As Tom Brady left town and Bill Belichick was cast aside, it seemed like the New England Patriots were facing a steep climb back to relevance — let alone Super Bowl contention. But just one year after finishing 4-13, the Pats are improbably back in the Big Game behind a new coach in Mike Vrabel and a new crop of homegrown stars like QB Drake Maye and cornerback Christian Gonzalez. With one more win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, they'll etch their names alongside Brady in franchise lore.
But what about the list of franchise greats? That's a taller task. Even before the Brady/Belichick era, New England had seen more than its share of all-time players, and it'll take more than just one Super Bowl ring for Maye and the gang to climb up the ranks.
1. QB Tom Brady
Super Bowl rings: 7 (6 with New England)
Accolades: 15x Pro Bowl, 3x All-Pro, 3x MVP, 2x Offensive POY, 5x Super Bowl MVP
When you've got a statue in your likeness outside the stadium, do you really need any introduction?
Things got a little ugly on the way out the door, and surely Patriots fans would have preferred for Brady to have spent his entire career in New England. But the franchise can still claim quite possibly the greatest football player to ever do it, regardless of position — and certainly the most successful, considering his seven Super Bowl rings (six with the Pats) and nearly two full decades of AFC contention. From sixth-round game manager to record-setting MVP to cerebral vet, Brady simply found ways to win games over and over again.
2. G John Hannah
Super Bowl rings: 0
Accolades: Hall of Famer, 9x Pro Bowl, 7x All-Pro, Hall of Famer
We'll get back to the Belichick dynasty shortly. But first, we need to show a little love to Hannah, the No. 4 overall pick back in 1973 who spent all 13 seasons of his NFL career with the Patriots.
He earned a whopping seven first-team All-Pro nods over that time, establishing himself as the best interior lineman in the sport at a time when interior linemen were among the most important players on the field. He was the first Patriot to earn enshrinement in Canton, and before Brady and the gang came along, he was this franchise's shining light. It's a shame that he made just one Super Bowl appearance in his career, losing to the 1985 Bears in his final NFL game.
3. TE Rob Gronkowski
Super Bowl rings: 4 (3 with New England)
Accolades: 5x Pro Bowl, 4x All-Pro, 2014 Comeback POY
Gronk spent less than a decade in New England, and he completed a full 16-game season for the Patriots exactly twice. And yet, if you watched him play, you'll have zero issue with this ranking.
Because while Gronkowski might not have all the counting stats to show for it, his impact is unmistakable: Before anyone had heard of Travis Kelce or George Kittle, he reimagined what the tight end position could be, an elite blocker who could also straight run by people in the open field (or run them over, if necessary). When he was at the top of his game, there was simply nothing like him, and his 2011 season (90 catches, 1,327 yards, 17 TDs) still might be the best we've ever seen.
4. G Logan Mankins
Super Bowl rings: 0
Accolades: 7x Pro Bowl, 1x All-Pro (5x second-team)
It's a cruel twist of fate that Mangold came along too late for the first Pats dynasty and too early for the second, somehow coming away from a decade with Brady with zero rings to show for it. But make no mistake: He was among the very best (if not the very best) guards in the sport during that time, mobile and physical in equal measure. He was one of the unsung heroes on what is still arguably the greatest offense of all time back in 2007, and he sits fourth on the franchise's Approximate Value list for a reason.
5. DT Vince Wilfork
Super Bowl rings: 2
Accolades: 5x Pro Bowl, 1x All-Pro (3x second-team)
A shoo-in for Canton as soon as he's eligible, Wilfork was the bedrock upon which so many great Belichick defenses were constructed. A mountain of a man at 6-foot-2, 325 pounds, he devoured double teams while moving much better than someone his size should be able. It didn't always show up in the stat sheet, but it sure showed up in the standings and in the year-end awards voting. Wilfork was a force to be reckoned with, the man doing all the dirty work to unlock the rest of New England's front seven. There hasn't been a space-eater quite like him before or since.
6. CB Ty Law
Super Bowl rings: 3
Accolades: Hall of Famer, 5x Pro Bowl, 2x All-Pro
Law was so good he forced the league to change its rulebook, throwing legendary offenses like the Greatest Show on Turf Rams and the Peyton Manning Colts into a blender until the NFL cracked down on defensive holding and greatly restricted how physical corners were allowed to be with receivers. He led the league in interceptions twice, recording 53 of them in all, and his ability to be left on an island was crucial to Belichick's ability to identify, isolate and neutralize an offense's strengths. Pound for pound, there have been few tougher corners in the NFL's passer-friendly era.
7. DE Richard Seymour
Super Bowl rings: 3
Accolades: Hall of Famer, 7x Pro Bowl, 3x All-Pro (2x second-team)
Seymour never recorded double-digit sacks in his career, but that wasn't really his job. He was elite at setting the edge and defending the run, and the fact that he could also reliably penetrate into the backfield and beat up quarterbacks was simply an added bonus. Putting him next to Wilfork gave New England the most physical defensive front in the league for several years, a riddle that no opposing offense could seem to crack. It's hard to imagine those defenses working without him.
8. LB Andre Tippett
Super Bowl rings: 0
Accolades: Hall of Famer, 5x Pro Bowl, 2x All-Pro (2x second-team)
Injuries cut Tippett's prime all too short, but he was among the most feared sack artists of the 1980s, averaging more than 12 per year from 1983-1988. He was overshadowed by superstars like Lawrence Taylor, but Tippett also played a role in revolutionizing the role of the pass-rushing linebacker — his 18.5 sacks in 1984 were at the time the most ever by a non-lineman, a record that stood for exactly two years before Taylor broke it. He was truly a player before his time.
9. LT Matt Light
Super Bowl rings: 3
Accolades: 3x Pro Bowl, 1x All-Pro
Drafted a year after Brady, Light protected the GOAT's blind side for more than a decade, and did it about as well as anybody. He was overshadowed by the stars he played with on both offense and defense, but his elite footwork and quickness in pass protection was crucial in allowing Brady to blossom into the game's best quarterback. He might never be a Pro Football Hall of Famer, but he's an inner circle Patriots great for his role in the Brady/Belichick dynasty.
10. LT Bruce Armstrong
Super Bowl rings: 0
Accolades: 6x Pro Bowl, 2x second-team All-Pro
The Patriots went through some lean years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but Armstrong was Mr. Reliable throughout, spending 14 years as the team's left tackle and missing just 12 games across that entire span. He was never considered a true superstar at the position, but he was a very good starter for a very long time, and he played an integral part in the team's resurgence under Bill Parcells in the mid-90s.
11. CB Mike Haynes
Super Bowl rings: 1 (0 with New England)
Accolades: Hall of Famer, 9x Pro Bowl, 2x All-Pro (6x second-team)
If this were simply a consideration of a player's overall contributions, Haynes would likely place higher on this list. But we're only taking into account what a player did in New England, and Haynes only spent seven seasons with the Patriots before playing seven more for the Raiders. But his best ball (and six of his nine Pro Bowl nods) came with the New England, the team that drafted him and for whom he won Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. It didn't take long to establish himself as someone that quarterbacks should ignore entirely, a true shutdown corner as passing was just starting to explode around the league.
12. MLB Nick Buoniconti
Super Bowl rings: 2 (0 with New England)
Accolades: Hall of Famer, 8x Pro Bowl, 5x All-Pro (2x second-team)
Like Haynes, Buoniconti spent just half of his 14 pro seasons with the Patriots before jumping to Miami and starring on the Dolphins' no-name defenses of the early 1970s. But he played his best football in Boston, racking up five straight Pro Bowl nods and four first-team All-Pro appearances from 1963-1967. The native of Springfield, Mass., was the archetypal middle linebacker, a tackling machine who also racked up 32 interceptions over the course of his career.
13. WR Wes Welker
Super Bowl rings: 0
Accolades: 5x Pro Bowl, 2x All-Pro (2x second-team)
Welker spent just six seasons in New England, but boy did he make them count: He averaged 112 catches and 1,243 yards a year over that span, cracking the 1,000-yard mark five times and posting a career-high 1,569 yards in 2011. If he just holds on to that crucial third-down throw against the New York Giants in the Super Bowl that season, the Patriots likely get another ring and Welker is likely an even more beloved figure in New England lore. As it stands, though, he was one of the most prolific receivers of his day, a lightning-quick technician in the slot who was the perfect fit for Brady and OC Josh McDaniels.
14. OLB Willie McGinest
Super Bowl rings: 3
Accolades: 2x Pro Bowl
McGinest was never the flashiest player. He was simply very good for a very long time, one of the few players who bridged the gap between the Parcells and Belichick eras in New England. He was equally capable getting after the quarterback and defending the run, a versatility that Belichick took full advantage of. His 78.0 sacks rank third in franchise history, while he's eighth in solo tackles, a testament to his steadiness and playmaking ability even if he never jumped out as a superstar.
15. FS Devin McCourty
Super Bowl rings: 3
Accolades: 2x Pro Bowl, 3x second-team All-Pro
McCourty is New England's all-time leader in tackles, a fact that might catch some fans by surprise. But it just goes to show what a true Swiss army knife he was over his 13 years with the Pats — a tenure that began at cornerback before seamlessly transitioning to free safety. McCourty was the ultimate safety blanket: Always in the right spot, always there to put out fires and prevent solid gains from becoming massive ones. There's a reason why Belichick basically never took him off the field, and why the Patriots defense was so consistently good over his time.
16. WR/DB/K Gino Cappelletti
Super Bowl rings: 0
Accolades: 5x Pro Bowl, 1x AFL Offensive POY
Five years after completing his college career, Cappelletti was out of professional football entirely, working as a bartender at his brother's lounge back in Minnesota. But he successfully tried out for the Patriots in the summer of 1960, and after spending a year as a defensive back, he pivoted to wide receiver, where he promptly became one of the best deep threats in the league. Oh, and he did all of that while also serving as the team's primary kicker, leading the league in made field goals three times in a four-year span.
17. DT Houston Antwine
Super Bowl rings: 0
Accolades: 6x Pro Bowl, 1x All-Pro (4x second-team)
A former wrestler, Antwine was a true disruptor on the interior, a legitimate pass-rushing threat back when defensive tackles weren't really supposed to do that sort of thing. (It's tough to quantify his impact, given that sacks had yet to become an official stat.) But he was also strong enough to stand up to double teams, drawing attention that allowed fellow star linemen Bob Dee, Larry Eisenhauer and Jim Lee Hunt to shine for some very good Patriots defenses in the 1960s. No wonder he was named as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's All-Time AFL Defensive Team.
18. ILB Tedy Bruschi
Super Bowl rings: 3
Accolades: 1x Pro Bowl, 2x second-team All-Pro
A third-round pick back in 1996, it took Bruschi a little while to find his footing in the NFL. Once he did, though, he became a rock in the middle of Belichick's defenses, racking up tackles thanks to an ability to shed blocks and a willingness to always stick his nose into the fray. He wasn't the flashiest or the most important member of those early-2000s units, but he was in many ways their heart and soul, the one who got everything organized and always knew where to be. His comeback from a 2005 stroke to post a combined 112 tackles the next year only adds to his legend.
19. WR Stanley Morgan
Super Bowl rings: 0
Accolades: 4x Pro Bowl, 2x second-team All-Pro
Morgan isn't just the franchises's all-time leader in receiving yards; he laps the field, almost 2,500 yards ahead of Gronkowski in second place. He's also the NFL's career leader in yards per reception among receivers with at least 500 catches, a testament to his ability as a true deep threat in the 1980s. (Twice Morgan managed to crack the 1,000-yard mark in a season while hauling in fewer than 50 passes.) And his 1986 campaign, with nearly 1,500 total yards, remains one of the best in team history.
20. C Jon Morris
Super Bowl rings: 0
Accolades: 7x Pro Bowl, 1x All-Pro (3x second-team)
Morris made first- or second-team All-Pro in each of his first three seasons in the AFL, and he began his career with seven straight Pro Bowl nods. He played in 127 of a possible 128 games for the Patriots until a knee injury early in the 1973 season waylaid his career; he would play in just five games total over the next two years, leaving for Detroit in 1975. When healthy, though, he was arguably the best center in the league, a former linebacker whose athleticism allowed him to get to the second level with ease.
21. CB Raymond Clayborn
Super Bowl rings: 0
Accolades: 3x Pro Bowl
Clayborn was never quite the star that his running mate Haynes was, but he was a good cornerback for a very long time in New England, spending 13 years as a starter and earning three Pro Bowl nods. He was also instrumental in the Patriots' run to their first Super Bowl berth in franchise history: After notching six interceptions in the regular season, Clayborn nabbed another one against Dan Marino in the AFC title game as New England held Miami's star QB to just 20-for-48 passing for 248 yards.
22. ILB Steve Nelson
Super Bowl rings: 0
Accolades: 3x Pro Bowl
Another key cog in that feisty 1985 defense? Nelson, who manned the middle in New England for over a decade while recording over 100 tackles nine separate times. The odds are pretty good that, had tackles been an official statistic at the time, he'd be the franchise leader in the category, and there's a reason the Pats retired his number: He was the nucleus of the team's defense, one that consistently punched above its weight.