Did Jerod Mayo get a fair shake with the Patriots?

Jerod Mayo was the hand picked heir to Bill Belichick. When New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired his six-time Super Bowl winning head coach last winter, he didn’t have to go through an official job search; he’d already filed his succession plan with NFL officials.

This made sense. Seeds from Belichick’s coaching tree found almost exclusively salted ground. But former players had done well in limited reps, including Mike Vrabel and Kevin O’Connell. Mayo was both — an All-Pro who...