The Patriots are back — and after a Super Bowl run, they added A.J. Brown for Drake Maye

What a difference a year makes. The New England Patriots went from also-ran to AFC champions in 2025, riding a breakout season from quarterback Drake Maye all the way to the Super Bowl, where they finished as runner-up. It was the franchise's first AFC East title since 2019, and it announced New England's return to relevance. Now the challenge is proving it's sustainable.

The Drake Maye leap

The engine of the turnaround was Maye, who followed a quiet rookie year with a season that drew MVP consideration, posting elite marks in efficiency and explosive passing. A young franchise quarterback playing at that level changes everything about a team's outlook, and Maye's ascent is the foundation everything else is built on.

Reloading for more

Rather than rest on the run, New England went and got Maye a star, trading for wide receiver A.J. Brown in one of the offseason's biggest moves. Adding a bona fide No. 1 receiver to a quarterback on the rise is exactly the kind of aggressive move a team makes when it believes its window is opening. The Patriots did lose some pieces, but the top-line addition of Brown raised the offense's ceiling considerably.

The regression question

The skeptic's case is that New England benefited from one of the league's easiest schedules in 2025, and that a tougher slate in 2026 will bring the Patriots back toward the pack. It's a fair question, and the schedule is undeniably harder this year. But a team with a rising star quarterback and a new No. 1 receiver has the profile to answer it.

Season outlook

The Patriots enter 2026 with real expectations — a double-digit win total and a place among the AFC East favorites alongside Buffalo. The path runs through Maye's continued development and how the offense integrates Brown, against a schedule that will test whether last year's leap was real. New England believes it was, and it built accordingly. After years in the wilderness, the Patriots are back in the contender conversation — and the goal now is to prove the Super Bowl run was a beginning, not a peak.