Breer: Vrabel says the Pats will approach the offseason getting younger, cheaper, & better options

[Grogan14]

In contrast here are the Pats picks over the same time period:


2022 Cole Strange, Tyquan Thornton, Marcus Jones, Jack Jones, Pierre Strong (not with team 4/5)
2023 Christian Gonzalez, Keion White, Marte Mapu, Jake Andrews, Chad Ryland (not with team 4/5)
2024 Drake Maye, Jalynn Polk, Caeda Wallace (bust), Layden Robinson, Javon Baker (not with team 3/5, one bust still with team)
2025 Will Campbell, Trevyon Henderson, Kyle Williams, Jared Wilson, Craig Woodson (4 starters, one backup, no misses)


Past 4 drafts- Seahawks 12 starters
Past 4 drafts- NE 7 starters (4 from 2025 draft)

 

[Toofy]

I don't think we can afford to waste any assets till we see upside of the current talent. So trades are actually useless and futile - crossby and aj brown.

We can talk about aj brown and barkley trade for eagles . But eagles had close to 10 people bowl worthy players they drafted already. We have 2 in Maye and gonzo and that's it . We have so many holes. Realistically 2027 or 2028 is the big year for us . Which means we need our current rookies to step up and play a big part ( Henderson, Campbell and williams ) and also draft well I. 2027 to have the top 3 perform well so that in 2027 all knives are sharpened.

Check the Seahawks draft . They had 5 star players from 2022 draft and won the 2025 Superbowl with middling QB.

We have 1 from 2022 ( Marcus ) and 1 from 2024 draft ( Maye) on this team .

No wonder we got whooped . The vets played above their pay grade and saved us. That will not always happen. We need 2 more solid drafts and couple of value added free agency.

Even if we regress this year we should move away from aged and overpriced vet players within next 1 year - Henry, hooper, diggs , davis, Moses, hollins, hooper, Bradbury, landry. Need to be smart on the agents we pick. No need for a superstar this year.

 

[sb1]

Sounds good to me. This season the stars aligned for an AFC Championship but that should not change what's happening here in the longer term. Stick to the plan and keep building this thing.

 

[Ring 6]

In contrast here are the Pats picks over the same time period:


2022 Cole Strange, Tyquan Thornton, Marcus Jones, Jack Jones, Pierre Strong (not with team 4/5)
2023 Christian Gonzalez, Keion White, Marte Mapu, Jake Andrews, Chad Ryland (not with team 4/5)
2024 Drake Maye, Jalynn Polk, Caeda Wallace (bust), Layden Robinson, Javon Baker (not with team 3/5, one bust still with team)
2025 Will Campbell, Trevyon Henderson, Kyle Williams, Jared Wilson, Craig Woodson (4 starters, one backup, no misses)


Past 4 drafts- Seahawks 12 starters
Past 4 drafts- NE 7 starters (4 from 2025 draft)

Sam
Why are you welching in your bet

 

[Steve102]

Sam
Why are you welching in your bet

Andy. Leave it. No one wants to listen to you ***** about it. Be the bigger man.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

I'm all in on the idea of letting Diggs go and using the $20.8M of cap savings to fit WR Alec Pierce and TE Isaiah Likely.

Boutte had great deep ball production from the X receiver spot last year, but it didn't really move defenses back. They were content to not overplay him and just let him make his plays. I think in large part it's because they viewed it as more a product of Maye than needing to overcompensate for Boutte. Pierce is a more legit X/deep threat, as we've seen with lesser QB play. He's a guy who would push defenses back and open things up more for underneath routes, makes reads a little easier for Maye, and take guys out of the box so the OL reads are easier too. Boutte can move to the Z receiver where I think he profiles well. It's not like he didn't play it all either - sometimes he did when Hollins was in over Diggs and he lined up as X.

The Hooper/Henry 2 TE set is just too clunky. Both are really in-line/Y TE types as opposed to true move guys. And neither are great blockers so you aren't getting the power surge there in the run game either. Likely is a true move TE with alignment versatility and proven YAC ability. You get those 2 TE looks without being clunky in the passing game. And his YAC/underneath receiving ability can help fill the void of Diggs who is being replaced in his role by Boutte who is not the same kind of player there (since Boutte's old role is going to Pierce).

Both of them (Pierce/Likely) are going into their age 26 season so they're young and can grow with Maye. and hopefully Boutte also being re-signed. Add in Kyle Williams hopefully developing to give you 3 WR looks and you have some good stuff brewing.

Eventually you want to phase Henry out with a better blocking Y/in-line TE, but Rome wasn't built in a day. They aren't going to perfect every position on the team this offseason. Keep looking through the draft for someone who fits that mold as a blocker while still being a solid enough receiving threat.

 

[Ian]

Sam
Why are you welching in your bet

Because I told @Sam Bam Cunningham it's not relevant or necessary. It's over and done with. We're on to 2026.

 

[mgteich]

I'm all in on the idea of letting Diggs go and using the $20.8M of cap savings to fit WR Alec Pierce and TE Isaiah Likely.

.

Basically, you are saying that Vrabel made a poor signing of Diggs and that he should dump him because he wasn't and isn't worth what Vrabel thought he was worth.

I find that position to be 100% nonsense.
===========
I am of the exact opposite view. I think that Diggs was the best addition to the Offense made by Vrabel and was one of the two leaders of the Offense on our road to the Super Bowl.
=======
THAT BEING SAID
I indeed would like to upgrade our WR corps as ADDITIONS to Diggs, Hollins and Boutte. I don't see us trying to improve the WR's by getting rid of one of our top three. We have one prospect for the future in Williams.

I don't see a lot in Douglas or Chism. There is certainly room for upgrade.
==========
BOTTOM LINE
We have a good WR corps that was part of a good Offense in 2025. One successful upgrade could make for a lot of improvement.

 

[ViperGTS]

Basically, you are saying that Vrabel made a poor signing of DIggs and that he should dump him because he wasn't and isn't worth what Vrabel thought he was worth.

I find that position to be 100% nonsense.
===========
I am of the exact opposite view. I think that Diggs was the best addition to the Offense made by Vrabel and was one of the two leaders of the Offense on our road to the Super Bowl.
=======
THAT BEING SAID
I'm would like to upgrade our WR corps as ADDITIONS to Diggs, Hollins and Boutte. I don't see us trying to improve the WR's by getting rid of one of our top three.

I don't see a lot in Williams, Douglas and Chism. There is certainly room for upgrade.

I tend to agree. I think the Digg signing in the end was very good, but I think his time has run it's course. He was open a few times in the SB and Maye just flat out didn't see him.

Pop needs to go, he's a decent player but not good enough for this team. They need one more WR to replace Diggs and draft one to replace Pops spot. They need to keep drafting a WR or 2 each draft and keep churning that position.

 

[TommyD4207]

I tend to agree. I think the Digg signing in the end was very good, but I think his time has run it's course. He was open a few times in the SB and Maye just flat out didn't see him.

Pop needs to go, he's a decent player but not good enough for this team. They need one more WR to replace Diggs and draft one to replace Pops spot. They need to keep drafting a WR or 2 each draft and keep churning that position.

I'd like to see what he can do a year removed from the ACL injury. He put up 80/1000 immediately after.

I think you can get one more year out of him.

 

[ViperGTS]

I'd like to see what he can do a year removed from the ACL injury. He put up 80/1000 immediately after.

I think you can get one more year out of him.

Maybe. A year older and starting to have a lot of baggage being carried around as well. I mean, if I am the Pats I'm not adverse to bringing him back. However if there is a better option out there...

 

[maust]

Andy. Leave it. No one wants to listen to you ***** about it. Be the bigger man.

Because I told @Sam Bam Cunningham it's not relevant or necessary. It's over and done with. We're on to 2026.

I agree with both of you it was a stupid bet but did the two of you miss the part where Sam made it with Andy? Andy is the only one who can absolve Sam of his obligation to honor it. A bet is a bet, a man who doesn't honor his wagers is no man at all and one who doesn't even acknowledge them is scum. There are few things lower than a welsher

 

[Ross12]

An AJ Brown trade isn't likely because it's a $20M cap hit to trade him before 6/1, which is about equal to their current cap space.

They might be curious sellers right now, but I don't think they're motivated sellers yet.

I think the motivation is to get out of the 2026 option bonus that would be paid out in early March. If they trade him before then, they can pass that ~$30M in guaranteed cash on to the new team.

 

[Froob]

I don't really get the thinking in cutting Diggs. He's a valuable guy for us to have, especially if we grab a real WR1.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Basically, you are saying that Vrabel made a poor signing of Diggs and that he should dump him because he wasn't and isn't worth what Vrabel thought he was worth.

I find that position to be 100% nonsense.
===========
I am of the exact opposite view. I think that Diggs was the best addition to the Offense made by Vrabel and was one of the two leaders of the Offense on our road to the Super Bowl.
=======
THAT BEING SAID
I indeed would like to upgrade our WR corps as ADDITIONS to Diggs, Hollins and Boutte. I don't see us trying to improve the WR's by getting rid of one of our top three. We have one prospect for the future in Williams.

I don't see a lot in Douglas or Chism. There is certainly room for upgrade.
==========
BOTTOM LINE
We have a good WR corps that was part of a good Offense in 2025. One successful upgrade could make for a lot of improvement.

Whoa, you're taking some pretty big leaps of faith and making some sweeping generalizations here.

Diggs was not a poor signing and we got our money's worth for sure this year. But last year we paid him $19.8M and he had a cap number of $8.7M. This year if we keep him we pay $22.5M and he has a cap number of $26.5M. We can gain a big amount f cap space by cutting him.

Very few NFL contracts are actually seen through to the finish and even if they are, there's usually some sort of adjustment along the way (i.e. salary to signing bonus conversion). Suggesting we cut a player does not mean it wasn't a good signing.

I would be totally on board with keeping Diggs. But it was just about the cap allocation. I only broke down the WR/TE position in the post you quoted but we have a whole roster to address. We've got about $42M of cap space now. So we could sign the guys I suggested without cutting Diggs. But then that cap space starts drying up and how do you address other spots to the extend I'd like to?

No argument from me that "our current group + addition(s)" would be better than "our current group - Diggs + addition(s)". I just felt that in the overall team building concept, offsetting the cost of the guys I signed by cutting Diggs made more sense. I believe we're still net improvement on offense and I really like the mix/blend of skill sets we'd have for now and for the future since it was too young guys. And I believe those savings from Diggs can be spent on other parts of the roster (OL, edge rusher).

 

[Steve102]

I agree with both of you it was a stupid bet but did the two of you miss the part where Sam made it with Andy? Andy is the only one who can absolve Sam of his obligation to honor it. A bet is a bet, a man who doesn't honor his wagers is no man at all and one who doesn't even acknowledge them is scum. There are few things lower than a welsher

I really don't want to listen/read Andy's every other post of him complaining about it. I know your history of welshed bets, so I get your point of view. However... I don't think that Andy should torture the rest of us in every other thread because he has an axe to grind with Sam. Nor do I want to mute Andy over it, and then miss out on all the Andyisms.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

I don't really get the thinking in cutting Diggs. He's a valuable guy for us to have, especially if we grab a real WR1.

I don't think anyone is arguing he wasn't or isn't valuable. It's just cutting him saves $20.8M in cap space and that goes VERY far in free agency with how pretty much all contracts are structured for lower cap hits upfront. $20.8M of cap space probably fits like 3 significant signings (talking like $15M/year type guys). And Diggs is an older player too.

A lot of us would like to see 2 new starters on the OL, re-signing or replacing Chaisson as a depth rusher, adding another starting DE on top of that, improvement at TE2, an upgrade at WR, re-signing or replacing Tonga, re-signing or replacing Hawkins and possibly some improvement at off the ball LB. We have a lot of cap space but not enough for all of that. I just think $20.8M for Diggs, while opening up a roster hole, could be better allocated amongst those different positions. You can sign one of the top WRs to replace him and the cap hit would be 1/3 to 1/2 of the money you save from cutting Diggs which lets you address some other spots.

 

[TommyD4207]

I think the motivation is to get out of the 2026 option bonus that would be paid out in early March. If they trade him before then, they can pass that ~$30M in guaranteed cash on to the new team.

The money really shouldn't be a consideration for this year though.

The only real argument for it is 'OMG BIG NUMBER'. They have the money, he doesn't hamstring them in the slightest. It's just a question as to whether or not Kraft wants to spend actual cash.

 

[TommyD4207]

I don't think anyone is arguing he wasn't or isn't valuable. It's just cutting him saves $20.8M in cap space and that goes VERY far in free agency with how pretty much all contracts are structured for lower cap hits upfront. $20.8M of cap space probably fits like 3 significant signings (talking like $15M/year type guys). And Diggs is an older player too.

A lot of us would like to see 2 new starters on the OL, re-signing or replacing Chaisson as a depth rusher, adding another starting DE on top of that, improvement at TE2, an upgrade at WR, re-signing or replacing Tonga, re-signing or replacing Hawkins and possibly some improvement at off the ball LB. We have a lot of cap space but not enough for all of that. I just think $20.8M for Diggs, while opening up a roster hole, could be better allocated amongst those different positions. You can sign one of the top WRs to replace him and the cap hit would be 1/3 to 1/2 of the money you save from cutting Diggs which lets you address some other spots.

He was your best WR coming off an ACL last year.
A year removed from that, I think I'd like to see what he's got for one more year. No one's saying to keep him beyond that, right now.

 

[maust]

I really don't want to listen/read Andy's every other post of him complaining about it. I know your history of welshed bets, so I get your point of view. However... I don't think that Andy should torture the rest of us in every other thread because he has an axe to grind with Sam. Nor do I want to mute Andy over it, and then miss out on all the Andyisms.

Andy has every right to call Sam out. As miserable as it makes me to say it, his disagreeable ass has the high ground on this one and we're not talking one his declared victories either. I never thought I'd ever say this but Andy is 100% right. (I think I may have thrown up in my mouth a bit while typing that)