Patriots 2025 roster reset: TE situation behind Henry needs addressing originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Editor’s Note: With the beginning of NFL free agency looming on March 12, our Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran is resetting each Patriots position by assessing their 2024 performance, laying out their 2025 contract status and ranking their offseason priority on a scale of 1 to 5.
After quarterbacks and running backs, next up is the tight ends.
Hey, look! A position group that doesn’t make you sigh with resignation. The Patriots tight end room doesn’t qualify as scary. But it is capable!
Let’s get into it!
Bright spots
Hunter Henry has been one of the team’s most productive and reliable players since Bill Belichick targeted and signed him in 2021. But married up with Drake Maye and in the Alex Van Pelt offense, Henry had career highs in catches and yards (66 catches on 97 targets for 674 yards and two touchdowns).
To see that kind of production in his 30-year-old season, especially after getting whacked around pretty good in 2023, is extremely encouraging.
Austin Hooper turned out to be one of the few free-agent hits the Patriots had in 2024. He caught 45 of the 59 balls sent his way in his 30-year-old season with three touchdowns.
The generation-long boondoggle that’s going on over in the wide receiver room was offset last decade by the unearthing of (arguably) the best tight end in NFL history (Rob Gronkowski) in 2010 and Josh McDaniels’ usage of him.
This decade, the only saving grace for the passing game was the signing of Henry, especially after Belichick decided to move on from Jakobi Meyers after 2021.
Now, with McDaniels back and hopefully a fresh change to the process of evaluating and developing wideouts, the tight end crew could be in line for even more production. Think about it: If that’s the part of the offense that works, shouldn’t you shape your offense around that while the other part (wideouts) gets brought up to speed?
The disappointments
There’s very little to moan about here from Henry and Hooper. Occasional drops, pre-snap penalties from Henry and being part of the blocking group that struggled all season would be the dings you could apply.
It also would have been good to see a little more of seventh-round pick Jaheim Bell (83 offensive snaps, two catches for 20 yards) over the course of the season. He showed athleticism and run-after-catch ability in camp but wasn’t able to find the field much.
Contract statuses
Henry signed a three-year, $27 million deal with $15.8 million guaranteed last offseason. He has cap hits of around $11 million the next two years. He played up to his OverTheCap.com valuation.
Hooper was on a one-year deal, so he will be a free agent after playing on a $3.1 million deal. He outplayed his valuation all year and is in line for a more lucrative deal. It will be interesting to see what the team has in mind for re-signing him.
The Patriots also have little-used 26-year-old Jack Westover on the roster.
Offseason priority (Scale of 1-5)
It’s a 4. The team needs to re-sign Hooper or another tight end of similar ability. With both Henry and Hooper entering their 31-year-old season, drafting a tight end makes a lot of sense, and there are four of them in Daniel Jeremiah’s Top 50 prospects – Tyler Warren, Colton Loveland, Mason Taylor, and Elijah Arroyo.
Warren and Loveland are top-10 prospects in Jeremiah’s evaluation. Taylor is the son of Miami Dolphins legend Jason Taylor and is 6-foot-5, 256 pounds. He projects as a third-rounder, according to Kyle Crabbs of 33rd Team.
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