After making a run to the Super Bowl a season ago, there is a lot expected of the New England Patriots this season. Of course, without a good core group of players performing, that’s never going to be possible.
With the 2026 season rapidly approaching, Zachary Pereles of CBS Sports put together a ranking of the 100 most important players this season in the NFL. Four Patriots managed to crack the list.
Importantly, Pereles noted, “Importance can be put in a positive or negative light — or both.” In other words, this is not the 100 best players in the NFL. It’s the 100 most important, which sometimes does cross over with the best, but can also be those who hurt their team.
The New England Patriots on the Most Important List
GettyNew England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye
There are four New England Patriots players who made the Most Important List. They are Drake Maye, A.J. Brown, Will Campbell, and Christian Gonzalez.
Maye is coming off a breakout season in 2026, where he finished second in the MVP voting. Now, he made this list for the simple fact that he’s a quarterback on a contending team.
“Maye leaped to stardom in 2025, leading the NFL in completion percentage (72%) and yards per attempt (8.9),” Pereles wrote. “He’s a big-game hunter downfield, and he has the strength and athleticism to make things happen out of structure, not unlike the player he dethroned in the AFC East, Josh Allen. Maye’s next step is limiting negative plays, especially after a sack-filled postseason.”
This offseason, the Patriots went out to get Maye more weapons. That includes Brown, who is a Pro Bowl talent at wide receiver looking to restart his career at a new home.
“The expectation remains that Brown will be traded in the coming days, now that June 1 has arrived and the Eagles can split his dead money over two seasons,” Pereles wrote. “The Patriots have long been reported as the landing spot. Brown remains a physical marvel who can win short and deep, but he’s coming off his worst season since 2021.”
Perhaps more importantly is Campbell. The former first-round left tackle was abysmal after he came back from a knee injury last season. He needs to be better to protect Maye, or the Patriots will need to come up with a new answer.
“Campbell picked up a midseason knee injury, and his subsequent struggles in the postseason seemingly put him on the hot seat,” Pereles wrote. “He allowed 17 pressures and four sacks in four playoff games. There were already concerns about his arm length. The Patriots have publicly backed him multiple times, but they also drafted Utah left tackle Caleb Lomu in the first round.”
Gonzalez is the only defensive player who made the list for the Patriots. The team is currently trying to negotiate a long-term extension with him, and it’s no surprise he made the list as a star in the secondary.
“Even without recording an interception last year, Gonzalez was a clear top-tier performer for the second straight year. His combination of size and speed is among the NFL’s best, and over the past two years, he ranks fourth in completion percentage against (47.6%) and yards per attempt against (5.1),” Pereles wrote.
The Patriots Were Criticized for Their Offseason
GettyNew England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel
In another recent article from CBS Sports, the New England Patriots were heavily criticized for their offseason. There, Jordan Dajani ranked it as among the five worst offseasons in the entire NFL.
What’s interesting is the main culprit for that isn’t anything they did with their roster. The main culprit was the Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini scandal.
“There’s a narrative that some are afraid to address the Mike Vrabel drama,” Dajani wrote. “It’s the biggest story of the offseason, yes, but we also deal in facts, and neither party will come out and admit what we saw in the photos published by the New York Post/Page Six. We have a resignation letter from Dianna Russini and worthless word salad from the Patriots head coach in his press conferences instead.”
In his argument, Dajani didn’t spend much time on the roster at all. Instead, there was concern about how the team would handle it in the locker room. There’s been public support from players during the scandal, of course, but Dajani still wondered.
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