New England Patriots 2025 Profile
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Mike Vrabel
Offensive Coordinator: Josh McDaniels
Defensive Coordinator: Terrell Williams
Special Teams Coordinator: Jeremy Springer
2024 Summary (W-L Record: 4-13)
Not much went right for the Patriots in their first year without Bill Belichick. The offense struggling wasn’t unexpected, but the defense having such a bad year was a little surprising.
You can see from their 2024 numbers below that they didn’t offer much resistance to opposing offenses, something not seen in New England since before 2000:
The issues began with their inability to generate pressure. No pass rush in the NFL was more accommodating to opposing quarterbacks than the Patriots’.
But the bottom line is that New England wasn’t able to create impact plays on defense in any way. They ranked 30th in the NFL in takeaways. They were 29th in percentage of negative runs forced. They couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down (26th in the NFL).
The Patriots’ offense has struggled for the most part since Tom Brady left after the 2019 season. But the defense was able to keep New England in most games. Last year, with the offense once again being the weakness of the team, the defense offered little assistance.
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That said, the offense was also dreadful.
It started up front with an offensive line that wasn’t very good to begin with and then lost its best player (center David Andrews) 4 games into the season.
The Pats had a decent 1-2 punch in the backfield and some good tight ends in Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper. But they had arguably the worst receiving corps in the NFL.
Despite all that, rookie quarterback Drake Maye actually showed an impressive level of competency. In fact, the most encouraging aspect of last season was that Maye probably showed the most improvement from college to his rookie season of any of the six 1st-round quarterbacks taken last year.
Check out my 50-play breakdown of his rookie season at the link below:
Film Session: Drake Maye's Rookie Season
All things considered, Drake Maye had a good rookie season. The biggest takeaway is that he looks like an NFL QB. He played with decent timing, showed he can orchestrate the offense, and of course displayed the ability to make plays outside of structure. The most encouraging thing for the Patriots should be that he showed improvement in some areas that were glaring issues in college.
Key Additions
RB TreVeyon Henderson (2nd Rd, 38th Overall)
WR Stefon Diggs
WR Mack Hollins
WR Kyle Williams (3rd Rd, 69th Overall)
LT Will Campbell (1st Rd, 4th Overall)
C Garrett Bradbury
RT Morgan Moses
OL Jared Wilson (3rd Rd, 95th Overall)
DT Milton Williams
DT Joshua Farmer (4th Rd, 137th Overall)
EDGE Harold Landry
EDGE K’Lavon Chaisson
EDGE Bradyn Swinson (5th Rd, 146th Overall)
LB Robert Spillane
CB Carlton Davis
S Craig Woodson (4th Rd, 106th Overall)
Key Losses
QB Jacoby Brissett
C David Andrews
DT Daniel Ekuale
DT Davon Godchaux
EDGE Deatrich Wise
CB Jonathan Jones
Did They Address Their Holes?
Given the amount of moves the Patriots made this offseason, I think it’s fair to say they addressed their holes. Or at least most of them. They seemed to account for almost every position group that was in need, as you can see from the section above.
Most importantly, they really attacked the trenches on both sides of the ball. That’s the smart way to build a team for any franchise. But it especially makes sense for a team that couldn’t protect the quarterback on offense and couldn’t get to him on defense.
Drake Maye is the most important player to this franchise. Everything the Patriots do needs to be about supporting his development. And there is nothing more important to that effort than pass protection.
The O-line will look nothing like it did a year ago, with rookie Will Campbell (the 4th overall pick) at left tackle, veteran Garret Bradbury at center, and free agent Morgan Moses at right tackle.
The improvements up front mean that the passing game won’t just be centered around how quickly they can get the ball out of Maye’s hands.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots clearly wanted to fix that absent pass rush. They picked up former Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams, who can do so from the inside, Harold Landry from the Titans, who is a solid edge rusher, and K’Lavon Chaisson from the Raiders, who figures to be a good rotational piece.
The Patriots will also look a little different schematically this year, particularly up front. They figure to have a much higher percentage of snaps where the D-line is looking to penetrate instead of 2-gapping.
Biggest Questions Entering 2025
The biggest question for the Patriots is whether or not they did enough to surround Maye with weapons. Stefon Diggs is a nice addition, but how good will he look in his first year back from an ACL tear? Rookie 3rd-rounder Kyle Williams is an intriguing player, but how soon will he be able to get up to speed in Josh McDaniels’ system?
The Patriots did add to their strengths in the backfield by taking Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson in the 2nd round. Between Henderson, Rhamondre Stevenson, and Antonio Gibson, it seems like they plan to major in the running game.
Based on their personnel and McDaniels’ history, we’re likely to see that complemented by an effective ball control/quick passing game that challenges defenses sideline to sideline. It will be interesting to see how McDaniels finds ways to attack more downfield, though, given Maye’s physical abilities.
The bottom line, however, is that the Patriots are much improved on this side of the ball and have put Maye in good position to continue his development.
2025 Outlook
Given the presence of Mike Vrabel and the influx of talent this offseason, the Patriots look like they can quickly get back to their roots as a defense-first team that can win some games with this side of the ball alone.
They’ll look a bit different schematically than what Patriots fans are used to. Vrabel has tended to lean more on split-safety looks than what we’ve seen in New England recently. But the Patriots have one of the best cornerbacks in the game in Christian Gonzalez and added another good one in Carlton Davis during free agency. They’re still going to play a healthy amount of man coverage this season.
Given the talent they added to all three levels of the defense, they have the players to attack offenses in a variety of ways. And they will.
When the schedule came out this spring, the Patriots were favored in 11 of their 17 games. That isn’t something you normally see for a team that wasn’t favored in any game the year before and managed just 4 wins. That’s how significant their improvements appear to be.
Many seem to be pegging the Patriots as an 8-9 win team, which isn’t unrealistic. And if it does happen, you can consider the 2025 season a success.