After seven months, 21 games, three exhibitions and a Super Bowl to forget, the Patriots’ 2025 campaign is well over.

But are we done with that season quite yet?

Not at all.

Here are nine thoughts on the season that was and what comes next in New England:

1. Drake’s next step

The quarterback who committed the fewest mistakes was bound to win Super Bowl LX.

That proved to be Sam Darnold by a landslide.

Darnold not only had zero turnovers to Drake Maye’s three, but he took five fewer sacks while averaging the same snap-to-throw time as the MVP runner-up. Darnold’s ability to slip out of sacks and avoid negative plays extended possessions for Seattle, while every Maye sack was effectively a death knell for that drive. Maye finished the postseason with a 14.9% sack rate, almost twice his regular-season percentage, which was among the highest in the league.

Maye must learn to eliminate these negative plays with a throwaway or faster decision-making. Sometimes, throwaways and checkdowns are unsexy. Other times, they’re vital. Just ask the Super Bowl champs.

2. Stefon Diggs’ future

Are we sure Stefon Diggs returns next season?

Like, 110% positive?

There are only two possible hangups I see for the Patriots’ best receiver who, it should be noted, doubled as a flag bearer for Mike Vrabel’s new culture: his contract and playoff production.

Diggs is scheduled to carry a cap hit of $26.5 million next season with only $1.7 million of his large base salary guaranteed. Those figures should be unpalatable for the front office and Diggs, respectively, heading into this offseason. The three-year deal they agreed to last spring was always a flier contract in disguise; a way to test the waters together without the Patriots fully committing to a then 31-year-old coming off an ACL tear.

Diggs recovered in time to produce the Patriots’ first 1,000-yard season since 2019. But might that be the best football Diggs has left?

This is where the playoff concerns enter. Diggs, who turns 33 this upcoming November, totaled 110 receiving yards over four postseason games. Rhamondre Stevenson had more than that, and so did two players whose teams were knocked out in the Wild Card round (Packers receiver Romeo Doubs and Panthers wideout Jalen Coker). Defenses were largely unafraid of Diggs, who deserves a world of credit for his regular-season production after a major injury.

But next season will be his 12th in the NFL, and this is to say nothing of his history in Buffalo and Minnesota, where he began to wear out his welcome after a honeymoon phase that followed new money in both places. Diggs got his money last spring, produced, and if he doesn’t love how his contract is adjusted this offseason, now what?

It’s a tricky situation. Diggs is the Patriots’ best receiver and a strong locker-room presence. Without him, the team would revert to rostering one of the five to 10 worst receiving corps in the league. If the Pats cut bait, they eat a $9.7 million dead cap hit without applying a post-June 1 designation or incur an $8 million hit if they trade Diggs.

Or they can commit real money to an aging veteran entering his age-33 season after a playoff run where opponents and his tape showed you the No. 1 receiver label no longer fits.

3. Top offensive need

Pass protection is a chief concern for the Patriots, but there’s reason to believe internal development from Will Campbell and Jared Wilson could — emphasis on “could” — alleviate most of that concern. Now, what about their weapons?

Even if Diggs returns, the Pats lack explosive players who can create yards outside of play design. DeMario Douglas is their best run-after-catch player, and he was only good enough to take 26% of their offensive snaps this season. TreVeyon Henderson couldn’t be trusted in blitz pickup or to maximize the rushing yards available because of his poor vision when running. Is

The Pats need more dynamic playmakers. The best free-agent receiver available is Colts wideout Alex Pierce, who will be coveted by several teams and feels destined for an overpay. So where can they look if not Pierce?

Maybe Doubs, another free agent? A trade? Or the draft?

4. Top defensive need

Edge pass rush, and there’s not a close second.

K’Lavon Chaisson is ticketed for free agency after a breakout season, and profiles as another player who could far exceed market expectations because of his age (26), position and recent production. If the Pats lose Chaisson, they have Harold Landry, Anfernee Jennings, Elijah Ponder and a big problem at outside linebacker.

Expect them to address this position via both free agency and the draft. Or maybe a big swing in the trade market…

5. All in on Maxx Crosby

If I’m the Patriots, I happily trade my first-round pick this year, at No. 31 overall, plus another late-round selection and/or a young reserve (DeMario Douglas, anyone?) for Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby.

I’d do it yesterday.

Crosby is a certified game-wrecker, who had 10 sacks and 28 tackles for loss just last year. He’s an ideal fit for Vrabel’s culture, as a high-effort, high-energy player with a ferocious play demeanor. Crosby reportedly has expressed to the Raiders he will never play for them again, though team leadership is endeavoring to get him to change his mind (or at least pretending to as a way to prime the trade market).

So long as Maye is on his cost-controlled rookie contract, the team is now for moves like these for the reigning AFC champions and a projected contender for years to come.

6. Enough about Will Campbell

Will Campbell had a bad Super Bowl. Really bad.

He allowed eight pressures, per the Heralds’ charting, most of which were surrendered in the fourth quarter. Several former players, including one-time Pro Bowlers and All-Pros, took to social media to defend Campbell and/or explain his poor play as a function of bad technique. If so, that’s good news for a player whose physical traits include elite athleticism, shorter arms and an abnormally short wingspan.

For most of this season, Campbell overcame those deficiencies and exceeded expectations. He allowed sacks in four games during the regular season, when he graded out as an above-average player at Pro Football Focus. Compared to rookie offensive tackles in recent years, Campbell was an unquestioned success at left tackle.

The 22-year-old’s best positional fit may ultimately still be at guard. But that is not the question at hand. The question is: is Campbell good enough to stick at left tackle?

Even at the disastrous end of a subpar postseason, the tape’s answer was yes. A resounding yes.

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7. Promote Zak Kuhr

On Thursday, it was reported the Patriots are opening their defensive coordinator position and moving Terrell Williams to a new role.

Williams, who last month was declared cancer-free after a four-month bout with prostate cancer, maintained the title while he was away for most of the season and last spring when he dealt with a separate, unrelated health scare. The 51-year-old was Vrabel’s top pick to lead his defense a year ago, but his health issues and the emergence of defensive play-caller/inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr have clearly changed the picture here.

“There’ll be a lot of things that we’ll have to work through there,” Vrabel said last Monday. “(Williams)’s healthy and (has) been given a release to be back and be back at work. So again, I’ll work through all those things here in the next couple days, weeks, however long those decisions may take.”

From this view, Kuhr is too a logical full-time replacement not to get the job. Other coaches with coordinator experience, such as Jim Schwartz and Shane Bowen, loom, but Kuhr was at the forefront of a late-season change to becoming a high blitz unit that ultimately keyed a dominant defensive run for the Patriots. He’s young, talented, respected and likely to draw outside interest soon for coordinator positions elsehwere.

Keep Kuhr in the building with a promotion, and keep this train rolling.

8. Did you know?

Drake Maye was the only Patriots player to score multiple touchdowns during the postseason.

Maye also had more rushing yards in the playoffs than any Patriots player had receiving yards.

9. Quote of the Week

“Will (Campbell)’s 22 years old. He’s our left tackle. He’ll get better, he’ll get stronger. There were moments where he played well, moments where he blocked the guy. There’s plays he’d like to have back. We’re not moving Will to guard, to center, to tight end or anywhere else. So, I don’t know what to tell you.” — Mike Vrabel