Patriots' Offense Slapped With Harsh Reality Check

The New England Patriots' offense should be improved heading into 2025, as the front office added significant pieces to bolster the unit throughout the offseason. But just how good will the Patriots' offense actually be? Will it actually be respectable? Or will it just be a step up from the abject disaster that it was last year?

Kyle Soppe of Pro Football Network seems to believe it's the latter, ranking New England's offense 26th in the NFL and wondering whether or not Drake Maye has enough help just yet.

"Expectations are being heaped upon the New England Patriots due to the promise of Drake Maye and the growth we’ve seen in Year 2 for these franchise quarterbacks. We are cautiously optimistic about this franchise’s trajectory, but we would like to see more in the way of support/investment around him," Soppe wrote.

The Pats added wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins via free agency, but that was about it as far as veteran playmakers.

"TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Williams were added in the draft, two pieces that project to be a bigger part of the long-term picture than the 2025 snapshot," Soppe continued. "The Patriots moved from 29th to 26th in our rankings last season and are a good bet to take another small step forward. However, we’d be careful in assuming that New England flies to, or even past, league average."

New England will definitely need strong rookie campaigns from both Henderson and Williams, and heavily relying on first-year players is obviously never a good thing.

Still, it's hard not to admire the moves the Pats have made on the offensive side of the ball over the last several months. This time around, they actually have some legitimately interesting pieces, unlike last year when they had a whole lot of nothing.