The New England Patriots had an opportunity to pick up their seventh Super Bowl triumph, a win that would have broken their tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most by any franchise in the history of the 60-year-old event. Their defense certainly played well enough to prevent the Seahawks offense from dominating, but their offense was not up to the task of bringing home the championship. The Patriots fell by a 29-13 margin and were never able to threaten the Seahawks.
The Patriots are clearly a team that climbed the ladder during the 2025 season, as new coach Mike Vrabel breathed confidence into a team that went 4-13 and finished in last place in 2024. This year's team rolled to a 14-3 regular-season record as second-year QB Drake Maye rose from a quarterback with talent and promise to a legitimate MVP candidate. He would finish second to Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams for that honor, as he threw for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions while completing a whopping 72.0 percent of his passes.
Maye also showed off his athletic ability as he ran for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns. More than those numbers, he showed the ability to get away from the pass rush and buy time for his receivers to get open.
However, as much growth as Maye demonstrated during the regular season, he was perplexed and often confused by Seattle's defense in the Super Bowl. He held on to the ball too long, failed to take advantage of his opportunities to run when they presented themselves and played the game on the edge of panic.
In short, Maye has quite a bit of room to grow in spite of his gaudy statistics during the regular season. He knows that Vrabel knows that and personnel director Eliot Wolf knows that.
Patriots benefited from an easy schedule
The NFL gives teams that suffered through last-place seasons with an opportunity to turn things around quickly by playing a schedule that includes a number of winnable games. In addition to playing the New York Jets twice, the Patriots played 11 games against team that fired their head coaches. They took full advantage of an opportunity that is not going to exist in 2026.
The Patriots will have a first-place schedule in 2026 and they will have to demonstrate they are up to the competition. There is little doubt that Vrabel has a very good team on his hands, but they may not be as great as they seemed in 2025.
Clearly they had a high-functioning offense with Maye, running back Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson along with wideouts Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte and tight end Hunter Henry.
They also demonstrated a defense that was able to shut down opponents when the game was on the line. Harold Landry and K'Lavon Chaisson led the way with 8.5 and 7.5 sacks, respectively. They are effective players but the Patriots may need to add a big-play superstar to make the defense even more effective.
The Patriots are in need of a couple of free agents as they start preparing for the 2026 season, one on either side of the ball.
Christian Kirk
The Patriots have a crew of solid pass catchers, but there are no guarantees that Diggs will be back next season. Even if he is, he may not be in a position to lead the team in receiving again. Diggs caught 85 passes for 1,013 yards and 4 TDs last season.
However, Diggs was charged in an off-the-field incident that included felony strangulation/suffocation and misdemeanor assault charges. He will have to defend himself from those charges in the coming months, and he may face discipline from the NFL as well.
As a result, the Patriots need to go after free agent wide receiver Christian Kirk from the Houston Texans. Kirk caught 28 passes for 239 yards with 1 touchdown during the regular season.
However, he caught 10 passes in Houston's 2 postseason game for 164 yards with 2 touchdowns. One of his postseason touchdown receptions came against the Patriots in New England's 28-16 victory in the divisional playoffs.
Kirk has had 8 seasons in the league. His best season came with the Jaguars in 2022 when he caught 84-1,108-8. He could reach those totals again with Maye at quarterback.
Edge rusher Troy Hendrickson
Hendrickson is one of the top pass rushers in the NFL, and he is coming off an injury-shortened season that saw him play in 7 games last season and register 4.0 sacks. However, he had back-to-back season with 17.5 sacks in 2023 and '24.
Hendrickson had 19 tackles for loss and 36 quarterback hits in 2024. He is one of the dominant pass rushers in the league.
If the Patriots are going to pursue a superstar who can shut down opponents, Hendrickson appears to be the right man. He had a core muscle injury last season (hip/pelvis) but he should be healthy prior to the start of training camp.
Hendrickson would be a costly asset as he had a $25 million cap hit last season. But his presence could ensure that the Patriots have one of the most dangerous defenses in the NFL next season.
