Lets face it, the Patriots have been somewhat irrelevant since Tom Brady left. It hurts to say, but really that’s the sad truth. One of my favorite sayings in life is “Better days ahead” this will eventually be true for New England football, hopefully sooner than later. New England looking to improve on a dismal 2024 where they finished 4-13. Odds makers have the Pats doubling their win total by the offseason moves, especially from their draft picks they’ve made.

Heading into the 2025 season, improvements have been made, which we will take a look at, and why the Patriots have gotten better and what to look forward to this year and hopefully beyond.

A quick recap of the seasons leading up to this season. In 2020 the Patriots were on their way to “rebuilding.”
The departure of Tom Brady left a gaping hole in the offense, particularly the quarterback position. You do not just replace the likes of Tom Brady. New England did need to find a quarterback however. New England finished the season with a 7-9 record, back to their losing ways prior to the emergence of Tom Brady 25 years ago. Cam Newton, who was once a rookie of the year and had an MVP to his name ,was backed up by lifetime backup Brian Hoyer. This tandem did nothing to impress. The following season the Pats did manage a winning record 10-7 under newly drafted Mac Jones, who New England did think of as “the heir to the throne,” so to speak. 2022 and ’23 were huge disappointments again, finishing 8-9 and in 2023 going even worse finishing last in the AFC East with a 4-13 record.

It’s obvious the leader of the team is usually the quarterback. We will get to him soon. We know the Patriots are in a rebuild mode, so the rebuild included the coaching staff. New England hired Mike Vrabel who comes back to the Patriots this time as head coach, bringing a winning record of 54-45 and 3 trips to the playoffs with the Titans.
Josh McDaniels also returns to the Patriots as an offensive coordinator. This will be the 3rd time McDaniels is with New England as an offensive coordinator. McDaniels was the head coach of the Raiders for 25 games. McDaniels is going to be key as Mike Vrabel is a defensive minded coach. Vrabel will lean on McDaniels to call offensive plays and develop the offense moving ahead. McDaniels is an excellent play caller; one of the best, this is a definite sign of a team that wants to win again and is improving.

Finally with the Mac Jones experiment over. Here we have newly drafted Drake Maye, Maye was drafted 3rd overall in the first round. The 2024 season was a repeat of ’23, which had a dismal ending with an identical 4-13 record. The plus here Drake Maye is a huge upgrade over Jones, Maye had a subpar rookie season with 15 touchdown passes and 2276 yards, and 421 yards rushing, finally a QB with some ‘wheels’.
Future looks bright?

Sticking with 2nd year quarterback Drake Maye, Maye has been impressive so far during training camp. Thus far, in camp Maye is 14 for 15 passing his lone incompletion was batted down by a defender. Drake has been “Brady-like” as far as using all his weapons so far in camp. All great QBs will lead and help his wide receivers thrive.
Drake is starting to look less like the kid with “potential” and more like a true leader, on and off the field. Maye’s help off the field is working to build trust, and create a strong rapport with his teammates. They’ve been hanging out together, watching film together, and all staying under one roof. This is necessary to build a football team with good comradery, and to create a winning atmosphere.
For the first time since Tom Brady left, there is a sense hope for the Patriots. Not hopes of making the playoffs, but really building a team that will contend for championships shortly.
Will Drake Maye replace Tom Brady, HIGHLY unlikely but definitely a promising career ahead of him I believe.

Now looking ahead, besides Maye.
The next groups of players are ones to get excited about and are going to be a big reason why the Patriots meet or exceed the odds maker’s projection of 8 wins.

I’m gonna get this guy out of the way now, because he’s technically not on the Patriots “yet” but so many reports are linking Christian Wilkens a defensive tackle who was recently released by Las Vegas, the Raiders were reportedly not happy with the way he handled rehab. New England is always trying to improve their defense. The 29 year old grew up a Patriots fan and said former Patriot Vince Wilfork was his favorite player.
The Patriots have the most salary cap space, roughly $60 million. They definitely can afford him. Wilkins (when healthy) is one of the best DT in the league. He’s a talented pass rusher who had a 2 sacks and 17 tackles in 5 games with the Raiders last season.

Lets take a look at the offensive threats first, Wide Receiver Kyle Williams was drafted by the New England Patriots in the 3rd round 69th overall. In 50 career games between UNLV and Washington State University, He totaled 248 receptions for 3608 yards and 29TDs. He added 17 rushing attempts for 87 yards. Wiliam already gelling with QB Drake Maye, they’re becoming very close early on, kind of like Brady and Wes Welker or Julian Edelman. Williams said this of Maye, “we talk about everything, we are working on plays and just really getting to know each other.” Ironically enough Williams has been really connecting with veteran Stefon Diggs, and he said he was his favorite player growing up in Maryland. The chemistry is already building quickly between Diggs, Maye and Williams.

Running back 5’10”, 202LB TreVeyon Henderson was drafted in the 2nd round 38th overall, from Ohio State. TreVeyon Henderson was the ONLY RB in college football to have 7.0+ Yards Per Carry, 1000+ yards rushing and 250+ Receiving Yards. “It’s going good. We’re getting better as a team, I’m getting better, and the staff here is pushing me a lot,” Henderson told reporters. The Patriots may plan to use his speed for kickoffs as well. Henderson played in 47 games 38 of them he started for Ohio State and totaled 590 carries for 3761 yards and 42TDs He added 77 receptions for 853 yards and 6TDs.

Stefon Diggs WR, not a rookie by any means and coming back off an ACL injury was a gamble but one that can definitely pay off. Diggs may not be the #1 guy going into the season and an injury risk is always a concern, what’s helping the Pats so far during training camp with Diggs is he is taking on a mentorship role with the younger guys, Kyle Williams in particular.

We all heard the saying ‘The best offense is a good defense’
Next up we will look at the defense that truly will be a big part of New England becoming better than last year and hopefully for many years to come… LETS GO !!

Cornerback – Christian Gonzalez has it all he’s strong, he’s big and he can run, an explosive CB that will matchup with any top end target of opposing teams. He was ranked 11th in the league for for CB position and 84th overall for a player in the NFL. Gonzalez’s contract expires in 2026, but can negiotiate in the spring, The Patriots will look to lock him up long term as the franchise defensive player. Jets CB Sauce gardner recently signed a 4 year $120M deal resetting the market for CBs basically, Gonzalez is on par with Gardner no doubt so ‘Gonzo’ will be looking to get paid.
Gonzalez recent pulled a hamstring, but coach said its not serious and he will be fine in a week or two. I’m excited to see Gonzalez this upcoming season, hope you Patriot fans are too.

Defensive End – Bradyn Swinson, was drafted by the New England in the 5th round 146th overall of the 2025 Draft. Swinson is a classic speed rusher from the edge, 6’3” 250lbs. In 2024 for LSU he had 58 tackles 2 forced fumbles with 8.5 sacks. Swinson will compete for a spot in the rotation alongside Keion White and Harold Landry, who are locks to start. White who I will mention briefly coming up.

Defensive End – Keion White. White can be a wrecking ball off the line, Patriots had a league worst 28 sacks as a whole last season and White had 5 of those sacks and 2 of them were in the first two weeks of the season. Coach Vrabel’s defensive approach is much different than last year, and White is eager to get going. White told reports; “I hope they run the ball every play,” “From a defensive standpoint, I don’t want the offense to get one yard.” Vrabel and White already have a budding relationship and will continue to grow and the defense will continue to improve as well.

Defensive tackle – Joshua Farmer, Farmer a 4th rounder 137th overall pick. As mentioned earlier Patriots ranked dead last in the NFL last season in sacks, finishing the year with just 28. The Pats made a lot of moves to address the need. New England picked up defensive tackle Milton Williams and outside linebacker Harold Landry III in free agency and drafted outside linebacker Bradyn Swinson and defensive tackle Joshua Farmer. In 2024 for FSU Farmer had 32 tackles, 8 tackles for losses and 4 sacks.

Defensive tackle – Milton Williams, Williams signed as a free agent this offseason for $104M. Williams last played for the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles, so Williams knows what it takes to be successful, he’s bringing in a winning attitude and a good quality of leadership with him to help out on defense, Milton already loves the fact Coach Vrabel is a defensive minded coach.
Williams said, “He don’t mind putting a pad on and getting there and doing dirty work with us, that’s one of the reasons I chose to come here. Him being a former player, playing in the trenches, knowing what it’s like, knowing how it’s supposed to look, what you expect.“

Linebacker – Robert Spilane, another free agent defender signee, Spilane will add a much needed boost to the Patriots’ defense. The Raider loss is New England’s gain here, while he is not good in coverage, Spillane can be a menace upfront and will add some much needed leadership, as well as a veteran presence for Mike Vrabel’s defense. Over 2 seasons in Las Vegas, Spillane got 5.5 sacks and 306 tackles, including a career high 158 in 2024.

Any addition to defense I am all for, seeing as that was the biggest need moving along. In fact any addition to help improve the team is all anyone would want, correct?

I hope everyone enjoyed this article as much as I liked writing it. Let me know what you think in the comments below, feel free to follow me on ‘X’ @HENDO19750, feel free to hit me up on Facebook as well if you want to chat https://www.facebook.com/HENDO.1975