Predictions are everywhere about the upcoming NFL season that begins in earnest shortly. Most of the preliminary work has been completed by NFL teams in the formation of their rosters. However, additions and subtractions will continue until kickoff time, as teams seek to gain any advantage they can over their roster.
A team's 2024 performance is certainly a component of predicting how the current version of the team will perform. Yet, in some cases, monumental turnover in any of several areas of the team can turn that scenario on its head. One 2025 team for which that's a distinct possibility is the New England Patriots.
If any team in the 2025 offseason did, the Patriots have turned the entire operation of their franchise upside down. It all began when owner Robert Kraft let the 2024 coach, Jerod Mayo, go, and hired former Patriot champion and veteran NFL Head Coach and personnel evaluator, Mike Vrabel. Nothing has been the same since.
Patriots' win total ahead of Week 1 is predicted to be 8.5 wins
Fox Sports has listed the over/under in wins for every NFL team. For the New England Patriots, it sits about where it has for much of the pre-season, at 8.5 wins. It's an interesting suggestion and would certainly represent a major improvement over the woeful 2023 and 2024 teams that won 3 and 4 games, respectively.
For certain, many fans in Patriot Nation would look at a doubling of last season's win total as a positive achievement. It's hard to argue that point. Eight or nine wins is a respectable season, and nine may even get you a Wild Card spot, depending on how the rest of the AFC pans out.
Most outside observers would likely consider Mike Vrabel's first season as the Patriots' Head Coach a solid success if he wins eight games. If he wins nine (especially if he gets the team back into the playoffs), it would likely and rightfully be thought of as a rousing success. But does this team have the potential to be even better?
The Patriots may have a higher ceiling than Fox Sports suggests
Few NFL analysts would consider the addition of Coach Mike Vrabel and his staff as less than a major improvement. Vrabel is not only a great Head Coach (a former NFL Coach of the Year in 2021), but he's also a terrific personnel evaluator. His brilliant conduct of the 2025 offseason demonstrated that unquestionably.
Also, pundits should keep in mind that the bottom-of-the-barrel 2024 Patriots roster still only lost six games by one score. While a score is a score, the wild-card in all this is that Vrabel has the most important element of a winning NFL team at his disposal, a top quarterback in young, dual-threat QB Drake Maye.
The Commanders added Jayden Daniels in the 2024 offseason. He made all the difference. The Patriots had different imperatives, since they already had their quarterback in place. Yet, they needed to add almost everything else. Fortunately, they have Vrabel, a master NFL personnel tactician, who shored up both his starting offense and defense nicely. Regrettably, depth remains a significant consideration. Renewing an entire roster in one offseason is a daunting task, even for Mike Vrabel.
The 2025 Patriots starters can run with almost any team, but multiple injuries to key players would be catastrophic. Vrabel and company will have to stay relatively injury-free to get to eight, nine, or 10 wins. Yet, if they do, it's not unreasonable to think they just may be able to achieve that level of proficiency. When you have a quarterback who now has a supporting cast, anything is possible.