You watched the NFL playoffs. You saw the problems the New England Patriots offense had. You heard the Will Campbell discourse.
Well, what if we told you that he actually is fairly low on the list of questions the team has? A 22-year-old former fourth overall draft pick whose development was disrupted by a mid-season knee injury and who faced as tough a list of postseason opponents as any tackle in recent memory, let alone a rookie, is not the biggest concern? Shocking, right?
Before we get hung up on Campbell, though, let’s break down the entire group with the offseason having started.
Patriots offensive tackle depth chart
Will Campbell: The fourth overall selection in the NFL Draft, Campbell slid right into the vacant left tackle spot upon his arrival and did not look back. He ended up starting all 17 of the regular season and playoff games he appeared in at that position and for the most part played some solid football. His playoff run — coming after a late-November MCL tear that seemingly stunted his growth — was problematic, but his entire body of work in 2025 was quite promising and indicative of a player whose future is brighter than the postseason might make it seem. | Signed (2029 UFA) | $9.92M cap hit
Morgan Moses: The Patriots signed Moses to a three-year, $24 million free agency deal last March for two reasons: to bring stability and quality to the right tackle position, and to serve as a leader in a rebuilt offensive line room. Being the consummate professional, he did both of those things. The 34-year-old started all 21 of New England’s games and with the exception of a few minor bumps along the way — both in terms of performance and physical toll — came as advertised. | Signed (2028 UFA) | $10.4M cap hit
Vederian Lowe: Lowe’s 2024 season was one of ups and downs, which in turn prompted the Patriots to bring in Will Campbell in the first round of the draft. But even though that investment cost him his left tackle job, he still managed to stick around and play some solid football. While a backup throughout the year, he did end up starting four place while Campbell was injured down the stretch in the regular season and managed to hold his own. It was a bounceback season of sorts for Lowe. | UFA
Thayer Munford Jr.: The 2025 season saw Munford Jr. spend time with three different teams before a return to New England finally resulted in stability. Serving primarily as a sixth offensive lineman and on special teams, he was given snaps in nine games with three starts. The 26-year-old never challenged for a starting spot at his listed position, but he provided positive value in his role. | UFA
Marcus Bryant: Selected 216 spots after Will Campbell in last year’s draft, Bryant managed to make it onto the Patriots’ 53-man roster by serving as the primary backup to Morgan Moses. He saw a handful of snaps in that role, but ultimately lost the OT4 spot to Munford Jr. and his more versatile skillset. As a consequence, Bryant was a healthy scratch each game from Week 13 on. | Signed (2029 UFA) | $1.04M cap hit
Yasir Durant: After earning all-star honors in the UFL, Durant returned to the Patriots for another crack at an NFL career. However, he was waived with an injury designation early in training camp and reverted to season-ending injured reserve in late July. | RFA
Sebastian Gutierrez: An undrafted free agent in 2022 who has spent time with eight different NFL organization, Gutierrez spent most of 2025 on the Patriots practice squad without seeing any game action. He was signed to a reserve/futures deal in February. | Signed (2026 ERFA) | $1.08M cap hit
Lorenz Metz (IPPP): A member of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program and therefore roster exempt, Metz joined the Patriots practice squad in mid-January after previous stints in Chicago and Tampa. He too was signed to a futures deal after the season. | Signed (2026 ERFA) | $885k cap hit
Patriots offseason preview
As mentioned earlier, Will Campbell may be the highest-profile question mark at the offensive tackle position, but the size of that “?” is nowhere near as big as some of the takes might make you believe. For starters, the Patriots are committed to him as their left tackle of the future, and why would they not be? His talent is undeniable, and his issues — if you believe multiple NFL offensive linemen — are very much fixable.
The Patriots looking for a new left tackle and moving Campbell to guard is not in the plans for now. Maybe the outlook changes if he does not progress as one would hope, but for now we go the “glass half full” route and believe he can make a significant step forward in Year 2 as an NFL left tackle.
So, if he’s not the question mark, where are they?
In two places, actually: at right tackle and at the backup level.
Morgan Moses is a fine player; not a world-beater or All-Pro-caliber presence but experienced and skilled enough to get the job done far more often than not. However, he also will turn 35 next week and is far closer to the end of his career than the beginning. Naturally, finding a long-term replacement should be on the Patriots’ to-do list this offseason.
Maybe they see Marcus Bryant as a player capable of taking that step; maybe it is one of the other tackles on the roster or free agents list. Or maybe they go after the position in the draft, to find an understudy who could succeed Moses in 2027.
As for the backup tackles, both the third and the fourth option from 2025 are off to the open market. Retaining them should be financially possible, but even one of them leaving would put pressure on the overall construction of the group. Maybe Bryant can step up and into either the OT3 or OT4 role, but his rookie year suggests that there will be a lot of projecting involved.
Ultimately, though both that question and the one about the Morgan Moses succession plan are relatively minor in comparison to having to find a capable left tackle. Luckily for New England, it is possible they have that latter questions answered already — even if the last month of the season might cast some doubt on that assumption.