The post-Tom Brady and Bill Belichick era in New England was always expected to be a difficult period, as losing both figures who reign supreme as the greatest of all time at their given positions would dramatically impact any team's future.
That has certainly been the case in the five years since Brady left for the Buccaneers and in the one year since Belichick was let go. The hope is that things will be taking a turn for the better now that Mike Vrabel is the new head coach, and the team finally appears to have its quarterback of the future, Drake Maye, under center. However, expectations still need to be tempered.
There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to get the Patriots back on the path of being a winning and competitive team in the NFL, with this offseason being a defining year to catapult them into accomplishing that sooner rather than later.
However, despite most fans and reporters understanding that immediate success is unlikely in New England, at least in the way of making the playoffs, there is at least one reporter who believes the 2025 season might be the Patriots best in recent years, which is an unbelievable prediction given the current state of the team.
Colin Cowherd predicts the Patriots to make the 2025 playoffs as a wild card team
Although fans will inevitably hope the Patriots will make enough impactful changes to their roster this offseason to win more games than they have in recent years, there is a general acceptance that it is unlikely to go as far as making the playoffs for the first time since the 2021 season, especially with the division only getting stronger.
That's not how FS1's Colin Cowherd views things for New England, though, as he projects the Vrabel-led Patriots will be a wild card team in the 2025 playoffs and even hold the fifth seed in the AFC playoff picture.
.@ColinCowherd reveals his AFC Playoff predictions pic.twitter.com/WPgZHMhtXW
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) March 14, 2025
While it's exciting to hear such a projection for a team that has been post season deprived over te last four years, and there is certainly enough reason to convince yourself that it is a real possibility for the Patriots this year, it's setting the standard far too high for a roster that needs a lot of improvement before being able to fully compete with some of the best teams in the league.
They have made significant strides in the right direction with the roster, specifically on defense with the signings of guys like CB Carlton Davis and DT Milton Williams. However, the efforts to improve the offense have been lackluster so far, and the Patriots can't continue to be a team that relies solely on their defense to keep them afloat or steal some wins.
Maybe the excitement from their first batch of signings explains Cowherd's wild prediction, or he just has so much faith in a Vrabel run team that he believes he can turn the Patriots around that quickly and adequately.
But it's not a great prediction to hop onto the bandwagon for, as it's setting the standard far too high for a Patriots team that still needs a lot of help.