3 Patriots That Must Be Re-Signed Immediately This Offseason

Regardless of who the New England Patriots end up hiring as their next head coach after firing Jerod Mayo, there are a number of players among their prospective 2025 NFL free agents who should probably be brought back regardless.

The Patriots are obviously keeping their front office intact, and because of that, they have advanced scouting on all of these guys and while a new head coach will put his stamp on the roster, the 90-man roster can certainly be filled out with holdovers from the previous regime.

It's going to be a crucial offseason of building around Drake Maye for the New England Patriots. They have a lot of work to do and there will be a ton of roster turnover as they look to make upgrades from what was one of the worst teams in recent franchise history.

But which players should be retained early on in the offseason? Let's take a look at a trio of names to keep an eye on.

1. Brenden Schooler, Safety/Special Teams

One of the things you can't compromise if you're a team looking to improve at the small details is special teams. The New England Patriots had one of the best longtime core special teams players in league history in Matthew Slater, and while Brenden Schooler is not on Slater's level, he's a guy this team doesn't need to live without.

As a restricted free agent, it's going to be relatively easy for the Patriots to make a decision on bringing Schooler back, but because he's primarily a special teams contributor (three straight years of 330 or more special teams snaps) they might be able to re-sign him for cheaper on a multi-year deal than they would be just handing him a restricted free agent tender.

The Patriots need core guys like Schooler, who was actually named as an All-Pro in the core special teamer department for the second year in a row.

Not only that, but how about Schooler adding a pair of sacks this past season on just 50 defensive snaps played? Maybe a new coaching staff will come in and figure out a way to deploy this guy as a weapon a little bit more.