For the New England Patriots, it should really be all about the future, and not the final five games of the 2022 NFL season.

Sure, the Patriots still control their own playoff destiny heading into tonight's Monday night contest at Arizona. Thanks to a couple fortunate bounces over the weekend, a Patriots' win tonight propels them to the 7th seed in the AFC (New England owns the tiebreaker vs. NYJ and has a better conference record than the Chargers (Pats: 5-3, LAC: 5-4)).

But for this team, progression is what's most important. Get Mac on track and valuable experience for other young members of the team. Yes, it would be nice if the Pats can find their way into that No. 7 seed, but it's not like they'd actually have a chance. Despite all the random scores we see week after week in the regular season, this team just doesn't have what it takes to compete in January. Chances are, they'd get sent packing after losing by more points than they manage to score.

With progression in mind, it's about building toward the future. As we look ahead to 2023 and beyond, who would you say is the most important player on the Pats' roster NOT NAMED Mac Jones?

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