The New England Patriots will begin Phase II of their rebuild under Mike Vrabel, and they still have a lot of work to do. While they reached the Super Bowl, they proved that Phase I of Mike Vrabel's rebuild wasn't enough to win the ultimate prize.
Now Vrabel has an opportunity to right the ship.
Yet, one player that ESPN thinks might need a change of scenery has been a starter almost since he joined the team in 2021. It's Christian Barmore.
Barmore has been troubled by a health issue but rebounded in 2025, starting 16 games and teaming with free-agent signee Milton Williams to form one of the NFL's best defensive tackle tandems. Joined by Khyiris Tonga, they presented a formidable front when they were all healthy.
Unfortunately, they weren't, which complicated things. This was especially true since a possible solid replacement, Keion White, a former second-round pick himself, was summarily jettisoned by Vrabel for a veritable bag of footballs: the all-too-familiar sixth-round pick the Patriots generally get when they trade a player.
White was misplayed at defensive end almost his entire time in New England by three head Coaches. It was a mistake by all of them.
ESPN thinks Christian Barmore may need a change of venue
Christian Barmore is a solid defensive tackle. In his best season, 2023, before the onset of his health issues, he had a great one. He notched 8.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, and 16 quarterback hits, six passes defended, and a forced fumble in his breakout season, earning himself a well-deserved contract extension.
Since then, however, it's been all downhill for Barmore, and ESPN thinks he may be sent packing by the Patriots.
"The Patriots would definitely need to find an on-field replacement for Barmore's interior pass-rushing skills. Last season, he had 11 quarterback hits and two sacks. However, Barmore is facing an assault and battery charge, and New England might want to make a change and focus more on improving on the edge."
If he's released, the Patriots will have to swallow a $12.8M dead cap hit, while they'll save $4.3M according to Spotrac. That's a huge number. The cap numbers are much more favorable after 2026, so the likely way to get him out of Foxborough this offseason seems to be by trade.
Christian Barmore may very well be traded
As ESPN noted, Barmore had a mediocre season in 2025, recording only two sacks and 11 quarterback hits. In addition, as they also noted, his off-field issues are not what Mike Vrabel wants to see. Vrabel seems to have little tolerance for that scenario, as his cutting of former Captain Julius Peppers last offseason attests.
Both Barmore and Stefon Diggs, who also has an off-field situation, may be headed elsewhere this offseason. In Diggs case, his cap situation is far more favorable to the team, and he's a candidate to be released outright. That won't be at all a shock.
In both cases, however, Vrabel will be giving up a top player at their respective positions. It's not an easy pill to swallow. He can re-sign Khyiris Tonga to replace Barmore, but the depth issue will still rear its ugly head there.
In Diggs case, he'll have to either use a very high draft pick on a receiver, pay a top free agent receiver like Alec Pierce big money, or engineer a costly trade for someone like the Eagles' A.J. Brown.
If ESPN is right and Bamore is on the way out, Vrabel will have to address the position with at least two additions. Tonga would be a no-brainer. Yet, unless he feels backups like Joshua Farmer or Leonard Taylor III are ready to step up, he'll have to expend significant capital somewhere to patch up the remaining gaping hole.
Regardless, as ESPN suggests, Barmore is on thin ice, and the expectation is that he'll be playing elsewhere in 2026.