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

[TheRainMaker]

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 agree that Pop's days are numbered. He should've been the primary slot guy. He's been a disappointment.

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...

The legal situation could come into play, but I don't think Diggs wants to go the Brandin Cooks route being passed around the league. Diggs in his prime was regarded as one of the best, but now could be a journeyman. In the end, I think the Pats ask him to come back at a reduced salary which I'd be shocked if Diggs refuses. There's no way he stays at his current number.

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.

Because it's not a good use of money for a slot guy who can't shake man coverage. Verbel already hinted at this. We were outraged over BB not paying Welker, but we're okay with the Pats paying Diggs more money who's going to be 32 years old with recent ACL injury? He has Jakobi Meyers disease and I'm shocked nobody else has noticed this. He has a really difficult time whenever he's manned up and instantly tackled when he manages to catch the ball. The first Bills games had guys draped on him and had to break tackles to earn every yard. Collects most of his yards in zone or busted coverages like Meyers.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

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.

I don't disagree with that statement in a vacuum. It just has to all fit into the overall team building concept.

I really like the fit of Pierce and Likely here. I also want to sign Connor McGovern at Center and sign a starting caliber LG too. I also want to re-sign Chaisson. I also want to splurge on Trey Hendrickson for a short term deal since EDGE is such a weak spot. I'd like to keep Hawkins or sign a proven vet to replace him. I'd like to keep Tonga.

Totally hear you on keeping Diggs. I'm not against it. It's just about how the pieces all fit together on the field and on the cap sheet. Diggs really works best out of the slot at this stage of his career but we run a lot of 2 TE sets which minimizes slot looks. That's part of why Diggs' snap percentage was so low last year despite a high target rate when he was out there. That's kind of why I liked the Pierce/Likely fits in the scenario I posted where Diggs was cut to free up that money (so existing cap space could go towards other spots). If Diggs is kept, I think we should try to move away from 2 TE sets as the main focus to more 3 WR packages.

 

[Ross12]

Cuts and trades I would be considering:

- Cutting Diggs to save a lot of cash. They can entertain a new contract at a lower salary, though he may wish to test the market first.
- Trading Boutte. While he had some flashes, he also faded down the stretch and I don't think I'm sold on him at this point. He is due for an extension soon. If they are looking for a new top-end WR (I assume they are) then there will be fewer snaps to go around anyway, especially if they want to get Williams more involved, too - and I don't think Hollins is going anywhere, so Boutte may end up being redundant.
- Cutting Henry and replacing him with a younger, better player in free agency.
- Cutting Moses and replacing him with a younger, better player in free agency.
- Cutting Dobbs and replacing him with DeVito, and drafting a kid late to be the emergency 3rd.
- Cutting Baringer and replacing him with a younger, (hopefully) better player via a draft pick.
- Trading Christian Barmore to save some cap (~$7M) and get out of some future guarantees. He will net decent comp. He has not always gotten with the program, and his effort is inconsistent. Good player, but is the juice worth the squeeze? Vrabel may prefer to save the money and replace him with someone like Durden and a rotation of other guys while also getting a decent pick back. (Side note: I could see a deal where the Pats trade Barmore for AJ Brown - seems like the kind of player Philly likes.)
- Restructures/extensions for Milton Williams, Mike Onwenu, Carlton Davis, Harold Landry to generate cap space if/as needed.

 

[Ross12]

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.

I meant from Philly's perspective - they'd want to move him now to get the money off their books. It doesn't necessarily affect cap space a ton from a single-year perspective, but saving $30M is saving $30M. From a macro view, that's $30M you can spend on someone else that you aren't stuck paying a guy you are trying to trade away and will just become dead cap.

 

[n1997y]

They can do it under a post June 1 designation/understanding.

Can’t do post June 1 designation for trade, only if released. Understanding for a post June 1 trade seems likely to risk collusion sanctions.

 

[stinkypete]

Wilson could move to center and use the money for a veteran LG instead of Linderbaum.

This seems the best path toward improving the line in 2026, upgrade two positions with one player. I’d love to pry David Edwards or Elijah Vera Tucker from a rival.

For WR, I think WanDale Robinson would be a stud here.

 

[Ross12]

Honest to god, if they just sell the **** out for Alec Piece and David Edwards at WR and LG respectively, they are pretty settled on offense. They'll still need to make some tweaks at some spots, a couple mid-tier FA signings, a couple draft picks, but those two guys would really solve the "big" problems.

 

[Ross12]

For WR, I think WanDale Robinson would be a stud here.

I'll sign off on that. Robinson is a great fit for the scheme, I think. Doesn't solve the "WR1" problem but he gets open. Only ~25 years old and a very high volume target guy.

 

[Toofy]

Cuts and trades I would be considering:

- Cutting Diggs to save a lot of cash. They can entertain a new contract at a lower salary, though he may wish to test the market first.
- Trading Boutte. While he had some flashes, he also faded down the stretch and I don't think I'm sold on him at this point. He is due for an extension soon. If they are looking for a new top-end WR (I assume they are) then there will be fewer snaps to go around anyway, especially if they want to get Williams more involved, too - and I don't think Hollins is going anywhere, so Boutte may end up being redundant.
- Cutting Henry and replacing him with a younger, better player in free agency.
- Cutting Moses and replacing him with a younger, better player in free agency.
- Cutting Dobbs and replacing him with DeVito, and drafting a kid late to be the emergency 3rd.
- Cutting Baringer and replacing him with a younger, (hopefully) better player via a draft pick.
- Trading Christian Barmore to save some cap (~$7M) and get out of some future guarantees. He will net decent comp. He has not always gotten with the program, and his effort is inconsistent. Good player, but is the juice worth the squeeze? Vrabel may prefer to save the money and replace him with someone like Durden and a rotation of other guys while also getting a decent pick back. (Side note: I could see a deal where the Pats trade Barmore for AJ Brown - seems like the kind of player Philly likes.)
- Restructures/extensions for Milton Williams, Mike Onwenu, Carlton Davis, Harold Landry to generate cap space if/as needed.

Great post . But I don't think we will want to rock the boat a lot .

I think we need to have 1 of Henry / diggs . Can't trade or release both.. of course I don't want both of them in 2027.

Moses - we might be forced to keep him while we allow Campbell and wilson to become better . Same goes with onwenu .
If Wallace is not a starter in his 3rd year, cut his sorry ass and let's just keep Bryant . You don't want to let go of prospective linemen till they absolutely suck.

We might need to keep Boutte if diggs is released. If diggs returns , then pop needs to be out. Diggs might be crucial for development of williams . But yeah Boutte disappointed down the stretch and lost himself real big money. The offensive line in fact killed everyone's chances on offense . If I am diggs , Boutte and pop I would be livid at Wilson and Campbell as their screw ups impacted their production and in essence future contract values.

Doubs and baringer should be cut.

Defense is the only thing which is keeping us in game .so I would not touch it this season but would line up replacements for barmore , Davis , Spillane, landry through rookies or mid tier free agents.


Summary

This season cut - hooper , diggs / pop, mapu, Barringer, doubs , Bradbury and Henry if we get younger tight end in free agency.

Next season - Moses , davis, barmore, onwenu , landry , diggs and Henry, Mac hollins

This is a big list which means we need to nail the draft and also get free agents to retain this production as we lose folks. Next 2 drafts are crucial .

It's a miracle that we reached a super bowl .

 

[n1997y]

Honest to god, if they just sell the **** out for Alec Piece and David Edwards at WR and LG respectively, they are pretty settled on offense. They'll still need to make some tweaks at some spots, a couple mid-tier FA signings, a couple draft picks, but those two guys would really solve the "big" problems.

I’m not entirely convinced WR is as big a problem for this offense as this board thinks. All the Super Bowl film breakdowns I’ve seen have shown open throws that Drake missed. He either did not see them or misfired and threw inaccurately. I’m afraid of the Randy Moss effect, where getting a major upgrade at WR1 results in our QB looking to feed him at the expense of spreading the ball around the way Maye did during the regular season. I would like to see an upgrade at WR but I think that’s secondary to fixing the OL, and a lot of that might come just from health and the second year jump.

 

[n1997y]

Great post . But I don't think we will want to rock the boat a lot .

Agree. Think some of your recommendations rock the boat more than necessary.

I think we need to have 1 of Henry / diggs . Can't trade or release both.. of course I don't want both of them in 2027.

Why not?

What’s wrong with Diggs as WR2 and Henry as TE2?

Assuming Diggs takes a renegotiated contract.

Moses - we might be forced to keep him while we allow Campbell and wilson to become better . Same goes with onwenu .
If Wallace is not a starter in his 3rd year, cut his sorry ass and let's just keep Bryant . You don't want to let go of prospective linemen till they absolutely suck.

Seems to me that what we do with Moses and Big Mike on the right side of the OL is a separate issue from what happens with Campbell and Wilson on the left side.

Word out of camp last summer was that Wallace is purely guard now, so nothing to do with Bryant at tackle. Bryant may be ready to step up as our next RT if Moses declines or retires.

Agree about not letting OL go if you can keep them. Think that applies to Lowe. Hope we can keep him. Really wish he had played during the playoffs instead of Campbell.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

I’m not entirely convinced WR is as big a problem for this offense as this board thinks. All the Super Bowl film breakdowns I’ve seen have shown open throws that Drake missed. He either did not see them or misfired and threw inaccurately. I’m afraid of the Randy Moss effect, where getting a major upgrade at WR1 results in our QB looking to feed him at the expense of spreading the ball around the way Maye did during the regular season. I would like to see an upgrade at WR but I think that’s secondary to fixing the OL, and a lot of that might come just from health and the second year jump.

At some point in the year I remember seeing a stat saying that despite how good Maye was down the field, we still faced defenses playing loaded boxes at one of the highest rates in the league. That's where the WR problem shows up, IMO. I think it would help our offense a lot if we had receiving threats they respected enough to back up for. It would make reads easier for Maybe. It would make run blocking easier. And it would make pass blocking easier to because loaded boxes make it easier to disguise.

Our WRs are productive, but they don't move defenses. That's why I have Alec Pierce circled as such a great target for us. He's a premier deep threat who I think would actually force defenses to back off more and that would have a positive effect on all other areas of the offense.

 

[Real fan 02]

Last offseason was insane, i can count 15 starters or very significant roles:
M williams, c davis, spillane, landry, chiasson, woodson, tonga, moses, bradbury, campbell, wilson, diggs, hollins, henderson, and a kicker. Plus some other depth pieces

Ive said in other threads if we do even 1/3rd of that (5 starter quality players at areas of need plus a few depth pieces ) we will be among the favorites. We can probably do more than that too.

Not too stressed over younger / older, i imagine like last season itll be somewhat a mix of both but less of the old since there will be less need for bandaid type signings like moses/bradbury/landry. But they still could use some veteran leadership especially if they are moving on from some of those guys.

Agreed... I want to make a case for S. Diggs.. I think fans tend to forget guy came off a very serious knee injury that for a veteran player at age 30 typical choose to retire then come back from.. look at ayuik same injury and hasn't played this season. Diggs had 1000 yards this season.. most some big plays and was a great leader for the entire team.

He's under contract as I understand it signed a 3 year deal... Vrabel has ways he can take care of Diggs.. new money in form of bonuses, guarantees and escalators... I don't think what Diggs meant this as season in particular in the minds of some gets enough appreciation.. he was getting doubled and bracketed this season this especially on 3rd down.. I think he needs to be here even when we add at WR..

 

[RobertWeathers]

Can’t do post June 1 designation for trade, only if released. Understanding for a post June 1 trade seems likely to risk collusion sanctions.

hmmmm

 

[Real fan 02]

Agree. Think some of your recommendations rock the boat more than necessary.

Why not?

What’s wrong with Diggs as WR2 and Henry as TE2?

Assuming Diggs takes a renegotiated contract.

Seems to me that what we do with Moses and Big Mike on the right side of the OL is a separate issue from what happens with Campbell and Wilson on the left side.

Word out of camp last summer was that Wallace is purely guard now, so nothing to do with Bryant at tackle. Bryant may be ready to step up as our next RT if Moses declines or retires.

Agree about not letting OL go if you can keep them. Think that applies to Lowe. Hope we can keep him. Really wish he had played during the playoffs instead of Campbell.

Oh I can see why Diggs isn't wanted.. because we churn out 1,000 yard WRs every season.. we'll do it again without Diggs... you'll see! Just wait! I had to laugh.. lol..

 

[reflexblue]

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)

Maybe he should do it privately

 

[Ross12]

At some point in the year I remember seeing a stat saying that despite how good Maye was down the field, we still faced defenses playing loaded boxes at one of the highest rates in the league. That's where the WR problem shows up, IMO. I think it would help our offense a lot if we had receiving threats they respected enough to back up for. It would make reads easier for Maybe. It would make run blocking easier. And it would make pass blocking easier to because loaded boxes make it easier to describe.

Our WRs are productive, but they don't move defenses. That's why I have Alec Pierce circled as such a great target for us. He's a premier deep threat who I think would actually force defenses to back off more and that would have a positive effect on all other areas of the offense.

Yep, this is also where I am at. Pierce is a great solution to their current problem. They need to actually force defenses to play back a bit, which lightens boxes and makes it easier to run the ball. They also just need to improve the OL to further improve running the ball in general. And in turn, if they are running the ball well, then the pass rush becomes less intense which makes Maye's life easier.

 

[Joey007]

Breer was on 98.5 today saying that Vrabel told him that they will approach free agency getting younger, cheaper, and better players. Not that the Pats will be cheap in free agency or not aggressive. In fact, Breer thought the Pats could be aggressive in free agency. But he wants to replace older player with young players that might be cheaper in the short run like say replacing Henry, who has a high cap hit this year, with a younger option like maybe Kyle Pitts who might be cheaper in the short run but is younger and potentially better. Breer did use Henry as an example, but didn't state a potential replacement. I used Pitts as an example.

From the sounds of it, players like Moses, Diggs, Henry, Hooper, Hollins, Bradbury could be targets for younger upgrades.

What we won't see is what the Commanders did last year where they went all in to get older players who could help them win right now, but won't help in the future while mortgaging draft picks. Again, I don't know if that means that the Pats won't make trades, but it is doubtful they will trade for a guy who only has a couple of years left of production or potentially requiring too much trade capital.

Kinda hoping it’s not Henry. Isn’t he on a decent contract to begin with? I like getting younger behind him, though.

Otherwise, I’m curious who else may fit that billing. Rhamondre because of his bloated deal? Diggs seems obvious. Landry would if not for the contract commitment.

Admittedly other guys that could fit that description aren’t really the ones I want to let go. Hunter Henry, Moses, Mike O, Spillane..

 

[mgteich]

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.

.

CURRENT cap space means very little unless a team is hopeless on managing the cap. Diggs was signed for 3 years for $63M. You would convert this to a one year contract for $25M and get rid of the player. even though we have rights to him for $20M this year.
========
Diggs was signed to a $21M AAV contract. He WAS well worth it when signed and during the 2925 season. He will likely be worth it again in 2026 and yes, he will likely to be worth it in 2027.

If we need current cap space, we can simply restructure, leaving the decision of how to extend to next year. We could always add a void year to spread the cap. But that is NOT the issue. Vrabel took a chance with a player recevering from an ACL tear. Vrabel WON. We will continue to see the benefits in 2026 and beyond.

 

[Joey007]

Breer was on 98.5 today saying that Vrabel told him that they will approach free agency getting younger, cheaper, and better players. Not that the Pats will be cheap in free agency or not aggressive. In fact, Breer thought the Pats could be aggressive in free agency. But he wants to replace older player with young players that might be cheaper in the short run like say replacing Henry, who has a high cap hit this year, with a younger option like maybe Kyle Pitts who might be cheaper in the short run but is younger and potentially better. Breer did use Henry as an example, but didn't state a potential replacement. I used Pitts as an example.

From the sounds of it, players like Moses, Diggs, Henry, Hooper, Hollins, Bradbury could be targets for younger upgrades.

What we won't see is what the Commanders did last year where they went all in to get older players who could help them win right now, but won't help in the future while mortgaging draft picks. Again, I don't know if that means that the Pats won't make trades, but it is doubtful they will trade for a guy who only has a couple of years left of production or potentially requiring too much trade capital.

I’m curious what he would consider AJ Brown. I do get a sense he may be a couple seasons before completely falling off. But Vrabel may not feel that way.

A guy like Max Crosby is turning 29. But I would wager he has another high end 4-5 years in him if he stays healthy. He’d be worth it.