The New England Patriots' 2026 offseason is almost complete, and the grades vary. They seemed to do OK in spots, but nowhere near as well as their virtuoso performance in the 2025 offseason. The imperative was to first enhance the protection for quarterback Drake Maye.
They did so - to an extent - but should have done more in the draft. Regardless, Patriots tight end Hunter Henry is bullish on Maye and expects big things from his quarterback in year-2 in the Josh McDaniels system.
Maye is a prodigy, and leading his 2025 patched-up-in-one-offseason team to a Super Bowl was an amazing effort. It was only Maye's injury and a sieve-like offensive line in the playoffs that doomed the team and precluded another Lombardi Trophy from gracing the cabinet at Gillette Stadium. The offensive line's deficiencies and Mayes' injury status were inextricably linked.
Your MVP-level quarterback can't be getting sacked, battered, or running for his life on almost every play if you're going to win the ultimate prize. The surprise was that they got as far as they did with what they had.
Now that things have improved, players like Hunter Henry are excited to see what the third year quarterback can do in year 2 of the same coaching staff.
Hunter Henry expects a big jump from Drake Maye in his third-year
Adding an injury-prone guard, Alijah Vera-Tucker, and a top first-round tackle, Caleb Lomu, though he probably won't start on the O-line, was less than optimal this offseason. Nevertheless, Maye will still have to perform at his best if the team is to rise to the challenge of a much more difficult 2026 schedule.
One positive is that he'll have his steady, if not spectacular, tight end, a big fan of his, Henry, back as his go-to tight end.
Patriots.com quotes Hunter Henry and his view of third-year quarterback Drake Maye,
"There's not enough good things I can say about Drake. Obviously, you see the talent on the field and everything he does - the arm talent, the escape-ability, the extended plays. I think the underrated thing that he has this year is going into Year 2 in the system. This system demands a lot of the quarterback position.
So to have a whole offseason to be in the same scheme and really build on what he did last year, I'm excited to see the jump."
Henry is spot on that Maye's familiarity with Josh McDaniels' offense in year 2 will be a big plus for him and all the other players who've now had a season under their belt in that complex system.
Yet, Maye will still have to overcome the fact that three or four of his offensive skill players, along with others, will be new to the system in 2026. Thankfully, though, with Maye at the helm and much more comfortable in the offense in year 2, the entire offensive unit will benefit.
Clearly, Henry is a big fan, as he should be. Maye's brilliant passing and deft running took the revamped-on-the-fly 2025, 4-13 team to 14-3 and a Super Bowl. Weak schedule or not, it was a tremendous feat. Now, after further revamping, to an extent, Maye will be expected to perform even better against tougher competition.
Hopefully, his O-line and newly added skill-position weapons (that may be augmented by a trade for No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown) will be enough to get the job done.
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