The roster-building portion of the Patriots’ offseason is (mostly) over. Now it’s time to decide who sticks.
The ramp-up to the 2025 season begins in earnest next Monday with the start of organized team activities (OTAs), followed by mandatory minicamp in early June. Those sessions will allow new head coach Mike Vrabel and his staff to evaluate the 90 players on the current roster and begin deciding who will be part of the final 53 in September.
Before OTAs kick off next week, let’s see what’s on your mind in a fresh Patriots mailbag.
After all the moves in free agency and the draft, what is the biggest team need and will they attempt to address it prior to the season? – @P8triot37
It’s a good question, Scott. The work on the roster is far from over. Any executive or coach will tell you that pursuit is ongoing. Especially for the Patriots, who are a year removed from having arguably the worst roster in the league.
But identifying “needs” at this stage? Kinda difficult. They could play a game tomorrow if they had to. That’s not to say every spot is ideally staffed. But it’s staffed. And even if it’s not, there are options to staff it.
I’ll mention one spot as a real question mark because I’m not sure who’s handling it, and I think it’s a critical one: left guard.
Offensive lines are what analytically-minded individuals might call “weak-link systems,” meaning that if there’s one weak portion of a multi-layered unit, that portion will be attacked by the opposition, which can render the rest of the unit’s performance ineffective.
The Patriots have options at left guard — rookie third-rounder Jared Wilson, Layden Robinson, Cole Strange, Wes Schweitzer and undrafted rookie Jack Conley among them — but until a starter emerges there, that looks like the weak link in front of Drake Maye.
Though upgrades have been made at other spots in the trenches offensively, the Patriots need to make sure they have left guard settled, because that position will help secure Maye’s space to step up in the pocket.
It’s also an especially important position, in my opinion, since the player manning it will be aligned next to a rookie left tackle in Will Campbell and a veteran center who was recently released by his last team in Garrett Bradbury. Having a capable body in there will be key.
How to address it? What would make the most sense would be to allow the players already on the roster to battle it out. Unfortunately for New England, there aren’t any obvious names in free agency to acquire at that spot, and high-end offensive line talent isn’t typically available just before the season.
Other positions that could use a little depth where there are some free-agent names available?
If they want another outside-the-numbers cornerback who loves to play man, Stephon Gilmore is still out there. On the edge, if they want some run-stuffing help, they could go for the recently-released Jadeveon Clowney, who was a Mike Vrabel pupil during their shared time in Houston.
Za’Darius Smith also is a free agent and could provide a little more juice on the edge as a pass-rusher.
I enjoyed the podcast on Efton Chism III, and I’m rooting for him. The WR room is interesting. Didn’t Kayshon Boutte do enough last season to be part of it? Is Mack Hollins a lock to making the roster? – @LereimTrygve
Hey, Trygve. If healthy, Mack Hollins is a lock to make it.
Follow the money: He got $3.5 million fully guaranteed from New England this offseason. They aren’t planning on flushing that down the drain. He’s already shown to be a high-energy leader in the building, providing some maturity to a room that could use it based on they way last year played out.
As far as Kayshon Boutte goes, he exceeded expectations last season with 43 catches and 589 yards. But that doesn’t lock him into a roster spot. Especially with a new offensive coordinator in place and three significant additions — Stefon Diggs, Kyle Williams and Hollins — joining his position group.
If you’re asking me, DeMario Douglas and Kendrick Bourne seem like the more likely roster options than Boutte at the moment.
What do you see happening with the WR room? How many guys do you think you could justify keeping? Feels like there’s a few guys that are must keeps (Diggs, Williams, Pop). Could they keep more than 6 WRs on the roster? Especially if they like Chism, this feels like a tough call. – @ErnestLambert5
I think whether or not Stefon Diggs is healthy enough to start the year on the active roster will have a real say in how many of those young wideouts end up getting kept.
He looks like he’s moving well, but let’s assume for the moment that he’ll start the year on the Physically Unable to Perform list. And let’s assume that Hollins, Kyle Williams, Douglas and Bourne are the top four with Diggs out.
I think there’s a scenario where they could keep a couple more — two of Boutte, Ja’Lynn Polk and Chism, perhaps — but that might depend on who plays special teams. And of the other receivers on the roster, very few look like special teamers.
If Diggs is healthy, that eliminates one more roster spot for a young player. I would consider Polk, Boutte and Javon Baker squarely on the bubble right now simply based on the numbers and the track records of other players already on the roster.
How much do you think with a back like TreVeyon Henderson, who can accelerate quickly up to speed, and Drake Maye’s mobility, that Josh McDaniels might make the RPO run game part of the offense? If they are willing to risk running Maye more, it has potential to be explosive. – @qualitysmoke
I think adding more of an RPO element would make a lot of sense, QS, but it’s worth remembering that Mac Jones was coming from an RPO-heavy system at Alabama and then ran very few (15 total) as a rookie in 2021 with McDaniels calling the plays.
McDaniels has been very open about how he studied the game at all levels in the time he had available to him last year, so perhaps he’s opening himself up to those kinds of offensive looks. How McDaniels builds his offense around Maye’s skill set will be one of the most intriguing storylines to follow during open OTA and training camp practices this offseason.
How can Josh McDaniels develop his offense with Drake Maye at the helm? Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry break it down on Quick Slants
Given the schedule if Vrabel and the rest of the staff can get good results out of what is at worst an average talent roster, how does this team not end up with 11-13 wins? They play bad teams and good matchups even if they are a Faux Playoff team they could win the AFC East – @DylanWarner24
While I agree that Patriots fans should be optimistic based on many of the additions their team has made this offseason, setting the bar at 11-13 wins feels… a little over the top!
I’m not saying it can’t happen. As a matter of fact, the Patriots are favored in 11 of their games as things stand right now, so maybe the low end of your range will end up looking good by December.
But assuming they’ll win all 11 of those — and maybe a couple more with games against the Bills, Bengals, Ravens and at Miami on the schedule — is assuming everything will go right for them under Vrabel in Year 1. Not impossible. But also not to be expected.
What’s the plan for Edge? Keion White getting bump to OLB or will they play more 4 man fronts? Who wins Edge 2? Harold Landry, Chaisson or Jennings? – @Conniefootball
We’ll see how Keion White ends up getting used in this scheme, Connor, but my assumption is that White, Harold Landry and Anfernee Jennings are the three most frequently-used edge defenders on the roster to start the season.
How much should I bet on the Patriots to win the AFC EAST? (+475 currently) We’re so back baby! LFG Pats! – @mikemagz07
As Kevin Garnett once said, Mike, anything is possible. But the Bills’ schedule isn’t that much harder than New England’s. They’re facing a very beatable NFC South, as the Patriots are, and when going off projected win totals — as Warren Sharp does — the Bills actually have the fifth-easiest schedule in the league.
The division still goes through Buffalo.
Hey Phil. Am I wrong in thinking this team is going from the worst roster in the league, to having to make cuts that they really don’t want to make to get down to 53? Huge fan of your draft coverage as well as your everyday work. Best in NE!! – @JoSpence22
Thanks, Jo! There’s a chance there are some tough cuts this year. At receiver, parting with Polk might hurt since he was a second-round pick, but it might make the most sense for the team. At tight end, Jaheim Bell might end up being a cutdown-day casualty despite having some impressive physical traits.
There are a handful of safeties on the roster who look like they could make the roster, but maybe someone like Marte Mapu ends up free at the end of camp due to the numbers crunch.
They aren’t so overwhelmingly talented that they’re going to have half a dozen players claimed on waivers before the start of the season, in my opinion, but they’re certainly better than they were a year ago.
Will the Pats carry 5 backs on the active roster? I think they could. Rhamondre, Gibson, Henderson, Steer Wrestler, and Lampe. – @JeffTL
I’d place Brock Lampe, a fullback, with the tight ends. But that’s semantics. Yes, I could see all five of those players you list — including steer-wrestling undrafted rookie Lan Larison — making the roster.
What is the consensus among players about the perfect timing for the Bye Week? – @ImNoGuide
I think, generally speaking, they like to have it as close to the middle of the schedule as possible. Getting a Week 14 bye was one of the few tough draws for them in what otherwise looks like a relatively favorable schedule.
Patriots are going for lighter and faster defensive players that should help their pass rush but are they sacrificing their run defense by being potentially pushed around? – @patriots_harley
It’s possible, George. Something worth tracking at the start of the season.
The Patriots parted ways with a bigger linebacker (Ja’Whaun Bentley) and are going with a few lighter ones who have experience with Vrabel. They moved on from Davon Godchaux and have brought in some lighter defensive tackles like Milton Williams and Joshua Farmer.
It’s worth pointing out, though, that they haven’t gotten completely skinny up front. Khyiris Tonga (335 pounds) was signed to plug up the middle. They still have 250-pound linebacker Jahlani Tavai, and Christian Barmore (315 pounds) is no pushover.
Also worth noting: Denver was led by relatively light interior defenders like Zach Allen (listed at 285 pounds), D.J. Jones (305), Malcolm Roach (290) and John Franklin-Myers (288) last season and was second in the NFL in rush yards allowed per carry (3.9). Beef doesn’t always equal effectiveness on early downs.
Dell Pettus was highly rated by PFF at safety .. Does he fit in… Any hope for any of the non WR picks from last year? – @Michael81267864
As things stand right now, I’d presume it’s Kyle Dugger, Jabrill Peppers and Craig Woodson leading the way at safety. But I could certainly see Dell Pettus continuing to have a significant role in the kicking game.
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