It’s difficult to believe the New England Patriots will finish with a worse record this year than they did in 2020.
Bill Belichick’s free agency frenzy helped revive a team that was completely drained of talent and youth. Tom Brady’s absence was a huge hit last offseason, but the collective injuries and free agency departures were just as damaging. The Patriots lost players like Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins, Danny Shelton, Duron Harmon and Elandon Roberts.
Cam Newton has a full season under his belt and much more talent and direction to work with in 2021 — and, COVID-19 won’t be the same beast to conquer as it was last season. For these reasons, it’s not far-fetched to think Belichick can tally a winning record.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss made his prediction on the season and put the Patriots at ten wins.
“Bill Belichick and his coaching staff squeezed seven wins out of a 2020 team with lesser talent,” Reiss said. “Now that the Patriots have infused the roster with more talent due to a free-agency blitz that saw them upgrade at tight end (Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith), pass-rusher (Matthew Judon) and several other positions — along with a 17-game schedule — the possibility of 10 wins seems realistic.”
The next biggest decision for the Patriots is whether or not they trade up in the draft for one of the top 5 quarterbacks. Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson will be gone in the first two picks, but they still have choices in Justin Fields, Mac Jones and Trey Lance.
Regardless of how the quarterback situation shakes out, the Patriots are in good shape to record double-digit wins this season.
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