The Patriots have to view themselves not as AFC champions, but as starting Year 2 of the Mike Vrabel era. They need to get younger and keep building organically if they want this success to be sustainable, not fleeting.<\/p>\n
The Patriots were a new team in 2025, but they weren\u2019t a young team, with 13 starters with at least six years of experience, many of whom were acquired in free agency.<\/p>\n
Now they need youth. Both of their tight ends are 10-year veterans. Their right tackle will be 35. The linebackers and defensive tackles are on veteran contracts. Edge rusher is a big need.<\/p>\n
And the Patriots have mostly neglected defense in the last two drafts. Their last seven picks in the top 100 have all been on offense. The defensive pipeline needs to be replenished.<\/p>\n
The Patriots don\u2019t have any premium picks this April thanks to reaching the Super Bowl, holding the 31st, 63rd, and 95th picks in the top three rounds. But with 11 picks overall<\/a>, the Patriots have more than enough chances to restock the roster with young, malleable talent.<\/p>\n Wolf gave most of the typical answers Tuesday<\/a> during his two media sessions at the NFL Combine \u2014 the Patriots will be \u201copen to anything,\u201d \u201cexplore every avenue to try to improve the team,\u201d and \u201ctry to do what\u2019s best.\u201d<\/p>\n But Wolf is the son of a scout and a draftnik at heart, and sounds like he wants to use his picks.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like every year for the last five years everyone says, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s not a good draft,\u2019 \u201d Wolf said. \u201cI don\u2019t really buy that. I feel like if you\u2019re doing your job, you\u2019re going to be able to find players Rounds 1 through 7 that can help your team.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, Wolf doesn\u2019t necessarily call the shots. If Vrabel or Robert Kraft wants Crosby or Brown, it\u2019s probably going to happen.<\/p>\n Wolf likely doesn\u2019t need to worry about Kraft<\/a>, who has reiterated several times in recent years that \u201cif you want to build a team that is going to win and sustain winning, you have to have good drafts.\u201d Kraft understands the economics \u2014 rookies are younger, healthier, and locked into below-market contracts for at least three years.<\/p>\n Vrabel is more of a wild card. The former player in him would almost certainly love to coach a superstar such as Crosby or reunite with Brown, his former player in Tennessee. Vrabel surely is eager to erase the bad taste of the recent Super Bowl loss, as well.<\/p>\n Then again, everything Vrabel has done since coming back to the Patriots in the last year has been measured and deliberate. He doesn\u2019t seem like he would scrap his long-term plans just because of some unexpected success or a tough performance in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all aware that we have more work to do on the roster,\u201d Wolf said. \u201cAnd so I don\u2019t think that the fact that we made the Super Bowl does anything other than possibly make us a more attractive destination for free agents.\u201d<\/p>\n By all means, the Patriots should go nuts in free agency again, though I would expect a more modest haul after last year\u2019s NFL-high free agency spending, plus a potential mega-extension this offseason for Christian Gonzalez. The Patriots should bolster the offensive line and secondary with veteran free agents. It\u2019s only money, which the Patriots have plenty of \u2014 around $42 million in salary-cap space as of Tuesday.<\/p>\n And if the Patriots can acquire a veteran starter for a sixth-round pick, then sure, go for it. The Patriots don\u2019t need to use all five picks in the sixth and seventh rounds.<\/p>\n But they don\u2019t need to be trading multiple first-round picks for Crosby, plus paying him a new contract of more than $45 million per year. It would be great for headlines, and terrible for the long-term health of the Patriots.<\/p>\n They don\u2019t need to trade a premium pick(s) for Brown, who will make $29 million next season. Not when the Patriots have a perfectly good Stefon Diggs making $22 million and not costing draft picks (assuming his court case<\/a> doesn\u2019t affect his availability). Diggs \u201chad a tremendous season,\u201d Wolf said Tuesday, and \u201cthe leadership that he showed was great.\u201d The Patriots\u2019 receivers were terrific in 2025 and hardly the reason they lost the Super Bowl. It was the offensive line.<\/p>\n![\"Patriots](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Z3IWMVRYQBD2BHZ3IKAFV3T6EI.jpg\")
Patriots general manager Eliot Wolf has some key decisions to make this offseason about how he wants to improve his roster.Justin Casterline\/Getty<\/p>\n