Hunter Henry has just one year left on his deal.
NFL analyst Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report believes the New England Patriots' most important contract decision ahead of the 2026 season is Hunter Henry.
Henry is entering the final year of his contract.
"Henry will be 32 in December, but he has been a mainstay in New England for the past five years," Davenport wrote. "However, as things stand now, New England's cap situation in 2027 is a bit tricky—and that's before Drake Maye gets paid."
For the Patriots last season, Henry had 60 catches for 768 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. He's been with New England since 2021.
Henry enters the 2026 season with 455 catches for 5,295 receiving yards and 47 touchdown catches. He's one of the most consistent TE's in the NFL.
"I mean, talked about his consistency, his production, and you know, again, we're not gonna go down the road of talking about contracts," Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said. "So, we're not gonna start there. But the more that I can be around Hunter Henry, the better because (he's) been a great football player. He's a great leader for us. A very consistent player."
It was a noisy offseason for the Patriots, who lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. New England acquired A.J. Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles and signed Romeo Doubs. However, Christian Gonzalez doesn't have an extension yet and Vrabel had a publicized affair with former NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
In Year 2 of the Vrabel era, the Patriots face the Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos.
New England has plenty of motivation after losing to Seattle 29-13 in Super Bowl LX. It will be intriguing to see if Henry and/or Gonzalez sign an extension.
Drake Maye will get a massive extension next offseason. The QB finished the 2025 regular season with 4,394 passing yards and 31 passing touchdowns while completing 72.0% of his passes.
Maye finished second in MVP voting last season, losing the award to Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford. New England's offense could be very, very explosive this season with Maye, Brown, Henry and Doubs leading the way.
