Rob Gronkowski Believes Signing a Bunch Of Free Agents Doesn’t Make the Patriots the Real Deal Yet

Before the 2023 season, the New England Patriots hadn’t had fewer than five wins in a season since 1992, when they went 2-14. Then, in 2023, they went 4-13. They followed that up with another 4-13 campaign in 2024. However, that second one had a bit of a different feel to it, with No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye showing flashes of his immense potential from under center.

Apart from Maye, though, there were not many things to write home about concerning that 2024 Pats team. What made Pats fans so excited was that Maye was still showing some positivity despite an utter lack of talent surrounding him on offense (or defense). The Patriots were out to change that in the first few months of 2025.

They replaced inexperienced head coach Jerod Mayo with grizzled veteran Mike Vrabel. They have signed 12 starter-level players so far during this offseason. Some of the notable ones include WR Stefon Diggs, OT Morgan Moses, Edges K’Lavon Chaisson and Harold Landry, CB Carlton Davis, LB Robert Spillane, and DT Milton Williams, among others.

Many were signed to modest contracts that New England’s brass hopes they outperform. But there were some major outlays there too, specifically for Davis, Milton, and Diggs. They clearly want to bootstrap this rebuild and maximize Maye’s ceiling while he’s still on his rookie deal. It’s exciting for fans, but Pats legend Rob Gronkowski isn’t quite convinced it will work out just yet.

“I’m looking forward to see if the New England Patriots are the real deal or not. It’s rare when a team goes and signs 10 free agent guys. Yeah, they had the salary cap money, but to sign that many guys and then actually compete for a championship and then compete for first place in the division.”

Talent is important if you want to win in sports. So is toughness, hard work, determination, and preparation. But there’s one thing that all winners have in common that can’t be achieved by grabbing a bunch of free agents off the streets: chemistry.

Gronkowski brought up the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles team (though he mistakenly referred to them as the 2013 team) that brought in a bunch of big-name players and named themselves the ‘Dream Team’—only to finish 8-8 and miss out on the playoffs. This is the type of scenario the Patriots could be looking at if they rely too heavily on free agents.

“You’ve seen it plenty of times, especially with the Eagles, remember? … In 2013 or whatever, they went and got the Dream Team. … And there was just all this hype because they went out and got so many free agents. And, ‘Oh, they’re gonna be the best team in the league and they’re going to the Super Bowl.’ And then they didn’t even make the playoffs.”

Those Eagles of the early 2010s were all about signing established stars, but they never won anything. The current iteration of Philly’s NFL team just won a Super Bowl and has been largely built through the draft. That’s the right way to build a winner, according to Gronkowski. And the four-time Super Bowl champ might know a thing or two about winning.

“Now, you look at the Eagles, and they’re strong, they have a strong base, because they got guys that they drafted. Guys that have been in the organization. They got stable players there. And that’s what makes them great, is to be able to draft instead of just going to free agency to grab guys. That’s what the New England Patriots are doing. They just went and got about eight starters right off the streets in free agency. And that doesn’t mean they’re gonna mesh well. That doesn’t mean that they’re gonna compete. “

Winning the division seems like a pipe dream in 2025 with Josh Allen still roaming around Western New York. However, a playoff run is far from off the table. Mike Vrabel and company just need to draft properly. The Patriots have nine picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. That includes the No. 4 overall as well as two in the third round, two in the fifth, and two in the seventh.