#new-england-patriots

#new-england-patriots

When your season begins with few expectations, anything positive is good. When you take a 2024, 4-13 team to the top of your conference after 12 games, it's very good. Mike Vrabel's 2025 New England Patriots led by the league's possible MVP, quarterback Drake Maye, now sit at the top of the AFC East. They are also the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and they need to hold onto that situation.

Throughout the 2024 offseason, it was clear the New England Patriots were going to use the third-overall selection in the upcoming NFL Draft on a quarterback. After the failed experiment with Mac Jones, whom the team picked in the first round in 2021, it was time to find the next franchise quarterback after Tom Brady, and they were fortunate to have a list of options in their grasp.

Safety Rodney Harrison, defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, and kicker Adam Vinatieri were named as three of the 26 semifinalists in the running to enter Canton as part of the Hall of Fame's Class of 2026. Harrison, Wilfork, and Vinatieri were also tabbed as semifinalists last season, with Harrison advancing all the way to the final round before once again coming up short. The selection committee will next reduce the list to 15 finalists, who will be voted on before the Super Bowl in February.

While NFL experts, like old friend Cam Newton, twist themselves into a pretzel trying to downplay the New England Patriots' eight-game winning streak entering Week 10, their most impressive streak at all has been hiding in plain sight. Patriots fans get it. Their team's 2025 schedule has been favorable. Over the past two months, they've feasted on bottom-feeders like the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, and Tennessee Titans, while dunking on fringe NFL starting quarterbacks like Spencer Rattler, Dillon Gabriel,

The New England Patriots have made some key additions this offseason that have upgraded their squad without question. Stefon Diggs has been the focal point of the passing offense, Mack Hollins has had some of the best games of his career this season, and Milton Williams will be sorely missed as he deals with a high ankle sprain over the next few weeks.

In response to Newton's comments, Maye said on Monday that he didn't even know what show he's on and claimed Newton and others simply get paid to make remarks and make certain comments. All in all, it seemed Maye didn't put much stock in the former QB's words. Drake Maye explains that he and the rest of the team aren't focused on the outside chatter along with Cam Newton calling the Patriots recent success 'fool's gold.'

The New England Patriots are one of the top teams in the NFL this season, entering Week 12 with a league-best 9-2 record. Mike Vrabel has quickly turned things around, and Drake Maye has made a phenomenal second-year leap. There's not much to complain about in New England, but the team still has to navigate inevitable hiccups like injuries. One injury the Patriots are currently trying to navigate is Milton Williams' high ankle sprain.

The New England Patriots have been consistently tied to nearly every available top wide receiver over the last five years, whether it be during free agency or ahead of the trade deadline. That's no different, even this season, despite having a receiving corps outperforming all expectations, led by Kayshon Boutte and Stefon Diggs. It explains why there will inevitably be an interest in former WR1 Brandin Cooks, who requested his release from the New Orleans Saints this week, and is now headed to waivers.

Throughout much of the months leading to the 2025 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots were connected to two of the most highly-touted players of the incoming class: left tackle Will Campbell and pass rusher Abdul Carter. They needed upgrades at both positions, so fans quickly took an interest in both players. But the excitement of a game-wrecking pass rusher led many to desire Carter to be the team's No. 4 overall pick, if he were to somehow fall into their lap.