The New England Patriots had a great season in 2025. They exceeded everyone’s expectations and came up only one win short of winning the franchise’s seventh Lombardi Trophy.
The Super Bowl 60 loss to the Seattle Seahawks did expose some roster weaknesses that need to be addressed this offseason.
Most notably, how should the Patriots address the offensive line after this group — especially rookies Will Campbell and Jared Wilson — struggled in the Super Bowl?
On the latest episode of the Next Pats Podcast, Patriots Insider Phil Perry unveiled his five-point plan to upgrade the Patriots roster during this pivotal 2026 offseason.
Check out Perry’s plan below:
1. Don’t get married to key 2025 contributors
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David Butler II-Imagn Images Stefon Diggs was the Patriots’ first 1,000-yard WR since 2019.
Perry: “I understand there are going to be emotional ties to a lot of these players. There are some big names that we’re about to mention here, but these are the types of names that I think are worthy of some hard conversations if you want to make the cold, calculating decisions that you have to as part of the NFL business that every team has to make if they’re making the right decisions for their long-term futures.
“We’re going to start with Stefon Diggs. He ended up averaging about 55 yards per game and had a 1,000-yard season. A tremendous year and far exceeded my expectations. But I think some of his limitations also showed up in the postseason. He has $1.7 million guaranteed on his deal for 2026. It’s not a huge number, but if you get to the regular season, that $20.6 million base salary becomes guaranteed, and actually $6 million of that will be guaranteed on March 13th.
That’s the key date. If he gets $6 million on March 13th, he’s going to be with this team. If he doesn’t, you’re going to be looking for wide receivers, whether it’s in free agency or in the draft, to help fill the gap.
“Now, you could save almost $17 million on the cap. … You would have $9.7 million in dead money if you end up parting with Stefon Diggs. So something to consider if you don’t view his role as one that is going to be massive for you at 33 years old, as a slot receiver who isn’t going to give you a ton in the run game. But man, he was so competitive, he gave that locker room so much. He was praised all year long by the quarterback himself, and so maybe Drake Maye is at the point in his career where he looks at a player like Stefon Diggs and says, hey, we got to make sure that we bring that guy back. Mid-March is key for Stefon Diggs in his future with the New England Patriots.”
Perry also talked about right guard Mike Onwenu, center Garrett Bradbury, defensive tackle Christian Barmore and right tackle Morgan Moses. Listen to the episode for his full analysis.
2. Make smart investments
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Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Christian Gonzalez is a top-five CB in the NFL.
Perry: “I think an easy decision would be to extend Christian Gonzalez and give him the Sauce Gardner contract and don’t think about it for the next five years. He’s that kind of player. I think he proved it in the Super Bowl. You want to play man, you want to play zone — he is one of the best corners in football and you just don’t let players like that walk out the door. … You don’t want to wait it out. You’re only going to end up costing yourself money down the line if you don’t do it as early as possible.”
“If you want to bring back K’Lavon Chaisson, if you want to bring back Khyiris Tonga, if you want to bring back Jaylinn Hawkins, these are really important players for that Patriots defense. They’re all due to be free agents there. Do you have to make a hard decision on one of those other names when we’re talking about, don’t get married to the players that got you to the Super Bowl? Do you have to make a hard decision on one of them in order to bring back some of these players that are due to hit the market?”
3. Upgrade in the weapons department
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Denny Medley-Imagn Images Alec Pierce could be one of the top free agents WRs.
Perry: “Upgrade your weapons for Drake Maye, and I’m starting with one name in particular: Alec Pierce, who’s one of the most efficient deep threats in football. Pair him with a young quarterback who loves to throw the football down the field. He would be your X receiver for the foreseeable future.
“Now, how would that work with the other players you have? I think you’d make Mack Hollins one of these players who can play along the interior. We’ve seen him take almost tight end types of alignments at times. He is such a mismatch in terms of what he can do, blocking in the run game against corners. If you want to match him with a bigger player, he can take him down the field and make plays over the middle. Mack Hollins is a really valuable player for them in terms of the chess game and the X’s and O’s. You put Alec Pierce on the outside and you allow him to be that true deep threat down the field.
“You still have Kayshon Boutte, who can do some of those same types of things, although he’s typically an X. So, maybe this would mean less work for him if they were to sign Alec Pierce. Kyle Williams is a similar deal — plays a lot of X when he is on the field, and so you have to figure out a way to use him.
“But between Hollins, Pierce, Boutte, (DeMario) Douglas, Williams, that to me is a group that has speed and some explosive playmaking ability that pairs nicely with your explosive playmaking quarterback.”
4. Protect the franchise in free agency
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Eric Canha-Imagn Images Jared Wilson has had a very strong rookie season.
Perry: “What is your run scheme? That to me is a question that you have to figure out first if you’re thinking about adding players along the offensive line. If you want to be more of a zone run scheme, and Mike Vrabel has shown in the past some preference to having that type of offense, and the Patriots showed this year that they have a willingness and an affinity for booting out Drake Maye, those boots are less effective if you never run the wide-zone run play.
“And the Patriots really were not a wide-zone running team, in part because of what they had on their offensive line with guys like Mike Onwenu. It’s not going to make all the sense in the world to have him hauling ass to the sideline as fast as humanly possible when he would much rather go downhill and north-south and grind out yards in the run game that way.
“Do you want to get more athletic on your offensive line? And that, to me, would go a long way. Finding out that question and finding out what you want to do philosophically offensively — if you want to boot your quarterback more, do you want to stretch run more? That’s going to impact the types of players you’re looking for on the offensive line.”
Perry also talked more about potential offensive line free agent targets. Listen to the episode for his full analysis.
5. Use first-round pick to trade for Maxx Crosby or draft next right tackle
Albert Breer shares what he’s hearing about Maxx Crosby’s situation with the Raiders, and if he would come to New England.
Perry: “Trade that 31st overall pick for Maxx Crosby. I don’t know if they’ll ever do it. He’s such a talented player. And man, it would make your defensive front that much more dangerous if you were to add him. And thinking about the certainty that he gives you as a player and what he would give you in terms of production versus what you might or might not get from that 31st pick.
“… Acquiring draft picks, generally speaking, is the smart way to go. But when you talk as much about the draft as we do, you also know there is a high likelihood that the 31st overall pick is not going to end up working out. That’s just the way it goes. You’re not picking at No. 3 or No. 4 overall anymore.
“You’re all the way down to the bottom of the first round, and yes, you should be able to get a good player there. A productive player, a contributing player for you. It just doesn’t always work out that way. And so if that’s the flip, if it’s 31st overall and a little more — maybe 31st overall and a player for Maxx Crosby, if that’s all it requires, go ahead and do that.
“If they end up taking a player with that pick, go ahead and get a right tackle. How about Blake Miller from Clemson? It’s a player we haven’t yet mentioned on this podcast this year. … Miller set the record for snaps played offensively at Clemson during his career there. He made 54 starts, played through injury, tough, athletic and a right tackle. You don’t have to talk about that flip from the left side to the right side. One of the better right tackles in this year’s draft and could be a first-round pick. Maybe he’s more of a Day 2 guy.
“But at 31st overall, if you feel like you want to get that young player as the next in line to take over for Morgan Moses, whenever that has to happen, Miller feels like a really good fit for this Patriots program and what they need on the field for the foreseeable future.”
Also in this episode:
- Vrabel on how the Super Bowl can be a valuable learning experience
- What kind of people are the Patriots looking for?
- Next Pats mailbag
