Eliot Wolf, Mike Vrabel address defense-heavy approach in free agency
Speaking with Mike Felger on Monday morning, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and EVP of player personnel Eliot Wolf addressed the team’s defense-heavy approach in free agency.
Coming off of a 4-13 season the New England Patriots needed to be busy in free agency – and they were. According to OverTheCap.com they’ve agreed to spend a league-leading $197.8 million in guaranteed money this offseason, spread out over 16 signings (tied for the eighth-most in the NFL).
However, some observers were quick to point out those moves skew heavily towards the defensive side of the ball. Nine of the 16 signings play defense, including the four of their five biggest new contracts.
On Monday morning, 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Mike Felger spoke with both executive president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and head coach Mike Vrabel, and asked each about that disparity.
“I think it’s just the way the free agent class – who was available, how that ended up,” Wolf noted.
Before free agency began, this year’s class was viewed as defense-heavy. 58 of PFF’s top 100 free agents were defensive players, and that’s before taking out players at the top of the class like Tee Higgins, Ronnie Stanley, and Trey Smith who re-signed with their original teams before free agency opened.
For Vrabel it was about upgrading the roster as a whole.
“There’s a focus on building the football team,” he told Felger. “The focus was building the football team and trying to get as many players in here that we felt like could help us.”
At the same time, both acknowledged the team needs to continue adding on offense, with Wolf highlighting some of the moves they’ve already made so far.
WATCH: Mike Felger’s full interview with Eliot Wolf
“I don’t know that signing defensive players is at the expense of offense. I feel like we’ve helped both sides of the ball, maybe the defense a little bit more just because of the volume of players we’ve signed over there,” he said. “When you look at our needs on offense, it’s no secret that wide receiver and tackle were probably our two biggest needs. And we were able to sign Morgan Moses and Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins. So, you know we certainly addressed those things. And again, we’ll continue to take every avenue to try to make the team better.”
“There’s a focused on building the football team and whether we were able to add more offensive players – that’s something that we’ll continue to do,” Vrabel said. “We have to do that.”
One spot where it appears the Patriots’ certainly need to add is at left tackle. Vrabel discussed that position – both players currently on the Patriots’ roster and in the draft – during his full media availability on Monday morning. We have more on those comments here.
