Expectations have been significantly raised for the Patriots in 2026.
In Year 1 under new head coach Mike Vrabel, the Patriots went 14-3 during the regular season and unexpectedly made the Super Bowl after finishing 4-13 in consecutive seasons. Now it’s about figuring out how to get back to the Super Bowl and win it all.
Vrabel and top front-office executives Eliot Wolf, Ryan Cowden and John Streicher have over $40 million in cap space (with other means to free up more) and 11 selections in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Herald is publishing a daily series with five offseason fixes that cover the draft, free agency and trades that can help the Patriots get back to the Super Bowl.
Step No. 1: Trade for Maxx Crosby
Step No. 2: Fortify offensive line
Step No. 3: Extend key homegrown players
During the regular season, the Patriots had a No. 1 receiver.
Stefon Diggs became the first player in New England to top 1,000 receiving yards since 2019, a feat he managed despite playing 55% of the team’s offensive snaps. He was a weapon versus man-to-man coverage and zone. He played his best when his best was needed, picking up 146 yards in a primetime win at Buffalo, and 138 over a fourth-quarter comeback at Baltimore.
Then the playoffs hit.
Diggs totaled a meager 110 yards over four games, looking every bit the 33-year-old he will be next season. Elite defenses were unafraid of him and the rest of the Patriots wideouts, who struggled to separate at times and weren’t a threat to take short catches and generate explosive plays. Too often, the Patriots needed perfectly executed play design or Drake Maye to extend plays in order to sustain their passing offense in the postseason.
Life cannot be that hard if the Pats want to take the next step. Maye needs someone else to shoulder the playmaking and creation on offense. Perhaps no stat captures how much Maye powered his passing attack, the most explosive in the NFL by yards per attempt, than the fact Patriots receivers forced the fewest missed tackles per reception of any offense in the league, per Sports Info. Solutions.
The Pats need more explosive players who can eat up yards in space or do more damage downfield. Yards after the catch and contested catches were two areas Vrabel referenced before the draft last year when highlighting the role of analytics in the team’s evaluation process.
‘You talk about durability, you talk about height, weight, speed, measurables, time missed, does that correlate to potential time missed in our league and the durability? So, those are all things that (analytics) can give you,” he said. “You can look at certain positions — analytically, it relates to the receivers and their drop percentage, their ability to gain yards after the catch, their contested catch or how many separation yards, right? And then you go to the next position.”
Free agency offers a clear, but expensive, top option in Colts receiver Alec Pierce. He led the NFL with a 21.6 yards per catch average last season, a big-play weapon to pair with a big-play quarterback. Pierce is a muscular, 6-foot-3 wideout with elite speed who would offer an upgrade over Kayshon Boutte as a go-to target on deep throws and jump-ball situations that could pull away from defenses.
Perhaps the biggest compliment anyone can pay Pierce is he made Daniel Jones look like an above-average quarterback again. Imagine what Maye might do with him?
Wolf might also look to his Packer roots and circle Green Bay’s Romeo Doubs, a No. 2/3 receiver whose strengths include contested-catch situations and beating single coverage. He had 724 yards and six touchdowns on 55 receptions before busting out for 124 yards in a Wild Card playoff loss at Chicago.
Giants slot receiver Wan’Dale Robinson is an electric player in space who developed into more of a deep threat last year. Robinson had 1,014 yards on 92 catches in New York and posted one of the better drop rates across the entire league. Other veterans available include Calvin Austin III, Marquise Brown and ex-Patriots draft pick Tyquan Thornton, who finally showed flashes of the deep threat he was always expected to be while playing in Kansas City last season.
In the draft, the 2026 wide receiver class is not regarded as overly deep relative to past years. Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson, Ohio State’s Carnell Tate and USC slot Makai Lemon are a few of the first-round names to know with the Patriots scheduled to pick at No. 31 overall.
If the Pats don’t draft a receiver early, that should be a strong sign they expect 2025 third-rounder Kyle Williams to make a leap in Year 2, if not fellow rookie Efton Chism III, as well.
