Since it was clear the Patriots were not going to be a very successful team despite the quarterback switch, most of the focus has shifted to the 2025 offseason. Besides the inevitable dream lists of who they can spend their league-high cap space on in free agency, their continuous losing means they will have another high draft pick, likely in the top 3, just like last year.
That creates a long list of possibilities of who they can select since they already have their quarterback in Drake Maye, allowing them to use their coveted asset to address another big hole on the roster.
Heading into Week 14, they held the fourth overall pick, which was still a good position. That was expected to change, for better or worse, since they were on their bye. Fortunately, they have come out as big winners despite not playing, as they moved up one spot in the order, thanks to old friend and current Jaguars quarterback Mac Jones.
Patriots win big by moving up in the draft order despite being on their bye
Current 2025 NFL Draft Order
TEAM NAME | RECORD |
|---|---|
Las Vegas Raiders | 2-11 |
New York Giants | 2-11 |
New England Patriots | 3-10 |
Carolina Panthers | 3-10 |
Jacksonville Jaguars | 3-10 |
Tennessee Titans | 3-10 |
New York Jets | 3-10 |
Cleveland Browns | 3-10 |
Chicago Bears | 4-9 |
Cincinnati Bengals | 4-8 |
New Orleans Saints | 5-8 |
Dallas Cowboys | 5-7 |
Miami Dolphins | 6-7 |
Indianapolis Colts | 6-7 |
Atlanta Falcons | 6-7 |
Arizona Cardinals | 6-7 |
San Francisco 49ers | 6-7 |
Los Angeles Rams | 7-6 |
Six teams currently have a 3-10 record, one of which is the Patriots. The good thing about that, however, is the difference in strength of schedule for the remainder of the season.
New England has one of the toughest stretches to finish the year, starting with a road game against the Cardinals in Week 15. They then have to play the Bills twice in three weeks, with the Chargers at home in the middle. That gives them a SOS of .461, a healthy amount (.023) away from the Panthers behind them.
Because they're not favored in any of the final four games, and the likelihood of them losing out is far higher than the shocking potential of them winning, the Patriots will have a good chance to move up even further in the draft order.
However, as it currently stands, the two teams ahead of them (Raiders and Giants) are both in need of new quarterbacks, opening up a large pool of talent for the Patriots to choose from if they stay with the third pick. They could snag the best receiver of the class, which would be the WR/CB dual threat Travis Hunter out of Colorado.
Or maybe they'll want to boost their pass rush and take the best EDGE of the group in Abdul Carter from Penn State. More predictably, they could prioritize the offensive line and select one of the top left tackle prospects, either LSU's Will Campbell or Texas' Kelvin Banks Jr., all of whom would be incredible additions to the team.
There's also the chance they could take advantage of their top positioning and trade down to acquire more picks, potentially with another team needing a quarterback. The options are there, and staying in the top 3 picks would be the best-case scenario moving forward, even if that means losing will be more beneficial than winning.