Henry McKenna
NFL reporter
The New England Patriots, apparently, are usually not within the enterprise of creating coaches. They employed Mike Vrabel Sunday morning to switch Jerod Mayo, whose tenure as New England’s coach lasted lower than a calendar yr.
The attraction to Vrabel is easy: He’s what the Patriots hoped Mayo might be someday. Vrabel is able to coach on the playoff degree, however his new workforce is about as removed from playoff degree as a roster can get.
Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft mentioned he determined to fireside Mayo as a result of the workforce “regressed” over the course of the yr, with an upset over the Bengals in Week 1 however then failing to get a good win past that time.
“I really feel horrible for Jerod as a result of I put him in an untenable state of affairs,” Kraft mentioned Monday. “He simply wanted extra time earlier than he took the job. At the tip of the day, I’m a fan of this workforce first. And now I’ve to exit and discover a coach who can get us again to the playoffs and hopefully championships.”
There are expectations. Willing.
Get New England again to the playoffs. And the Super Bowl.
That’s the impact having Bill Belichick and Tom Brady for 20 years could have on a corporation. Those guys set the websites on the highest degree potential for 2 males within the NFL.
How shortly does Kraft count on Vrabel to succeed in the playoffs?
Because this workforce is not shut.
At no level this season has New England appeared to have the expertise wanted to make the playoffs. While quarterback Drake Maye is as promising as any rookie on this yr’s class, he additionally struggled to shut out video games, with a handful of late turnovers basically ending his workforce’s hopes of profitable.
He wanted assist: on the offensive line, at receiver, on the defensive position, at linebacker.
It was apparent. But the answer just isn’t clear.
New England had hassle buying expertise final yr, with a whiff of a free company flirtation with Calvin Ridley and one other failed commerce take care of the 49ers concerning Brandon Aiyuk. The Patriots needed to improve at receiver. They have been able to spend picks and money. Yet they could not land one.
This yr will probably be one other robust marketplace for weapons. If the Bengals lengthen or franchise tag Tee Higgins, then that is unhappy. Receivers Chris Godwin, Stefon Diggs, DeAndre Hopkins, Amari Cooper and Tyler Lockett (a possible cap casualty) ought to be obtainable, however they’re all at finest within the WR2 part of their careers.
The finest guess for the Patriots to land a WR1 could be on the commerce market. But is it definitely worth the danger for Deebo Samuel after a string of unproductive seasons? How about Michael Pittman? Would the Seahawks additionally commerce DK Metcalf?
It’s the identical challenge at deal with, with the Ravens’ Ronnie Stanley scheduled to hit free company, however possible will not make it as a result of an impending franchise tag. You can scroll down the checklist and it isn’t fairly. It’s not the place you’d usually wish to make investments tens of tens of millions of {dollars}.
But the Patriots, who’ve about $120 million in cap house, must take some dangers in free company (one thing they weren’t keen to do final yr). Vrabel’s status across the league is strong, and with Maye placing on streak, the 2 ought to have the ability to appeal to a greater free agent class than New England had final yr. But that does not say a lot.
Is Mike Vrabel a sensible choice for Patriots head coach?
If Vrabel and Maye hope to win shortly and impress Kraft, the Patriots must do what Mayo obtained in hassle for saying final offseason: Burn some money.
New England will wish to rebuild by design, which is Kraft’s most popular methodology. But this yr too the proprietor confirmed his impatience. Developing via the draft takes time, particularly if the 2024 draft class is as huge a bunch of busts because it seems, exterior of Maye, in fact.
Worse, Mayo’s closing act as coach was beating the Bills in Week 18, which took New England from the No. 1 total choose to the No. 4 choose within the 2025 draft. That’s a chasm value roughly a future first- and second-round choose in a commerce. And it is possible the Patriots would attempt to make precisely that transfer by dealing Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders to the very best bidder.
When FOX Sports spoke with Patriots vice chairman of participant personnel Eliot Wolf earlier than Week 18, he mentioned the workforce did not get the “inner growth” it hoped for from the 2024 draft class.
This is the place Vrabel must shine. His employees should elevate gamers like receiver Ja’Lynn Polk, who the scouting division thought was “plug and play” however who managed simply 12 receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie. This is a typical single-game stat for Ladd McConkey, who the Chargers took on the level the place New England folded.
You cannot fault a workforce for desirous to hoard draft picks, which generally is a actual no-brainer. It’s simply that, aside from Maye, the Patriots’ 2024 draft class has but to be produced. Rookie offensive linemen Layden Robinson and Caedan Wallace did not look able to contribute but. Not even Polk or Javon Baker, one other rookie receiver. The Patriots drafted these 4 gamers in rounds 2 via 4.
The volume-based method has but to bear fruit.
To repair the issues, Vrabel must do just about all the pieces Mayo could not: rent a training employees that may make a roster look higher than it’s; develop inner expertise for the long run; recruiting exterior expertise in a tough offseason. And it would not harm if the employees turned Maye right into a top-10 QB.
It’s an extended checklist of issues to do.
That’s a really tall to-do checklist.
Vrabel inherits a home with out partitions, with out kitchen, with out rest room. All he has is a body (and, sure, that is Maye on this metaphor). Kraft seems to be saying he needs to reside in that home by September.
If that is true, Vrabel is in hassle.
Before becoming a member of FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years protecting the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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