4 Patriots Unlikely to Return in 2025 After Poor Start to Season

The New England Patriots are sinking, and sinking fast.

After a hope-inducing Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals and a competitive Week 2 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks, ugly losses in Weeks 3 and 4 have decimated nearly all of the optimism that the first two weeks of the season instilled.

The Patriots team that has taken the field in the last two games is far closer to the product that most observers expected coming into the season, as New England has lost their last two games by a combined 38 points. Somehow, the scoreboard still doesn't feel like it has properly expressed the dismal play by the Patriots in their last two contests.

Beyond the scoreboard, New England ranks last in the league in passing yards, second-to-last in points per game, and has only managed two passing touchdowns all season. The offensive line is historically bad, and many members of the fanbase are pressing for a change under center.

Much of the narrative around the New England Patriots this season has centered around the future. The franchise parted ways with Bill Belichick after a quarter century and revamped nearly the entire coaching staff as the Patriots have struggled to find their identity in the post-Tom Brady era. When New England selected quarterback Drake Maye with the third overall pick in April's NFL Draft, there was an even greater injection of hope that better days could be ahead.

With the future of the franchise in mind, here are four players who are already unlikely to return in 2025 following a poor start to the season.

4. Raekwon McMillan

When standout linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley went down in Week 2 with a season-ending torn pectoral muscle, McMillan was thrown into an elevated role on the Patriots defense.

McMillan – a second-round pick in 2017 out of Ohio State – has been a victim of some bad luck since signing with the Patriots in March 2021. McMillan tore his ACL in training camp in 2021 and missed the entire season. He returned in 2022 but saw playing time dwindle with the emergence of Bentley. In May 2023, McMillan suffered a torn Achilles in OTAs and missed the entire 2023 campaign.

Now healthy in 2024, McMillan has been dealt the difficult task of filling Bentley's shoes. After not playing a single defensive snap in Week 1, McMillan played 59 percent of the snaps in Week 2 when Bentley had to leave the Seahawks game early and has seen his playing time on defense increase to 73 percent and 78 percent in Weeks 3 and 4, respectively. With the increased playing time, McMillan hasn't exactly risen to the occasion, with his Week 3 showing against the Jets especially concerning.

He will be a free agent at the conclusion of the season and turns 29 next month. The Patriots will likely elect to move on from him, roll with Bentley and Jahlani Tavai, and look to get younger at the position.