How the New England Patriots spent $518m to replace Brady-Belichick dynasty and return to the Super Bowl
The New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl, just six years after the departure of Tom Brady and two years after parting ways with coach Bill Belichick.
The pair responsible for one of sport's great dynasties, Brady and Belichick competed in nine Super Bowls in the 21st century, winning six of them.
They won the AFC East 17 times together, including 11 in a row, and lauded over the NFL as inarguably the greatest quarterback-coach combination of all time.
READ MORE: The one itch Australia won't allow Scotty James to scratch
READ MORE: $30m megastar face plants before stunning qualification run
READ MORE: '100 per cent gone': Vonn hits back at sceptical doctor's claim
But then Brady left for the Buccaneers in 2020, cementing his legacy with a Super Bowl win in Tampa Bay.
The Belichick era beyond that fizzled out. The team struggled with middling quarterbacks and the once-great coach and general manager was no longer finding gems in the draft.
He walked away at the end of 2024 and Brady's heir apparent Mac Jones, who was drafted in the first round in 2021, was dumped.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick after winning Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. Getty
Come the 2024-2025 season, the Patriots were starting from scratch, with both franchise legends now gone.
They took another quarterback in the first round of the draft, a lifelong New England fan; Drake Maye.
Owner Robert Kraft hired Jerod Mayo as the man to take the helm in the post-Belichick era and the journey back to the Super Bowl began.
And then it abruptly stopped again.
Mayo was fired after just one season. The team won four games, with journeyman quarterback Jacoby Brissett slinging the ball for the first third of the season, before Maye got his chance.
Things looked bleak. Belichick's replacement lasted less than 12 months and they'd barely seen even passable quarterback play in the 2020s post Brady.
Maye was thrown into the deep end and showed promise, but the personnel around him wasn't equipped for looking after a rookie QB.
Some luck fell in their lap. The Tennessee Titans opted to move on from highly successful coach and former Patriots Super Bowl champion Mike Vrabel.
Head coach Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots. Getty
Vrabel had a 54-45 record as coach of the Titans, leading them to multiple post seasons and winning NFL Coach of the Year in 2021.
But they knew better, sacking the former Patriots linebacker, who would soon take the helm at the team he won three Super Bowls with as a player.
With an experienced, well credentialed coach in place, and Maye ready for a sink-or-swim season at quarterback, the Pats went all-in on turning things around.
They spent $518.5m in free agency rebuilding the roster. The Vikings spent the second most amount of money at $383.3m, showing the sheer scale of their investment.
They signed defensive tackle Milton Williams from the reigning Super Bowl champions Philadelphia, giving him $148m.
Veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs received $90m, cornerback Carlton David $85m, edge Harold Landry $62m, linebacker Robert Spillane $53m - it was a serious spending spree.
They deserve credit for quickly realising the mistake they had made with Mayo, and the opportunity available to go and get Vrabel, and for then giving him the pieces to succeed.
But none of this happens without Maye making a leap; and he did.
Drake Maye of the New England Patriots makes a pass. Getty
His accuracy, particularly on deep throws, coupled with his mobility and scrambling made him a troublesome dual-threat.
Maye threw 31 passing touchdowns, had four rushing touchdowns and only threw eight interceptions
After going 4-13 in the 2024-2025 season, the Patriots enter the Super Bowl with a staggering 17-3 record (including playoff wins).
Maye is one of the favourites to win the league MVP award, though he will likely be the runner up to Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Vrabel gave them a defensive identity, while putting together an offensive system that makes few mistakes and is highly efficient.
With no players remaining from their 2019 Super Bowl victory over the Rams, the Patriots have rebuilt from scratch to make it back in 2026, something that almost every other team in the league would envy.
The Patriots offence led by Drake Maye. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Of course, this is where we discuss the small elephant in the room: their schedule.
The Patriots are here in the Super Bowl, nobody can take that away from them, but it also remains factual that they had the easiest path here of any team in the 21st century.
Per CBS Sports' analysis, it was the easiest schedule of any Super Bowl team since the Rams in 1999.
They benefited from two horrible teams in the AFC East, who they got to play twice, the Dolphins and Jets, and they played almost every bottom-feeder, including the Saints, Titans, Browns, Raiders and Giants.
They got the Panthers before they turned things around, the Bengals without quarterback Joe Burrow and more middling teams like the Falcons and Buccaneers.
Even in the playoffs, you have every right to be sceptical about their results.
They beat a Chargers team riddled by injuries, including to quarterback Justin Herbert, who only put up three points.
Next up they defeated a Texans team with quarterback C.J Stroud coming off a poor season. Though the team boasted a ferocious defence, they had nothing going for them on offence; particularly with star receiver Nico Collins out injured.
And then in the AFC Title game, they beat the No.1 seed Broncos, who lost quarterback Bo Nix to a fractured ankle the week prior, 10-7 in a blizzard. To get to the Super Bowl, they put up 10 points and beat journeyman backup QB Jarret Stidham.
Snow falls in the AFC Championship Game. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
But you can ignore all of that because they are, in fact, back in the Super Bowl. Call it lucky, but they still got the job done.
Every team in the league would sign up immediately. They would also probably rank New England 30th in terms of franchises that deserved such a lucky break, given the enormity of their success in the 21st century.
Now they come up against a Seattle side that enters heavy favourites, largely due to many dismissing the Pats' run to this point.
The Seahawks are similarly in a new era, with a second-year coach and a quarterback in Sam Darnold who was the butt of the league's jokes for many years.
But for the Patriots, this is a chance to begin a new legacy in the post Brady-Belichick era, and also stand alone as the team to have won the most Super Bowls ever, a title they currently share with Pittsburgh.
