Patriots Rumor LaCanfora: WR Mike Evans and LT Rasheed Walker Could Be On Patriots’ Radar

[Patsfan1645]

They are the team to beat in the AFC.

In your opinion they are, the fact is they finished 6-11 and until they show otherwise they are what their record indicates. But lets go ahead and put all this to bed shall we because you have moved away from Campbell and now want to crown the Chiefs. If its ok with you I will have faith in the fact that the Pats coaching staff know what they are doing and that they have far more knowledge about their players than anyone on this board. Campbell starts next year its plain to see, please bookmark and bring this back up if I'm wrong.

 

[Triumph]

In your opinion they are, the fact is they finished 6-11 and until they show otherwise they are what their record indicates. But lets go ahead and put all this to bed shall we because you have moved away from Campbell and now want to crown the Chiefs. If its ok with you I will have faith in the fact that the Pats coaching staff know what they are doing and that they have far more knowledge about their players than anyone on this board. Campbell starts next year its plain to see, please bookmark and bring this back up if I'm wrong.

Stating facts.

6 - 11 and the Chiefs draft slot places them in prime position to reload for another SB run. KC is on the 2026 NE schedule. Hopefully Campbell gets moved.

 

[Ring 6]

Was he a problem through four games in 2025, and I just missed it? I feel like most of us were bracing for the worst, given his struggles in 2024, but that never happened. And he was out there against both Buffalo and Baltimore - unless you saw something that would lead you to believe he wasn't good?

I saw the same guy and we overcame it.
That’s my opinion, you have yours, and it’s ok to disagree.

 

[dliverey44]

Not trying to defend Campbell’s play, but I think we have to factor in his knee injury. He obviously wasn’t the same player he was pre injury. Let’s see how he is when he’s 100% healthy. I also blame Vrabel, in that sometimes he can be too loyal, when Campbell came back post injury, if you notice he’s struggling and Maye is getting killed, you have to bring in Lowe.

Vrabel deserved coach of the year, he was incredible in 2025, this was one of the few mistakes Vrabel made all year. Lowe actually played well in Campbell’s place after the injury, and would’ve been an improvement to Campbell playing while injured.

Fans are very much a what have you done for me lately. I remember Brady getting killed in the media after a bad game. most fans and media seem to not be able to remember past the last 4 games.

I do agree that Vrabel tends to be too loyal, but to say Lowe would have been an improvement is a stretch in imo.
I know pressures allowed are not the end all be all of OL stats but the following tells me that Lowe probably would not have been an upgrade during the playoffs.

According to PFF
Lowe in 176 pass blocking snaps allowed 15 pressures= a pressure every 11.7 snaps
Campbell in 476 PB snaps allowed 26 pressures = a pressure every 18.3 snaps

 

[dliverey44]

No one is required to say anything at this point. These pre FA rumors are common.

Every team's media, good player XX there is a link that team XX is very interested. This is for all players that are good/mid.

 

[Ian]

I saw the same guy and we overcame it.
That’s my opinion, you have yours, and it’s ok to disagree.

OK, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Again, I'm talking about him as a backup and how he compares to other backups, and the fact that his depth was a luxury that was nice to have. But as I said, I do agree - not worth what it would cost to keep him.

 

[n1997y]

You're right ring.. I'm just of the mind at least try to retain him... I believe he's the only back up LT on the roster currently?

Doesn’t Munford also play LT? But not at the same level as Lowe, and that’s not a high bar.

 

[n1997y]

A backup T for cheap $ isn’t a day 1 signing.

Because they’re not easily found. And 31 other teams want them too.

He signed Moses last year and drafted Campbell and Bryant.
The bar of being as good as Lowe is not high.

 

[n1997y]

I don't know about that. It's not often you have a guy who can step in and seamlessly fill in, and I don't recall his name being mentioned once throughout the five games he stepped in for Campbell. Good left tackles are tough to come by, and give Lowe credit, he's worked hard and clearly improved under Marrone and has become extremely serviceable. There are teams out there with not great tackle depth, and he'll likely get paid more than the Patriots can afford.

Again, my point is, imagine Campbell going down and someone else having to step in. It's either going to be a veteran no one wants, or a potential draft pick or UDFA who they'll need to develop again. Either way, it's definitely going to be a downgrade.

I assume your rhetorical question is assuming Lowe was signed elsewhere?

We’ve already seen exactly the scenario you describe, and everyone seemed very pleasantly surprised by how well Lowe stepped up in the moment. Of course not that enough time has passed for revisionist history to develop we may hear differently, in fact it’s already been attributed to poor opponents instead of Lowe’s performance by some.

 

[n1997y]

The thing is whether or not the report is true, this would be his answer. If they are targeting Walker, he would say this. If they have no interest, he would say this.

I don't know how much weight to give this report because it was second hand info by another club that may just be speculating. That is why I originally put it in an existing thread. So I don't know if this is true.

My guess is they will target a LG over a LT. I think a solid to great LG will make Campbell a lot better and potentially allow Wilson to switch to center. LG is one position where there is a lot of options in free agency.

Not sure this is true. If they were actually interested I think he'd just say some generic stuff about still evaluating and any reports are premature. Specific denial is actually kind of rare.

He would probably just say nothing.

He didn’t have to say anything. The fact that he said anything at all is surprising.

 

[Patsfan1645]

Stating facts.

6 - 11 and the Chiefs draft slot places them in prime position to reload for another SB run. KC is on the 2026 NE schedule. Hopefully Campbell gets moved.

Waiting to see the "facts". The Chiefs have #9 pick, #40th, then off to a pick in round 3, 4 and two in the 5th. I'm not sure how that puts them in "prime" position to reload for another SB. They have numerous holes (just on offense they need help on the line and at RB/TE/WR) to fill and I'm not sure they get it all covered in one year. Their entire team success evolves around Mahomes, coming back off a torn ACL, how does that impact his game.....we shall see.

You can hope Campbell gets moved and I may not totally disagree with that. But the writing is on the wall....he is going to start the season at LT barring injury. My hope is that when the season starts that if he is struggling that they are prepared to address it and they do so accordingly.

 

[n1997y]

Maye now has leverage to tell Vrabel/Ownership that the OL needs to get better quickly. He won't say it publicly, but he's thinking exactly what we are thinking - the line is really bad. He can't sit back and just hope they improve it or else it could turn into an Andrew Luck situation.

If Maye tries to tell Vrabel anything about how to coach the team Mike’s going to look him in the eye and tell him to worry about fixing his ****ty play during the Super Bowl while Vrabes fixes the OL and the rest of it. And then draft a developmental QB.

‘Nuff said.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Stating facts.

6 - 11 and the Chiefs draft slot places them in prime position to reload for another SB run. KC is on the 2026 NE schedule. Hopefully Campbell gets moved.

They have the #9 pick and then pick about 9 picks after NE the rest of the way.

 

[n1997y]

I do agree that Vrabel tends to be too loyal, but to say Lowe would have been an improvement is a stretch in imo.
I know pressures allowed are not the end all be all of OL stats but the following tells me that Lowe probably would not have been an upgrade during the playoffs.

According to PFF
Lowe in 176 pass blocking snaps allowed 15 pressures= a pressure every 11.7 snaps
Campbell in 476 PB snaps allowed 26 pressures = a pressure every 18.3 snaps

According to PFF
Campbell playoff PB snaps 160, total pressures allowed 19 = a pressure every 8.4 snaps

Campbell was playing hurt so you can’t just say that it was all quality of competition and Lowe’s numbers would also have been that much worse.

 

[Patsfan1645]

I just want to clarify for anyone who is confused as to who will be starting LT for the Patriots in 2026. If you dont consider the source as credible then in the words of the coach "I don't know what to tell you".

Press conference 2/10/26 with Mike Vrabel the NE Patriots HC.

Q: Mike, I wanted to ask you about Will Campbell. I think because when he was coming out of the draft, some teams viewed him as a guard, others viewed him as a tackle, I guess his season has been looked at and scrutinized –

MV: Just like everybody's has. When you sign up to play left tackle, you sign up to play corner, you sign up to play quarterback, you sign up to be the head coach, you get judged, you get scrutinized. Will's 22 years old. He's our left tackle. He'll get better, he'll get stronger. There were moments where he played well, moments where he blocked the guy. There's plays he'd like to have back. We're not moving Will to guard, to center, to tight end or anywhere else. So, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Ian]

I just want to clarify for anyone who is confused as to who will be starting LT for the Patriots in 2026. If you dont consider the source as credible then in the words of the coach "I don't know what to tell you".

Press conference 2/10/26 with Mike Vrabel the NE Patriots HC.

Q: Mike, I wanted to ask you about Will Campbell. I think because when he was coming out of the draft, some teams viewed him as a guard, others viewed him as a tackle, I guess his season has been looked at and scrutinized –

MV: Just like everybody's has. When you sign up to play left tackle, you sign up to play corner, you sign up to play quarterback, you sign up to be the head coach, you get judged, you get scrutinized. Will's 22 years old. He's our left tackle. He'll get better, he'll get stronger. There were moments where he played well, moments where he blocked the guy. There's plays he'd like to have back. We're not moving Will to guard, to center, to tight end or anywhere else. So, I don't know what to tell you.

Wolf mentioned him today as well:

"Will, specifically, when he came back from that injury, I personally didn’t see the same level of lower-body strength that you saw before the injury. I think the film would attest to that. He probably had three of his four worst games in the playoffs. But before that, I thought Will played really well all year. I know everyone talks about the arm length, but he has a set of skills that enable him to play with that arm length. He’s really quick out of his stance. He’s technically sound. He’s adding more and more different pass sets to his tool bag that he can use to combat different rushes. Again, he’s 22 years old, and we expect some improvement out of him as well.”

TRANSCRIPT: Eliot Wolf Combine Press Conference 2/24 | PatsFans.com

Eliot Wolf speaks at the NFL Combine on Tuesday, February 24, 2026.

www.patsfans.com

 

[patfanken]

I'm not fully sold on Campbell. But the reality is the left side of the OL was swiss cheese in the playoffs.

Maybe we can attribute Campbells playoff failures to not playing fully healthy but it was not a good look. At a bare minimum we need to hedge our bets.

Either get competition for Campbell in camp or get a rock solid left guard to help make up for Campbell's lack of strength, or both.

We need two new players on the left side of the OL AND a young player to groom behind Moses at RT as well. Kicking in Wilson to C will probably help alleviate some issues.

Maybe Campbell develops into a better LT next season but we cannot blindly count on that. I would still draft a guy like Freeman, Proctor or Lomu if given the opportunity AND get a veteran LG, etc.

You are still making the same error in logic in your rebuttal, VJ. You make it sound like his "lack of strength" is a permanent condition and all the good work he had done prior to his injury shouldn't count for anything. VERY short sighted by you. Knee jerk reactions like these make for poor football decisions.

 

[Real fan 02]

Doesn’t Munford also play LT? But not at the same level as Lowe, and that’s not a high bar.

I believe Mumford is a swing tackle if I'm not mistaken.. I know he was used on the right side alot from what I saw..

 

[Real fan 02]

That would be a wild twist if the Pats pursue Rasheed Walker at LT.

https://www.masslive.com/patriots/2026/02/eliot-wolf-on-report-patriots-are-shopping-for-a-left-tackle-not-true.html

 

[mgteich]

I don’t consider Lowe a good T. I don’t think the dropoff, if any, from him to “whoever” would be significant.

Why do you think that Vrabel was unable to find a "whoever" to sign as a backup LT last year?