A.J. Brown Should Push the Patriots Over the Top. But Can the Offensive Line Hold Up?

New England made the trip to the Super Bowl in Vrabel’s first season at the helm, an outcome almost nobody saw coming after a 4-13 finish the year before. Drake Maye looked like a legitimate MVP candidate doing it, throwing for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns against just eight interceptions while leading the league in completion percentage and yards per attempt.

Then New England lost the Super Bowl to Seattle, 29-13.

So this offseason became about answering one specific question. What does this roster need to finish the job?

The A.J. Brown Trade Changes Everything

After months of speculation, the Patriots finally landed their guy on June 1. New England sent a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder to Philadelphia for A.J. Brown, reuniting him with Vrabel, who originally drafted him in Tennessee back in 2019.

This is a big swing. Brown has hit 1,000-plus receiving yards in six of his seven NFL seasons and gives Maye the true No. 1 receiver this offense has been missing. Last year’s leading receiver was Stefon Diggs, who put up solid numbers, but New England’s receiver room overall punched above its statistical weight in a way that made some analysts nervous heading into 2026. Several of Maye’s top targets posted gaudy efficiency numbers in the regular season that completely disappeared in the postseason.

Brown solves that problem in theory. He commands safety help over the top, wins on third down, and should open things up for Romeo Doubs, who New England also signed in free agency. The fit with Maye looks clean too, since both favor the same intermediate route concepts. Brown wasted no time making that clear either, quickly establishing chemistry with Maye at minicamp and telling reporters he feels like he’s in “heaven” in New England.

The Part Nobody Is Talking About Enough

Here’s my concern, and it’s the same one a lot of analysts are raising. None of this matters if Maye doesn’t have time to throw.

New England’s offensive line allowed 47 sacks in the regular season last year and a record 21 sacks across just four playoff games. That is not a small problem. That’s a structural one, and it directly cost the Patriots in the Super Bowl loss to Seattle. The Patriots used their first-round pick on tackle Caleb Lomu and signed guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, plus brought in a new center in second-year pro Jared Wilson after trading away veteran Garrett Bradbury. Those are real investments. But multiple analysts, including NFL.com’s Eric Edholm, still view the offensive line and the pass rush as the two units capable of derailing this season regardless of what Brown brings to the passing game.

The pass rush situation got more complicated recently. The Patriots traded up in the second round to select edge rusher Gabe Jacas at No. 55 overall, clearly targeting that weakness. But Jacas hasn’t practiced with the team since being drafted, remains unsigned heading into training camp, and was flagged by multiple teams during pre-draft medical evaluations for separate shoulder, knee, and foot concerns. He’ll be playing catch-up from day one if and when he gets on the field. That is not an ideal situation for a player who was supposed to help address one of the team’s biggest vulnerabilities.

There’s also a quiet concern at tight end. Free agent acquisition Julian Hill suffered a season-ending injury during OTAs, leaving real questions about depth behind starter Hunter Henry, who turns 32 this year. The Patriots are counting on rookie third-round pick Eli Raridon to step in, which is always a stretch to expect from a first-year player.

You can give Maye the best receiver in the world. If he’s getting hit 21 times in four playoff games again, none of it matters.

And Then There’s the Vrabel Situation

I’d be doing a disservice to anyone reading this if I didn’t at least touch on what happened with Vrabel this offseason, since it was impossible to avoid in NFL coverage all spring.

Photos surfaced in April showing Vrabel with former NFL reporter Dianna Russini, both of whom are married to other people. Additional photos followed over the next several weeks showing the two together going back as far as 2020. Russini resigned from her position at The Athletic. The NFL determined the situation did not fall under its personal conduct policy and declined to investigate. The Patriots organization publicly backed Vrabel.

Here’s my honest take on this. Unless it affects how Vrabel coaches this team, the preparation he puts into game-planning, and his ability to lead this organization, it doesn’t change anything from a football perspective. It clearly affects his family and it has already had a real and serious impact on Russini’s career, and that’s not nothing. But on the field, this is Vrabel’s team to run, and nothing about the situation suggests it has compromised his job performance. NFL.com noted this week that the story has already mostly faded out of circulation. By the time the regular season kicks off, nobody outside of New England will be talking about it.

The Division Isn’t Stopping Them

Here’s the part that should make Patriots fans even more optimistic heading into camp. Look around the rest of the AFC East and it’s hard to find a team that looks ready to challenge for the division right now.

Buffalo just fired a head coach with nine years of tenure and replaced him with a first-time head coach in Joe Brady, who has to prove he can run an entire organization, not just call plays. Miami tore its roster down to the studs, is starting Malik Willis at quarterback, and has what’s being described as one of the worst receiving corps in the league. The Jets are openly playing a bridge year built around developing rookies rather than competing for anything meaningful in 2026.

Unless one of those three teams surprises everyone, the Patriots should win the AFC East fairly comfortably this season. That’s not a knock on New England. It’s just an honest read on where the rest of the division stands right now. The real test for this team isn’t going to be the division. It’s going to be whether the offensive line can hold up against the better competition waiting in the playoffs.

Where This Leaves the Patriots

Training camp opens July 25 at Gillette Stadium, and New England arrives with legitimate Super Bowl expectations for the first time in years. Maye looks like a true franchise quarterback. Brown gives him a real No. 1 option and has already made clear he’s bought in completely. The defense, which played a major role in last year’s surprise run, returns largely intact.

But this is also a tougher schedule than the one the Patriots benefited from a year ago, with trips to Seattle, Kansas City, and Chicago on the calendar. And the question that decided last year’s Super Bowl, can this offensive line protect Maye when it matters most, hasn’t been fully answered yet. Jacas was supposed to be part of that answer on the defensive side of the ball, and right now his availability is genuinely uncertain.

The division should take care of itself. The pieces are better for the games that actually matter. Whether they’re good enough is what the next two months will tell us.