The New England Patriots entered the 2019 NFL season with the oldest roster in the NFL -- and got older as the season went on. But now, the team has reshaped things to tip the scales toward a much younger locker room after losing two of the longest-tenured players in team history.

As of Monday afternoon, the average age of the Patriots roster is 26.2 years old (26.19 before rounding up). That’s down from an average of 27.6 to finish the 2019 season (based on their final 53-man roster)

The Patriots were already the oldest team in the NFL when they started things with an average age of 27.0. Due to signings and injuries -- plus, you know, time -- that number went up. But now after losing Tom Brady to free agency and cutting Stephen Gostkowski (plus other moves) the roster in New England is looking much younger.

According to PhillyVoice, an average age of 26.2 would have tied the Patriots for the 10th-oldest roster at the start of the 2019 season.

Here’s the thing: That number could have dropped even further if the team didn’t re-sign Matthew Slater (34) and Devin McCourty (32) -- or didn’t sign 34-year-old Brian Hoyer.

Brady and Gostkowski are the biggest factors in the age of the Patriots roster changing, but not the only ones. New England got younger by virtue 39-year-old Ben Watson retiring and after losing players like 31-year-old Nate Ebner to free agency.

The phrase “rebuild” has been thrown around a decent bit since the Patriots moved on from Brady. He was certainly the centerpiece of the franchise for the past two decades. However, he also represented the team’s willingness to rely on late-career veterans for long seasons.

But with Brady gone, signs point toward the Patriots starting to go young. How young will they go? We’ll find out once Bill Belichick is done sorting through free agency and the draft.

(Housekeeping note: Gostkowski didn’t count as part of the team’s age at the end of the season since he was on IR. But his replacement Nick Folk was the same age, so it’s effectively a wash now that both are gone.)