Best-case, worst-case scenarios for all 32 NFL teams | NFL News, Rankings and Statistics | PFF
Best-case: New England liquidates its assets and commences a rebuild
Worst-case: They sign a mid- or low-tier free agent quarterback to be their Week 1 starter and get stuck in quarterback purgatory
Regression hit the
New England Patriots hard in 2020. They went from having
Tom Brady to
Cam Newton and subsequently fielded their least-efficient passing offense of the PFF era by a considerable margin. Then a coverage unit that was considered the best in the league in 2019 saw the steepest drop among all 32 teams in EPA per pass play allowed in 2020. They have no quarterback, a clear bottom-five receiving unit and two aging defensive backs on expiring contracts in 2022 that still have trade value (
Stephon Gilmore and
Devin McCourty). They aren’t going to be a contender in 2021, especially with a mid- to low-tier free agent passer like
Andy Dalton or
Mitchell Trubisky as their quarterback.
It’s not going to happen, but Bill Bellichick should strongly consider liquidating their assets and focusing on a rebuild this offseason. Next year would be a throwaway year, but they’d become an immediate favorite to land next year’s top quarterback,
Spencer Rattler. And considering what we saw from him
in Year 1 at Oklahoma — the fourth-best PFF grade in the country at 92.5 — he has the potential to be an elite level prospect like
Baker Mayfield and
Kyler Murray.