The New England Patriots rebuilt their offensive line from the ground up entering 2025. Four new starters entered the fold, a pair of rookies on the left side to go along with two veteran free agents.
Despite the line's improvement from a year ago, the playoffs made it apparent the line's rebuild is not yet complete.
Across four postseason games, including the Super Bowl, the Patriots' line allowed 21 sacks, or 5.3 per game. If that was their average during the regular season, it would have made Drake Maye the most sacked QB in football by a long shot.
However, that wasn't the case in the regular season. The line wasn't elite, allowing 47 sacks on the season, which comes out to 2.8 sacks per game. Looking back on their last four games, being sacked only three times a game would have been a luxury. After being sacked 5-plus times in only three games all year, Drake Maye suffered that unfortunate fate in all four postseason matchups.
Patriots could look to the Chiefs’ blueprint for rebuilding the offensive line
The Patriots' offensive line situation isn't all that far removed from the Chiefs' unit back in 2020. The Patrick Mahomes-led squad scored 29.6 PPG and allowed just 1.5 sacks per game during the regular season. Mahomes was sacked three times in the Super Bowl, however, and was pressured 30 times. Drake Maye, for context, was pressured 25 times against Seattle.
The game resulted in a full-scale rebuild of the offensive line after the Super Bowl. All five starters on Kansas City's line were replaced. At tackle, they traded for Orlando Brown and promoted Lucas Niang from his backup role. They signed Joe Thuney to an $80 million deal, and selected Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith in the 2021 draft.
As mentioned, the Patriots' line is far from elite, but it is in a better spot than the Chiefs' line from a potential standpoint. Will Campbell, despite his dismal Super Bowl performance, will remain the left tackle, according to Mike Vrabel. Mike Onwenu will stay put at right guard, but the other three roles are up in the air.
I'd imagine Morgan Moses retains his job at right tackle until he retires, but Garrett Bradbury and Jared Wilson could each be replaced. The former seems likely to be released, as cutting him would save nearly $7 million and give Doug Marrone the flexibility to either move Wilson back to center, his collegiate position, or attempt to sign Tyler Linderbaum.
Caleb Lomu and Kadyn Proctor are tackles at Utah and Alabama, respectively, but bumping them to the interior could be a viable option, too. If New England opts against drafting a tackle in the first round, more traditional guards, Vega Ioane or Emmanuel Pregnon, could be players they select at No. 31 to bolster their offensive line.
If New England were to sign Linderbaum and select a tackle, perhaps Utah's Lomu, the offensive line could see a major uptick in performance. Campbell and Moses would remain the tackles in 2026, but the interior would see a new center and a potential battle for the left guard spot between Lomu and Jared Wilson. If Wilson holds his ground, Lomu would succeed Moses in '27. While it would take major resources, it would also likely pay major dividends.