New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots can totally be the No. 7 seed in 2025.
The roster in New England last year was bad. The current one won’t win a Super Bowl in the first season under Mike Vrabel, but it’s vastly improved after a productive offseason that should spark major change.
It’s a totally new look under Vrabel. With Tuesday’s release of long-snapper Joe Cardona, the Patriots do not currently have a Super Bowl champion on the roster. While there’s shades of New England’s championship history with Vrabel, it’s a totally clean slate on the roster than can build a new culture from the ground floor.
New England particularly faltered in 2024 from insufficient situational football, a continued lack of explosiveness on offense and a concerning regression from a once-capable defense.
Vrabel’s staff will reinstitute the wits that the roster needs to turn games into wins. TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Williams are game-breakers with their speed on offense and can be the weapons the Patriots have needed for nearly six years running. They’ll each help Drake Maye along with an established No. 1 receiver in Stefon Diggs. The defense has a new identity with additions in Robert Spillane, Milton Williams, Harold Landry and Carlton Davis in free agency. Draftees such as Joshua Farmer will develop behind them to continue a talent movement on that side of the football.
The Patriots enter the 2025 season with a last-place schedule, plenty of winnable games, more talented and a conference that could beat up on each other enough to give New England a path to the final playoff spot.
The Los Angeles Chargers, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos took the three AFC wild-card spots last season. It’s not to say the Patriots are now better than those three teams, but a revamped roster and new culture certainly give Vrabel the opportunity to force New England back into the competitive class of the NFL.
