn’t built in one day.”

Predictably, Tavai’s comments didn’t sit well with fans.

“The players love Mayo b/c he doesn’t hold anyone accountable. He says he’s going to bench Stevenson but then starts him. He walks back all criticism. A 3 win team had only 1 practice during the bye week. The players love earning millions and running the place,” opined one fan.

“I’ve never seen a more entitled team in my life. Clean house and start over… But this attitude starts at the top,” another wrote.

“Good call, pissing off the fans even more!,” a fan remarked.

“Guy is paid $5 million per year by the fans who buy tickets and he’s got 1 sack on the season as a linebacker. Cut him,” quipped another.

“He will be cut next year,” one fan predicted.

“The fans pay his salary. He needs to know HIS place,” a Patriots fan stated.

“Out of the league pls,” a fan wrote.

“Cut him,” said another.

2024 was always going to be a year of growing pains in Foxborough, but fans are understandably fed up after a third straight losing and non-playoff season. Mayo was supposed to bring new energy to a rebuilding Patriots team, but the group looks even worse than the 4-win team Belichick oversaw a year ago.

Jahlani Tavai Signed A Three-Year Extension Last Offseason

Last year, the Patriots handed Tavai a lucrative three-year contract extension worth up to $21 million. That’s a clear indicator of how much the coaching staff values Tavai, so Pats fans shouldn’t get their hopes up on the idea of him getting cut.