New England Patriots: Breaking News, Rumors & Highlights

ClutchPoints’ Week 18 NFL MVP Power Rankings: Drake Maye seizes top spot

Just one week remains in the NFL season and the battle for the MVP has narrowed down into a two-horse race. New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford have been trading the top spot in these power rankings back and forth for months, but now Maye has taken the clear advantage.

Features

The Morning Bark

The Quiz of the Day

Stefon Diggs Case: Detailed Police Report & Chats Reveal Gruesome Details of the Incident

The 2025 season figured to serve as a bounce-back year for Stefon Diggs, and in a lot of ways it was. After recording just 496 yards with the Houston Texans and tearing his ACL, Diggs found himself entering the year with a hopeful New England Patriots team, one that was eager for him to return to his old form.

New England Patriots News / The SportsRush / December 30

'Drake Maye is Tom Brady With a Little Mobility': Colin Cowherd Goes All Out Praising Patriots QB While Discussing His MVP Chances

Following Matthew Stafford’s lackluster performance against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football, the sophomore sensation from New England, Drake Maye, looks to be the presumptive favorite for the 2025 MVP award.

Derrick Henry News / Yardbarker Quizzes

The 'Top-50 all-time NFL rushers' quiz

How many of the 50 NFL players with the most career rushing yards can you name in six minutes?

The '100-rushing-yard NFL games' quiz

The 'NFL TD-catch leaders by season' quiz

The 'Most 1K-rushing-yard NFL seasons' quiz

Drake Maye News / Total Apex Sports / December 30

Drake Maye’s strong 2025 MVP case

Talk about coming out of nowhere! 2025 has seen Maye turn from an anonymous rookie without a lot of hype and wins to his name. To an MVP candidate leading the Patriots back to playoff relevance.

NFL News / Yardbarker

The best passing performances from one NFL playoff run

Rule changes have made passing numbers easier to compile in the modern era, and the game's top quarterbacks have taken full advantage. While the heaviest hitters are represented here, some storied postseasons by slightly lesser-celebrated QBs remain entrenched in playoff annals as well.

Drake Maye News / NFLTradeRumors.co / December 30

AFC Notes: Brandin Cooks, Drake Maye, Bills, Jets, Patriots

Veteran Bills WR Brandin Cooks continued to add to his unique career with a big game against the Eagles, even though Buffalo came up short. “I just think the daily approach,” Cooks said postgame.

NFL News / New England Patriots on SI / December 30

Patriots Add TE Depth Ahead of Regular-Season Finale

FOXBOROUGH, MA. – In the midst of a tumultuous day for Pats Nation, the New England Patriots have made some changes to their practice squad in advance of their regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins in Week 18 of the 2025 NFL season.

Mike Vrabel News / New England Patriots on SI / December 30

Patriots' Mike Vrabel Focused on Goals Beyond Division Title

FOXBOROUGH, MA. — When Mike Vrabel was introduced in January as the 16th head coach in New England Patriots’ franchise history, he set a clear goal for both himself and the organization as a whole — an objective which some (at the time) believed to be a bit overly ambitious.

New England Patriots News / NFLTradeRumors.co / December 30

Patriots Tweak Practice Squad Heading Into Week 18

The New England Patriots announced they have released RB Jashaun Corbin from the practice squad. The move makes room for TE Marshall Lang who was signed on Tuesday. Corbin, 25, signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent out of Florida State following the 2022 NFL Draft.

Stefon Diggs News / NFLTradeRumors.co / December 30

Assault Charges Against Stefon Diggs Stem From Financial Dispute With Personal Chef

According to MassLive’s Chris Mason and Matt Daniels, the assault charges reported today against Patriots WR Stefon Diggs have been filed by a personal chef who says Diggs hit and choked her over a financial dispute. MassLive obtained the incident report filed with the police from December 2nd.

NFL News / Yardbarker

Looking back at every NFL Christmas Day game

For years, Thanksgiving belonged to the NFL, but Christmas belonged to the NBA. Occasionally, an NFL game would fall on Christmas, but it was anomalous, even avoided if possible.

New England Patriots News / Last Word On Sports / December 30

Drake Maye Is Now The Heavy Favorite For MVP

For the second half of the season, the NFL MVP has largely been a two-man race. Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye had been the two guys leading the charge, while other guys like Josh Allen, Jonathan Taylor, and others have come and gone.

Click here to get Yardbarker's Quiz of the Day emailed to you!

The 'Top-50 all-time NFL rushers' quiz

The 'Most NFL pass completions' quiz

The 'NBA Christmas Day triple-doubles' quiz

The 'NFL rookie QBs to win a playoff game' quiz

Stefon Diggs News / Larry Brown Sports / December 30

Details emerge on Stefon Diggs strangulation incident

Details have emerged regarding the felony strangulation charge Stefon Diggs is facing. Diggs is facing felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery charges over an incident on Dec.

Tom Brady News / New England Patriots on SI / December 30

Fox Skips Tom Brady for Patriots Regular Season Finale

The New England Patriots already have the AFC East locked up, but don’t get it twisted, Week 18 is far from a throwaway. New England closes the regular season at Gillette Stadium against the Miami Dolphins, a division rival coming off a gritty 20–17 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England Patriots News / NFL on ClutchPoints / December 30

Patriots’ schedule stat doesnt bode well for playoff chances

The New England Patriots clinched the AFC East for the first time since 2019 in Week 17, but a look at who they played during the regular season might present a reason to doubt their viability as a true Super Bowl contender.

New England Patriots News / New England Patriots on SI / December 30

Patriots’ Drake Maye Outperforms Tom Brady in Key Metric

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye just put the league on notice. And yes, the Tom Brady successor talk is officially out of the group chat and onto the field.

New England Patriots News / Yardbarker / December 30

Patriots, Stefon Diggs respond to serious allegations with playoffs looming

Diggs is facing charges of felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery stemming from an alleged incident that occurred earlier in December.

New England Patriots News / Yardbarker / December 30

Drake Maye wasn't 100 percent during Patriots' blowout win over Jets

Second-year New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye torched the New York Jets for five passing touchdowns in Week 17 despite not being 100 percent.

Patriots QB Drake Maye makes NFL history while also matching franchise icons

Hall of Famer explains why Mike Vrabel should win Coach of the Year

The 25 best NFL nicknames of all-time

The 'Completion % record by NFL team' quiz

New England Patriots News / Pro Football Rumors / December 29

Patriots OT Will Campbell Expected To Return To Practice

The Patriots are starting to get healthy at the perfect time. Following last week’s news that Milton Williams returned to practice, the Patriots are also expected to welcome back OT Will Campbell to the practice field this week, Mike Vrabel told reporters (via ESPN’s Mike Reiss).

Will Campbell News / Field Level Media / December 29

Pats LT Will Campbell (knee) expected to return to practice this week

New England Patriots rookie left tackle Will Campbell is expected to return to practice this week after missing four games with a knee injury, coach Mike Vrabel said Monday.