Patriots' Glaring Concern That Could Ruin Their Season

The New England Patriots have made a plethora of additions this offseason, spending a boat load of money in free agency and also putting together a mostly renowned NFL Draft class.

However, the Patriots are coming off of back-to-back four-win campaigns, so the roster was pretty barren heading into the offseason. They were never going to be able to repair all of their needs in one fell swoop, so it should not come as a surprise that they still have some holes.

Josh Edwards of CBS Sports recently put together a list of each AFC team's most prominent need going into the 2025 campaign, and for New England, he pegged edge rusher as the most glaring weakness.

"Edge rusher and linebacker are probably on similar footing," Edwards wrote. "There is a respectable floor, but the ceiling is capped. The franchise has relied upon free agents and draft picks to build out those units."

The Pats signed Harold Landry and K'Lavon Chaisson to patch up the edge rusher position in free agency and also bagged Bradyn Swinson on Day 3 of the draft. But the Patriots finished with just 28 sacks in 2024, which ranked last in the NFL. That means the job still isn't done.

There are some free agents New England could still explore signing to further solidify the area, such as Jadeveon Clowney, Za'Darius Smith and perhaps even Von Miller. A reunion with Matthew Judon may not even be completely off the grid (even though things ended rather poorly there).

Now, the caveat is that the Pats should also have a much stronger pass rush up front this year with the addition of Milton Williams and the return of Christian Barmore, which could mitigate the pressing need for another edge rusher.

We'll see how the Patriots manage heading into training camp and preseason.