The 10 most important figures of the Patriots’ offseason

No team made bigger splashes last offseason than the Patriots, who spent a league-high $192 million guaranteed in free agency and drafted in the top five.

But even if their splashes are smaller this year, the stakes of the Pats’ 2026 offseason are just as high.

The Patriots are back in the inner circle of NFL contenders, having zipped from rebuilding straight to chasing championships after a surprise Super Bowl run in their first season under Mike Vrabel. Even though their roster talent has markedly improved from a year ago, the Pats’ competition will soon level up, too, with a brutally difficult schedule in 2026. To stay one step ahead, the Patriots must patch most holes on their depth chart and fortify their existing strengths, which will require more good work in free agency, the draft and trade market.

To that end, Vrabel won’t be the only person determining whether the Pats ultimately succeed in the coming weeks and months.

Here are the 10 most important figures in the team’s offseason:

Stefon Diggs

The structure of Diggs’ contract effectively guarantees both sides will return to the negotiating table less than 12 months after he signed last March. Diggs is owed just $1.7 million guaranteed over the final two years of his deal, while he’s scheduled to count for $26.5 million against the team’s 2026 cap. According to Over the Cap, if Diggs is on the roster March 13, he will add an extra $6 million in guarantees, though it stands to reason he will want even more having just authored the franchise’s first 1,000-yard season in six years.

Will the Patriots give it to him? Or do they believe they can find a better No. 1 wide receiver elsewhere, especially after Diggs totaled just 110 receiving yards in the playoffs? He’ll also turn 33 this November and faces serious charges of felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault stemming from an alleged incident last December.

Without Diggs, the Patriots would indisputably be worse on the field. But if he again tops their receiver depth chart in 2026, it’s likely they will run into the same problems against elite defenses as they did in the postseason.

According to Over the Cap, the Patriots would create roughly $16 million in cap room by cutting Diggs before June 1 and absorb a $9.8 million cap hit. If they trade him, they would add $17.5 million in cap space and take an $8 million cap hit. Restructuring or extending his deal could also be on the table.

Eliot Wolf

The man at the top of the Patriots’ front office has several tricky decisions on the docket.

What to do with Diggs?

How much should he invest in the offensive line? Or does the O-line merely need time and patience? Should Jared Wilson move back to center, where he would replace Garrett Bradbury, a favorite of Drake Maye’s, and let the Pats pursue a veteran left guard?

Is a Maxx Crosby trade viable?

If not, how else can the Patriots sharpen their pass rush? Does that include re-signing K’Lavon Chaisson without over-paying him?

And how much does Christian Gonzalez deserve in an extension?

Speaking of the star corner …

Christian Gonzalez

Imagine being a 23-year-old with an imminent payday north of $100 million, and all you have to do is sit there and wait for it.

This is life as Christian Gonzalez knows it.

Gonzalez should soon become the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history, having recently become eligible for a contract extension at the conclusion of his third season. His deal should build on one, if not both, of the two richest deals signed by a corner: Sauce Gardner (4-year, $120.4 million) and Derek Stingley (3-year, $90 million with $89 million guaranteed).

The only question is whether Seattle’s Devon Witherspoon beats him to that title. As a fellow 2023 first-round pick, Witherspoon is also newly eligible for an extension and one of the best corners in football. All four parties involved — the Patriots’ front office, Gonzalez’s camp, the Seahawks’ front office and Witherspoon’s camp — are aware of the fact that the first player to ink an extension will set the other up for a slightly higher payday. That’s exactly how Gardner’s deal played out last year, four months after Stingley signed.

So, will Gonzalez play hardball knowing the Patriots need him and must make him the highest-paid player at his position sooner rather than later? Does he want more total dollars, like Gardner, or higher guarantees like Stingley? Do the Pats retain him for three years, through his age-26 season, or for four, effectively locking him up through his prime?

John Spytek

Reportedly, Crosby has said he won’t play another down in Las Vegas, where the Raiders’ new regime is now trying to rein in their 28-year-old star pass rusher. If Crosby does hit the trade block, the Pats should be at the front of the line to scoop him up, and that line will be crowded, which means Wolf must convince Raiders GM John Spytek he has the best package to expedite another rebuild in Las Vegas.

Does Spytek want picks? Young players? Will Spytek negotiate with any instructions or input from minority owner Tom Brady, who could feel one way or another about dealing with his former team?

Any trade talks should start with the Patriots’ first-round pick at No. 31 overall, plus some other smaller assets; be it a Day 2 selection, late-round pick or younger player (DeMario Douglas or Christian Elliss anyone?). Unless the Seahawks jump into the Crosby sweepstakes, the Pats’ first-rounder will be less valuable than any other offered to the Raiders, which puts them at a disadvantage. So what can they add to compensate?

Even if Wolf and Vrabel give the OK, that’s a question for Spytek.

AJ Brown

It feels like the Brown-to-New England rumors have circulated for years.

But after a disappointing Eagles season where Brown’s displeasure with the state of the passing offense was no secret, what’s one more offseason in the rumor mill?

Brown’s history with Vrabel is an obvious factor here, though several others are more important. Namely, Eagles GM Howie Roseman is perpetually in win-now mode, and trading his No. 1 receiver for picks wouldn’t position Philadelphia any closer to a Super Bowl. It may take Brown making a mess, a la an NBA superstar, for this type of trade to gain any traction.

But stranger things have happened, especially with the Eagles.

Robert Kraft

Kraft turns 85 in June.

His days as the front-facing owner of the Patriots are numbered, with his son, Jonathan, President of the Kraft Group, waiting to succeed him. Kraft just got a whiff of the Super Bowl after four losing seasons in five years. So might he push Wolf and Vrabel to operate with more of a win-now mentality than the Patriots have in the past?

Unlikely. But it can’t be ruled out. The octogenarian owner is an eternal optimist, and it’s easy to talk someone with that type of belief in their team into being just one piece away.

If tradition holds, Kraft will also address reporters at the annual league meetings in late March. Might he offer some insight or commentary about being left out of the Hall of Fame yet again?

Drake Maye

This is a sneaky big offseason for Maye.

He’s now an MVP runner-up with a Super Bowl appearance on his resume. The kid gloves are off, especially at home, where he’s no longer a rookie nor a 23-year-old quarterback finding his way under yet another new coach and offensive coordinator. Expectations for Maye next season will be as high as any other quarterback in the league, and rightfully so.

So how does Maye behave under these expectations? How does he lead inside the building? How does he train to eliminate the unnecessary sacks and hits he took last season? What does he learn from how defenses bottled him up in the playoffs?

And more immediately, can Maye successfully pitch free agents to come to New England? Inside and outside the building, it’s on Maye to take ownership of the Patriots. It’s his team and his time.