As disappointing as Sunday night was, the New England Patriots can't afford to dwell on their Super Bowl loss. The NFL offseason is already here, and all that matters is how head coach Mike Vrabel and de facto general manager Eliot Wolf can address the team's shortcomings to vault the Patriots back into the championship conversations.
Well, it didn't take long for New England to get the ball rolling.
On Tuesday, the Boston Herald's Doug Kyed reported that the Patriots have signed 11 players to futures contracts, including offensive guard Mehki Butler, tight end Marshall Lang, and safety John Saunders Jr.
The name that Patriots fans were most excited to see return, though, is defensive lineman Leonard Taylor III. After being ditched by the New York Jets, Leonard turned his season around with the Pats, tallying five solo tackles and seven pressures in seven games between the regular season and playoffs, per Pro Football Focus.
Needless to say, Patriots fans have every right to be excited by this news.
Leonard Taylor's Return Is Patriots' 1st Offseason Win
Although Taylor hasn't started a game at the NFL level, he already has an unforgettable moment on his resume from the Patriots' run to their first AFC Championship since 2019.
Taylor's blocked field goal on a game-tying 45-yard attempt from Denver Broncos kicker Will Lutz was one of the major fourth-quarter plays that sealed the deal in the 10-7 win at Empower Field at Mile High in January. While Taylor didn't have any standout moments during New England's ugly Super Bowl 60 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, bringing him back is a major win for the culture.
Plays like the one he made to help seal the deal in the AFC Championship Game on the road in Denver's thin air have to mean something. Luckily, it appears that Vrabel and Wolf understood the assignment.
Defensive line coach Clint McMillan came onto the scene with a brilliant debut season in Foxborough this past season, especially as it relates to Taylor's position and future prospects. Between the tackles, Patriots defenders had a league-best pass-rush win rate and pressure rate.
Another year working with McMillan should help him advance his pass-rushing and run-stopping abilities. It's unclear who will be the team's defensive coordinator, with Terrell Williams' battle with cancer complicating his future.
Either way, Taylor's development is directly tied to McMillan. And, to a degree, special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer, since that's who put Taylor in the position to etch his name in the franchise's history books with his title-clinching play against the Broncos.
Taylor is a positive culture guy who fans not only wanted back, but also wanted to be back. The Springfield, OH, native gave love to Patriots fans upon being re-signed to his futures contract, posting a heart-hands emoji to his X account. It's great to know that he wanted to return just as much as New England wanted him back.
While Taylor is still technically on a training camp invite at the moment, it's clear there's a path to earning a long-term contract awaiting him this offseason.