The dead zone of the NFL offseason is nearly finished, as all teams, including the New England Patriots, will be reporting for training camp soon.
New England finished as one of the worst teams in the league last season, resulting in the team parting ways with longtime head coach and general manager Bill Belichick and trading quarterback Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars for essentially nothing.
As the Patriots prepare for the 2024 season, there are serious questions about how much better the team got this offseason when considering the coaching talent and roster talent that exited Gillette Stadium compared to who entered.
Before training camp begins, Pro Football Network released their top 100 players for the upcoming year (as voted on by their staff), and New England had just one representative - defensive lineman Christian Barmore (No. 94).
Barmore is a talented young player who is expected to take another leap this year after receiving a monster payday this offseason a year before he was supposed to hit the market. However, it's pretty incredible that one player from the Patriots was chosen.
It's just a sign of how bad things have gotten around New England. They have some good players. Guys like Christian Gonzalez, Matthew Judon and Kyle Dugger could certainly make this same list next year. But, compared to the rest of the NFL, the roster isn't one that strikes fear into an opposing coach or fan base.
