4 takeaways from Mike Vrabel at the NFL Combine
During his NFL Combine media availability on Tuesday, Mike Vrabel highlighted some of the changes fans can expect to see with the team early in his tenure.
Ahead of prospect workouts and meetings at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this week, key team personnel speak with the media. The Patriots are included in that beginning with head coach Mike Vrabel speaking on Tuesday morning (executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf will talk Wednesday afternoon).
Vrabel last spoke at his introductory press conference in mid-January. On Tuesday he addressed the changes that have happened since then, and gave some insight into what the next few months might look like for the Patriots.
What did we learn? Let’s take a look…
Coaching staff updates
Since then the Patriots have hired a full coaching staff and brought in new members of the front office. That new coaching staff was the first question got when he spoke on Tuesday in Indianapolis ahead of the NFL Combine.
“Extremely proud of the staff that we were able to put together,” Vrabel said. “It’s difficult in the National Football League to be able to get every coach that you may covet or may want to get…just because of the rules – teams are under contract, some teams want to keep the coaches that they have. They feel like they’re good coaches. But we were able to put together a great staff, one that we’re really proud of.”
While all of the team’s offensive and defensive coaches are new hires, they’re not all new to New England. Josh McDaniels is back for his third stint as New England’s offensive coordinator. Vrabel explained how his time with the Cleveland Browns last year influenced that hire.
WATCH: Reacting to Mike Vrabel’s NFL Combine press conference
“Having had communications with Josh in my role in Cleveland – he wasn’t under contract with a team, so we had numerous conversations,” Vrabel said. “In the end, felt like Josh was the best fit to lead our offense.”
Leading the defense is Terrell Williams, who is a first-time defensive coordinator after 13 years as an NFL Defensive line coach (including time as a run game coordinator last year in Detroit and as an assistant head coach in Tennessee under Vrabel). Initial reporting suggested Vrabel could end up calling the defensive plays, but he said on Tuesday that it will in fact be Williams.
“He’s going to be the defensive coordinator, he’s going to call defenses,” Vrabel explained. “He’s an aggressive minded coach that’s coached really aggressive defensive lineman. That’s his background. I’ve enjoyed the process of -what he’s learned in Detroit, what he learned with us in Tennessee to be able to tie the back end together with with the stuff that we want to do with the front.”
Free agency approach
While the Combine is more closely linked to the draft, free agency comes first. With the Patriots set to have the most cap space in the league, the free agency period (which begins Mar. 10) will play a crucial part in their offseason.
“We want to be aggressive,” Vrabel said when asked about free agency. “We want to target players that we feel like are going to help us. They’re going to be outstanding players, they’re going to be outstanding additions to the locker room and the community, and if that all fits, and the compensation fits. But I’m confident that we’ll be aggressive.”
That aggressiveness will come into play the most with the top players in free agency. While the Patriots are a better destination now than they were last year, he acknowledged ultimately the money will make the difference.
“I like to shop like everybody else,” Vrabel said. “And so when you go and there’s only one of a certain car, maybe you have to pay a little bit more for that one car because there’s only one of them. When you start to get into a range where you feel like there’s an area where players are comparable, and you like three or four players in a certain area for a certain role, you may not have to overspend. But it’s free agency. I think that everybody overspends sometimes in free agency.”
Being aggressive is one thing, but there’s a line between aggressive and reckless. Vrabel highlighted that while the Patriots can plan to spend, they need to be prepared for multiple outcomes.
“We just have to have options. You can’t just say – we’re going to get this guy because that’s not going to – you’re not going bat 1.000 when everybody else is trying to go for the same player,” Vrabel explained.
“So having a really detailed plan and approach is probably the only thing that I would make sure that we are doing, which we, I believe we are. And then being able to quickly pivot on to the next option and understand where that line is. We’re just not going to sign players just to sign them, but making sure that we have a plan in place for, ‘O.K. If it’s not this player, then is it this player and it’s this player’ and that’s what I want to make sure we do.”
That kind of flexibility will be important. With the Patriots having a wide range of needs right now there isn’t one direct path they need to follow this offseason. Some will of course be better than others, but being able to adjust from one to another as moves get made will help them maximize the assets at their disposal.
At the same time, it’s important the Patriots don’t get caught up in chasing additions for the sake of additions. Vrabel’s answer about not signing players just to sign them is as notable as him saying the team should be aggressive this offseason. That approach should make sure they stay disciplined and don’t get reckless.
Helping Drake Maye
As the Patriots do build up their roster over the course of this offseason and future offseason, all additions should be made with Drake Maye in mind. Right now Maye is tracking to be a franchise quarterback, and the Patriots should be doing all they can to support him.
During Vrabel’s introductory press conference, he stressed the importance of being able to protect the quarterback. Asked about supporting Maye on Tuesday he again mentioned the offensive line, but threw in another position as well.
“You always talk about being able to protect him, but you have to be able to have some guys that can help him on the edges and be able to make contested catches,” Vrabel said. “And you don’t have to be perfect, right? You don’t have to have perfect ball placement, and those are all things that we talk about trying to support Drake, believing that he is the future of our franchise at quarterback.”
It’s not just the mention of a receiver that’s notable here, but Vrabel specifically mentioning contested catch ability. That could be a sign as to the kind of receivers the Patriots will go after this offseason.
The top contested catch receiver projected for free agency is Tee Higgins, who is expected to receive the franchise tag from the Cincinnati Bengals. In the draft though, projected top wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan does excel in contested catch situations. The general consensus to this point has been the Patriots will use their top draft pick to address a trenches position – either on offense or defense – but if they value contested catch ability McMillan would be a logical target.
Vrabel did talk about the importance of adding a ‘No. 1’ coverage dictating receiver, acknowledging that will be one of the tougher tasks for the team in this rebuild.
“One, it’s hard to find. You usually have to draft them. But then sometimes, based on circumstances, available for trade,” he said. “I think we’ll explore every opportunity that we can to add great players that we feel like are the right fit and we feel like and that can help us. There’s only so many options in free agency and in trade and the draft. We’ll explore all three of those.”
Big picture goal
Whatever route they take, the Patriots have plenty of work ahead of them when it comes to rebuilding the roster. While Vrabel acknowledged that – saying “what the roster looks like today is going to be vastly different than what it looks like in the end of August” – he also re-framed a question about whether it would be a ‘long-term rebuild’ or if he is looking for ‘rapid improvement.’
“We have to improve. I think that’s the goal,” Vrabel said. “Our expectations aren’t going to change. It’s going to be to win the division, it’s going to be to host home playoff games, and it’s going to be to compete for championships. We’re never going to put a timetable or any sort of prediction on when that may happen, but it has to happen.”
Vrabel added one more goal – one that is more minor but may resonate more with fans. “I think you have to continue to win your home football games,” Vrabel said. “You have to make playing at Gillette a tough place to play.”
Winning at home has hardly been a guarantee for the Patriots in recent years. Since 2022 they’re 7-17 in Foxborough.
While Vrabel didn’t put a timetable on the Patriots’ rebuild, there are stages the team will need to hit as it improves. Taking care of should-be winnable games, which should include most home games, is a good way to prove they’ve established a competitive floor.
