The New England Patriots are in the early stages of their rebuild, and one of their goals at this point in the process is building a foundation. While some veteran players are part of it and will continue to serve as cornerstones for years to come, the focus clearly lies on youth.

Look no further than the nine rookie players making the Patriots’ initial 53-man roster. All eight of the team’s draft choices made the cut — a first in 27 years, as pointed out by Alex Barth — as did one rookie free agent. In addition, the team is heavy on second-year players with nine sophomores on the initial 53 as well.

In total, almost half of the current team (26) is still in “rookie contract territory” and within the first four years of entering the league (not all of them are still on their original rookie deals, though).

This youth movement of sorts has resulted in the roster having an average age of 26.06 years. The Patriots are ranked 16th-youngest in the NFL in that category, according to a league-wide comparison by Jimmy Kempski of the Philly Voice.

While that ranking doesn’t seem like a big deal, it actually marks a significant change compared to previous years.

Just last year, the Patriots were 27th with an average age of 26.5. The years before that they ranked 30th (2022; 26.8), 28th (2021; 26.5), 27th (2020; 26.4), 32nd (2019; 27.0) and 30th (2018; 26.8).

There are multiple factors impacting the number, including four of the team’s above-average players being sent to various injury reserve lists ahead of roster cutdowns. Nonetheless, the overall trend is clearly visible: the Patriots under leadership of head coach Jerod Mayo and EVP of player personnel Eliot Wolf are committed to building from the ground up and investing in young talent to strengthen the core for the future.

Of course, the roster being on the older side is not necessarily a bad thing per se or in any way indicative of a team’s performance; you’re not automatically worse just because you are older. Some of the Patriots’ oldest players like center David Andrews (32), cornerback Jonathan Jones (30), or defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. (30) are still quality starters and highly valuable to the overall operation both on and off the field.

However, as the Patriots found out over the last few years, and older roster can turn into a serious issue if no suitable replacements are in the pipeline: their failure to strengthen the young core toward the tail end of their dynastic run in the late 2010s directly led to the struggles experienced the last few seasons.

There are obviously more factors at play than just age, but the fact remains: the Patriots’ new regime takes its self-proclaimed “draft and develop” status seriously. Its first 53-man roster is concrete proof of that.