On Monday, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel spoke with assembled media for 34 minutes at the AFC Coaches Breakfast as a part of the NFL Annual Meetings in Palm Beach, FL.
Here’s a sampling of the vast array of topics covered:
His thoughts on draft strategy, grading his team’s performance in free agency, what he makes of New England winning in Week 18 last season to lose the No. 1 pick, his excitement level for the addition of Stefon Diggs, how he plans to implement a passing game coordinator, his conversations with Ja’Lynn Polk - I could keep going, but you get the point.
Vrabel was up for playing ball on Monday as the team sits just 24 days away from the 2025 NFL Draft.
One topic broached that could have draft day implications is the health of 25-year-old defensive tackle Christian Barmore, who missed most of last season due to complications stemming from blood clots.
Vrabel was asked what the 2021 All-Rookie Team selection’s availability would be moving forward.
“By all accounts, I think [he’s] gonna participate in the voluntary offseason program,” said Vrabel. “Voluntarily be there - this is my point to see how many times I can say the word ‘voluntarily’ in a 30-second hit. But I write a letter voluntarily to the players, and making sure that they voluntarily read it, and voluntarily show up.
“[Barmore] came in with energy, he popped in the other day to see the doctors. And I knew Christian from when I saw him at Alabama. Haven’t really had any interaction with him, and when he walked into the training room, all the trainers and just his energy and presence - so I know that he’s feeling better. We’ll continue to evaluate him. That’s something very serious. We take the health of our players extremely serious, especially when you’re talking about something like blood clots. And we’re gonna have a great plan for him. We’re gonna do right by him. Whatever is necessary, however we can get him to help us, based on days of practice, based on everything that he needs. And we don’t have that plan yet, but we’re continuing to work through it.”
This is fantastic news for Patriots fans, as Barmore has been among the few bright spots on this New England roster in the post-Tom Brady era.
After being selected 38th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, Barmore impressed enough in his first three seasons in the pros to warrant a massive four-year extension with the Patriots worth $92 million.
The best of those seasons came in 2023. While playing in all 17 games, Barmore set career highs across the board, recording 64 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits and six pass deflections. In a season where his defense was ravished by injury on their way to four wins and the No. 3 overall pick, Barmore was consistently a standout.
So as New England turned the page towards 2024, the expectations for Barmore were sky-high under first-year head coach Jerod Mayo.
But just days into training camp, the team announced Barmore would be out indefinitely as he dealt with complications related to blood clots, giving no timetable for him to return and adding him to the non-football injury (NFI) list. Barmore went from a mountain of expectations heading into his fourth season to having no expectations of even seeing the field in 2024.
In a pleasant surprise to fans and media alike, Barmore was cleared to return to the practice field in November ahead of his team’s Week 11 game against the Rams. While excitement for his return was high, expectations from his coaching staff were tempered in the media. And it turned out that was for good reason, as Barmore returned to the NFI list after only four games, where he was only able to get on the field for 48.8% of the available defensive snaps, managing a mere 6 tackles in that span.
It was clear that Barmore was not the same Barmore-of-old in 2024, leading fans and media to wonder if the team should look to draft depth at defensive line at No. 4 overall, pointing to Michigan’s Mason Graham as a possible option. And even with the team breaking the bank in March for Eagles free agent defensive tackle Milton Williams, there remained a sentiment among fans that adding Graham to a D-line with Williams could help the Patriots get to the dominant level of Williams’ old team, where their front four carried them to a blowout win in Super Bowl LIX in February.
But if Barmore is healthy, it would feel more-than-redundant to look at Graham as an option that high in the draft. With Barmore and Williams’ cap hits combining for more than $28 million in 2024, you would think that’s enough top-end investment on the interior of your defense.
But as we witnessed last season with Barmore’s blood clots, things can be unpredictable with that type of diagnosis. While Vrabel spoke glowingly about his outlook on Monday, things could change in an instant as soon as Tuesday. It’s a sad reality, but it’s the truth.
So as we get closer to day one of the NFL Draft on April 24, Barmore’s health and wellness will continue to be a topic of conversation as the team decides what to do with their second-consecutive top-five pick.
Stay locked in to WEEI and WEEI.com for all the latest on the Patriots’ offseason.