Schefter Sees the Patriots' Offseason Setting Up the Franchise 'for Years to Come.' He'll Get No Argument From Me.

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Now that we're more or less done with chewing whatever meat is left on the bone of Super Bowl LIX, the 2025 NFL offseason is officially underway. The bell has rung. It's time to take our seats, take one syllabus and pass the rest down the row, and open our Restoring the Dynasty textbooks to Chapter 1, "Building a Roster." 

It's funny to look back exactly a year ago and see what the priorities looked like then. When I was spending part of every day counting down a list of Bill Belichick's greatest achievements and navigating through unchartered waters with a rookie head coach and a first-time GM:

All I really asked for then was Drake Maye, an offensive line capable of protecting a quarterback who had yet to turn 22, and a few skill position guys around him. We got the first. And aside from Austin Hooper and Antonio Gibson, literally no other thing of value. The offense improved when Maye was finally inserted into the starting lineup in October, but we can all agree the rookie was doing it more or less on his own. While Jerod Mayo's defense went from 8th in the league to 22nd. Leading to the identical record that got Belichick fired, and the same fate for Mayo. 

Which brings us mercifully to where we are. With all that abysmal failure behind us. Exactly the head coach and offensive coordinator I - and Maye - was hoping for:

And a world of possibilities awaiting us between now and the 257th draft pick at close of business in Green Bay on April 26th. 

And so it would appear that for the first time since Tom Brady broke up with us on Irish Christmas, 2020, Foxboro will be one of the epicenters of the football world. No less than Adam Schefter, the most insiderish of NFL insiders, can confirm:

Source - The NFL, the greatest reality show, is always interesting. But this offseason, some teams are more interesting than others. Big decisions loom between now and the start of the new league year at noon ET Wednesday, March 12.

Here are the five most interesting teams on paper now that Super Bowl LIX is over:

4. New England Patriots

Making the Patriots' coaching job even more appealing to Mike Vrabel was the fact the team has a league-high $110 million in salary cap space this offseason. New England will have the financial liberty to upgrade its roster however it sees fit, whether it's having the chance to pay Tee Higgins $30 million a year or upgrading an offensive line that will be addressed. 

Beyond an established coach and more than $100 million in cap space, the Patriots also have other advantages. They have a young quarterback in Drake Maye who personnel people across the league agree has the chance to develop into a bona fide standout. They also have the No. 4 pick, where they will be in position to help Maye. New England is positioned to set up its franchise for years to come. The decisions the Patriots make this offseason will help determine how successful they will be.

Far be it for me to argue with the order of Schefty's list. But I'll just point out that the reason he put the Bengals, Browns and Saints ahead of them is because all three teams have major decisions to make regarding their key free agents. Cincinnati has to worry about losing the top free agent on the market in Higgins, and Trey Hendrickson is entering the final year of his deal. Cleveland is faced with Myles Garrett demanding a trade and still has Deshaun Watson's contract acting as what Mayor Menino once referred to as an Alcatraz around their neck. While New Orleans is in Salary Cap Shawshank to the tune of $60 million and even releasing Derek Carr won't put a dent in that number. 

The Patriots by contrast, aren't facing any major losses. Unless you're really sorry to see their Week 1 starting left tackle, who got benched after just 12 snaps, go:

Though to be fair, it's hard to be sad to see anyone leave when your roster is so thin you could expose all but maybe five guys to an expansion draft and none of them would get claimed. 

I'll note too that No. 5 on Schefter's list is the Jets, who for about the fifth decade in a row are in the market for a quarterback who can lead them back to the playoffs. Meaning that the only team in his Top 5 most interesting teams this offseason in a position to add and not subtract are the Mike Vrabel-Drake Maye version of the New England Patriots. And being in that position is more arousing than anything you'll find in Kama Sutra. 

No more slogging our way through 4-13 seasons. No more struggling to find new, creative writing ways to express how awful this team is and how amateurish the coaching has been. No more offseasons where nothing gets addressed beyond the obvious move of drafting the No. 3 QB prospect with the No. 3 pick. Nothing but additions, with no significant subtractions. 

The Patriots assault on the world begins now. It'll have been worth the wait. I can feel that in my bones. And I, for one, am here for all of it. I'm hear