The New England Patriots’ 2025 season is in the books, and even though it ended in disappointment was a major step forward for a team that had gone 4-13 in both of its previous two seasons. At arguably no position was the step more pronounced than quarterback, where Drake Maye went from up-and-down rookie to MVP-caliber center piece of a Super Bowl team.
Needless to say, he will continue to be the engine that will drive the Patriots offense in 2026 and beyond. With that said, let’s take a look at the entire position group entering the offseason.
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Patriots quarterback depth chart
Drake Maye: Even though he had a tough time against some of the best defenses in football in the playoffs, Maye’s development under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant was nothing short of impressive. He looked more comfortable going through his progressions in 2025, was decisive with his reads, made adjustments at the line, and remained a passer for as long as possible while reducing his turnover-worthy plays. While there is still significant room for growth especially in that last area and when it comes to sack avoidance, his immense ceiling was on full display throughout his second NFL campaign. Combining the regular season and playoffs, Maye completed 424 of 612 pass attempts (69.3%) for 5,222 yards with 37 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 21 games. | Signed (2028 FA) | $9.99M cap hit
Joshua Dobbs: The Patriots signed Dobbs due to the familiarity with Mike Vrabel, and the experience he was able to provide behind Drake Maye. Given the results, he seems to have done a good job. He also performed well in the lone instance he was asked to play meaningful snaps: he completed his lone pass attempt for 12 yards while Maye underwent a concussion check in Week 7 against Tennessee. Other than that, Dobbs’ on-field contributions were marginal. Just what the Patriots wanted to see when they signed him. | Signed (2027 FA) | $4.75M cap hit
Tommy DeVito: DeVito, whose role with the 2023 Giants indirectly helped the Patriots land Drake Maye in the first place, arrived in New England as a waiver claim after late August’s cutdown day. He spent the entire season running the scout team offense in practice and serving as the third emergency quarterback on game day. He finished the season with zero snaps. | RFA
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Patriots offseason preview
Yes, his playoff output was meager compared to his performance in the regular season, but Drake Maye is nonetheless one of the top young quarterbacks in football and a main reason why the Patriots found themselves in the postseason tournament to begin with. In Year 1 under a new regime and with a new offensive system in place, that is in itself a significant achievement by the team and its sophomore QB.
Heading into his third season, the arrow is therefore still pointing up for Maye. But while that means the Patriots’ front office will not have to invest too much thought into the quarterback position this offseason, it still will have to make decisions regarding the depth behind the Pro Bowl starter.
Backup Joshua Dobbs is signed for 2026, but his $4.75 million salary cap number is the ninth-highest among NFL backup quarterbacks at the moment. It is difficult to assess his impact behind the scenes, and, as noted above, he did his job in the limited snaps he was given, but one has to wonder whether the Patriots want to bring that number down. Considering that only his $1.05 million signing bonus proration is fully guaranteed, they have several options to do so — including an extension.
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Third-stringer Tommy DeVito, meanwhile, is a restricted free agent. Given the cost associated with even the lowest level, the Patriots are unlikely to tender him unless they plan to move on from Dobbs. The question then becomes whether they simply want to re-sign him at a market deal — which would supposedly be cheaper than the projected $3.5 million RFA tender — or simply let him go.
Realistically, the Patriots would want at least two backups behind Maye: an experienced one like Dobbs, and a developmental option to possibly move into the QB2 spot in a year or two. Both could be found during the offseason, be it via free agency or the draft.
Our prediction: Dobbs will be extended for another year, while DeVito will be re-signed at a minimum deal before another quarterback is added in the draft or the subsequent rookie free agency.
