Marcus Jones has established himself as one of the league's best punt returners.
Marcus Jones has established himself as one of the league's best punt returners.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
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Marcus Jones was the best thing about New England’s special teams in 2025, growing into one of the best punt returners in the league.
Jones returned a pair for punts for touchdowns and became the NFL’s all-time punt return average leader (at 14.3 yards per return for his career). He also became the fourth Patriot to return multiple punts for touchdowns in the season season, joining Troy Brown (2001), Irving Fryar (1985), and Mike Haynes (1976).
The speedy return man provided a blueprint for the rest of New England’s special teamers. As a group, it was able to provide some similarly flashy moments — including big kicks for rookie Andy Borregales, and a legendary kick return from Antonio Gibson against Miami — but couldn’t always find that same consistency.
Following Gibson’s season-ending knee injury in October, New England couldn’t find an answer at kick returner. Rookie Efton Chism III ended up leading the team in chances with 16. There were also occasional kick coverage issues against some of the league’s better teams, like Buffalo. (In the December loss to the Bills, New England yielded a whopping 41 yards per kick return.)
After a mostly solid year, veteran Bryce Baringer struggled in the postseason. Meanwhile, Borregales shook off a rocky start to the season to finish strong, going 12 for 15 over the last six regular-season games and ending the year 4 for 4 from 50-plus.
Moving forward, the presence of a consistent kick returner — as well as a return to form for Baringer — would go a long way toward fine-tuning any issues plaguing New England’s specialists. But as long as the Patriots have a game-changer like Jones in the fold, it’ll go a long way toward papering over any sort of deficiencies that may exist within the rest of the group.
Currently on the roster (regular-season stats): K Andy Borregales (27 for 32 on field goals, 53 for 55 on extra points), P Bryce Baringer (47.4 yards per punt), LS Julian Ashby, KR Efton Chism III (16 returns, 23.9 yards per return), PR Marcus Jones (21 returns, 17.3 yards per returns, two TDs), Brenden Schooler, Marte Mapu, Dell Pettus, Marcellas Dial (ended the year on injured reserve).
Notable free agents
A pair of old friends are still out there: Nick Folk, who will turn 42 in November, is still out there kicking. (He said earlier this month he plans to return for a 19th season.) Same for the 29-year-old Joey Slye, who latched on with the Titans last year after a year in New England. Two former Patriots’ punters in Jake Bailey and Corey Bojorquez are also set to hit free agency.
Tier 1: K Nick Folk (28 for 29 on field goals, 22 for 22 on extra points), K Joey Slye (28 for 35 on field goals, 26 for 27 on extra points), P Tommy Townsend (47.6 yards per punt).
Tier 2: K Matt Prater (18 for 20 on field goals, 46 for 49 on extra points), P Jake Bailey (47.7 yards per punt), P Corey Bojorquez (45.8 yards per punt).
Draft possibilities
The Australian-born Brett Thorson is a big guy (6-foot-2-inches, 235 pounds) with a big foot. (He averaged 45.5 yards per punt and won the Ray Guy Award as the best college punter in America.) Michigan’s Dominic Zvada converted 95.5 percent of his field goal attempts and was 7 for 7 on kicks over 50 yards in 2024, but dropped off a bit this past season. And Florida’s Trey Smack III made 77 percent (10 of 13) of his kicks from 50-plus.
Day 1: None
Day 2-3: P Brett Thorson (Georgia), K Dominic Zvada (Michigan), P Ryan Eckley (Michigan State), K Trey Smack III (Florida).
Christopher Price can be reached at christopher.price@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at christopherprice.bsky.social.