The Greatest New England Patriots Players of All Time
The Boston Patriots took their name from the local fans' most common suggestion, and a fan vote now sorts the greatest New England Patriots players. Every player here is named on at least 7 of the 15 Patriots honor rolls and all-time rankings counted for this list: the team's Hall of Fame and retired numbers (one source), the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the team's 2020 All-Dynasty Team, and twelve press rankings. Players left off no more than four of the sources that could have named them start in the top group; everyone else who clears the door starts below them, and your votes set the order from there.
John Hannah is #1 on “The Greatest New England Patriots Players of All Time”.
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John Hannah
He missed 5 games out of a possible 191 in his career at guard. That career ran 13 seasons in New England, 1973 to 1985, and in 1991 he became the first Patriots player with a bust in Canton; in 2019 he made the NFL 100 All-Time Team. In 1978 his line set an NFL record with 3,165 rushing yards and a league mark with 181 rushing first downs. He finished in Super Bowl XX, the franchise's first, and retired after it. Count him on 14 of the 14 sources able to name him, because the 2020 All-Dynasty Team picks from 2001 to 2019 and he was gone long before that window opened.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hannah_(American_football) - 2
Rob Gronkowski
He holds the club mark of 79 receiving touchdowns, and his election to the Patriots Hall of Fame was announced in 2026. He played tight end in New England from 2010 through 2018, and in 2011 he caught 17 touchdown passes and scored 18 touchdowns in all, both NFL records for a tight end, while his 1,327 receiving yards broke the position's single-season mark of 1,310. He collected rings for Super Bowls XLIX, LI and LIII, and in the last of those his 29-yard catch set up Sony Michel's 2-yard touchdown run against the Rams, and the 2010s All-Decade Team names him at tight end. He's on 12 of 14, because Canton's selectors have not yet picked a class for which he qualifies, so that source is out of his count.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Gronkowski - 3
Andre Tippett
His 100 sacks in 151 games are the franchise record for New England. Those came over 11 seasons at linebacker, 1982 to 1993, and in 1984 he had 18.5 sacks, made NFL Films' All-Pro team and earned the first of 5 straight Pro Bowl trips; in 1985 he added 16.5 more, and UPI gave him its AFC defensive award as New England took the AFC title. All-Pro selectors gave him first-team honors in 1985 and 1987, and his Canton induction came in 2008, 15 years after he retired. He appears on 13 of 14, with the All-Dynasty Team dropped from his count since it begins in 2001, 8 years after his last season.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Tippett - 4
Tom Brady
Drafted 199th overall in 2000, he took over the offense in 2001 after Drew Bledsoe was hurt in Week 2 and kept the job through 2019. In New England he won 6 Super Bowls, was the game's MVP in 4 of them and was league MVP in 2007, 2010 and 2017. The 2007 Patriots were the first team in NFL history to finish a regular season 16-0, and he threw 50 touchdown passes that year to break Peyton Manning's record of 49. On October 18, 2009, against Tennessee, he threw 5 touchdown passes in the second quarter, an NFL record for one quarter, and 6 in all in a 59-0 win. The count is 14 of 14, because the Hall of Fame in Canton can't consider him yet: his last season, with Tampa Bay, was 2022.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Brady - 5
Ty Law
Taken 23rd overall in 1995, he played cornerback in New England through 2004, and in 1998 he became the first Patriot to lead the league in interceptions. The Patriots got 4 Pro Bowl seasons out of him, and the 1998 and 2003 All-Pro ballots placed him on the first team. In Super Bowl XXXVI he jumped a Kurt Warner throw meant for Isaac Bruce and ran it back 47 yards for the game's first touchdown against the Rams. With a Super Bowl trip at stake after the 2003 season, he picked off Peyton Manning 3 times. A cap number of $12.551 million got him released in 2005, and Canton's 2019 class included him. 13 of the 15 sources name him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ty_Law - 6
Richard Seymour
New England spent the 6th pick of the 2001 draft on him, and within his first 4 seasons he had 3 Super Bowl rings. On the Patriots' defensive line through 2008 he played tackle in a 4-3 and then end in a 3-4, collecting a Pro Bowl selection in each season from 2002 through 2006 and 3 straight All-Pro first-team spots from 2003. In Week 4 of 2004 he returned a Buffalo fumble 68 yards for his first NFL touchdown, and he blocked field goals too, including a kick in the divisional playoff against Tennessee after the 2003 season. Traded to Oakland in 2009 for a 2011 first-rounder, he went into Canton as part of the 2022 class. Seymour is on 13 of the 15 counted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Seymour - 7
Mike Haynes
His rookie year of 1976 brought 8 interceptions, NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and punt returns of 89 and 62 yards, the first punt-return touchdowns in team history. That season opened 7 years at cornerback for New England, through 1982, and the 1976 club went 11-3 before losing to Oakland in the playoffs. He made 6 of his Pro Bowls in New England, and in 1978 he took an interception back for a touchdown against the Baltimore Colts on the way to a division title. A 1983 settlement moved his contract to the Raiders. New England retired his No. 40, and his Hall of Fame induction came in 1997. He shows up on 12 of 14, with the 2001 to 2019 All-Dynasty Team excluded because his Patriots career ended in 1982.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Haynes_(cornerback) - 8
Vince Wilfork
His teams won Super Bowls after the 2004 and 2014 seasons, and his teammates voted him a captain every year from 2008 through 2012. Most of those 11 New England seasons, 2004 through 2014, he spent at nose tackle, anchoring the interior of the defensive line. Against Baltimore in the conference final after the 2011 season he had 1.5 sacks and 6 tackles, and New England went on to Super Bowl XLVI. He signed with Houston for 2015 and played 2 seasons there. In 2022, his first year of eligibility, he was voted into the Patriots' Hall of Fame. Wilfork's count is 11 of 15.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Wilfork - 9
Stanley Morgan
His 10,352 receiving yards are the franchise record. He piled them up from 1977 through 1989, and his 19.2 yards per catch, a 1990 year with the Colts included, is the NFL record among receivers with 500 or more receptions; he finished first in the NFL in that stat in 1979, 1980 and 1981. In 1986 he caught 84 passes for a then-franchise-record 1,491 yards and 10 touchdowns as the Patriots won the AFC East. Pro Bowl voters chose him 4 times, and his share of the Super Bowl XX loss to the Bears was 6 catches for 51 yards. The 11 of 14 next to his name leaves out the All-Dynasty Team, which covered 2001 to 2019, 12 seasons after he left.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Morgan - 10
Adam Vinatieri
As an undrafted rookie kicker in 1996 he chased down Herschel Walker on a kickoff. He kicked for New England through 2005, and on January 19, 2002, in the snow against Oakland, he hit a 45-yarder into the wind to tie the playoff game and a 23-yarder to win it in overtime. His 48-yarder on the final play of Super Bowl XXXVI beat the Rams 20-17, and in Super Bowl XXXVIII his 41-yarder with 4 seconds left beat Carolina 32-29. When he left for Indianapolis, where he kicked 14 more seasons, he was the team's scoring leader with 1,156 points, and Canton's voters elected him in 2026. Vinatieri appears in 9 of the 15 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Vinatieri - 11
Tedy Bruschi
He was the first player in NFL history to return 4 straight interceptions for touchdowns. A linebacker for New England from 1996 through 2008, he had 2 sacks in Super Bowl XXXI and collected 3 rings. On February 15, 2005, 2 days after playing in the Pro Bowl, he had a stroke. By October 30 he was playing again, against Buffalo, and he and Steve Smith split the league's 2005 Comeback Player of the Year honor. Before the stroke he'd collected second-team All-Pro honors for 2003 and 2004, and the club's Hall of Fame added him in 2013. Put Bruschi down for 9 of the 15.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tedy_Bruschi - 12
Willie McGinest
His 16 career postseason sacks passed Bruce Smith for the NFL record. New England, which drafted him 4th overall, had him rushing the passer from 1994 through 2005, a stretch with Pro Bowls in 1996 and 2003 and title teams in 2001, 2003 and 2004. In the wild-card round after the 2005 season he had 4.5 sacks against Jacksonville, an NFL record for a playoff game. The Patriots released him in March 2006, after which he spent 3 seasons in Cleveland, and in 2015 the club put him in its Hall of Fame. McGinest's number is 9 of 15.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_McGinest - 13
Julian Edelman
A quarterback at Kent State, he was taken 232nd overall in 2009 and spent 12 seasons in New England, through 2020, as a receiver and return man. He reached 100 receptions twice, 105 in 2013 and 100 in 2019, and an 84-yard punt return in 2014 made him the club's leader in punt-return touchdowns. A torn ACL in the 2017 preseason cost him that whole year, and he returned to win Super Bowl LIII after the 2018 season, catching 10 passes for 141 yards in a 13-3 win over the Rams, which made him the game's MVP and gave him a 3rd ring. Edelman lands on 7 of the 15 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Edelman - 14
Logan Mankins
He played the 2011 season on a torn ACL in his right knee, the injury coming in the opener, made 15 starts anyway, then tore the MCL in his left knee in the divisional round against Denver and still lined up in Super Bowl XLVI. That was his 7th of 9 seasons at guard for New England, 2005 through 2013, a run that brought 6 Pro Bowl selections. He also scored against the Colts with the conference title on the line after the 2006 season, falling on a Laurence Maroney fumble in the end zone. In August 2014, after refusing a pay cut, he was traded to Tampa Bay, and the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 2010s, a decade that also covers his 2 seasons there, includes him. Mankins draws 9 of the 15.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Mankins - 15
Bruce Armstrong
He started all 212 games he played, the most starts by any Patriot until 2015. He did it at tackle over 14 seasons, 1987 through 2000, and his first 2 Pro Bowls came in 1990 and 1991. Then, in November 1992 against Buffalo, he tore the medial collateral, anterior cruciate and posterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee. He came back to earn 4 straight Pro Bowl selections, 1994 through 1997, plus a second-team All-Pro nod in 1996, and the Patriots retired his No. 78. Armstrong is on 8 of the 14 sources that had the chance; the All-Dynasty Team starts with 2001, the season after his last.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Armstrong - 16
Troy Brown
In 2001 he caught more passes than any Patriot had in a season to that point and made the Pro Bowl. New England had taken him 198th overall in 1993 and kept him through 2007, and when the 2001 season reached the AFC Championship Game at Pittsburgh, he returned a punt for a touchdown, then scooped up a blocked field goal and lateraled to Antwan Harris for a second special-teams score. He played on the team's first 3 Super Bowl winners. In 2004, used on defense in an emergency, he picked off 3 passes, 2nd on the team. He retired with 252 punt returns, a Patriots record, and in 2012 a fan vote made him a member of the team's Hall of Fame. Brown's tally is 7 of 15.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Brown - 17
Nick Buoniconti
NFL scouts thought he was too small, and Boston didn't take him until the 13th round of the 1962 AFL draft; he played middle linebacker there through 1968. Boston's 1962 rookie of the year, he went on to 5 AFL All-Star Games as a Patriot, was first-team All-AFL each year from 1964 to 1967 and intercepted 24 passes. In 1963 the Patriots won the Eastern Division before San Diego beat them 51-10 for the AFL title. Boston traded him to Miami in 1969, and the AFL All-Time Team, which spans that Miami season too, later named him; Hall of Fame voters enshrined him with the 2001 class. His count is 8 of 14: the All-Dynasty Team, limited to 2001 through 2019, couldn't have named a 1960s linebacker.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Buoniconti - 18
Matt Light
Carolina's defensive line didn't get a sack in Super Bowl XXXVIII, and New England won 32-29 with him at left tackle. He held that job from his rookie year, 2001, through 2011, starting 153 of his 155 games, and he won Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII and XXXIX, started in 2 more, earned 3 Pro Bowl berths and landed on the 2007 All-Pro first team. As a rookie in Super Bowl XXXVI his line opened the way for 133 rushing yards on 25 carries against the Rams. You'll find Light on 8 of the 15 honor rolls and rankings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Light - 19
Wes Welker
Undrafted in 2004, he came to New England from Miami in 2007 in exchange for 2nd- and 7th-round draft picks, staying through 2012. His first Patriots season brought a franchise-record 112 catches, tied for the NFL lead, and he was the NFL's catch leader again in 2009 and 2011. In 2009 he caught 123 passes, including 15 for 192 yards against the Jets in Week 11, before Houston's Bernard Pollard hit him in Week 17 and tore 2 ligaments in his left knee, the ACL and the MCL. In Week 3 of 2011 he tied the club's single-game mark with 16 catches against Buffalo, early in a season in which he caught 122 passes. He signed with Denver in 2013. Count Welker on 7 of 15.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Welker - 20
Gino Cappelletti
He never missed one of the Boston Patriots' AFL games, kicking field goals and catching passes for them. Between 1960 and 1970 he was the AFL's scoring champion 5 times and the 1964 AFL MVP with 155 points in a 14-game season, and he finished his career with 1,130 points, a total that includes the 1970 season after the merger. On December 18, 1965, he scored 28 points in a 42-14 win over Houston, an AFL record for one game. He made 5 AFL All-Star teams, the club retired No. 20, and he spent 28 seasons as its radio color commentator beside Gil Santos. Cappelletti is on 7 of the 14 eligible to name him, as the All-Dynasty Team's window did not open until 2001, 3 decades after his last game.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino_Cappelletti - 21
Jon Morris
Green Bay made him a 2nd-round NFL pick in 1964, but he signed with Boston, which had drafted him in the AFL's 4th round, and he played center for the Patriots from 1964 to 1974. Choosing Boston paid off at once, since the rookie center was an All-Star in 1964 and in each AFL season after it through 1969, then went to the Pro Bowl in 1970, the first season after the merger. After stops in Detroit and Chicago he called Patriots games on radio from 1979 to 1987, and a senior committee chose him for the Patriots' hall in 2011. He's on 7 of 14, since the 2001 to 2019 window of the All-Dynasty Team opened 27 years after his last Patriots season.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Morris
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