The New England Patriots entered the 2026 offseason after a lackluster Super Bowl showing against the better team, the Seattle Seahawks. The Patriots were dominated from the start until it didn't matter. One major reason they flopped was their offensive line's poor performance. If you give up six sacks in any game, you'll be hard-pressed to win.
Thankfully, whatever his real role, the Patriots' Executive VP of Personnel Eliot Wolf thinks they need to add to that unit. He's right.
The 2025 makeshift offensive line was never meant to be anything more than a stopgap by the real personnel head, Mike Vrabel, to field an even reasonably proficient unit. He did that, to a point, and with his wunderkind MVP-level quarterback Drake Maye on hand, they somehow made it to the Super before flaming out.
Yet, the fact was evident to anyone who took a serious look that the offensive line was - offensive. They surrendered 47 regular-season sacks and then another massive 21 in four postseason games, culminating with six in their biggest flop, the Super Bowl. Maye was injured along the way.
The only surprise was that he stayed upright as long as he did with that Swiss-cheese-like line in front of him.
Eliot Wolf stated the obvious about the necessary offensive line needs
The first task for Mike Vrabel and his personnel backups, like John "Stretch" Streicher and Wolf and his backroom guys, is to fix his offensive line more permanently. Changes will be forthcoming, as Eliot Wolf has confirmed.
Eliot Wolf was asked if OT is a need: “Vederian (Lowe’s) a free agent. Thayer (Munford) is a free agent, and Morgan (Moses) is 35 years old, and you know, he played awesome this year, but he’s 35 years old. So, tackle would be a need for our team.”
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) February 24, 2026
Wolf has identified a few areas that need addressing in citing Lowe's impending departure, along with maybe Mumford's. Moses' status will depend on free agency and the draft. He could stay or be released and save another $3.1M on the cap, depending on how things fall in those two critical aspects of the offseason.
Mike Vrabel has to trim the 2025 offensive line and improve it
The Patriots are Mike Vrabel's team now in every aspect on and off the field. Any doubts about whether he's in charge of personnel can be quashed by comparing Wolf's dismal 2024 offseason (absent the Robert Kraft-likely mandated drafting of Drake Maye) and Vrabel's in 2025. The differences couldn't be more stark.
Now it's Vrabel's responsibility to further upgrade his offensive line to at least close to elite status. His prime objective is to protect the franchise, Drake Maye. Nothing else surpasses that in importance to the Patriots. And in the 2026 offseason, that means bringing in two or three better O-linemen to replace the 2025 versions.
Last season's left guard, Jared Wilson, will be moved to center, and 2025's center, Garrett Bradbury, will likely be released, saving a nice $5.8M in cap space. Vrabel should then upgrade left guard immediately by luring Buffalo's free agent David Edwards to Foxborough on Day One of free agency. He's a top left guard and will upgrade that position significantly and sting the Bills in the process.
Vrabel should also draft a top tackle with his first-round pick again in 2026. If he's good enough, he starts at right tackle, and Moses can go or stay as a backup. If not, he's groomed for a year under Moses and takes over in 2027.
Eliot Wolf got the issue of the offensive line right. Changes should be afoot. Major changes are needed to the makeshift line that took the Patriots to the Super Bowl, but they did it the hard way, surrendering sacks by the dozen. Vrabel is an astute NFL personnel man.
He knows what needs to be done. One place he needs to go early and often to improve is the offensive line. We'll see if he does what's necessary to protect his most valuable asset, Maye. If not, he'll certainly hear about it.