The New England Patriots open training camp this week with most of their roster questions answered. Edge rusher isn’t one of them. As veterans report to Foxborough, the position group behind Harold Landry remains the one spot where the front office’s aggressive offseason hasn’t fully closed the gap — and one familiar name is back in the conversation.
According to Jordy McElroy of Patriots Wire, a reunion with Kyle Van Noy is one option New England could explore. Van Noy won two Super Bowls with the franchise during two separate stints between 2016 and 2021. He’s now a free agent, having elected free agency in March after three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.
The 35-year-old isn’t the disruptive player he was two years ago, but he’s not empty-handed either. McElroy wrote that Van Noy “has some juice left to help a team,” pointing to a career-high 12.5 sacks with Baltimore in 2024. Last season, banged up and playing a smaller role, he finished with 2.0 sacks and 4.0 tackles for loss across 15 games.
Why the position still nags at New England
The roots of the problem go back to last season. K’Lavon Chaisson left in free agency, and the Patriots turned to Dre’Mont Jones as his replacement. In April, they added Gabe Jacas in the second round of the draft. Jacas is a promising pass rusher, but as of this week, he still hasn’t signed his rookie contract, leaving a hole atop the depth chart just as camp opens.
Behind Landry and Jones, the group is young and largely unproven at the NFL level: second-year players Elijah Ponder and Bradyn Swinson, plus Jesse Luketa, Quintayvious Hutchins and Xavier Holmes. Patriots.com’s own camp preview called edge “arguably the only position that looked a little light” during OTAs, largely because Landry and Jacas were both absent for offseason work.
Landry is coming back from a midseason injury that limited him down the stretch last season and into the playoffs, and a stint on the physically unable to perform list to open camp is still on the table. If that happens, an already thin group gets thinner fast.
Vrabel isn’t sounding the alarm — publicly
Not everyone in the building sees it as an emergency. Asked directly about the position in June, head coach Mike Vrabel pushed back on the idea that it’s a glaring need.
“No… that’s a good group. I’m excited about adding Dre [Jones], the development of [Elijah] Ponder and [Bradyn] Swinson, added [Jesse] Luketa and some young guys,” Vrabel said.
That’s a coach backing his room, and there’s a real argument behind it — Jones brings positional versatility, and both Ponder and Swinson got real practice reps as rookies last year that could translate now. But “good group” and “proven difference-maker” aren’t the same claim, and Vrabel’s comments stopped short of the second one.
| Player | Role | 2025 Status |
|---|---|---|
| Harold Landry | Starter | Recovering from midseason knee injury; PUP possible |
| Dre’Mont Jones | Starter | Free agent addition, hybrid DE/LB |
| Gabe Jacas | Depth/rookie | Unsigned as of camp reporting date |
| Elijah Ponder | Depth | Second-year, undrafted in 2025 |
| Bradyn Swinson | Depth | Second-year, 2025 fifth-round pick |
What’s actually at stake
New England’s roster overhaul elsewhere has been substantial. The team added AJ Brown at receiver, rebuilt the offensive line around Alijah Vera-Tucker and Morgan Moses, and is banking on a third-year jump from Drake Maye. Inside the defensive line, Christian Barmore and Milton Williams give Vrabel one of the more disruptive tackle pairings in the league.
None of that changes what happens on the edge on third down. A defense that can’t win consistently off the corner puts more pressure on the interior and on a secondary anchored by Christian Gonzalez to hold up longer than it should have to. Van Noy wouldn’t be a scheme-altering addition at this stage of his career — even Patriots Wire’s own pitch frames him as an “emergency” option, not a headline one. But adding a battle-tested veteran, even in a rotational role, is a lower-cost way to add insurance while Jacas gets signed and the younger players keep developing.
Nothing here is close to official. No deal, visit, or contact with Van Noy has been reported — this is a suggestion from one outlet’s beat reporter, not a confirmed pursuit. Whether the Patriots view the group the way McElroy does, or the way Vrabel described it in June, should start to show itself once camp battles begin and the pads come on.
