The schedule release is done and dusted, offseason workouts are underway, and a much-speculated trade about a star wide receiver will not happen for two more weeks. Needless to say, we have reached a bit of a quieter time on the NFL calendar.

That said, there is still plenty to talk about. So, in order to clean out the notebook from the week that was, here is the latest edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.

Mike Vrabel’s consistency

Even though he had led his team to a Super Bowl in his first season and was named NFL Coach of...

The New England Patriots will play hosts to the Pittsburgh Steelers in their 2026 home opener at Gillette Stadium, and to one of the best quarterbacks of all time. Aaron Rodgers will again be under center for the Black and Gold this season, a move that was made official on Saturday.

As first reported by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Rodgers and Pittsburgh reached an agreement on a one-year contract. The deal will pay him a fully-guaranteed $22 million.

This means that Rodgers will lead the Steelers on their trip to Foxborough in Week 2. The Sept. 20 game will...

The New England Patriots completely rebuilt their defensive edge during the 2025 offseason, but just one year later had to make more investments to ensure its quality heading into the future. The first big move was bringing in Dre’Mont Jones in free agency; the veteran arrived on a three-year, $36.5 million contract.

What will Jones bring to the table, though? Let’s find out.

Hard facts

Name: Dre’Mont Jones

Position: Defensive edge/Outside linebacker/Defensive end

Jersey number: 5

Opening day age: 29 (1/5/1997)

Measurements: 6’2 3/4”, 268 lbs, 33 3/4” arm length, 9 5/8” hand size, 5.12s 40-yard dash, 7.71s 3-cone...

Nancy Meier’s 52-year run with the New England Patriots has reached its end. The team’s director of scouting administration is officially retiring this week.

While Meier has been a staple of the team’s scouting department as well as the organization’s longest-tenured employee, the page needs to be turned. The Patriots have done just that by hiring Courtney Weiner as scouting administration coordinator.

The 27-year-old started her new gig this week.

Weiner earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Elon in 2021 and a master’s in sports management at Columbia in 2023. During her time at Columbia, she served as the...

The most popular sport in America is the NFL. The second most popular sport in America is the NFL offseason.

Only the NFL can have an entire weekend of analysis and breakdown over a grid depicting games that will be played four months from now by teams that aren’t even fully assembled yet and make predictions that will look patently absurd once the season starts and the injuries pile up. Even as the U.S. gets ready to host the largest sporting event on the planet, set to commence less than one month from today, the majority of our attention is...

TEAM TALK

• Patriots announce 2026 schedule.
• Mike Dussault analyzes the Patriots 2026 NFL schedule that features a challenging road slate, five initial prime time contests and a trip back to Germany.
• Juliann Challacombe explains how CB Karon Prunty’s performance as a redshirt senior at Wake Forest landed him on the Patriots draft radar.
• Patriots 2026 schedule release at Six Flags New England. (2 min. video)
• Pawtriots release the CUTEST schedule video of All Time: Local shelter dogs star in this version. (1 min. video)
• Press Conferences: Mike Brown, Jared Wilson and Julian Hill. -...

On Thursday evening, all 32 NFL teams released their 2026 season schedules, and the New England Patriots, in Year 2 of the Mike Vrabel regime, have the sixth-toughest strength of schedule. Additionally, they will have to travel the fifth-most air miles, with an international game against the Detroit Lions in Munich, Germany, and two West Coast trips to visit the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Chargers.

The NFL determines a team’s strength of schedule by combining the winning percentage in the previous season of its 17 opponents; however, it doesn’t take into account the roster movement or coaching staff...

The New England Patriots’ 2026 schedule was released on Thursday night. Starting with a Super Bowl rematch against the Seattle Seahawks and ending with a home bout against the Miami Dolphins, the team of head coach Mike Vrabel will face plenty of obstacles on its way to repeating as AFC East champions.

Time will ultimately tell how easy or difficult the Patriots’ schedule turns out to be. For now, however, let’s focus on who in our opinion can be happy about how the chips fell into place — and who can not be.

Winners

Will Campbell: The Patriots’ left...

The NFL schedule has officially been released, but the focus for New England Patriots has remained centered on the offseason program as OTAs are less than two weeks away.

So, let’s get into this week’s #PostPulpit Mailbag.

What is the game youre most looking forward to on the Patriots schedule? – Mike W.

It’s tough to top the Super Bowl rematch right out of the gate, especially in the Seattle environment. While it will be a challenging one for the Patriots, they should fare much better than they did three months ago with the upgrades the’ve made this offseason.

Other...

While the Los Angeles Chargers have struggled delivering championship performances on the field, their social media team delivers year in and year out when it comes to its schedule release videos. The latest features a Halo theme, and it also includes a section about the New England Patriots and their head coach, Mike Vrabel.

The Patriots’ part of the video is a race titled “Conquer the Cupcakes,” seemingly a nod to the club’s easy schedule in 2025. It later goes on to poke fun at Vrabel for the ongoing off-field story involving himself and NFL reporter Dianna Russini.

First, there...

The New England Patriots already knew their opponents for the 2026 NFL season. Now, following the official schedule release, they know when they’ll face each team.

Coming off a 14-win regular season, the Patriots’ win total is set at 9.5 on FanDuel Sportsbook entering this year.

While offseason changes have the roster in a better spot, the path ahead appears more challenging — beginning with a tougher slate of opponents. Even with New England projecting to be a better team, its record could take a slight dip.

Here are our immediate predictions following the release of the schedule.

Week 1:...

The New England Patriots announced their 2026 schedule on Thursday night, and they once again enlisted some of their players to help doing so. They all got together at Six Flags New England and hit the rollercoaster to unveil the slate of games, with some of them visibly faring better than others.

Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, Brenden Schooler, Craig Woodson, TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Williams are among the players getting the honor. Drake Maye also made an appearance in the 2-minute clip, albeit in a less stressful role than his teammates.

The Patriots will open their 2026 slate with a...