Week 17 went perfectly for the New England Patriots, blowing out the New York Jets as they head into the regular season finale with a ton of momentum on their side. Drake Maye put on a great performance, throwing for 256 yards and five touchdowns in a performance to remember to close out the 2025 calendar year.
Moving forward, the Patriots can't assume that this will be consistent going forward, and instead, they need to keep looking to build a stronger team. With the New Year almost here, now is the perfect time to think about who likely won't be back in New England for the 2026 season, including these three Pats.
1. Austin Hooper, TE
Austin Hooper originally joined the Patriots for the 2024 season before re-signing on a one-year deal this past offseason. Hooper has continued to fill in as the backup tight end to Hunter Henry, playing well in his role. So far this season, Hooper has 20 catches for 258 yards and two touchdowns while seeing an average of 32.5 offensive snaps in 15 games.
The main reason Hooper could be gone is that the Patriots will need to think about getting younger at the tight end position. Both Hooper and Henry are 31 and in the latter half of their careers. Given how vital the tight end has been to the Patriots' offense this season, they should look to bring a younger option behind Henry for next year to prepare them to be the future starter, making it easy to turn the page on Hooper when he hits free agency in March.
2. Garrett Bradbury, C
After being cut by the Minnesota Vikings, Garrett Bradbury found a new home with the Patriots in the offseason. The veteran center had spent all of his career with the Vikings up to that point and was a good addition to the Patriots' offensive line. Even though he signed a two-year deal, the contract has an out for the second year, allowing New England to release him without it severely hampering the Patriots' cap space in the future.
According to Spotrac, New England can add $4.7 million to its cap space by cutting or trading Bradbury at any point in the offseason.
Signing Bradbury was about bringing in another veteran on the offensive line to help stabilize a unit that failed to protect Maye in his rookie season. Bradbury has helped with that, but the Patriots should look to get younger on the line. New England has seemingly hinted at that with a recent contract extension.
3. Anfernee Jennings, LB
One name that has played less since the hiring of head coach Mike Vrabel was Anfernee Jennings. Jennings was initially drafted by the Patriots in the third round of the 2020 draft and had seen an increased role each season. This season, though, Jennings' role has decreased, with Jennings being someone who was a trade candidate around the trade deadline.
Similar to Bradbury, the Patriots could get out of Jennings' contract for cheap in the offseason if they wanted to. Any divorce method will only create $1 million in dead money while opening up $4 million for the salary cap. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Patriots move on, given the lack of playtime for Jennings and the younger guys to whom the team could look to give his current role.
Though the Patriots are in the playoffs and have won the AFC East, they still have one game left in the regular season when they host the Miami Dolphins. That will leave time to tell if any of the aforementioned Pats can play well enough to get back into the team's future plans.