Sorry, but the secret is out. The Patriots, 5-2 entering Sunday’s game against the Browns, are back on the NFL scene.
That was one of the biggest takeaways from two days at the NFL owners’ fall meetings. The Patriots’ surprising start was not on the official agenda, which included updates on the first seven weeks of the season, plus the future of the Pro Bowl and international games. But league executives and fellow owners were definitely buzzing — or for some, gritting their teeth — that the Patriots are thriving again.
“Looks like they’ve got a team up there again!” a league executive said when I arrived at the meetings.
The Patriots have missed the playoffs in four of the last five years, haven’t won a playoff game since 2019, and bottomed out at 4-13 in each of the last two seasons.
But 2025 has felt like a return to the glory days. The Patriots have won four in a row to leap to the No. 2 seed in the AFC. They’re blowing out the bad teams, and made a statement against a good one, taking down the rival Bills in Buffalo three weeks ago on national television.
The Patriots rank No. 8 in the NFL in points scored, No. 5 in points allowed, and second-year quarterback Drake Maye is having an MVP-like start to the season. He leads the NFL with a 75.2 completion percentage and ranks in the top three in yards per attempt (8.63) and passer rating (116.4).
Every move Kraft made this offseason seems to be turning to gold ― firing Jerod Mayo for Mike Vrabel, bringing back Josh McDaniels to work with Maye, authorizing his front office to spend an NFL-high $180 million guaranteed in free agency, and more.
“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Kraft said Wednesday as he left the meetings.
The 4-2 Bills aren’t used to having much competition in the AFC East. They have won five division titles in a row, and last year won the division by five games as the only team over .500.
But the Patriots already have proven that this year won’t be a cakewalk for the Bills. Not only do the Patriots have a half-game lead because of their win over the Bills, the Patriots still have several easy-looking games on the schedule, including this week against the 2-5 Browns, and two dates with the winless Jets.
“New England’s come around this year,” offered Bills owner Terry Pegula. “They’ll be tough to deal with.”
Standing in the middle of the Patriots’ renaissance, of course, is Vrabel, their first-year coach. Last week, he showed the Titans what they’re missing out on by leading the Patriots to a 31-13 victory in Nashville over his former team.
This week is the Browns’ turn to dream about what could have been with Vrabel, who took a consulting job with the Browns last year after getting fired by the Titans.
The Browns didn’t seriously consider firing coach Kevin Stefanski after last season, but they have a great relationship with Vrabel and might get a little wistful Sunday if the Patriots blow out the Browns, as many expect.
“Immensely enjoyed our time with him. Everybody in our organization liked him,” Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said Wednesday. “He’s a great coach, great leader, proven track record, so I’m not surprised at all. But he’s on the opposite side of this one.”
The league office also has taken notice of the Patriots’ return to relevance. The Patriots were not expected to be much this year, and the NFL mostly kept them off the national TV schedule, with 14 of their 17 games buried at 1 p.m. on Sundays.
But the NFL has its eye on the surprising Patriots, who are now contenders to have a game flexed into prime time later this season.
“We love it when teams play their way on,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution.
The likeliest game to get flexed would be Week 16 game at Baltimore, currently scheduled for a Sunday 1 p.m. kickoff. “Sunday Night Football” that week is a Bengals-Dolphins matchup that doesn’t look very attractive, and if the 1-5 Ravens can work their way back into the playoff hunt, their game against the Patriots would be a far better choice.
The Patriots’ Week 10 matchup at the Buccaneers, Week 12 game at the Bengals, and Week 15 home game against the Bills are all suddenly premium matchups, though they are less likely to be flexed for a variety of reasons. But the Patriots could also snag the Week 18 “SNF” game, currently left open, against the Dolphins if there is a division title or playoff seeding at stake.
Of course, the Patriots need to keep winning to stay in the flexing conversation, but their schedule is accommodating. Their 5-2 start can realistically become 7-2 with upcoming home games against the Browns and Falcons. Vrabel, though, like Kraft, doesn’t want his team getting ahead of itself.
“That’s the thing about this league — stats and metrics, numbers don’t mean anything. You have to go out there and be able to prove it,” Vrabel said Wednesday. “We always just try to stay consistent, keep that message going. Try to celebrate the success that we’ve had, but then clearly move on and focus on the next challenge, and we’ll have to do that this week. It’s a big one, coming back home and just making sure we don’t take anything for granted in our preparation.”
Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.
