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

[Rob0729]

Pitts is not going to be cheaper than Henry.. Pitts is looking to get paid. Henry's contract was 9M/per. Pitts was already making 8.2M AAV. My guess is that Pitts is going to try and get to the George Kittle level with his contract.


Most would agree with the following need to be addressed.
- Improve LG (Wallace? sign a UFA)
- Improve OC (Wilson? Sign a UFA?)
- Develop RT (Bryant? Draft Pick)
- 1-2 Edge Players (depends on Landry/Chaisson)
- 4 Down LB who can cover TEs/RBs.
- Free Safety (Depends on if Hawkins is re-signed)
- Improve FB (Brock Lampe? A new college UDFA FB?)
- Improve TE Depth behind Henry
- Improve CB Depth behind Gonzo, Davis, M. Jones. (Cor'Dale Flott? Roger McCreary? Draft Pick?)

Landry's contract has the most guaranteed salary at 11M. So, it's unlikely that the Pats will replace him unless he retires and there is some clause about how the money is handled. (I'm trying to find out how guaranteed salary would be handled in that situation).

Moses' has 4.5M of his 6.5M guaranteed. He also has 850K in per game bonuses that he could earn.. I mentioned back in December I thought that Moses could retire. That's still a possibility.

I don't think Diggs is going anywhere unless the legal issues become a thing.

I mentioned that I didn't expect Hooper to be back. I have to wonder if Daniel Bellinger is on their list to add.. He'd be a good #2/#3 TE. A guy who could block or be a receiver. Cowden will definitely know if he's a fit and can improve the TE position..

I said Pitt would count less to the cap in the short term. I mean in 2026 and maybe 2027. Not overall.

And some of the old guys could still be on the roster, just at a reduced roll. I could see Landry being back next year as a rotational guy rather than a starter depending on what the Pats do in the offseason. Same with Moses.

I think there is a decent chance Diggs will be gone. This season he lived up to his reputation of disappearing in the playoffs. I don't think the Pats want to count on a guy who is going to be 33 next season who has a history of disappearing late in the season and the playoffs.

 

[Zuma]

I thought he moved to Bluesky or whatever the twitter alternative was after Elon bought it

Miguel set his BlueSky account to not be visible unless logged in to BlueSky…which limits his visibility to those who don’t have an account. I don’t think he cares.

 

[Rob0729]

I think Bedard may be wrong on this for several reasons:

- Kraft is 85 years old and just went to a Super Bowl. He might be willing to spend since he knows this team is close, but needs to make some significant additions to make it back. He may be willing to spend to get another ring or two before he passes away.
- Kraft has said the time to spend is when you have a rookie QB on a rookie deal.
- The Pats are now flushed with cash because they sold a piece of the team. They have liquid assets that they never had (although a large chunk of this money is probably reserved for inheritance taxes).
- We don't know if this spending philosophy of the past was Kraft's idea or Belichick's. Kraft may have been willing to spend more, but Belichick decided to the way they did with spending every third year or so was the best way to build a consistent winner.
- The cap is growing like it never has before. This theory of spending every third year and being more conservative the other two has never been put to the test under the new TV contracts.

 

[Jim Plunkett]

You think trading Duggars and replacing him with Woodson weakened them?

It doesn't matter what it did. The days of wine and roses are over.

 

[ViperGTS]

I think Bedard may be wrong on this for several reasons:

- Kraft is 85 years old and just went to a Super Bowl. He might be willing to spend since he knows this team is close, but needs to make some significant additions to make it back. He may be willing to spend to get another ring or two before he passes away.
- Kraft has said the time to spend is when you have a rookie QB on a rookie deal.
- The Pats are now flushed with cash because they sold a piece of the team. They have liquid assets that they never had (although a large chunk of this money is probably reserved for inheritance taxes).
- We don't know if this spending philosophy of the past was Kraft's idea or Belichick's. Kraft may have been willing to spend more, but Belichick decided to the way they did with spending every third year or so was the best way to build a consistent winner.
- The cap is growing like it never has before. This theory of spending every third year and being more conservative the other two has never been put to the test under the new TV contracts.

I agree. The CAP aspect is the greatest one imo. No chance they don't do what's needed to be done to surround Maye with talent again. Young talent as Vrabel said because they can grow with Maye. That goes for offense and defense. They play their cards right, draft properly and they could have a contender for the next 10 years.

 

[Rob0729]

Younger, cheaper. Simply means weaker

No it doesn’t. Many times you can find guys who didn’t make an impact on other teams who can make a huge impact on the Patriots. See guys like Chaisson or Gibbens or Spillane were younger and cheap alternative. Hell, back in the day Vrabel was a young, cheap solution when they signed him after he his unimpressive rookie stint in Pittsburgh.

The Pats all last year found young, cheap solutions. Look at guys like Corey Durden who was a nothing practice squader on this third team in three years and turned into a solid rotational guy for next to nothing.

Good scouting can find younger, cheaper guys who may just be a round peg in a square hole in their current situation, but can be solid contributors or even starters on this team.

And many times the older, more expensive guys are either in the final years of deals that were signed when they were better or guys who were paid last year when the Pats were more desperate to get talent and were willing to take older players on larger contracts on short term deals as 1-2 year stop gaps.

The Pats are not like the Dolphins who are dumping overvalued salaries of players with actual value but because they gave a stupid contract to Tua and others have no choice to dump talent and get cheap alternatives because they created a mess. The Pats are in a good position that they can continue to get younger and improve that way because they can take young guys they truly believe in and not just take them because that is all they can afford.

 

[Real fan 02]

I would want to upgrade both young and old, anyone I could.

But I see no reason to move on from these players unless you found a better one. 31 or 32 is still prime football age. People are talking about bringing in Hendrickson.

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[Real fan 02]

No it doesn’t. Many times you can find guys who didn’t make an impact on other teams who can make a huge impact on the Patriots. See guys like Chaisson or Gibbens or Spillane were younger and cheap alternative. Hell, back in the day Vrabel was a young, cheap solution when they signed him after he his unimpressive rookie stint in Pittsburgh.

The Pats all last year found young, cheap solutions. Look at guys like Corey Durden who was a nothing practice squader on this third team in three years and turned into a solid rotational guy for next to nothing.

Good scouting can find younger, cheaper guys who may just be a round peg in a square hole in their current situation, but can be solid contributors or even starters on this team.

And many times the older, more expensive guys are either in the final years of deals that were signed when they were better or guys who were paid last year when the Pats were more desperate to get talent and were willing to take older players on larger contracts on short term deals as 1-2 year stop gaps.

The Pats are not like the Dolphins who are dumping overvalued salaries of players with actual value but because they gave a stupid contract to Tua and others have no choice to dump talent and get cheap alternatives because they created a mess. The Pats are in a good position that they can continue to get younger and improve that way because they can take young guys they truly believe in and not just take them because that is all they can afford.

Agreed! During the superbowl years we were always finding guys that didn't pan out at other stops and come here and shine.. so many of them.. wr..jabar Gaffney for example who came in and make big plays for Brady and the offense.. I love the approach Vrabel has.. to have a mix of rookie, veterans and 2nd and 3rd year guys...

The one guy I wish would have panned at had he chose to buy in was Keon white had he really and truly bought in her could have been a player here for us..

 

[Huckleberry1]

It doesn't matter what it did. The days of wine and roses are over.

WTF are you talking about?

Whether cutting a veteran makes you weaker or not depends upon the younger player replacing them. It makes you weaker if they are worse, and stronger off they are better.

They replaced Jacoby Brissett with Drake Maye, did that make them weaker or stronger?

 

[Real fan 02]

Pats may take the dead cap hit at $7.5M and release Moses early. Henry's is larger at $12.5M. If Henry stays, it will be his last.

They have outs with:

Diggs. It's as clear as day he either takes a pay cut or he's cut. Decent season when you look at the stat sheet, but not when you look deeper at the games he collected his yardage. Had a lot of no shows throughout the season. He has the Jakobi Meyers disease and can't shake man coverage.
Bradberry. Could be replaced with Linderbaum.
Hollins. Need a veteran somewhere. Made some clutch catches throughout the season.
Tavai. Played decent at times, but his limitations showed when players went to the outside.
Hooper is a FA. Needs to be replaced.

The 20 million you sink into Linderbaum you instead restructure Diggs, add a year to Hollins with a little bump, draft C to learn behind Bradbury who you have for another season, you sign Phillips at edge and draft another edge rusher.. I like Linderbaum but I'd wonder if he's the same player without a dominant running game like he has in Baltimore? We need to spread the $$$.. only person this off season that should be getting a sizable extension on this team is gonzo..

 

[TheRainMaker]

The 20 million you sink into Linderbaum you instead restructure Diggs, add a year to Hollins with a little bump, draft C to learn behind Bradbury who you have for another season, you sign Phillips at edge and draft another edge rusher.. I like Linderbaum but I'd wonder if he's the same player without a dominant running game like he has in Baltimore? We need to spread the $$$.. only person this off season that should be getting a sizable extension on this team is gonzo..

Yup, that's the risk when signing players from other teams. Are they a product of the system or can they play for any team?

 

[DaBruinz]

Younger, cheaper. Simply means weaker

Another foolish take from you.

27 is younger than 32.
29 is younger than 35.
25 is younger than 29.

You can get younger and IMPROVE. It happens all the time.

 

[DaBruinz]

It doesn't matter what it did. The days of wine and roses are over.

Another dumb, uninformed post from you.

 

[RxJock1120]

The 20 million you sink into Linderbaum you instead restructure Diggs, add a year to Hollins with a little bump, draft C to learn behind Bradbury who you have for another season, you sign Phillips at edge and draft another edge rusher.. I like Linderbaum but I'd wonder if he's the same player without a dominant running game like he has in Baltimore? We need to spread the $$$.. only person this off season that should be getting a sizable extension on this team is gonzo..

Really don't get the love for Linderbaum that so many here seem to have. He looked pretty washed up to me last year.

 

[DaBruinz]

The 20 million you sink into Linderbaum you instead restructure Diggs, add a year to Hollins with a little bump, draft C to learn behind Bradbury who you have for another season, you sign Phillips at edge and draft another edge rusher.. I like Linderbaum but I'd wonder if he's the same player without a dominant running game like he has in Baltimore? We need to spread the $$$.. only person this off season that should be getting a sizable extension on this team is gonzo..

They already drafted someone to take over from Bradbury in Wilson. Why would you draft ANNOTHER center?

You think Linderbaum benefits from having Derrick Henry as a RB and not the other way around?

If only Gonzo get's an extension, how are you giving Hollins an additional year?

 

[DaBruinz]

Really don't get the love for Linderbaum that so many here seem to have. He looked pretty washed up to me last year.

Washed up as a 4th year player??
Dude went 42 straight games without giving up a sack. From Week 14 of 2022 until week 3 of 2025. He averaged 1 pressure every 30 snaps during that timeframe.

Yeah, he had an off year for pass blocking in 2025. But his run blocking was still top notch.

As for that chart, it's worthless without some information to back it up.. Such as where did it come from? How was it calculated?

 

[WhatJustHappened]

Pff, Pff!

 

[Huckleberry1]

Washed up as a 4th year player??
Dude went 42 straight games without giving up a sack. From Week 14 of 2022 until week 3 of 2025. He averaged 1 pressure every 30 snaps during that timeframe.

Yeah, he had an off year for pass blocking in 2025. But his run blocking was still top notch.

As for that chart, it's worthless without some information to back it up.. Such as where did it come from? How was it calculated?

He was a beast in the Patriots game.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Really don't get the love for Linderbaum that so many here seem to have. He looked pretty washed up to me last year.

I won't dismiss your opinion as I'm not familiar with him. From what I've read is that he's an elite run blocker, but can get bullied in pass protection. Overall, he's highly rated.

'Linderbaum, the No. 3 player on the PFF Free Agent Rankings, continued to show that he is one of the NFL's best run-blocking centers in 2025. He posted an 83.7 PFF run-blocking grade (fourth) while excelling in zone schemes (84.1 zone PFF run-blocking grade, fourth). However, pass blocking continues to be an Achilles heel for Linderbaum, who surrendered a career-high 26 pressures (ninth most) at a rate of 5.2% (also a career high)."

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"Linderbaum, a 2022 first-round pick, is an athletic, versatile and powerful run blocker. He takes great angles and is very capable on the move on outside-zone runs, as a puller and in the screen game. Though he is not an elite pass protector, Linderbaum shows the eyes and instincts necessary to identify stunts and deceptive movement along the defensive front.

Linderbaum can give up some ground in pass protection when rushers get into his chest, and he is not always consistent with his initial strike. But he is more than functional in that phase, and his run blocking is among the best in the league."

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7043952/2026/02/18/nfl-2026-free-agent-rankings-best-available/

"He's the best offensive lineman in this group and it's not close. The Ravens would be stupid to let him walk. At 26, he's got a lot of good football left."

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"Linderbaum can follow coach John Harbaugh to New York. Given his movement traits, he would fit the Giants' zone and gap schemes, and his 97.2% pass block win rate with the Ravens tied for second among 31 qualifying centers last season. The Giants would be landing the top offensive lineman in free agency ... but let's keep an eye on the Raiders here, as well. They could also use Linderbaum's tone-setting mentality on the interior."

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[dliverey44]

I really hope that the Pats trade for Cole Kmet, should get done with a 4th or 5th round pick. Obviously only after they address the OL in FA