During a typical offseason, a roster's biggest weaknesses are clear, and, for the most part, the emphasis is on improving either the offense or the defense.
While that makes sense to a degree, it puts many teams in a position to forget about one of the most important parts of the game of football, special teams, and that's not something the Patriots generally do.
Throughout Bill Belichick's tenure, the third unit became a major part of the Patriots' success, which was heavily discussed in recent days with Adam Vinatieri's Hall of Fame induction, and under coordinator Jeremy Springer, special teams have massively improved to the point of becoming a focus with the team that forced the rest of the league to catch up.
That's what made it so shocking when they became a liability for the team in the final years of Belichick's time in New England, particularly with problematic kickers and punters.
They went through several at both positions and finally appeared to find the right guys for the job, like punter Bryce Baringer, only for his performance to take a swift downturn over the past year. In fact, he was considered a potential cut candidate this offseason if he didn't improve, but he might have escaped that fate in the nick of time.
From what we saw from him early in his NFL career, he looked primed to be their next reliable special-teamer, which would have been another hats off moment for Belichick. But his inconsistencies over the past two years have become more of an issue, and this season he's made it clear he's made the changes needed to avoid those setbacks in 2026.
Bryce Baringer understands his shortcomings and what he needs to change to help the Patriots
Ahead of a difficult season with high expectations after reaching unexpected success last year, the Patriots need their best from every player if they hope to replicate and build upon what they accomplished in 2025.
That includes a more reliable weekly performance from Baringer, who spoke about needing to be more consistent with ESPN's Mike Reiss, and also shared that a switch in mindset might actually be what makes him better than anything else.
“I want to be more consistent, one. Number two, big emphasis was hang time, and distance and having that relationship … The biggest thing I feel like I’ve done is more a switch in mindset than technique.”
It's possible that the biggest setback in Baringer's performance was self-doubt, which hindered what had been solid showings on game day. So the fact that he wants to make that change is significant, and hopefully, it's exactly what is needed.
At the same time, his memorable short kicks down the stretch of the season and into the playoffs are hard to forget, and he will need to dramatically improve that ugly trend or risk putting his team behind, while also turning up the heat on his roster spot.
The Patriots already brought in a few undrafted punters to work out during the offseason, seemingly lighting a fire under Baringer to show that they are not overlooking his shortcomings in the slightest.
So it would be fair to say they're not afraid to replace him if need be, and while the hope is they won't have to do that any time soon, they have done some work on players that might be right for the job if the time does come.
It's Baringer's job to lose at this point. He has shown he can be the reliable option any team would want, but he needs to get back to that kind of consistency if he wants to remain in New England for the foreseeable future.
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