Pats Pulpit
The Patriots entered the 2025 offseason with 17 players set to hit the open market.
With the 2024 NFL season officially in the books, all focus shifts toward the future. For the New England Patriots, it is one of change: the team hired Mike Vrabel as its new head coach in January, and he brought an almost entirely new group of assistants with him.
The personnel turnover this offseason will not be confined to the coaching staff, however. The Patriots also will need to further rebuild their roster after back-to-back four-win seasons, starting in free agency.
Financially, the team will be well-equipped to do so. According to salary cap expert Miguel Benzan, the team is currently $103.7 million under a projected $275 million cap — most in the league by a significant margin. That gives the Patriots plenty of opportunity to not only add quality from the outside, but also take care of their own class of free agents if they so choose.
Doing so will likely not put a lot of financial strain on the team either: a lack of star power is the defining feature of the Patriots’ 2025 free agency class, one that originally stood at 17 deep entering the offseason.
QB Jacoby Brissett (UFA): Re-joining the Patriots via a one-year, $8 million free agency pact last offseason, Brissett began the 2024 season as the team’s starting quarterback. His tenure lasted only five games, after which he was demoted to second-stringer behind rookie Drake Maye. In total, the team captain ended the year going 95-for-161 for 826 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. With Maye’s job secure and and another youngster — Joe Milton — on the team as well, the Patriots bringing Brissett back for another season seems like a long-shot.
OL Ben Brown (ERFA): The Patriots picked up Brown from the Las Vegas Raiders’ practice squad in October, and promptly inserted him as their starting center in lieu of veteran David Andrews. He ended up starting 10 games before being moved to injured reserve with a concussion. Even if he had not been sent to IR, however, he was a candidate to lose his starting job to a convalescent Cole Strange. Nonetheless, he is a candidate to return as an exclusive-rights free agent.
OL Lester Cotton (RFA): Cotton joined the Patriots in November via the waiver wire and spent the rest of the 2024 season as an emergency option along the interior offensive line. He was active for three of five games down the stretch, playing 19 snaps on offense and one on special teams along the way. New England tendering the restricted free agent seems unlikely at this point.
RB JaMycal Hasty (UFA): A rotational member of New England’s running back corps, Hasty saw uneven opportunities and touches in 2024. In total, he played 9.8 percent of offensive snaps and touched the ball 30 times for 128 yards and a touchdown. Hasty, who also averaged 23.8 yards on...
