New England Patriots News

Jordy McElroy of Patriots Wire writes that the New England Patriots are "desperately clinging to hope" that rookie third-round tight end Eli Raridon "can contribute right out of the gate" in 2026. If Raridon doesn't look like he can handle TE2 duties behind starter Hunter Henry in training camp this summer, it "wouldn't be a surprise" to see the Patriots bring in a veteran at the position to boost the competition. As of right now, McElroy lists Raridon as the No. 2 TE behind Henry, with Tanner Arkin, Jack Westover, and CJ Dippre behind him. Raridon, 22, is a versatile option at the position with the ability to be a solid receiver and blocker. He has a clear path to rookie-year snaps with Julian Hill (knee) going on season-ending Injured Reserve and with Austin Hooper leaving in free agency to sign with the Atlanta Falcons. The 6-foot-6, 245-pounder needs to improve his blocking, but if he can do that, he could have a meaningful role in 2026. And if Henry were to go down with an injury, Raridon would gain lots of steam off the waiver wire in all fantasy football leagues.

New England Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins is coming off a decent season in 2025. The veteran wideout hauled in 46 receptions, 550 receiving yards, and two touchdowns in 15 games (13 starts) with the Pats. Those were his best numbers since 2022, but Hollins could be headed towards a diminished role. The Pats acquired AJ. Brown during the offseason to be their top wideout in their offense. They also signed Romeo Doubs, who is projected to be the slot receiver to begin the season. The Pats also have Kayshon Boutte and Kyle Williams returning, who are expected to compete for snaps with Hollins. The assumption is that the Patriots are more likely to feed snaps to a younger player, such as Williams over Hollins. The 32-year-old might end up falling into a depth role on this revamped Pats offense, so fantasy managers counting on Hollins might want to look elsewhere for help.

The Athletic's Chad Graff writes that New England Patriots second-year running back TreVeyon Henderson is "one of the most intriguing players entering training camp" this summer as he looks to bring more consistency to the Patriots' backfield. He was drafted in the second round in 2025 out of Ohio State to bring more explosiveness to the offense, and he finished with 180 carries for 911 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and nine rushing touchdowns in 17 regular-season games (four starts), adding 35 receptions for 221 more yards and another TD on 42 targets. Henderson's first year in the NFL started slowly, as he saw 10-plus carries just once in the first seven games as the backup to veteran Rhamondre Stevenson. He ended the year with close to 1,000 rushing yards, but Henderson had just three carries in the AFC Championship Game and six in the Super Bowl. The 23-year-old's struggles with pass protection were part of the reason he spent more time on the bench down the stretch. Graff believes that the addition of Pro Bowl receiver A.J. Brown will cause defenses to play more two-high safety coverages, potentially opening up running lanes for Henderson and Stevenson closer to the line of scrimmage. If Henderson can show improvement as a pass-catcher -- he ranked 32nd in the NFL among RBs in yards per route run -- he could be a strong RB2 for fantasy managers in 2026.

ESPN's Mike Reiss reports that New England Patriots running back Terrell Jennings is set to compete for the RB3 role in training camp this summer behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson. The 6-foot, 220-pounder "appears to have the early edge" based on his work with the first-unit punt-protection team this offseason. The former undrafted free agent out of Florida A&M finished the 2025 season on Injured Reserve due to a concussion after having been signed from the practice squad and appearing in seven games. The 25-year-old had 23 rushing attempts for the Patriots for 73 yards and one touchdown while adding one catch for nine yards in his second year in the NFL. Jennings only played in three games in New England as a rookie, carrying the ball 13 times for only 33 yards. His primary competition for the No. 3 RB job will be rookie seventh-rounder Jam Miller and Lan Larison.

New England Patriots wide receiver Kyle Williams caught only 10 passes in a disappointing 2025 rookie season. While the elite speed that had fantasy managers excited about his spot on a somewhat pedestrian depth chart allowed him to convert three of those receptions into touchdowns while averaging more than 20 yards per catch, he will need to find more ways to stand out in his second season in a receiver room that suddenly ranks among the most loaded in the league. Trade and free agent acquisitions A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs are likely to see the majority of time in two-receiver sets. Behind them, Williams' speed is a standout quality among a diverse supporting group of Mack Hollins, DeMario Douglas, and Kayshon Boutte, who remains on the roster despite being the subject of trade rumors for much of the offseason. However, without the play strength to regularly shift inside, the 2025 third-round pick could struggle to find consistent work in an offense that regularly asks its receivers to help out in the run game. Williams has the traits to make him a low-exposure late-round pick in best-ball drafts, but a lack of reliable usage will make him hard to trust in lineup leagues, and he's fallen to WR88 in RotoBaller's latest dynasty rankings.

New England Patriots tight end Hunter Henry was the TE7 in half-PPR formats in 2025, and with one of the league's most efficient offenses from a season ago potentially taking another step forward, he projects as one of the most mispriced tight ends in 2026 drafts. Frequently going undrafted outside of deep best ball formats, Henry's current ADP is stuck at TE19, which would represent his lowest end-of-season finish since 2022. With the Patriots allowing Austin Hooper to depart in free agency, they signed blocking specialist Julian Hill to a three-year deal and spent a third-round pick on Notre Dame's Eli Raridon. Since then, Hill tore his ACL during organized team activities, and the rookie looked noticeably slender compared to the rest of the position group and could take time to develop the play strength needed to earn an every-down role in what projects to be one of the more physical offenses in the league. Head coach Mike Vrabel specifically pointed to tight end as a position where he'd like to find additional depth, but it's unlikely that anyone added to the roster at this point would pose a serious threat to Henry's role after he paced all New England pass catchers in 2025 with more than 1,000 snaps across the regular season and playoffs. A trusted big-body target for Drake Maye in both the middle of the field and the red zone, Henry should provide a usable weekly floor at a position where that is often enough for fantasy, but he also boasts multi-touchdown upside and is a player who should not be fully dismissed in the late rounds of 2026 drafts.

While he was reportedly the subject of continued trade discussion throughout much of the offseason, fourth-year wide receiver Kayshon Boutte remains a part of the New England Patriots roster with teams currently in the quiet part of the calendar before training camp. While he has yet to reach 45 receptions or 600 yards in a season, Boutte was the most trusted downfield target of budding superstar Drake Maye in 2025, finishing fourth among qualified receivers with 16.7 yards per reception. With three-time Pro Bowler A.J. Brown set to inherit that role, Boutte's fantasy prospects look bleak should he stick with the Patriots in 2026. There is still a chance he's traded before the start of the season, but in that scenario, he could still require an acclimation period as he learns a new playbook and may struggle to find fantasy relevance after barely cracking the top 50 at the position in one of the league's most efficient offenses in 2025. Still only 24 years old and once viewed as a first-round talent, Boutte is scheduled to reach free agency after this season. While next year's free agent class could feature some potential game-changers looking for new contracts, history suggests that very few will actually reach the open market, which could help Boutte find something close to a top-of-market deal with a team of his choosing. So while 2026 could ultimately prove to be a down year, RotoBaller's dynasty WR76 remains a hold with potentially brighter days still ahead.

After spending the last four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, veteran wide receiver A.J. Brown is entering his first campaign with the New England Patriots in 2026. Across 15 games with Philadelphia in 2025, Brown recorded 78 receptions for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns on 121 targets, finishing as the WR11 in per-game PPR scoring. Brown's target volume in the Eagles' run-heavy offense was a point of discussion all year long, as the wideout publicly agitated for more opportunities at multiple points throughout the season. While Brown profiles as the clear number one option in the Patriots' passing game, New England was also a run-heavy offense in 2025, ranking 25th in the NFL in pass rate. Brown is also entering his age-29 season and has had durability issues in recent years, missing six games over the last two seasons due to knee and hamstring issues. While Brown should be a productive player for fantasy managers in 2026, he may be slightly overvalued as the WR8 by current average draft position.

Fresh off a career-high 724 receiving yards in his final season with the Packers, wide receiver Romeo Doubs signed a four-year, $68 million deal with the New England Patriots, where he could become the No. 2 option for 2025 MVP runner-up Drake Maye. While former Eagle A.J. Brown has since become the splashier addition, the three-time Pro Bowler is expected to handle more of the true outside role that was held primarily by Kayshon Boutte in 2025. Meanwhile, Doubs is presumed to inherit Stefon Diggs' inside spot, from which the veteran topped 1,000 yards while playing a part-time role. While he has yet to reach 60 receptions in a season, another career year could be in store for Doubs. Still just 26 years old, he is now tied through 2029 to a high-powered offense with plenty of room to grow. Providing a safe fantasy floor as a reliable chain-mover, a case could be made that he's become an undervalued dynasty asset at RotoBaller's WR62.

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was one first-place vote away from winning the 2025 NFL MVP award in his first full season as a starter, and one area that his supporters pointed to was the level of pass catchers he was throwing to in comparison to the award's winner, Matthew Stafford. Heading into 2026, the Patriots have rebuilt their wide receiver corps, adding Romeo Doubs through free agency and sending a first and fifth-round pick to Philadelphia for three-time Pro Bowler A.J. Brown. Maye finished as the fantasy QB2 in 2025, accounting for 4,844 yards and 35 touchdowns through the air and on the ground, and as he continues to take agency over Josh McDaniels' offense, his game has the potential to reach even higher levels. He was one of the most proficient passers against man coverage last season, while Brown has been the league's most disruptive receiver against man since 2022, and with Brown and Doubs expected to hold the top two spots on the depth chart, the rest of New England's receivers like Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams, DeMario Douglas, and, for now, Kayshon Boutte can slot into their more natural positions. With improvements made to both the receiver room and offensive line, and still possessing the ability to keep plays alive well-beyond structure, Maye is RotoBaller's QB4 for 2026, though a QB1 finish is very much in his range of possibilities.

New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson was able to overcome early-season fumbling concerns in 2025 and led the team in running back snaps on his way to a very usable RB25 finish, despite missing three games. While calls for a TreVeyon Henderson breakout are growing louder and easier to buy into, there's a world where the 2025 second-round pick takes his game to a stratospheric level without meaningfully impacting Stevenson. In what will be quarterback Drake Maye's second full season as a starter, there is a sense around the team that he has taken ownership of Josh McDaniels' offense, and with New England acquiring A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs to go with Mack Hollins and Kayshon Boutte, they could boast the most physically imposing receiver room in the league. Having spent a first-round pick to shore up the offensive line after making free agent investments at fullback and tight end, this appears to be a unit looking for creative ways to adopt a bully-ball persona. In what should remain one of the league's most efficient and explosive offenses, there's a realistic possibility for both backs to crack 1,000 yards from scrimmage while pushing for double-digit touchdowns, and at RotoBaller's RB28, Stevenson remains a value in the middle rounds of 2026 drafts.

New England Patriots wide receiver DeMario Douglas has routinely provided a spark out of the slot, averaging more than 6.2 yards after catch per reception through his first three years in the league, but his waning usage in 2025 led to career lows of 447 yards on only 31 receptions. The arrival of Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator had many calling for a modest breakout based on the past success of slot receivers Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, and Wes Welker in his system, but with the Patriots opting for a bigger, more physical style of play, Douglas often ceded slot work to the 6'4", 221-pound Mack Hollins and saw a sub-30% snap share in 14 of 17 games. McDaniels has spoken about wanting to get Douglas more involved, but most of the moves made by New England this offseason suggest a path toward even more heavy personnel usage, with Douglas now buried on a depth chart topped by new additions A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs. Douglas will continue to have his moments in McDaniels' game plan-specific offense, but outside of RotoBaller's top 300, he is not a player who can be trusted in 2026 fantasy leagues, other than deep best-ball formats.

New England Patriots running back Jam Miller could be an interesting stash option for dynasty managers. The Patriots selected Miller in the seventh-round of this year's draft. He figures to compete for the No. 3 spot in the backfield with Terrell Jennings, Myles Montgomery, and Lan Larison. This past season, Miller rushed for 504 yards on 130 carries with three touchdowns in 11 games at Alabama. The 3.9 yards per carry isn't ideal, but the Patriots believe Miller has the potential to be a decent contributor. The Patriots often deploy three-man rotations in the backfield, which could give Miller some value right away, assuming he wins the job. At worst, Miller is someone worth stashing on the taxi squad in case an injury happens to Rhamondre Stevenson or TreVeyon Henderson.

New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson flashed explosive upside as a rookie in 2025, finishing the year with 1,132 scrimmage yards and 10 touchdowns on 215 touches across 17 games (four starts). Henderson averaged over five yards per carry and also excelled as a kick returner, demonstrating his big-play ability in the open field. However, Henderson was unable to fully seize the Patriots' RB1 role away from veteran Rhamondre Stevenson, whom the team trusted more as a downhill runner between the tackles. Stevenson remains under contract with New England through 2028, which brings some degree of uncertainty to Henderson's workload upside with the Patriots. Still, Henderson is clearly the higher-upside back between the two and could have a superstar ceiling if he can make modest improvements as a pass-protector and short-yardage rusher. Henderson is currently valued as a low-end RB2 in redraft formats, which could be a steal for fantasy managers in 2026.

Across 15 games (13 starts) in 2025, New England Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins recorded 46 receptions for 550 yards and two touchdowns on 65 targets. While the veteran wideout has never been a high-volume target-earner, he's a valuable blocker in the running game and an underrated downfield threat on the outside. Hollins' skill set could keep him on the field consistently for the Patriots once again in 2026. However, his already questionable target outlook has taken a hit over the offseason thanks to New England's acquisitions of wide receivers A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs. The Patriots may also be looking to expand the role of 2025 third-round pick Kyle Williams, and Kayshon Boutte remains in New England as well. As he enters his age-33 season, Hollins profiles as a low-upside fantasy wide receiver whom dynasty managers should feel comfortable moving on from.

New England Patriots wide receiver Kyle Williams showed some noteworthy flashes in his limited usage as a 2025 third-round rookie, and while he has reportedly worked hard to add play strength to his game-breaking speed and an elite release package, he now faces a new barrier to playing time in the form of a revamped and deep receiver room. In trading for three-time Pro Bowler A.J. Brown and adding Romeo Doubs in free agency, the Patriots have completely transformed a unit that started a season as recently as two years ago with K.J. Osborn, Ja'Lynn Polk, and Jalen Reagor atop the depth chart. Kayshon Boutte's future in New England remains uncertain, but with one of the team's leading receivers from 2025 reporting for mandatory minicamp and taking part in team drills, opportunities for Williams could be hard to come by. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has long operated one of the most adaptable systems in the league, so with receiver being a clear strength of the team, and tight end Julian Hill already placed on injured reserve with a serious knee injury, it's entirely possible the Patriots could deploy more three, or even four, receiver sets than initially expected. Even in that scenario, though, Williams would likely find himself in a rotation with Doubs, Mack Hollins, DeMario Douglas, and potentially still Boutte. At RotoBaller's dynasty WR88, it's difficult to envision any clear path to fantasy relevance in the near future.

The New England Patriots are unlikely to re-sign veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs, according to Evan Lazar of the team's official website. "Right now, I don't think that that's something that I think we're exploring, but I would never say no," head coach Mike Vrabel said. Diggs was the team's leading receiver last year and helped the Pats get back to the Super Bowl, catching 85 of his 102 targets for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns in 17 regular-season starts, but New England cut him this offseason for salary cap purposes, then signed Romeo Doubs in free agency and acquired Pro Bowler A.J. Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles on June 1. The four-time Pro Bowler has seven 1,000-yard seasons to his name in 11 NFL seasons, but he remains unsigned in early June. Diggs' 2026 fantasy value will obviously depend on where he ultimately lands, but it won't be back in New England. The Commanders, Chiefs, Ravens, and Falcons appear to be his most likely landing spots as he heads into Year 12 in the league. Diggs is currently ranked as the No. 62 WR for 2026 at RotoBaller while he continues to look for a new squad to play for.

New England Patriots tight end Hunter Henry has turned in TE1 fantasy finishes in each of the past two seasons and in four of the last seven years, and he heads into 2026 with a locked-in role in a still uptrending offense. The Patriots finished 2025 as the league's number one offense in terms of both total EPA and EPA per play in what was only the first season of quarterback Drake Maye and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels working together. By most accounts, Maye is already miles ahead of where he was at this point last season. While new wide receiver A.J. Brown is certain to draw targets, he also has the ability to elevate the offense as a whole and create more red zone opportunities for Henry. The Patriots replaced Austin Hooper with Julian Hill, but the latter is already lost for the season with a knee injury, and while the team spent a third-round pick on Notre Dame's Eli Raridon, he's still a somewhat raw prospect who could take time to develop in McDaniels' famously complex system. While he will turn 32 this season, Henry is arguably in the best situation of his 11-year career, and at RotoBaller's dynasty TE25, he's an obvious trade target for contending managers.

New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was seen back on the field for mandatory minicamp. Boutte didn't participate in voluntary OTAs, but is back with the team now. It remains to be seen what kind of role Boutte is going to have with A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs joining this offense over the offseason. Boutte said that he's willing to play anywhere and wants to help the team however he can. He has been the subject of trade rumors this offseason and is entering the final year of his rookie contract. He finished with 33 receptions, 551 receiving yards, and six touchdowns last season. It's tough to imagine his stats improving with Brown and Doubs on the roster now. He's at camp and saying the right things, but we'll see what kind of involvement he has in the offense.

As a rookie in 2025, New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson was the only back on the roster to play in all 17 games, but he saw the field on fewer than 46% of the team's offensive snaps. Despite the limited opportunities, he still led the team with 1,132 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns, and heading into year two, he has told reporters his goals are to improve as a pass protector and receiver, which should lead to more total work and an elevated fantasy floor to go with his already electric upside. Finishing third in the Offensive Rookie of the Year voting, Henderson is starting from a higher place than most, but historically, young running backs have seen monumental growth in their second season in a Josh McDaniels offense. If the 23-year-old second-round pick can follow suit with even a modest step forward, Henderson has true RB1 potential and could return immense value from his current ranking of RotoBaller's dynasty RB15.