NFL executives believe the Patriots won the offseason

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The Patriots may have lost the Super Bowl, but who cares about that when ESPN is telling you they think New England won the offseason?

Mike Sando of the network that seems to only cares about LeBron James polled "more than a dozen" executives on each team's offseason, and the consensus is that New England and the Los Angeles Rams came out on top. Both teams received an A-.

Editor's note: this is an ESPN Insider article that I'm referencing, so if you don't pay for Insider, Pats Pulpit offers some more of the key points as it relates to the Patriots. 

Figuring out whether Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski were going to return to the team in 2018 is far and away the biggest win for the Pats this offseason, but those two are already on the team, so it doesn't exactly count.

And even though the Patriots lost a lot of notable names such as Malcolm Butler, Nate Solder, Dion Lewis, Danny Amendola and others, they have added quite a few exciting players. Cordarrelle Patterson is an exciting kick returner, Jeremy Hill was once the lead running back in Cincinnati and will now join a group in New England that was solid even with the departure of Lewis, Adrian Clayborn will definitely help the pass rush and we'll finally get to see Jason and Devin McCourty on the field together at the same time.

Many are excited about some of the draft picks including Sony Michel (whom is being compared to Alvin Kamara), Isaiah Wynn and Danny Etling, who may eventually become Tom Brady's successor.

Josh McDaniels sticking around was also a factor.

They are also going to get Julian Edelman and Dont'a Hightower, two of their five best players, back from injury.

Obviously winning the offseason means little if it doesn't translate into a successful season. For New England, that would mean redeeming themselves after a Super Bowl LII loss to the Eagles and winning Super Bowl LIII.

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