The New England Patriots are moving at full speed ahead towards the 2026 season. Head coach Mike Vrabel’s team certainly accomplished quite a bit in the memorable 2025 season that saw the team go from worst to first in the AFC East division and represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, but that is now just the jumping off point as the offseason chugs along.
The success of last season will create quite a bit of internal pressure as the pages get pulled off the calendar and the schedule comes into focus. The Patriots were the beneficiaries of one of the easiest schedules in recent memory and they will no longer get to compete against so many of the league’s bottom feeders. Having a first-place schedule in the upcoming season will be far more challenging, and the team has to improve if it is going to grow.
The Patriots have already made a couple of key moves in free agency as they have signed wide receiver Romeo Doubs away from the Green Bay Packers and edge rusher Dre’Mont Jones, who finished the season with the Baltimore Ravens.
Doubs was signed shortly after the Patriots announced veteran Stefon Diggs would not be back with the team even though he was quarterback Drake Maye’s leading receiver last year. The decision to part company with Diggs seems to be a combination of saving salary-cap room and putting the receiver’s off-the-field legal problem behind them.
Patriots added Doubs and Jones as early moves
Doubs was one of a battery of receivers that Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love depended on last season. Doubs was the Green Bay’s leading receiver, but his numbers were not overwhelming. He caught 55 passes for 724 yards and 6 touchdowns, and 41 of his receptions went for first downs.
Doubs has size at 6-2 and 204 pounds, but he is not going to dominate with his speed. He should be a key contributor who can win the battle against defensive backs on 50-50 balls.
Jones is a solid football player who had 7.0 sacks and 24 quarterback hits last season. He is motivated to improve the New England pass rush.
“That’s my top priority. I put damn near my whole focus into it. That’s all I train for,” said Jones, per the Boston Globe. “I don’t have to really train for the run, because that’s second nature. But when it comes to the pass rush, I’m always trying to hone in, watch extra film, doing what I can. I feel like I’ve done a good job with the pass rush the last few years. My sack numbers were pretty good last year. My QB hits were great. This year, I want to turn those QB hits into sacks.”
The Patriots can feel optimistic that both Doubs and Jones will help the team, but there are more moves to make.
Patriots not done at DE slot
Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Signing Doubs and Jones should not be looked at as the kind of moves that shift the Patriots to having elite production at both of those positions. Executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf needs to keep his focus on both of those positions going forward.
Upgrading the pass rush should be the top priority and Wolf may want to look at either Joey Bosa or A.J. Epenesa, both of the Buffalo Bills.
Bosa could become the priority for the Patriots. He moved on to the Bills last year after playing the first nine years of his career with the Chargers.
The first six seasons of his career on the West Coast were quite productive as he reached double figures in sacks four times. However, injuries started to impact him in as he was held to 14 games in 2022 and 2023. He was relatively healthy in 2024 — he played 14 games — and he had 5.0 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. As a result, the Bills took a chance on him and he was productive in 2025.
He did not get back to double-digit sacks, but he had 29 tackles, 5.0 sacks and a league-leading 5 forced fumbles. Bosa is hungry to contribute big plays, and he could be a solid fit for the Pats.
Epenesa’s numbers dipped a bit last season, but the 27-year-old has length and athleticism at 6-6 and 260 pounds. He recorded 6.5 sacks in 2022 and repeated that number the following year before putting 6.0 sacks on the board in 2024. That number slipped to 2.5 sacks last year but he did have 32 tackles, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and two passes batted down at the line of scrimmage.
Bringing in another wideout could help Maye
The Patriots may want to help Maye continue to establish himself as one of the elite quarterbacks in the game by getting him another wide receiver. Whether it’s through free agency, a trade or the draft, the Pats could use a game-changing wideout who is more than a contributor like Doubs.
The Patriots tried to acquire A.J. Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles, but it looks like the receiver may stay in Philadelphia. However, that could change prior to the NFL Draft in late April. If it doesn’t, 30-year-old Deebo Samuel may be a solid target for New England.
He got back on track last season with the Washington Commanders as he caught 72 passes for 727 yards and 5 TDs, and he showed the requisite toughness that has become his calling card over the years.
Samuel became a star during his first 6 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, and the idea of playing for a legitimate Super Bowl contender could raise his level of play considerably.
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