The 2009 season was the New England Patriots' 40th in the National Football League (NFL), their 50th overall and their 10th under head coach Bill Belichick. They finished with a 10–6 record and a division title before losing to the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs.
This was the first of eleven consecutive AFC East titles for the Patriots. After missing the playoffs in 2008, the Patriots' offseason was marked by a number of front office, coaching, and personnel changes. Vice President of Player Personnel Scott Pioli, who had been head coach Bill Belichick's personnel director since 2000, departed to become the general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, while offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was named head coach of the Denver Broncos. Quarterback Matt Cassel, who led the team to 11 wins in 2008 after starter Tom Brady was injured, was traded to the Chiefs along with veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel in March. Defensive starters Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison both retired, while All-Pro defensive end Richard Seymour was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a first round pick in the 2011 NFL draft days before the start of the regular season.
In the season opener on Monday Night Football, the Patriots celebrated their 50th anniversary season with an American Football League "legacy game" against the Buffalo Bills. Down 11 points late in the fourth quarter, the Patriots would score two touchdowns to secure a victory in Brady's first game back from injury. In November, the 6–2 Patriots traveled to face the undefeated Indianapolis Colts; with a six-point lead late in the fourth quarter, the Patriots tried to convert a 4th and 2 situation inside their own 30-yard line but failed, setting up a Colts touchdown and the Patriots' third loss of the season. After losing another two games of three, the Patriots went on to win their next three games to secure a division title; the team also finished with their fourth perfect regular season record at home in seven years. With the third seed in the AFC playoffs, the Patriots faced the Baltimore Ravens at home in the Wild Card Playoffs. The Ravens opened a 24–0 lead in the first quarter and the Patriots could not recover, ending their season, the Pats suffered their first one-and-done postseason campaign since 1998 and the first in the Brady-Belichick era. The Patriots would not fail to clinch another first-round bye in the playoffs until 2019.
Offseason
Staff changes With the Patriots' 2008 season ending more than a month before its 2007 season did, the month of January, reserved for playoff games in the prior five seasons, instead saw the departure of head coach Bill Belichick's top personnel executive in his first nine seasons in New England. Vice President of Player Personnel Scott Pioli accepted an offer to become the general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, giving him final say over all of the team's football matters. Nick Caserio, the Patriots' director of player personnel, took over Pioli's duties of overseeing the Patriots' personnel and scouting departments, while former Tennessee Titans general manager Floyd Reese was given a multi-year contract to be a "senior football advisor." Meanwhile, assistant director of college scouting Jon Robinson was promoted to director of college scouting, and former assistant director of player personnel Jason Licht, who had moved from the Patriots to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Arizona Cardinals as a personnel executive, returned to the Patriots as director of pro personnel. National scout Bob Quinn was promoted to assistant director of pro personnel.
Belichick's coaching staff faced similar changes at the beginning of the 2009 offseason. Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels agreed to become the head coach of the Denver Broncos, which at the time of his hiring made him the youngest head coach in the NFL. Wide receivers coach Bill O'Brien replaced McDaniels as quarterbacks coach, but no official replacement for offensive coordinator was named. Minnesota Vikings assistant special teams coach and offensive assistant Chad O'Shea replaced O'Brien as wide receivers coach. In addition, special teams coach Brad Seely agreed to join the Cleveland Browns as their assistant head coach/special teams coach under new head coach and former Patriots assistant Eric Mangini. Former Denver Broncos special teams coach Scott O'Brien was named as a replacement. Tight ends coach Pete Mangurian joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their offensive line coach after the season; offensive coaching assistant Shane Waldron replaced him. Scouting assistant Brian Ferentz replaced Waldron as an offensive coaching assistant. On defense, special assistant/secondary coach Dom Capers joined the Green Bay Packers as their defensive coordinator and was replaced by defensive coaching assistant Josh Boyer as defensive backs coach. Boyer was replaced as a coaching assistant by Patrick Graham, who was a defensive graduate assistant for former Patriots assistant Charlie Weis at the University of Notre Dame before being hired by the University of Toledo as a defensive line coach weeks before joining the Patriots.
Departures Quarterback Matt Cassel, who started 15 of the Patriots' games in 2008 after an injury to starter Tom Brady, was an unrestricted free agent after the season under the terms of his 2005 seventh-round draft pick contract. On February 5, the first day teams were allowed to place the franchise tag on a player, the Patriots assigned Cassel the non-exclusive version of the tag, tying up $14.65 million, the required amount of a one-year guaranteed tender, of their salary cap space. The tag allowed Cassel to negotiate with other teams, but any team signing Cassel to an offer sheet the Patriots refused to match would have had to surrender two first-round draft picks to the Patriots. Nevertheless, Cassel quickly agreed to the terms of the tag and signed it, putting him under contract with the Patriots for the 2009 season and guaranteeing him the tender salary, but also denying him the right to negotiate without permission. On February 28, the second day of free agency, Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel, who was in the final year of his contract, were traded to the Chiefs for the Chiefs' second-round draft pick in 2009 (#34 overall), in the first trade between Belichick and Pioli, his former colleague.
Prior to the start of free agency, the Patriots released wide receiver Kelley Washington and offensive lineman Billy Yates; Yates was re-signed days later to a revised contract. Unrestricted free agents, wide receiver Jabar Gaffney, long snapper Lonie Paxton, and running back LaMont Jordan all joined McDaniels and the Denver Broncos. Fullback Heath Evans signed with the New Orleans Saints and linebacker Larry Izzo signed with the New York Jets.
During the second day of the draft, cornerback Ellis Hobbs was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for two 2009 fifth-round draft selections.
On June 4, safety Rodney Harrison, who became a free agent following the 2008 season, retired from football.
On August 17, the Patriots traded defensive end Le Kevin Smith to the Denver Broncos with a seventh-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles (see below) in exchange for the Broncos' 2010 fifth-round pick, which became the selection that went to the Oakland Raiders in a prior trade. On August 25, the Patriots again traded with the Broncos, this time sending guard Russ Hochstein to the Broncos for the same seventh-round draft selection in the 2010 draft.
After playing in the team's first three preseason games as a reserve, linebacker Tedy Bruschi announced his retirement on August 31, after 13 seasons with the Patriots.
During final roster cutdowns, on September 5, the Patriots traded tight end David Thomas to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2011 NFL draft, which later became a sixth-round pick.
The next day, the Patriots traded All-Pro defensive end Richard Seymour to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for a first-round selection in the 2011 NFL Draft.
Arrivals The Patriots signed a number of players who had been released by their former teams: longtime Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, cornerbacks Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden, tight end Chris Baker, wide receiver Joey Galloway, long snapper Nathan Hodel, and linebacker Tully Banta-Cain, who was a member of the Patriots from 2003 through 2006 before signing a free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers. Center Al Johnson, offensive tackle Damane Duckett, safety Brandon McGowan, and linebacker Paris Lenon arrived via unrestricted free agency; only McGowan made the Patriots' opening roster. Free agents or potential free agents Eric Alexander, James Sanders, Russ Hochstein, Chris Hanson, Mike Wright, Tank Williams, Ray Ventrone, Pierre Woods, and Kenny Smith were all re-signed. Restricted free agent offensive tackle Wesley Britt was not offered a tender, making him an unrestricted free agent, but he was later re-signed. In August, offensive tackles Nick Kaczur and Mark LeVoir both received contract extensions through the 2012 and 2011 seasons, respectively. During the season, the team reached long-term contract extensions with linebacker Rob Ninkovich, guard Dan Connolly, wide receiver Sam Aiken, and linebacker Eric Alexander.
In the first week of the free agency, the Patriots traded their fifth-round pick in the 2009 NFL draft to the Philadelphia Eagles for wide receiver Greg Lewis and the Eagles' seventh-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft. Shortly after the draft, the Patriots acquired tight end Alex Smith from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Smith was released by the Patriots during roster cutdowns on September 5, while Lewis was released two days later.
On August 6, the Patriots acquired defensive end Derrick Burgess from the Oakland Raiders in exchange for third- and fifth-round selections in the 2010 NFL Draft. The Patriots, without a fifth-round selection at the time, originally sent a fourth-round pick to the Raiders with the condition it would become a fifth-round pick once the team acquired one. A fifth-round pick was then acquired in the Le Kevin Smith trade and sent to the Raiders instead of the fourth-round selection.
During final roster cutdowns, on September 5, the Patriots acquired tight end Michael Matthews from the New York Giants in exchange for a conditional draft choice in the 2011 NFL Draft. He was waived on October 20; the condition for the trade was not met, meaning the Patriots did not surrender their draft choice.
On September 22, in the third week of the season, the Patriots acquired linebacker Prescott Burgess from the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for a conditional seventh-round draft choice. He was waived by the Patriots six days later. Since the trade was conditioned on Burgess being active for a certain number of games, and since Burgess was inactive in the only game for which he was with the Patriots, the Patriots kept the pick.
2009 NFL draft
The Patriots traded their original fifth-round selection (#159 overall) to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for wide receiver Greg Lewis and a seventh-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft.