The 2026 NFL owners meetings provided plenty of conversation points for the Toucher & Hardy show this week.
We'll start with another peek behind the curtain to show you how the show operates. Late on Monday, producer Ryan Beaton added an item to the show's Slack channel. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel got into a little healthy ball-busting with Patriots.com's Paul Perillo. Fred Toucher saw this at around 8:30 p.m. and reached out to me, Adam 12, to try and get Paul on the show. I did just that, and confirmed Paul for the 9:00 a.m. segment on Tuesday morning. Team Toucher & Hardy, getting things done.
Come Tuesday morning, the traffic gods were angry. Paul would not be arriving in Foxboro in time to zoom with us at 9. So what did he do? He took a detour and joined the show in studio. Why? Because Paul Perillo is a true professional. After he arrived, he walked us through his exchange with Vrabel and discussed Patriots owner Robert Kraft's comments on an 18-game NFL season. Paul even spoke a bit about the league's approach to international games. It's all in the clip up top. Watch. Learn. Celebrate the professionalism.
Owners Meetings, Maye Shaves
Meanwhile, Patriots QB Drake Maye was all smiles on the South Shore. Maye took part in Quincy-based benefit for Boston Children's Hospital on Tuesday. The Saving by Shaving event saw Drake's helmet-holder buzzed by his bride Ann Michael. Our friend Christopher Price was on hand to witness the whiffle, and covered it for the Boston Globe. Chris was also good enough to zoom into the show on Wednesday morning to recap the hairy escapades, as well as to weigh in on the Patriots-related news that came out of the owners meetings earlier in the week.
That meant revisiting the A.J. Brown deal. Not that any deal has been made yet, mind you. But if there's a deal to be made, popular opinion has the Eagles trading Brown to the Patriots for draft picks. So what does that look like? The Patriots trading their late-first round pick in this year's draft with later-round picks? Or next year's first round pick, which will likely be more valuable given how difficult the 2026 schedule will be for the Pats as compared to their 2025 schedule? Christopher covered this and more with Fred, Hardy and Wallach in the clip.
Now would probably be the right time to give a big plug to our Patriots Offseason Hub, now available on the Sports Hub website and app. The NFL Free Agency Tracker gives you up-to-the-minute updates on moves across the league. You'll get all the news that's worth sharing from Alex Barth and Matt Dolloff, alongside all the latest analysis as it pertains to your New England Patriots. And as free agency takes come in hot on Toucher & Hardy, Zo & Beetle, and Felger & Mazz, we'll have the best of that for you, too. We are your radio home for the Patriots, after all.
