PATRIOTS FREE AGENTS: Austin Hooper, Jack Westover (ERFA)
NOTABLE EXTERNAL FREE AGENTS: Kyle Pitts (franchise tag), Dallas Goedert, Isaiah Likely, David Njoku, Chig Okonkwo, Charlie Kolar, Cade Otton, Mo Alie-Cox, Tyler Higbee, Noah Fant, Tyler Conklin, Foster Moreau, Daniel Bellinger
The Patriots are possibly entering a transition phase as they start thinking about the next wave of tight ends in their offense's arsenal around third-year QB Drake Maye.
As he enters his age-32 season, veteran Hunter Henry is still one of Maye's most reliable targets heading into his 11th NFL season. He ranked seventh among all tight ends with 768 receiving yards last season and continues to be one of the position's steadiest chain-movers with 42 receptions that resulted in first downs (fourth among TEs). Henry was also top-10 in total EPA (+34.3), receptions (60), and touchdowns (seven), while developing a great rapport with Maye both on and off the field as a true pro in the Patriots locker room.
However, the 31-year-old is starting to get more seasoned these days, and recent wingman Austin Hooper is an unrestricted free agent entering his age-32 season. With their top two tight ends on the other side of age 30, it would make sense for the Patriots to start looking into the next chapter at the position, while there are also stylistic questions at play.
Last season, New England wasn't as productive as it probably would've liked running the football with multiple tight ends on the field. Although they were a highly productive passing attack out of multiple-tight end sets (fourth in EPA per play), the Patriots were 27th in rush EPA out of their tight-end heavy groupings (-0.14), suggesting a possible need to upgrade their in-line blocking ability at tight end. In the NFL, the game is all about personnel matching, or the offense forcing the defense to put disadvantageous personnel groupings on the field. For instance, being able to run opponents out of nickel (five DBs) packages with heavy personnel forces opponents into base defense, which is helps the passing game.
Due to the fact the Patriots weren't a great rush offense out of mult-tight end sets, defenses mostly remained in nickel packages against New England. It's also probably why the Patriots were only in 12-personnel (2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB) on just over 19 percent of their offensive plays. Despite having two solid vet tight ends, New England was 20th in 12-personnel usage, likely because they weren't consistently creating mismatches in the passing game because of their run-game struggles. Therefore, it was more successful to put a third wideout on the field.
Last season, Henry (54.2 grade) and Hooper (57.8 grade) both ranked outside of the top-50 among tight ends in Pro Football Focus's run-blocking grades. Along with an infusion of some youth in the room, adding a more dynamic in-line blocker is a big part of the tight end equation as well if the Patriots want to feature multiple tight ends more often. However, it's not a great free agency or draft class for well-rounded tight ends.
In free agency, the top options are mostly known for their pass-catching ability. Kyle Pitts (franchise tag), Isaiah Likely, Cade Otton, and Chig Okonkwo are essentially big wide receivers… Although he doesn't help with the youth movement at 29 years old, David Njoku has something left in the tank as a seam runner and spent the 2024 season with head coach Mike Vrabel in Cleveland. There are some great pure blockers, such as Ravens TE Charlie Kolar, but Kolar has only 30 career catches in four seasons. Giants free-agent Daniel Bellinger showed some promise as an in-line blocker and gives you a little more as a receiver (88 career catches).
From this perspective, the name recognition of signing Likely would be a fun free agency splash. Likely could hit his ceiling as an explosive field-stretcher with Maye, who likes throwing the ball through the middle of the field to big targets… However, even though he's a brand-name signing, he won't do much to solve the Patriots personnel matching issues. So, the best course of action might be to pick from a large cluster of mid-round tight ends like Eli Stowers (Vanderbilt), Oscar Delp (Georgia), Justin Joly (NC State), Max Klare (Ohio State) or cross your fingers that Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq slips to the 31st overall pick in the first round.
Lastly, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will likely always have two-back formations with a lead-blocking fullback in his playbook. Last season, McDaniels made do with converted tight end Jack Westover as the team's primary fullback, playing 21-personnel (2 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB, 1 FB) on 15.3% of the Patriots offensive snaps (fourth-highest in the NFL).
However, Westover had some struggles in the role because he's not a true people-moving blocker, resulting in New England being net-negative efficiency-wise out of 21-personnel (-0.02 EPA per play). After suffering a season-ending injury last summer, 2025 undrafted rookie Brock Lampe, who was the favorite to win the fullback job pre-injury, will have a chance to win the role again this summer. The draft also has some full-back types, such as Max Bredeson (Michigan) and Eli Heidenreich (Navy), who could fill the role.
There will be a lot of buzz about the Patriots adding a free-agent tight end, and we don't necessarily hate all the options, with Njoku and Otton seeming like solid fits. However, the general lack of excitement for the free agency class stems from the fact that the best available players aren't well-rounded enough to unlock another dimension to the Patriots offense.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
