The New England Patriots took a major step forward in 2025.
After hiring Mike Vrabel as the team’s head coach, the Patriots went from winning four games to 14 last season as Drake Maye established himself as one of the league’s best quarterbacks.
New England’s magical run ended sourly, however, as they dropped Super Bowl LX to the Seattle Seahawks. That led to a busy offseason in which they turned over a large portion of their roster, highlighted by the additions of A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs at wide
receiver.
Those offseason changes have the Patriots positioned to be competitive yet again as they hope to return to the Super Bowl and leave with a different outcome. Entering the 2026 season, New England is tied for the seventh-best odds on FanDuel Sportsbook to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, fifth-best in the AFC.
That is why in the results of the latest SB Nation Reacts survey, 96% of participants believe the Patriots continue to head in the right direction as a franchise.
The comment section was largely in agreement:
Vegas Joe
Looks at where this team was 18 months ago.
Yeah, I’d say they are heading in the right direction.
Glad to see this poll in 90s as it should be.
Patriotpower
They are in a better place than they were a few years ago and possibly even better than last season…. Let’s hope for the best…
Kdog
I like what the FO has done the last 2 years. Doesn’t mean they will hit on every move (and non-move) but the approach is solid. They have avoided huge overpays but they’ve been willing to do small overpays in strategic situations. And last year’s draft class was excellent. That said, you can’t address every need at once and we are tolerating some risks this year (ED unit is weak, OL is shallow, LBs lack speed).
I feel like we could be a year away from greatness if things bresk right. If we can solidify what we have this year we can hit the offseason with a reasonable to-do list.
All in all, this week’s survey results look as follows:
Much of the recent optimism around the team stems from the Patriots agreeing on a long-term contract extension with cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Gonzalez has become one of the league’s best defensive players since the Patriots selected him in the first-round of the 2023 NFL Draft. The 24-year old was a key part of the team reaching the Super Bowl last season and is now under contract through the 2031 season following his $135 million extension.
The deal is the richest contract in team history, which fans supported as 61% of participants graded the extension an A. 23% went with a B while 11% voted a C to take up the majority of the voting.
Gonzalez and the Patriots will kick off their 2026 season with a Super Bowl rematch against the Seahawks Wednesday night in Seattle.
