A year ago, the New England Patriots hit the reset button.
They made the right coaching hire with Mike Vrabel, and they were as aggressive as any team in free agency while rebuilding their roster. It all laid the foundation for an incredible turnaround from back-to-back 4-13 finishes to 14-3, three playoff wins and a Super Bowl appearance.
Once again fortuitously setup with one of the best coach-quarterback combos in the league with Vrabel — now a two-time NFL Coach of the Year honoree — and MVP runner-up Drake Maye, the Patriots have the potential for yet another prolonged window to contend.
But it’s hard to see another Super Bowl run coming immediately in 2026 — as the roster currently stands.
(That’s the pivotal key phrase — we’ll explain more in a bit.)
For all the savvy moves the organization made a year ago, New England has had arguably the most underwhelming offseason of any team in the NFL this time around in a perplexing juxtaposition.
So far …
Let’s compare.
(Free agency spending figures taken from Spotrac.com)
2025 offseason: The Patriots were by far the biggest spenders in total contract money to free agents at $364,370,000 (almost $95 million more than any other team), the most guaranteed money ($192,909,000 — more than $39 million above the next team on the list) and the most guaranteed at signing ($174,909,000). They signed 19 free agents, outbid the market for the best available defensive tackle in Milton Williams (4 years, $104 million), signed four other players at an average annual value of more than $11 million but also hit on some incredible bargains like edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson (1 year, $3 million), safety Jaylinn Hawkins (1 year, $1.8 million) and linebacker Jack Gibbens (1 year, $1.3 million).
2026 offseason: The Patriots again rank among the biggest spenders in free agency, fifth at $182,017,500 in total contract value for nine free agents and also fifth in guaranteed money at signing ($99,507,500). Headlining the list is wide receiver Romeo Doubs (4 years, $68 million), offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker (3 years, $42 million), edge rusher Dre’Mont Jones (3 years, $36.5 million), safety Kevin Byard (1 year, $7 million), tight end Julian Hill (3 years, $15 million) and fullback Reggie Gilliam (3 years, $10.8 million).
So the critique here is not that the Patriots were inactive in free agency (like, say, the Denver Broncos) — it’s how they spent the money, the free agents they let walk and the overall net impact on the roster.
For now, at least …
The Offseason So Far For The New England Patriots
New England released its No. 1 wide receiver Stefon Diggs one year into that contract to open up cap money despite getting a solid return on that investment as Diggs had 85 catches for 1,013 yards and 4 touchdowns in the regular season. But it was also an understandable move.
The Patriots likely got the most they could out of Diggs, who was largely a non-factor in the postseason (14 catches for 110 yards and 1 TD in four games) and turns 33 years old in 2026. Moving on made sense.
The problem is the free agent wide receiver market was … uninviting.
The options were:
– Overpay on emerging field-stretcher Alec Pierce, but the Indianapolis Colts never let him truly look elsewhere by ponying up a 4-year, $114-million contract with a whopping $84 million guaranteed. (Good luck with that.)
– Even more egregiously overpay for Wan’Dale Robinson in terms of actual value (4 years, $70 million from the Tennessee Titans with $38 million guaranteed).
– Pursue soon-to-be 33-year-old Mike Evans coming off an injury-plagued season, which we argued was an excellent move for the San Francisco 49ers at 3 years, $42.4 million with just $16.3 million guaranteed.
– Pay No. 2/3 WRs like Doubs or Rashid Shaheed (3 years, $51 million to stay with the Seattle Seahawks) at the absolute peak of their potential value and settle for not having a true No. 1 WR. (The Seahawks have a true No. 1 in reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba, so investing in Shaheed as an elite special teams talent and complementary receiver made perfect sense in their case).
-Or trade draft picks for the likes of DJ Moore (acquired at a reasonable price by the Buffalo Bills), Jaylen Waddle (acquired for a king’s ransom by the Denver Broncos who must have confused him with peak Tyreek Hill on some old 2023 Dolphins game film), Michael Pittman Jr. (acquired by the Pittsburgh Steelers in an absolute steal) or disgruntled A.J. Brown (still with the Philadelphia Eagles at this time).
The Patriots went with the least exciting option of all in signing Doubs to the third-biggest wide receiver contract of this free agent cycle (again — 4 years, $68 million with $39 million guaranteed) even though he’s never had more than 59 catches for 724 yards in any of his four NFL seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
So for now, the Patriots are essentially where they left off last year — or perhaps worse — with Doubs, Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas, Mack Hollins and Kyle Williams forming the most blah quintet of WRs in a league where a 2 and four 3s doesn’t add up cumulatively to replace not having a 1.
Meanwhile, the Patriots let Chaisson leave after a season in which he returned significant value on their modest investment with 7.5 regular-season sacks and 3 more in the postseason. He went to the Washington Commanders on a reasonable one-year, $11-million deal, while the Patriots replaced him with a much more expensive yet so far less productive edge rusher in Jones at 3 years, $36.5 million ($23.1 million guaranteed).
Jones had a career-high 7 sacks last season between the Titans and Ravens. Entering his age-29 season and eighth year in the league for his fifth team, it’s unlikely there is much further untapped potential there. Jones does also have experience playing on the interior of the defensive line, so he’s not an exact tradeoff for Chaisson, but nonetheless this feels like a downgrade at a significantly higher price.
Similarly, the Patriots traded out backup tight ends, letting Austin Hooper leave on a 1-year, $3.25-million deal to the Atlanta Falcons while signing Hill for more money (3 years, $15 million with $7.5 million guaranteed). Hill’s career-high in three NFL seasons for the Dolphins came last year with a whopping 15 catches for 140 yards and 0 TDs, but he’s mostly a blocking tight end and was brought in to be a factor in the run game … along with Gilliam at fullback. Fine.
Meanwhile, the Patriots lost Gibbens at linebacker after he posted 81 tackles and 8 tackles for loss, as he signed with the Arizona Cardinals for a modest 2-year, $7.5-million deal. New England in turn signed LB K.J. Britt, who has mostly been a depth reserve in his five seasons.
How The Patriots Have Made Improvements This Offseason
Now for the two moves we actually liked …
New England signed the veteran safety Byard for a bargain 1-year, $7-million deal after he earned first-team All-Pro honors with the Bears last season while totaling 93 tackles and 7 interceptions. That’s a solid replacement with Hawkins (71 tackles, 4 INTs) heading to the Ravens on a 2-year, $10-million contract.
And the Patriots did also ostensibly upgrade their offensive line in signing Vera-Tucker away from the New York Jets. Vera-Tucker, the 14th overall pick in the 2021 draft, started 43 games in four seasons in New York while being beset by significant injuries, but he has the upside to be an improvement at left guard while allowing the Pats to slide second-year lineman Jared Wilson to center after he struggled as a rookie.
So let’s recap …
– Turned Diggs into Doubs at WR … for now. (Net difference: Negligible or potential downgrade.)
– Replaced Chaisson with Jones at EDGE. (Net difference: Downgrade at a higher cost)
– Replaced Hooper with Hill at TE and added Gilliam at FB. (Net difference: Probably a benefit to the running game, but significantly more expensive and not needle-moving.)
– Lost Gibbens at LB and signed Britt as likely a depth piece. (Net difference: Downgrade for now. Surprising to let Gibbens, a Vrabel guy going back to their time in Tennessee together, go at such a modest price. The Pats will likely want/need to add a LB in the draft.)
– Replaced Hawkins at S with Byard. (Net difference: Solid replacement/potential upgrade. Hawkins is a nice player, but Byard is a proven veteran and came at a fair price.)
– Added Vera-Tucker at LG. (Net difference: Upgrade, nice move).
(There are a few other free agents coming and going from the Patriots, but the ones above are the notable moves).
In summation, New England got significantly better in one spot at left guard — and it won’t truly fix the biggest issue on the offensive line if left tackle Will Campbell doesn’t get much better in his second season — while mostly holding its ground or losing value elsewhere.
For now …
It’s time to finally get to that qualifier, because New England still has a chance to greatly change the overall perception of its offseason.
Twitter is abuzz that the Patriots may already have a deal in place to acquire Brown from the Eagles after June 1 — without getting into the weeds on it, it makes more sense salary cap-wise for Philadelphia to deal him at that time. We’re not going to necessarily buy those rumors given the less than credentialed sources putting it out there at this time.
But it had been previously reported by legitimate NFL media that the Patriots are one of the most serious suitors for Brown.
If that is indeed the end game and New England goes into 2026 with Maye having a true star No. 1 WR in Brown, a fine No. 2 in Doubs and the rest of the cast of complementary targets, plus the potential for an upgraded offensive line … that’s a different story.
The Patriots can still add some helpful pieces in the draft otherwise, but the success of their offseason — and really, whether their chances of making it back into Super Bowl contention — now essentially hinges on whether or not they acquire Brown in two and a half months.
The Eagles would be wise (and they usually are with general manager Howie Roseman) to realize that and leverage it for all they can with New England, especially given the absurd price the Broncos just paid the Dolphins for Waddle.
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