The Off-season is in full swing with the NFL combine starting on February 23rd. Shortly thereafter, the Legal Tampering Period for Free Agents starts on March 9th. The Patriots will have to make some decisions to offer Restricted Free Agents tenders. They will also have Exclusive Rights Free Agents to decide upon.NFL Off-Season ScheduleFeb. 17 – March 3: Franchise/Transition Tag PeriodFeb. 23 – March 2: NFL Scouting CombineMarch 9-11: Legal Tampering PeriodMarch 12: Free Agency BeginsApril 20: Offseason Workout Program BeginsApril 23-25: NFL DraftThe Patriots are behind the curve in preparing for next season, with their 4-game playoff run culminating in the Super Bowl loss. They are a month behind schedule, and it is 9 weeks before the team is back together for voluntary off-season workouts.There is plenty to do, and the coaches will get a couple of weeks off until the Draft Combine starting Feb 23rd.The Front Office will be busy with assigning Franchise/Transition tags (I don’t expect either) and conducting evaluations with the coaches on their present players under contract. For those that are Free Agents, the team can try and sign any of them at anytime (Chaiison). Some will not be offered a new contract. I also expect to see a veteran or two let go (Landry). Then comes the evaluation of potential Free Agents. However, I don’t expect to see any big-name Free Agents signed. Bob Kraft spends in one off-season, then tightens the purse strings the next two.Christian Gonzalez is eligible to re-negotiate his rookie deal. Expect Gonzalez to set the new high-water mark of $160M for 4 years. How they structure the deal is important. They have $41.8M under the cap in 2026 per Patscap (Miguel Benzan). It will not be a flat $40M hit next season.
(PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)
Patriots Free Agents (per Spotrac)
Austin Hooper
TE
UFA
K’Lavon Chaisson
EDGE
UFA
Khyiris Tonga
IDL
UFA
Jaylinn Hawkins
S
UFA
D’Ernest Johnson
RB
UFA
Thayer Munford
RT
UFA
Vederian Lowe
LT
UFA
Alex Austin
CB
RFA
Yasir Durant
LT
RFA
Tommy DeVito
QB
RFA
Jaquelin Roy
IDL
RFA
Jack Gibbens
LB
RFA
Deneric Prince
RB
ERFA
Jack Westover
TE
ERFA
Isaiah Iton
EDGE
ERFA
Unrestricted Free Agents Austin Hooper TE (32 in 2026): The Patriots cannot go into next season with two 32-year-old TEs. Hooper has been adequate as a backup, but neither he nor Henry can block to save their lives. He signed a 1-year $5M deal last season to return to the Patriots. I don’t see him coming back, even at another one -year deal.K’Lavon Chaisson, EDGE: Chaisson bet on himself, signing a one-year contract with the Patriots. He had career numbers in snaps played (1571), Sacks with 7.5, and Tackles for Loss with10. PFF gave him a 60.7 grade and has him ranked as the #91 available Free Agent. Chaisson has indicated that he wants to return to play for Mike Vrabel. Can they find common ground on a contract? He is the top priority of their own Free Agents. Fox Sports has him ranked as the #47 free agent and expects him to resign with the Pats for around $9M per year.Khyiris Tonga, DT: When Tonga signed a one-year contract last year, he was an afterthought in the 14-player Free Agent class. What an oversight. Tonga was an integral part of the Defensive line rotation that had the Patriots as one of the top Run Defenses in the 1st half of the season. He also played Fullback as a lead blocker. Tonga is ranked as the #176 Free Agent by PFF. His grade for the season was 68.2Jaylinn Hawkins, S: Another Free Agent who bet on themselves. Hawkins was coming off a torn ACL and signed a 1-year contract with the Patriots to add depth. Nobody expected him to be the starting Free Safety. PFF has him ranked as the #70 Free Agent and had this to say about him: “Hawkins was one of the league’s most quietly impressive defenders in 2025. His 81.3 overall PFF grade ranked sixth among qualifying safeties entering the AFC championship game, and he also placed second in PFF run-defense grade (86.3) and seventh in PFF coverage grade (79.7). At 28, Hawkins is well positioned to command a lucrative contract, whether he remains in New England or hits the open market.” I honestly don’t believe the Patriots will match what he will be offered in the open market. Fox Sports, in their review of the top 100 Free Agents, has Hawkins ranked at #51, and they expect him to re-sign with the Patriots for between $8-10M.Thayer Munford, OT: Munford was signed to the practice squad on cutdown day, only to be poached by Cleveland for their 53-man roster. He was released and re-signed to Cleveland’s Practice Squad. The Patriots poached him from Cleveland on November 25th, and he remained on the roster for the remainder of the season. Mumford was active for the final 5 games of the season and all playoff games. He even started two games as the 6th Offensive Lineman. I thought it was interesting that Munford played over Vederian Lowe and was active over Marcus Bryant. The reason he was active was because of his position versatility, being able to play both Tackle positions. I think he will be a low-cost depth piece and expect him to be retained.Vederian Lowe, OT: I think we have seen the end of Vederian Lowe’s stint with the Patriots. There is a dearth of qualified OTs available in Free Agency. Lowe was barely a starter-level OT with a PFF Grade of 65.1 for the 4 games he started in the place of Will Campbell, who went on IR for 4 weeks.
(PHOTO: David Butler II-Imagn Images)
Restricted Free Agents Jack Gibbens, LB: Expect Gibbens to re-sign with the Patriots. He is one of Vrabel’s guys. Gibbens stepped up and took Robert Spillane’s place as Defensive Signal caller while Spillane was out. Gibbens is also a key special-teams player. I expect him to sign before he even gets to Free Agency.Alex Austin, CB: Austin had a disastrous 2025 season. He was the starter in the place of Christian Gonzalez after having a good training camp. The season started, and Austin sputtered. He was replaced by Charles Woods because of his ineffective play. In November, he went on IR and remained there until the Divisional Round of the playoffs. I think he will be a low-cost player to retain with a mid-round tender.Yasir Durant, OT: He was re-signed midway through the season and didn’t provide any benefit to the team. I expect he will be Non-Tendered and made an Unrestricted Free Agent. Don’t expect him back.Tommy DeVito, QB, was claimed at cutdown day from the NY Giants after he toasted the Patriots in the final Pre-Season game. I would like to see the team give him a mid-level Tender and bring him back to compete for the #2 QB position with Joshua Dobbs, whom I have not been impressed with.Jaquelin Roy, DT: He has flashed potential in 2024. Roy, 25, was a former 5th-round pick by Minnesota. He was placed on IR in early August during training camp and was lost for the entire season in 2025. The Patriots are very deep at the DT position. A third tier Tender might be in order. I don’t think the Patriots really care if Roy is kept or signs elsewhere.Exclusive Rights Free Agents Deneric Prince, RB: He was hurt early in Training Camp, having practiced just two days before getting injured. I think he will be a camp body and nothing else.Jack Westover, TE: I haven’t been impressed with Westover at all. He was so bad at the blocking fullback position that the Patriots switched to Khyiris Tonga. Westover didn’t have a single reception in the regular season and only 1 catch on 1 target for 8 yards in the playoffs. He shouldn’t make the team next year, but will probably be brought to camp.Isaiah Iton, DT: He is in a similar situation to Roy. The depth at the DT position is great. He will be re-signed and brought to camp with the best chance of making the Practice Squad.HBCU Legacy Bowl This is the last of the College All-Star games and is exclusive to those Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In last year’s draft, only one player from an HBCU school was drafted, LB Carson Vinson. No player was taken in 2024, and former Patriots Draft Pick Isaiah Bolden was taken in 2023. Patriots UnDrafted Free Agent Runningback Terrell Jennings played at Florida A&M, an HBCU school.Comings and GoingsEither Miles Battle S decided not to sign a futures contract with the Patriots, or they didn’t offer him one. He was signed on Wednesday by the Miami Dolphins.The Patriots added two more players via Futures contracts in Elijah Mitchell, RB, and Sebastian Guiterrez, OT. Both players were on the Patriots’ practice squad for a time, but not on the Super Bowl roster. That brings the Patriots’ off-season roster to 63. They presently have 11 Draft Picks.Assistant Offensive Line Coach Robert Kugler has left the team and will become the TE Coach for Mike McCarthy at Pittsburgh. He was one of the few holdovers from the Jerod Mayo staff. I am really surprised that there has not been more poaching of the Super Bowl staff.It was reported that QB Coach Ashton Grant turned down the opportunity to interview for the Las Vegas Raiders’ Offensive Coordinator. I don’t think Grant is ready for that kind of role yet. I suspect that he was offered the chance to satisfy the Rooney Rule, and he didn’t have any real opportunity. I would have thought TE/Pass Game Coordinator Thomas Brown had a better chance for an Offensive Coordinator role.Finally, Ian Rappaport of NFL Network reports that Terrell Williams has moved to an executive position, assuming it will be Assistant Head Coach for Defense. This opens the opportunity for Zak Kuhr to be officially elevated to Defensive Coordinator. Rappaport opines that the Patriots will conduct a search. Former Vrabel associate Jim Schwartz was a Senior Defensive Assistant for Vrabel, and Shane Bowen, who was his Defensive Coordinator, is also available. Look for Bowen to be added to the staff as the ILB coach, replacing Kuhr. The Patriots will also have to comply with the Rooney Rule in their search for a Defensive Coordinator. I would expect Kuhr to be elevated for the great job he did with Williams sidelined.
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About Mark MorseMerrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.View all posts by Mark Morse
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