The New England Patriots open up their 2025 mandatory minicamp this week, ushering in another wrinkle for first-year head coach Mike Vrabel. Of course, his arrival is one of the key storylines to monitor throughout this string of workouts, and how he’s implementing his culture as he returns to help resurrect the franchise he won three Super Bowls with as a player.
While Vrabel’s comings and goings will be monitored, so will the players on the field. The Patriots made waves this offseason, splashing into the free agent market and adding the likes of Milton Williams, Carlton Davis, Stefon Diggs and Robert Spillane. Meanwhile, they were major players in the 2025 NFL Draft, adding LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell with the No. 4 overall pick, and adding intriguing skill position weapons on Day 2 like TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Williams. They also have 2024 first-round pick Drake Maye entering his second season in the league, and first as the Patriots full-time starting quarterback.
Seeing how all those pieces start to fit together will give us an early indication of whether or not New England is poised to hit the ground running and meet the rather lofty expectations that have been set for them for the upcoming regular season.
It is worth cautioning, however, not to make any definitive statements coming out of these workouts. Instead, they should simply be nuggets of information that paint a much larger picture that’ll come more into focus during training camp and the first month of the season. For instance, last offseason, then-rookie wideout Ja’Lynn Polk took Patriots minicamp by storm, and even hauled in a diving walk-off touchdown before they wrapped up for the summer break. That had Foxborough buzzing that it finally found a top receiver option. Well that proved to be his highlight of the year as Polk struggled throughout the year and finished with just 87 total yards receiving.
Again, that’s not to pick on Polk, but simply highlight that this period on the calendar is a mere checkpoint before everyone reconvenes later this summer for training camp.
Nevertheless, there will be storylines and position battles worth taking the temperature of during these three days of practices, and we’ll preview them below.
NFL mandatory minicamps 2025: Biggest storylines, key position battles, players to watch for every AFC team
Tyler Sullivan
Who makes the cut at wide receiver?
Players to watch: Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, DeMario Douglas, Kyle Williams, Kendrick Bourne, Kayshon Boutte, Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, Efton Chism III
The Patriots have a fascinating wide receiver battle brewing this summer. Currently, it’s a pretty crowded stable with not many spots up for grabs. We’ll assume that Diggs, Hollins and Williams are all locks. Diggs was signed to a $63.5 million deal this offseason, and Hollins, while a much smaller figure, was guaranteed $2 million for 2025, so the financial commitments suggest they’ll be around come Week 1. As for Williams, he was a Day 2 pick earlier this spring.
Last year, the Patriots brought seven receivers onto the opening 53-man roster, which was a big number. Even if we bring that down to six receivers this time around, that’s realistically six players fighting for three spots. While we didn’t solidify DeMario Douglas as a lock, he might be the next closest thing, as it’d be pretty shocking if he didn’t make the team. So, that suddenly leaves five players for two spots.
Kendrick Bourne and Kayshon Boutte have both been the subject of trade rumors this offseason. If New England decides to move both of them, does that simply pave the way for 2024 draftees Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker to slide into those final two slots? Not necessarily. Don’t sleep on undrafted free agent Efton Chism out of Eastern Washington. He’s been impressing during OTAs and could crash the party in this position battle.
How this group performs during minicamp and who sees time with Maye could be an early indicator of how the team is stacking them up before training camp.
How does the left guard spot shake out?
Players to watch: Cole Strange, Jared Wilson, Tyrese Robinson, Layden Robinson, Sidy Sow, Wes Schweitzer
The poor play along the offensive line was one of the key reasons the Patriots endured another 4-13 season in 2024. However, this offseason, the club did put a tremendous amount of effort into fixing the unit. The crowning moment for them was, of course, selecting Will Campbell with the No. 4 overall pick. So far through OTAs, the LSU product looks like he’s going to be New England’s Day 1 starting left tackle. Meanwhile, the club added veteran Morgan Moses to solidify the right tackle position and signed Garrett Bradbury to be their center after moving on from David Andrews (who recently retired). Those three positions will be filled by newbies, and right guard should continue to be manned by Mike Onwenu.
So that leaves the starting left guard spot as the biggest question along the offensive line. Cole Strange is a former first-round pick who was supposed to take the mantle when he arrived in 2022, but has yet to live up to that draft billing. Jared Wilson was selected in the third round out of Georgia and is mostly looked at as the team’s future starting center, but may have some position versatility on the interior, which makes him a possible option. Tyrese Robinson has been given opportunities during OTAs, while Layden Robinson and Sidy Sow are former draft selections who could be an option as well.
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Author: Tyler Sullivan
June 9, 2025 | 1:30 pm
