Ranking the Patriots’ 12 Most Important Moves to Reach Super Bowl LX

No team in NFL history has qualified for the Super Bowl more often than the New England Patriots — Sunday’s tilt against the Seattle Seahawks will mark their 12th appearance in the big game. It’s only been seven years since New England last played in the Super Bowl, but the current roster doesn’t feature a single player from the 2018 team. Even executive vice president and de facto general manager Eliot Wolf, who joined the organization in 2020, is only in his second year in his current post. Teams aren’t supposed to be able to finish outside the playoffs three years in a row, launch a roster rebuild around a rookie quarterback, change coaches in consecutive seasons and then go 14-3 en route to the Super Bowl. But this is the Patriot Way. With that, we rank the 12 biggest acquisitions the Pats made to qualify for Super Bowl LX. RELATED: Ranking the Seahawks’ 12 Most Important Moves to Reach Super Bowl LX 12. Drafting left tackle Will Campbell No. 4 overall (April 2025) Though he has struggled a bit in the playoffs, Campbell (and fellow rookie Jared Wilson) have helped solidify a Patriots offensive line that, frankly, doesn’t get enough credit for New England being the only team in the NFL this season to finish among the league’s top five in both passing (31) and rushing (22) touchdowns. The 6-foot-6, 319-pound Campbell has enough quickness off the snap to force edge rushers wide, and he’s quite strong, showing the iron-grip and hand placement to control opponents when he’s able to latch on. Viewed by some as a better fit at guard in the NFL than the left tackle role he starred at for three years at LSU, Campbell’s quickness, power and timing on combo blocks have already made him a standout run blocker — a rarity for a rookie offensive tackle. 11. Signing right tackle Morgan Moses to a three-year $24M deal (March 2025) With all due respect to the aforementioned youth movement the Patriots have employed on the left side of their offensive line, Moses has been the club’s best blocker all season long, allowing a career-low two sacks in 20 combined regular and post-season starts. Moses isn’t the most aesthetically-pleasing blocker, but he’s absolutely massive at a listed 6-foot-6 and 320 pounds with 35 3/8-inch arms, forcing edge rushers to take a wide path to affect the quarterback and consistently generating movement in the running game. The soon-to-be-35-year-old Moses is one of the NFL’s true ironmen (and annually among the league’s most underrated blockers), starting a combined 175 games for four different teams (Commanders, Ravens, Jets) over his 12-year career. For a team that spent big dollars in free agency, Moses’ base salary this season of just $2.3 million was among its greatest bargains — though his cap hit notably jumps to $10.4 million next year. 10. Signing cornerback Carlton Davis III to a three-year $54M deal (March 2025) The club’s best positional group is its cornerbacks, thanks in part to Davis playing some of the best football of his career over the past few months. A quality starter since being drafted in the second round by the Buccaneers in 2018, Davis appeared in every regular-season game in 2025 for the first time in his career. He didn’t record an interception, but he had two of them (and nearly a third) in the Pats’ divisional-round victory over the Texans. The 6-foot-1, 206-pound Davis hasn’t allowed a touchdown reception since Week 10. The combination of Davis, Christian Gonzalez (more on him later) and nickel cornerback Marcus Jones is right there with the Seahawks’ Devon Witherspoon, Tariq Woolen and Josh Jobe as one of the elite secondary trios in the NFL. 9. Signing edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson to a one-year, $3M deal (March 2025) Chaisson has proven to be quite the bargain as a pass rusher, delivering a career-high 18 quarterback hits, 10 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and two of the three forced fumbles of his six-year NFL career in 2025. Scouts were always enamored with Chaisson’s burst and bend off the edge, which is why the Jacksonville Jaguars invested the No. 20 overall pick on him in 2020. The Jaguars (and Raiders in 2024) tried to make Chaisson more of a well-rounded defender, but his superpower remains his ability to wreak havoc as a pass rusher — a specialty the Patriots have embraced. Whether lining up out of the two- or three-point stance, Chaisson greases the corner like Crisco, gliding past (or under) the reach of would-be blockers and quickly closing on quarterbacks. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Chaisson can be pushed around in the running game, and he still misses more tackles than he should, but his ability to close out games as a designated pass-rusher made him a savvy addition to a defense often tasked with holding late leads. 8. Drafting running back TreVeyon Henderson 38th overall on (April 2025) Speaking of value, in a 2025 draft that saw two running backs get selected in the first round, the Patriots stole Henderson on Day 2 and celebrated as he led all rookie running backs with nine touchdowns scored in 2025. Veterans or rookies, no other running back in the NFL scored more on fewer attempts than Henderson’s 180, making him one the league’s most efficient and explosive backs. He has showed off his 4.43 speed throughout the season, his big-play ability serving as a perfect complement to the bigger, burlier Rhamondre Stevenson (seven rushing touchdowns) and Maye (five). Henderson had 50 more rushing attempts this year than Stevenson, keeping the 227-pound veteran fresh and motivated. The statistics back up this claim. Stevenson’s 4.6 yards per carry were his highest since 2022, and he scored a career-high nine total touchdowns. Perhaps best of all, his fumbles — a real problem last year — were cut more than half, dropping from a league-high seven (among running backs) to three in 2025. 7. Signing edge rusher Harold Landry III to a three-year, $43.5M deal (March 2025) With 50.5 sacks generated in six healthy seasons in Tennessee, no one knew better than Mike Vrabel what Landry would provide both on and off the field. It sounds cliché, but coaches love to bring in “glue guys” who can help establish a culture in their first year at the helm, and Landry has provided that leadership. The 6-foot-2, 252-pound Landry led the Patriots in QB hits (19) and sacks (8.5) and tied with Chaisson for a team-high 10 tackles for loss. A 4.64-second 40-yard dash time recorded prior to the 2018 draft has earned Landry a reputation as a speed rusher — and he is very effective off the edge. However, he also shows terrific vision, lateral agility and core strength, generating many of his sacks by countering back inside on stunts or essentially playing the role of a “spy” on opposing quarterbacks, showing a real knack for tracking them down in critical moments. 6. Signing wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a three-year, $69M deal (March 2025) Like the aforementioned Landry, Diggs has evolved over his NFL career, going from one of the NFL’s most feared deep threats to a reliable possession receiver who quietly ranks as one of the league’s best at winning contested passes. Fellow pass-catchers Hunter Henry (seven) and Kayshon Boutte (six) may have caught more touchdowns than Diggs (four) this season for the Patriots, but he’s led the team in every other significant receiving category — his 51 first-down receptions are 25 more than the next receiver. Quarterback Drake Maye and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel (more on them later) do a terrific job of utilizing the 6-foot, 191-pound veteran’s savvy route-running and late adjustments to the ball. Aside from the 2016 season — Diggs’ second in the NFL — he aligned out of the slot more times this season than at any other point in his career. While he’s understandably lost some of his downfield speed, Diggs still has the suddenness to shake his own shadow, altering his gait to get defenders off balance, showing late hands, excellent body control and underrated toughness to become Maye’s most trusted target in just one year of playing together. 5. Signing defensive tackle Milton Williams to a 4-year, $104M deal (March 2025) From a statistical perspective, the 29 tackles, 8.0 for loss and 3.5 sacks Williams provided the Patriots this season might seem like he underperformed expectations, especially since he was given a Patriots-record $63 million guaranteed. While the price was undeniably high, the 6-foot-3, 290-pounder has played up and down the line of scrimmage and been wreaking havoc wherever he’s positioned. Williams has terrific initial quickness, often beating even the Patriots’ fellow edge rushers off the ball. This burst allows him to penetrate gaps and ruin plays before they even have a chance to begin. Better yet, he’s just as quick laterally as he his upfield, showing the agility and balance to string runs wide and surprise ballcarriers with his closing speed. New England boasts a formidable front with run-pluggers Corey Durden and Khyiris Tonga also key additions this offseason. But make no mistake, the difference-maker has been Williams. 4. Drafting cornerback Christian Gonzalez No. 17 overall (April 2023) As previously mentioned, the Patriots boast one of the elite cornerback rooms in the league — and Gonzalez is its unquestioned leader. At 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, Gonzalez offers a rare combination of size, speed and fluidity to blanket wideouts, surrendering just one touchdown all year long – and just three total in 34 career NFL starts. He didn’t always play up to his size at the collegiate level, perhaps contributing to his surprising slide to the Patriots at No. 17 overall in 2023. His physicality and reliability as an open-field tackler have improved since the jump to the NFL, however, and the two-time Pro Bowler now ranks among the best all-around cornerbacks in the NFL. Frankly, the only thing keeping Gonzalez from becoming one of the league’s elite defenders at any position is durability. He missed all but five games of his rookie season due to a dislocated right shoulder and torn labrum, and he’s missed starts each of the past two years due to hamstring strains and a concussion. 3. Re-hiring offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels (January 2025) With three Super Bowl wins with the Patriots as offensive coordinator and three more as their quarterbacks coach, McDaniels is the most successful assistant coach in NFL history — making him an obvious fit to return to Foxborough once Mike Vrabel was hired last winter. And don’t fall into the trap of thinking that all of McDaniels’ success came with Tom Brady taking the snaps. Mac Jones earned a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie with McDaniels calling the plays, while the massive improvement shown by Drake Maye in just his second NFL season is the latest evidence that McDaniels is one of the true offensive masterminds in the league. McDaniels hasn’t been able to parlay this brilliance into success as an NFL head coach — he’s compiled a 20-33 record over short stints with the Broncos and the Raiders — but at just 49-years old, he might just prove the third time is the charm if given another opportunity. Like Seattle’s Klint Kubiak, McDaniels was selected as one of five finalists for the NFL’s Assistant Coach of the Year for this season. 2. Drafting quarterback Drake Maye No. 3 overall (April 2024) Maye’s leap from quality starter as a rookie to MVP finalist in just his second year was one of the most exciting developments in the league. By now, many know Maye’s most obvious statistics. He more than doubled his touchdown tosses (31 from 15) while dropping his interceptions (8 from 10). I’m more impressed by the fact that he led the NFL in competition percentage (72%) and yards per attempt (8.9) at the same time. Simply put, Maye was more accurate on more difficult throws than any quarterback in the NFL, powering his league-best 113.5 passer rating. And while Maye’s proficiency as a passer is obviously most important, he’s a talented runner, something the Broncos found out all too well in the AFC Championship game. Maye, in fact, rushed for 38 first downs, tied (with Jaxson Dart) for second among quarterbacks behind Jalen Hurts and Trevor Lawrence’s 40 on the season. Best of all, the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder is just 23-years old with at least one more year before he’s extension-eligible, giving New England a nice window to supplement its roster elsewhere. 1. Hiring head coach Mike Vrabel (January 2025) In hindsight, this looks like something out of a Hollywood script. Though he was initially drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, few epitomized Patriot Way more than Vrabel, who played eight of his 14 NFL seasons for New England, lining up at both outside and inside linebacker and even catching touchdown passes in two of his three Super Bowl victories. Following a stellar playing career, Vrabel compiled a 54-45 overall record as the head coach in Tennessee, helping the Titans to three consecutive postseason berths from 2019 to 2021, including an AFC Championship Game appearance. But after the Titans sank to last place in the AFC South in 2023, Vrabel was fired and spent the 2024 campaign as a coaching and personnel consultant with the Cleveland Browns before Kraft wisely brought him back to Foxborough. The turnaround Vrabel has inspired — from 4-13 a year ago to 14-3 and AFC champions in just one season — is among the great coaching jobs I’ve seen in over a quarter-century of NFL analysis.