And so it begins. The slow and steady march to the regular season - voluntary workouts, OTAs, mandatory mini-camp, even the beginning of training camp - is long gone and hard to find. In its place, the full-on sprint to the regular season opener in Seattle, which is 9 days away.
Roster cuts happened by the dozens over the weekend, and there will almost certainly be a whole lot more between now and the kickoff. Between practice squad signings, waiver claims, and who knows, maybe a trade (the Patriots made two around cuts, acquiring RB Corey Kiner and T Walter Rouse), the 53 that initially survived the roster purge may not be the 53 Mike Vrabel takes into the opener.
Is the roster in a better place than it was a year ago? Good question. What positions are better? What’s treading water? And where have they taken a step back? I’m glad you asked…
MOVING ON UP
Quarterback: Undoubtedly upgraded because the guy who nearly won the NFL MVP, Drake Maye, has been a better player this summer. His command of the offense is undeniable, and the focus on “weaponizing his brain” showed up during camp. How ready is Maye for the way defenses will respond to a year’s worth of tape, and a subpar postseason? There’s no better place to find out than in Seattle against the Seahawks. As for the backup, Tommy DeVito could allow you to survive a game or two, just as Joshua Dobbs could have a year ago. Anything beyond that, and well, this season won’t be what you thought it could be.
Offensive line: Yes, the depth of the line has been hit here in August, with Marcus Bryant starting the campaign on IR and Ben Brown missing multiple weeks. But Will Campbell appears poised to make a year-two jump; Alijah Vera-Tucker is an upgrade at guard (health will be critical); and Mike Onwenu had his best camp in recent memory.
The notion that 35-year-old Morgan Moses can play every game is probably pie-in-the-sky, but it may allow first-rounder Caleb Lomu to show whether he’s got the right stuff to handle right tackle (I swear, I didn’t intend to do that). After two years of publicly campaigning for the team to sign vet Greg Van Roten, they did, and he jumped right into the mix. Jared Wilson didn’t have a dominating camp at center, but he’s bigger than Garrett Bradbury and athletic enough for me to think that should be an upgrade.
Wide receiver: The 2025 unit was pluckier than a rooster in a hen house. But the reality was that they were elevated by a quarterback on a season-long heater. In swapping out Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte for A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs, the Pats feel like they’re more dangerous and more explosive, especially as they try to unlock more touches for Pop Douglas and replace a handful of Boutte’s snaps with burner Kyle Williams. The ‘25 group was the best the Pats have had at WR in about 10 years, but they were still middle-of-the-road league-wide. This ‘26 class is better.
Safety: When you can replace Jaylinn Hawkins with Kevin Byard, even at his age, you do it. Craig Woodson is a better version of his rookie self, and Dell Pettus had another nice summer. Throw in Jaylen Reed (’The Jaylen Reed trade’), and I feel better about their ability to impact the game and turn over the opposition.
Running back: Rhamondre Stevenson had as good a summer as I can remember from him. That doesn’t offset TreVeyon Henderson’s oddly non-impactful performance. Still, I’m leaning on his 900+ yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie and believing he’s in line for a productive fall even if he remains the same kind of runner. My confidence in that is tied to the addition of FB Reggie Gilliam, a key piece of the Bills' ground game. We haven’t seen too many heavy fullbacks in camp, but Gilliam is a good player until proven otherwise.
CALM ABOVE THE WATER, BUT PADDLING LIKE A FOOL UNDERNEATH
Tight end: A quiet summer for Hunter Henry, even though he was practicing every day. My gut tells me they know exactly who he is and what he can do, and the contract extension reflected that. It also revealed concerns about what’s behind him. The Julian Hill injury stung, and while both rookies, Eli Raridon and UDFA Tanner Arkin, had moments this summer, you never truly know what you’re going to get from kids at this position. I would have put this in the final category, but Austin Hooper fell off dramatically as ‘25 progressed, and Jack Westover was also heavily involved, so…
Cornerback: I feel great about the top 3: Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis and Marcus Jones. Of course, that’s assuming something gets done contractually to placate Gonzalez. If not, ruh roh (Scooby-Doo). The depth is where I wonder if they could survive the eventual injury or two. Charles Woods did not have a good summer, and your guess is as good as mine as to what Karon Prunty would do against starter-caliber players.
STEP BACK
Edge: There’s nothing new for me to say here. So much rides on Elijah Ponder being a legit starter, rookie Gabe Jacas figuring out the pro game on the fly, and an eventual return by PUP’er Harold Landry (we think?). Boy, they could sure use Anfernee Jennings or someone of his ilk…
I’d also like to see Dre’Mont Jones win. K’Lavon Chaisson did that last summer, and it carried over into the season (and he wasn’t a great shakes, but there was production). Jones has not produced like that in August. A precursor of things to come, or will his power show when it matters?
Linebacker: I don’t love what I’ve seen from the depth pieces, but let’s be real - this is about Robert Spillane staying healthy and Christian Elliss being the player he was over the final 10 weeks or so of last year’s regular season. Do that, and all is fine. If not, there’s trouble in River City. But let’s not pretend Jack Gibbons was some hidden gem. He was fine — Ditto for Jahlani Tavai. But the veteran depth they provided trumps the youth (Obiazor, Jacobs) and erratic play of K.J. Britt.
Defensive tackle: This is simply about Khyiris Tonga. No, he wasn’t some All-Pro-caliber player. But he did his job well, and no one in the current collection of bodies has seized that role (cough, DaQuan Jones, cough).
GONZALEZ UPDATE
As of yesterday, the Patriots and Christian Gonzalez’s camp remain engaged in contract discussions. Per Mike Florio, and I quote, “Amid speculation in some circles that Gonzalez wants a three-year extension (making it a five-year deal) while the Patriots are dug in at four new years and six total, we’re told that’s not a sticking point. If/when a new contract is done, it will be a four-year extension.
The sticking points have more to do with structure and total dollars. He’s surely looking to beat the new record high of $33 million in new-money APY, set 15 days ago by Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon.”
The structure and total dollars are the big issues, as I’ve been reporting for weeks now. I can also tell you that repeated declarations (Kraft, Wolf) that the Pats are offering Gonzalez a contract that would make him the highest-paid player at the position continue to rankle the player’s side.
Vrabel said he had nothing new to offer on the situation during his weekly appearance on WEEI on Monday. When asked if he expected Gonzalez to play week one, the head coach wouldn’t go there.
“Again, I'm going to expect him to be there today, and I'm going to focus on today,” Vrabel responded. “And I'm going to, like I tell everybody, I think that I expect every healthy player to play and to practice for a football team. That's my expectation as a head coach. I meet with (athletic trainer) Jim (Whalen). I meet with (director of sports performance) Frank (Piraino).
“We put a lot of work into that every day to figure out what each guy needs, and here's what their practice plan is. So, you know, we're just excited to get these guys back in here today. Start moving towards Seattle, and you know, some of the processes and some of the drills and the conditioning and the things that we need to do today after a couple days off.”
Media will return to watch practice Tuesday, though as we are no longer in training camp, the viewing window will be short. Of course, we’ll have eyes peeled for Gonzalez.