New England Patriots Named NFL’s Worst Roster For 2024

The New England Patriots were once the most dominant franchise in the NFL and in all of sports, period.

Since the dawn of the new century, the Patriots have won six Super Bowl championships while making nine Super Bowl appearances. They have won 17 AFC East division titles, including 11 straight between 2009 and 2019.

However, over the last several years, New England has cratered.

Since Tom Brady departed via free agency in March 2020, the Pats have failed to make the playoffs in three of the last four seasons. Over that time, they have gone 29-38, and most recently in 2023, they went 4-13, marking their worst record since 1992.

Taking into account how terrible the Patriots were this past year, it’s no surprise that Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport thinks they have the worst roster in the NFL.

New England had high hopes going into the offseason, as it had enormous cap space and was expected to be major players in the free-agent market.

The Pats were particularly targeting wide receiver Calvin Ridley, as they entered free agency almost completely bereft of talent at the skill positions.

Unfortunately, Ridley spurned the Patriots to sign with the Tennessee Titans, and New England did not seem to have any backup plan. It did sign wide out K.J. Osborn, and while he is a decent player, he is really nothing more than an auxiliary option.

New England was also unable to improve is rushing attack, signing Antonio Gibson and not doing anything else.

The Pats clearly understood that offense was their biggest issue heading into the NFL Draft, as seven of their eight picks were used on offensive players.

They selected quarterback Drake Maye with the third overall pick, added a couple of receivers (highlighted by Washington’s Ja-Lynn Polk) and addressed their ailing offensive line.

While the Patriots did a fine job attacking their biggest holes in the draft, they still don’t have a lot of proven talent offensively, and Maye is very raw.

The good news is that New England has a pretty good defense, so it may be able to stay in games, but it’s hard to imagine the Pats are going to do a whole lot better than the 13.9 points per game they averaged in 2023, which was tied with the lowly Carolina Panthers for the worst in the NFL.

We’ll see if the Patriots show any signs of real improvement next season, but it’s hard to make a counterargument to Davenport’s point that New England has the league’s most uninspiring roster.