Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel turned his introductory press conference Monday into a bully pulpit to dismiss entitlement from the halls of Gillette stadium – and to name check his early collaboration with executive vice president of player personnel, Eliot Wolf.
Vrabel, who stood up straight all 6’4 in a natty blue sport coat before media and team executives, mentioned Wolf multiple times during the 43-minute speaking program.
When asked directly how much control he’d wield over draft picks and free agency signings, he talked at length about his nascent dynamic with Wolf.
“It’s just exciting to sit down with Eliot and his staff,” he said. “I’ve met more with Eliot over the weekend than I have…I’ve had conversations with him. But I need to sit down with his staff to figure out where we’re at and what we need to do. But I’m confident that those types of decisions are all going to sort themselves out. We don’t always want to be on the same page. That’s not the environment that we want to create. But we want to have a shared vision and there’s also different ways to get there. I’m embracing that everyone’s going to have a different personality.”
There’s been healthy speculation about New England’s front office, especially with Vrabel taking the reigns of the coaching staff.
Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk fired Vrabel after six seasons at the helm in 2023. It was a surprising move, even after Vrabel led the team to back-to-back losing seasons. The Titans had just hired general manager Ran Carthon one year before, and the entire collapse fueled curiosity about how well the front office and coaching staff were able to collaborate. Strunk fired Carthon from that position just last week.
Wolf was elevated to his current position following Bill Belichick’s dismissal last winter. His 2024 draft execution yielded highs and lows: he secured Drake Maye with the third overall pick, but traded away from the opportunity to draft the dynamic receiver, Ladd McConkey, and saddled the team with minimal production at that position.
Vrabel’s answers didn’t quite indicate whether he’d be reporting in any way to the front office, whether the situation would be vice-versa, or a total collaboration. But he did, again, cite Wolf as a possible “point of contact” for his future players once football gets underway again.
So it sounds like Wolf is here to work with Vrabel, whether in his current role, or in a different capacity.
The Patriots’ 2025 offseason will be another critical opportunity for the team to right itself after two four-win seasons. New England holds the fourth overall pick in the draft. They also enter the offseason with the most cap space in the entire NFL. Their $120,541,728 gap dwarfs the runner up in that category: the Las Vegas Raiders have $92, 522,914 heading into the offseason.
Just last Monday, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said whoever was brought in as head coach would have “big input on who the players are and who the coaches are.” As Vrabel appeared to be the frontrunner from the jump, it’s easy to read that answer as handing a lot of reigns over to him.
Vrabel also called his “ability to have open dialogue with Robert and Jonathan” a factor of the New England job that set it apart from other opportunities. Robert gave the introductory remarks for Vrabel, while Jonathan stood to the side of the room and listened intently to the program.
The next big decisions for New England will be hiring coordinators.
The offensive play caller job, in particular, will be a heavily scrutinized pick.
Whoever wins the job will be tasked with bringing young Maye from a promising and exciting rookie into the top tier of quarterbacks.
“That’s far from solidified. We want to put the best talented coaches in front of our players,” Vrabel said Monday.