Coming off of back-to-back 4-13 seasons the New England Patriots now seem to be gripped by a kind of irrational optimism. While most Patriot fans would likely agree that their team will not a Super Bowl contender in 2025, the team’s overhaul of its coaching staff seems to have New England buzzing about the possibility of seeing a competitive team at Gillette Stadium for the first time since 2021 — the only season since 2019 in which the once-dominant Patriots have made the playoffs.
When Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired head coach Jerod Mayo after just a single season, almost exactly one year after he fired legendary coach Bill Belichick, and then quickly replaced him with former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, a new sense of hope swept across Patriots Nation.
That hope was only inflated when the Patriots brought back Josh McDaniels for his third term as offensive coordinator, and Terrell Williams to lead the team’s defense. But there is only one element the Patriots are still missing to turn themselves back into a relevant force in the AFC East, and the NFL in general.
One Thing the Patriots Are Missing — Players
That would be — players. The Patriots simply do not have enough talent throughout the roster — and one special are of need comes at the receiver position. Patriots receivers in 2024 placed dead last in yardage with 3,343 and next-to-last in touchdown catches with just 18. The team’s leading wide receiver, Demario “Pop” Douglas, came in 49th among all NFL wideouts with just 621 yards.
Will the Patriots attempt to upgrade their receiving corps by trading for an established pass-catcher? If that is the route they choose, one four-time All-Pro wide receiver may have raised hopes that he would welcome a move to New England, with some highly positive comments about the franchise he made after last Sunday’s Super Bowl.
A.J. Brown, the 27-year-old Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the 2019 second round, when Vrabel was head coach there. Today, Brown calls Vrabel “an incredible coach and we have an incredible relationship.”
But the comments that really caught the attention of Patriots fans came when Brown was interviewed by Fox Sports immediately after the Super Bowl on Sunday, a game in which he caught one of the Eagles’ two touchdown passes from quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Retired Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, who played in three of the Patriots six Super Bowl victories, revealed that before the game, he left a note in Brown’s locker. While declining to reveal the content of Edelman’s note, Brown said that he received it — and launched into an outpouring of praise for the Patriots.
Brown ‘Cried’ When Patriots Did Not Draft Him
“I’ve been a fan of Julian for a long time,” Brown said on the broadcast. I grew up a Patriots fan, so this guy’s very special to me. I watched him year after year—him and Tom [Brady]. Those guys are very special to me.”
How much would Brown like to play for New England? Back in October, he confessed that when the Patriots failed to draft him in 2019, “I left everybody at the house and went home. I went in the closet and cried my eyes out. I swear.”
In that draft, the Patriots took N’Keal Harry out of Arizona State with pick No. 32 — leaving not only Brown but Deebo Samuel and D.K. Metcalf to be drafted in the second round by the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahwaks respectively.
