If you're not thrilled with the New England Patriots' early free agency efforts, you're not alone. The team made some nice additions in All-Pro safety Kevin Byard III and wide receiver Romeo Doubs, but some of the other signings were anything but enthralling.
One failure was to fix their offensive line significantly. The only addition has been left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, who has had three of his first five NFL seasons ended by injury, including missing all of 2025. He may be a top talent, but it's a risky move.
The team failed to add an offensive tackle when left tackle Will Campbell had injury issues as a rookie, which significantly impacted his play, and the right tackle is a 35-year-old veteran, Morgan Moses. After them, there's little depth.
For an offensive line that gave up 47 sacks in the regular season and another 21 in the playoffs (six in the Super Bowl, crushing their hopes), it was an inauspicious beginning to the offseason indeed.
Because of their misses, Bleacher Report's Moe Moton chose not to rank them in the top-10 rosters in the NFL today, proving further that the Patriots have more moves to make before they are considered one of the best teams in the league.
The Patriots still have a lot of offseason roster work to do
Mike Vrabel and his personnel team still have the draft and 11 draft picks available to remedy the roster's shortcomings. Yet, their performance in 2026's free agency doesn't even approximate last season's impressive performance.
Too many key needs have gone unaddressed, and observers have noticed.
"It's quite jarring to see one of the previous Super Bowl contenders among the honorable mentions, but as noted in the introduction, these rankings will favor productive stars in premium positions. The Patriots are a good team that benefited from a historically weak 2025 schedule, but they're not a top-heavy squad. As the runner-up for league MVP, quarterback Drake Maye is on his way to stardom, but he wilted in the Super Bowl against elite competition.
The Patriots also have a major question mark at left tackle after Will Campbell after his absymal Super Bowl performance. Cornerback Christian Gonzalez and safety Kevin Byard are the accomplished stars with accolades on this roster."
Moton hit the nail on the head. Vrabel and the personnel operation settled for questionable or just run-of-the-mill players in some positions and didn't address other need positions at all. It's been an underwhelming performance thus far.
The Patriots totally neglected offensive tackle, and while they signed the oft-injured guard Vera-Tucker, depth is still lacking at both positions. Tight end is also a huge need, and it was only minimally addressed. Julian Hill (15 catches in 2025) was signed as a blocker. They need one who can catch the ball. Running back is also thin.
Vrabel cut Antonio Gibson and now has just two NFL-caliber backs, Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson. There is no depth, and an injury to either would be catastrophic. On defense, there are also major holes.
Defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga, a productive 2025 free agent signing, was allowed to leave in free agency, which could prove to be a huge mistake. At inside linebacker, he cut Jahlani Tavai and let Jack Gibbens walk. He now has only Robert Spillane and Christian Ellis manning the position.
At the edge, he merely replaced K'Lavon Chaisson (who should have been re-signed) with Dre'Mont Jones. There were no depth additions, and there's no improvement, at least so far.
In sum, free agency has been a disappointment. There's time to add the players the team needs through the draft, by trade, or in late free agency. But absent numerous strategic additions, Bleacher Report's evaluation will remain spot on.