Patriots' top NFL free agency targets as 2025 offseason begins

Oh, what a difference a week can make for the New England Patriots.

After watching fans get hyped the you-know-what up about potentially landing the first-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and controlling the board for the next four months, that dream was dashed in a major way, with Jerod Mayo and Joe Milton organizing one of the biggest win-lose situations in franchise history.

Travis Hunter in a Pats jersey? Gone: unless he runs a 4.5, he's going to be off the board by pick 4. Securing a boatload of picks for the first-overall pick from a QB-needy team like the Las Vegas Raiders? Nope, while it would have been fun to make a trade with Tom Brady's new team, that dream appears to be passed, too.

No, at best, it looks like the Pats will land a very good, but not true blue chipper at the top of the draft and will have to adjust their plans accordingly, with four players needing to have a high enough grade to justify being selected first overall.

And the worst part? Considering fans don't even know who will be coaching the Patriots this fall, it's hard to even project which players fit Coach X's system until that projection leaves the realm of hypotheticals and becomes official.

Yeah, it's not the best time to be a Patriots fan, and yet, we do know that New England has an incredible amount of cap space, a franchise quarterback, and maybe a second high-end signal-caller that the team could sell high on should they decide to capitalize on an insane hype cycle that will only continue to grow. Considering the tentative, pre-combine values of players in the draft world and the strengths of this year's free agency class, it's not hard to see the Patriots getting better at positions of need quickly if they play their cards – read: use their money and draft picks – correctly.

Priority number 1: sign Tee Higgins.

1. The Patriots need a major upgrade at WR1

Now, as you may or may not know, Eliot Wolf is a big fan of Tee Higgins.

The Pats were reportedly in on conversations to trade for the Bengals wide receiver earlier this year, in addition to players like Brandon Aiyuk, and though no move at wide receiver was ultimately made, it's clear the position remains a priority to this day.

Why? Because the Patriots' wide receivers absolutely stink.

Now granted, that is a generalization, one that some fans – and the players in question – may take umbrage with, but considering how well Maye played as a rookie, the fact that New England didn't have a single receiver – wideout or otherwise – that finished with more than 700 yards is a real indictment of the players Wolf put together for his young quarterback.

Demario Douglas? Quality slot in the vein of Patriots of yore. Kayshon Boutte? A good utility wide receiver on an above-average team. Factor in Hayden Hurst as the veteran tight end, and the Patriots have a decent core just looking for a star. Unfortunately, unless Ja'Lynn Polk or Javon Baker take a major step forward in 2025 – which feels incredibly unlikely, considering they combined for 99 yards on 13 receptions over 26 combined games, that's probably not going to happen.

No, what the Patriots need is a proven veteran wide receiver who can make Maye's life easier and shift everyone down the proverbial pecking order, which is Higgins to a T, as he has a quarterback-friendly on-field game.

2. Tee Higgins could make Drake Maye's life easier

Look, playing quarterback is hard enough in the NFL, especially as a third overall pick coming from the ACC without a, let's say, elite offensive ecosystem to smooth the transition. Windows are small; every opposing player was “the guy” on their college team, and the ability to scheme players open is reserved for only the best of the best offensive play callers, who can only get their team jailbreak scenario a handful of times per game.

How can a team make that easier? Well, by adding a veteran receiver with an elite wingspan, good speed, and expert body control who can be a threat in the vertical passing game, the horizontal passing game, and in the redzone. It worked for Jalen Hurts with AJ Brown, for Joe Burrow with Ja'Marr Chase, and could happen again in New England if the Patriots can steal away Cincinnati's WR2 in free agency.

Standing 6-foot-4, 219 pounds with a 95th percentile wingspan and power forward hops, Higgins is the rare top-30 wide receiver who might actually test free agency in his prime, with the pride of Clemson only turning 26 later this month. He's been targeted at least 100 times in all but one of his professional seasons – 2023 was a down year due to a hamstring injury – recorded at least 900 yards and six touchdowns in those four seasons and currently sits with a yards-per-game average of 65.6 with his yards per catch clocking in at a very respectable 13.8 over 70 career games.

Now granted, maybe some of Higgins' production comes from being a WR2 next to Chase, but one could argue that he's never been truly afforded a chance to play up to his potential because he's been consistently cast in the LSU connection's shadow too, with the potential to blow up if he was afforded a focal point in an offense, instead of a complementary player.

Considering the talent available in the draft and on the free agency market in the positions the Patriots need most, locking up Higgins a month before the draft would guarantee that New England gets their WR1 and are positioned to tackle other needed positions in the draft.

3. Tee Higgins and Will Campbell is a winning Patriots combo

While Higgins is a potential Pro Bowler, he's also going to be expensive, with his next contract likely starting with a one before eight more digits after it. Granted, getting that caliber of player locked up might be worth the sticker shock, but why spend what could likely land the team four starters at minimum when they could draft a player like Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan at pick four?

Is McMillan a great prospect? Yes. Could he end up being a better player than Higgins in the long run? Potentially so. But is Higgins and LSU's Will Campbell, the top left tackle in the 2025 NFL Draft who should be able to start right away, better than McMillan and, say, Cam Robinson, the top tackle in the free agent market?

Nope.

Considering the draft has three players vying for the top-3 spots in the draft in Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, and Travis Hunter, the Patriots really have their pick of the litter after that pick, with an elite tackle in either Campbell or Kelvin Banks Jr. guaranteed to be there at pick four.

With left tackle one of the hardest positions to find in the draft outside of the first round, why not land a top-tier wide receiver in the draft, bank on landing a new left tackle in free agency, and use the rest of the team's resources to fill out the depth chart with BPA, be that a free agent guard, a schematically-relevant linebacker, or even another crack at wide receiver, assuming a good one is on the board when the Pats are picking on Day 2 or early Day 3. If the Pats simply start the summer with a true WR1 and starting-caliber left tackle, their offense should improve by leaps and bounds.