Six weeks ago, the Pats stood, well, pat.
The NFL trade deadline passed without even a rumbling of a pick-swap deal in New England, where Mike Vrabel, Drake Maye and Co. had begun to announce themselves as contenders with a six-game winning streak. Instead of fortifying their position, the Pats watched while a few competitors stocked up around them.
Despite that inactivity, their recent loss to Buffalo and several key injuries, the Patriots remain firmly in the title race. Their Super Bowl odds range from 6-8%, according to most sportsbooks, where they are listed as the seventh or eighth-biggest favorite to lift the Lombardi Trophy. So, why didn’t they jump at more talent when they had the chance?
The simple, yet incomplete, answer is the future.
Under Vrabel, the Patriots want to build a perennial contender. The front office did pursue deals last month, but always had an eye on 2026 and beyond. None of the offers the Pats weighed were tempting enough to part with the draft picks, young players and/or cap space those deals would have cost, and should instead allow them to build a roster that can contend year after year.
Which brings us to next spring.
According to Over the Cap, the Patriots currently hold the ninth-most cap space for 2026 at $48 million primarily because they are expected to roll over most of their league-leading $51.6 million in cap room from this year. That, more than anything else, signals the Pats’ plan to return to the free-agent market where they poured a league-leading $179 million in fully guaranteed money and $364 million in total contracts last offseason.
Will they match this year’s record-setting spending next spring? Of course not.
But the flexibility to go big-name shopping again is both rare for teams that spent just as the Patriots just did. However this 2025 season ends, the front office is positioned to soon reinforce their position as contenders in a way they did not at the deadline. And if the Pats hit on enough free-agent signings, maybe a trade or two and, of course, a few draft picks, that contending position should hold for years to come.
Whether or not their front office spends and executes is, obviously, another matter. But before the Pats begin outlining an offseason plan and assembling their next classes in free agency and the draft, these are the decisions they will face.
From in-house contract extensions to internal free agents and potential free-agent targets, here is a peek at the Patriots’ offseason ahead.
Contract extensions
New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) lines up during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/ Jeffrey T. Barnes)
Christian Gonzalez’s agent is on line one.
Gonzalez will be extension eligible for the first time this spring, and the Patriots would be wise to ink their 23-year-old shutdown cornerback to a long-term deal before the market dictates terms of said deal to them. Just ask Houston.
The Texans, led by former Patriots personnel head Nick Caserio, smartly signed All-Pro corner Derek Stingley to a record-breaking 3-year, $90 million extension last March when their franchise quarterback was entering Year 3 of his cost-controlled rookie contract. That is exactly where Maye will be next offseason, when another contender, Seattle, will be negotiating with its own elite corner and former 2023 first-round pick: Devon Witherspoon. Once the Patriots and Seahawks strike new deals, the value of Stingley’s contract to Houston will only rise as he falls further down the list of highest-paid cornerbacks.
Back to the Patriots.
Reaching terms with Gonzalez before Witherspoon gets his own extension should give them a discount, considering both players’ camps are all but guaranteed to demand the richest contract ever for a corner. Whoever signs first will be the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history, but won’t hold the belt for long.
Now, whether Gonzalez falls in the top half or bottom half of your top-10 corner rankings, the fact is he’s an elite player at a premium position who won’t turn 25 until after next season, and players like him sign market-setting contracts. Just ask Stingley or Sauce Gardner, who received an extension worth $30.1 million per year last July simply to one-up Stingley.
Gardner’s deal also offers a lesson for the Patriots in that he did not jump Stingley by guaranteed money — the real cost for teams — but only average annual value. Considering Gonzalez’s injury history, the Pats ought to protect themselves against history repeating itself by structuring a deal more similar to Gardner’s with fewer guarantees that technically makes Gonzalez the highest-paid corner— except by the most measure they care about most.
New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte runs with the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Other Patriots players up for extensions include young receivers Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas and punter Bryce Baringer. I’d expect the Patriots to wait on extensions for Boutte and Douglas, unless one of them jumps at a team-friendly deal. Boutte has seen tremendous personal and professional growth in New England, but his production the last couple months has tapered off in a way it’s too shaky to bank on him as a long-term ‘X’ or No. 2 receiver.
Douglas, meanwhile, might contend with backup Efton Chism III as soon as next year for the starting slot receiver job. That is, if Stefon Diggs doesn’t claim it first in the second season of the 3-year deal he signed last offseason.
If Diggs also renegotiates this offseason, those talks might get complicated. Keyword: might.
As one league source put it, Diggs is at his best when playing on fresh money. Unless the two sides restructure, he will be guaranteed just $1.7 million of his $20.6 million base salary next season and zero guaranteed dollars on an identical salary in 2027. Furthermore, the coaching staff’s decision to play Diggs on fewer than 50% of the team’s offensive snaps in three straight games is a signal they do not view him as a vital part of their operation.
Diggs would be right to point out he nonetheless leads the Patriots in all major receiving categories, has brought strong locker-room leadership and developed immediate chemistry with Drake Maye. Then again, he will turn 33 next year and no longer provides the same explosive, vertical element he once did.
The most reasonable outcome here should be a type of revised deal that lowers Diggs’ cap hit of $26.5 million but increases his guaranteed money next year. Could the two sides find middle ground if they need it?
Internal free agents
Foxboro, MA -New England Patriots linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson celebrates a sack during the first quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)
This is a short list.
Outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson and safety Jaylinn Hawkins are the Patriots’ only starters set to hit free agency. Key backups ,like tight end Austin Hooper, defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga and linebacker Jack Gibbens, are also on expiring contracts and should draw interest from the front office in a reunion.
The Patriots will also find themselves in a position they have not since the end of the Brady era: able and willing to play hardball. New England is an attraction again, thanks to Vrabel and Maye. So if Hawkins, a borderline starter and positive locker-room presence, wants to stay in Foxboro, he may need to take a discount compared to his outside offers. Same goes for Tonga and Gibbens, who have flourished with renewed opportunities and enjoyed their experiences in New England.
Thanks to their coach and quarterback, the Patriots no longer must come over the top to sign players, knowing even if they make the best offer offer, their targets still might say no (looking at you, Brandon Aiyuk). But can the front office leverage the team’s appeal appropriately without cheaping out on rotational players like Tonga, Hawkins and Gibbens?
Chaisson, on the other hand, feels like a near lock to leave. History shows edge rushers at his age (26) and with his production (48 pressures, per Pro Football Focus) get paid in free agency. Big time.
The Patriots took a flier on Chaisson with a 1-year, $5 million contract, which he out-performed by the end of October. Having bounced around from Jacksonville to Las Vegas and now Foxboro, it would be sensible for Chaisson to look for a long-term home with real, long-term money. The Pats could extend themselves to retain him, but may not be willing to match if they believe they can find better value and/or a more well-rounded edge defender elsewhere.
And the key to any good free agency, as they demonstrated last spring, is to complement big-ticket signings (Diggs, Milton Williams, Carlton Davis, etc.) with value signings that carry upside (Chaisson, Tonga and Hawkins).
Speaking of edge defenders and value …
External free agents
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jaelan Phillips reacts to his sack during an NFL football against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
The good news: the Patriots will have the spending power to make a splash or two in free agency.
The bad news: they will have competition for the players at their most dire positions of need.
Start at edge defender.
Jaelan Phillips, acquired by the Eagles at the trade deadline for a third-round pick, will hit the open market barring an extension in Philadelphia. His 62 pressures rank 10th among all edge defenders this season, per PFF. He’s 26, comes with a first-round pedigree and fits the Patriots’ physical prototype at the position.
Phillips’ market will be interesting, given his injury history, though his production when healthy has been undeniable. He should be considered the second-best pass rusher on the market, behind only Trey Hendrickson. Before this season, Hendrickson had mostly been a portrait of health for the Bengals, but now his health and age (31) complicate matters for teams, like the Patriots, that are encroaching on all-in territory for a given season but aren’t there yet.
Hendrickson, obviously, would offer a major upgrade over all of their other pass rushers, but his best football is likely behind him. Do the Pats want to pay big money for a player on the downside of his career when younger edge rushers are available? If not, consider Chargers pass rusher Odafe Oweh, Colts edge defender Kwity Paye and Seahawks outside linebacker Boye Mafe, all impending free agents.
Colts receiver Alec Pierce is expected to be the best player available at his position, though the recent history of top free-agent wideouts (Chris Godwin and Michael Pittman Jr. last season) suggests he could re-sign early. Pierce is a 6-foot-3 weapon with good long speed and a strong track record of making contested catches, a critical skill Vrabel has cited repeatedly when discussing what he wants in a receiver.
An overlooked name at an under-the-radar position: Rams safety Quentin Lake. Even if the Patriots re-sign Hawkins, they would stand to benefit from better depth and another playmaker at safety. Lake is currently on injured reserve, but through 10 games he recorded 61 tackles, an interception, one sack and 10 pass breakups. Lake has the type of versatile skill set — including man-to-man coverage ability — the Pats are now seeking.
One final underrated position of need: fullback.
The Patriots relocated backup tight end Jack Westover to the backfield this summer, and as hard as Westover plays, he’s not cut out for the job. The Pats’ rushing success rate with Westover on the field is a gross 31.8% which, for reference, would currently trail NFL’s worst rushing team by success rate by almost a full percentage point if prorated over a full season.
Quote of the Week
“When pressure’s on, you want to play within the system, play within the scheme and use your teammates around you. I’ve been trying to do that as much as I can because those guys around me are great players and realize that you don’t do it by yourself. That’s a motto in life. You don’t do things by yourself. You’ve got people around you in your life that can help you, help you get to your goal, that think the same way and that want to win. I think when the pressure’s on, you don’t have to play outside and try to make a hero play, just make a winning play.” — Patriots quarterback Drake Maye on balancing high expectations and his own limitations