The 2025 offseason is officially over. Most of the signings, all of the draft picks, and any other additions are about complete as the season gets underway. For the New England Patriots, expectations are high in Patriot Nation for several reasons.
The Patriots' ownership finally made a sound decision when they hired Mike Vrabel to be the Head Coach and oversee the entire football operation. Whilst it was a year late, they couldn't have made a better choice. Vrabel is a great coach and a top personnel evaluator. He took charge and set about to remodel a lackluster roster as well as anyone can in one offseason.
It was a Herculean task, but he aced all three major phases. He crushed free agency, adding top veteran upgrades on both sides of the ball, punctuated by playmakers. He smashed the draft with the team's best in decades, and he landed two players in undrafted free agency. One area he improved significantly was the porous offensive line, and quarterback Drake Maye will be the prime beneficiary.
The rebuilt offensive line will make everything on offense work
The Patriots' 2024 offensive line was about the worst in the NFL. They couldn't pass-block, as evidenced by the whopping 52 sacks allowed. In addition, holes for the running game were few and far between, and the backs' stats reflected it. It needed a lot of work, and Vrabel paid attention.
In free agency, he added three veteran players. Two remain and will probably start. They are right tackle Morgan Moses and center Garrett Bradbury. (The third, Wes Schweitzer, has retired.) Both are stopgap plug-ins, but still improvements over 2024.
The offensive line was so porous last season that even the addition of players who aren't stars is a positive. Moses is a 14-year veteran who plays, injured or not. Bradbury was a six-year starter for the Vikings, and while he's no Dermontti Dawson, he's a bona fide NFL center. Vrabel needed upgrades, and he got two in Moses and Bradbury.
The draft delivered big for Mike Vrabel's offensive line
After being unable to sign a star left tackle or other top offensive lineman in free agency, Vrabel's options were few. He could trade for them, the availability of which is always limited, or go to the draft. He went the latter route, invested heavily, and did a terrific job.
He first used his uber-premium pick, the fourth-overall in the draft, to select LSU's left tackle Will Campbell. While the stat-geek chatter said that Campbell's arms were too short and his shoulders too narrow to play tackle in the NFL, Vrabel dusted off that blather and took the player Pro Football Focus rated as the best offensive tackle in the draft.
"Campbell is an offensive lineman's offensive lineman. He approaches the position with excellent respect for what it takes to be great in the trenches: fundamentals, IQ and competitive toughness. His length and flexibility limitations might push him inside in the NFL, but this is a starting-caliber player at all five spots on the line."
Campbell will start at left tackle. After Campbell, Vrabel used another premium pick, this time a third-round selection on Georgia center/guard Jared Wilson. He's a long-term center, but this season he's already proven he's the best option at left guard and sent former Patriots' ill-advised first-round pick, guard Cole Strange, packing. Wilson starts at left guard.
To put an exclamation point on a terrific draft, Vrabel added another left tackle from an SEC program, Marcus Bryant from Missouri. As surmised, Bryant, who had kept the Jets' first-round pick, Armand Membou, at right tackle for the Tigers, made the team and will be the swing backup tackle. It was a final tour de force for Vrabel in a magnificent draft.
All this and the addition of multiple better wide receivers and a fabulous running back to boot, suggests one thing for Drake Maye and his offense in 2025. This young star is poised to take the top off the NFL this season. There will be no sophomore slump for Maye.
Maye completed 66 percent of his passes in 2024 with a dismal offensive line and a poor receiving corps. With a now much-improved offensive line, better wide receivers, and an explosive running back to boot, the sky's the limit in 2025. The second-year quarterback will lead Mike Vrabel's dramatically improved offense, coupled with an upgraded defense, to the 2025 playoffs.