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

[Real fan 02]

How do you think Josh Allen feels? All he's got is DJ Moore and still has a bad defense.

Good news is that Seattle will be hunted and it's very unlikely they duplicate what they did in 2025. SF would've beaten them with ease in week 18 had they been healthy. Rams already improved their secondary. The Seahawks schedule was crap last season, but not this season.

They say Nix will be fine, but he's had chronic issues with his ankle since High School. I have no idea how the media thinks he'll be fine after this surgery. Then you have Payton saying right after the AFCCG that had they known about his ankle issues, they wouldn't have even drafted him.

The main concern this offseason for the Pats was to upgrade the OL which they really haven't done so far. AVT is a major risk/high reward type signing. I still expect for them to draft a T or G within the first 3 rounds. C is still a major concern as you can't rely on Wilson.

Doubs was a meh signing, but maybe McDaniels see something in him that GB didn't much like Wes Welker. I expect another WR drafted within the first 3 rounds.

 

[patfanken]

How do you think Josh Allen feels? All he's got is DJ Moore and still has a bad defense.

Good news is that Seattle will be hunted and it's very unlikely they duplicate what they did in 2025. SF would've beaten them with ease in week 18 had they been healthy. Rams already improved their secondary. The Seahawks schedule was crap last season, but not this season.

They say Nix will be fine, but he's had chronic issues with his ankle since High School. I have no idea how the media thinks he'll be fine after this surgery. Then you have Payton saying right after the AFCCG that had they known about his ankle issues, they wouldn't have even drafted him.

The main concern this offseason for the Pats was to upgrade the OL which they really haven't done so far. AVT is a major risk/high reward type signing. I still expect for them to draft a T or G within the first 3 rounds. C is still a major concern as you can't rely on Wilson.

Doubs was a meh signing, but maybe McDaniels see something in him that GB didn't much like Wes Welker. I expect another WR drafted within the first 3 rounds.

Why do you continue to crap on Wilson. He was playing out of position AS a rookie on an offense that was the 3rd best overall in the LEAGUE. And was rated highly week to week until he got hurt late in the season. Like Campbell, he experienced ups and downs like ALL rookies do, AND he's going back to his natural position. Bradbury was a solid pass blocker who was just average in run blocking. I will be disappointed if Wilson isn't an upgrade and shocked if he isn't "as effective" as Bradbury. Our OL needs to be improved, but they must have been doing SOMETHING right given how well the offense played during the regular season.

The next step is to improve the depth either through the draft, FA, or one of the existing players like Bryant and Wallace develop into being effective contributors, But right now I think we have 6 of the 9 or 10 OLmen we need to have a solid OL. We need to see who the 3 or 4 others are to gain some more confidence in this group.

I doubt we will any more FA signing that will move the so called "needle" on signing day. We see this every year after the first couple of weeks. However, after the season starts there will always be 3 or 4 of these no names that develop into key contributors, be it FA's or 3rd day draft picks.

 

[gobesmug]

Why do you continue to crap on Wilson. He was playing out of position AS a rookie on an offense that was the 3rd best overall in the LEAGUE. And was rated highly week to week until he got hurt late in the season. Like Campbell, he experienced ups and downs like ALL rookies do, AND he's going back to his natural position. Bradbury was a solid pass blocker who was just average in run blocking. I will be disappointed if Wilson isn't an upgrade and shocked if he isn't "as effective" as Bradbury. Our OL needs to be improved, but they must have been doing SOMETHING right given how well the offense played during the regular season.

The next step is to improve the depth either through the draft, FA, or one of the existing players like Bryant and Wallace develop into being effective contributors, But right now I think we have 6 of the 9 or 10 OLmen we need to have a solid OL. We need to see who the 3 or 4 others are to gain some more confidence in this group.

I doubt we will any more FA signing that will move the so called "needle" on signing day. We see this every year after the first couple of weeks. However, after the season starts there will always be 3 or 4 of these no names that develop into key contributors, be it FA's or 3rd day draft picks.

Agreed.

There is no way Vrable trades away Bradbury unless him and Doug Marrone felt Wilson was an upgrade at C.

 

[TommyD4207]

Why do you continue to crap on Wilson.

He was terrible, Ken.
He was so bad he made people think Will Campbell was bad.

 

[Huckleberry1]

They really have done either yet.

Disagree . Signing AVT and moving Wilson to center significantly upgrades the line, and Hill and Gilliam upgrade the rest of the blocking. I also expect both Campbell and Wilson to make a significant jump in play in their 2nd season.

 

[p8ryts]

Disagree . Signing AVT and moving Wilson to center significantly upgrades the line, and Hill and Gilliam upgrade the rest of the blocking. I also expect both Campbell and Wilson to make a significant jump in play in their 2nd season.

One can only hope.

 

[Huckleberry1]

One can only hope.

Those who believe in Vrabel, his front office , and coaches will believe in their moves, those who don't won't. I don't expect Sam, the captain, Thunderhead and others to ever have a positive take on their moves, but I do.

 

[dliverey44]

Those who believe in Vrabel, his front office , and coaches will believe in their moves, those who don't won't. I don't expect Sam, the captain, Thunderhead and others to ever have a positive take on their moves, but I do.

I like the moves they made, but do think they should have made a few more. They have more info than we do so we can speculate about things all day long but in the end we should trust that they're doing the best for the team. That doesn't mean we can't criticize but those folks you mentioned would not be happy regardless of the moves made.

 

[Stu Pidassle]

Those who believe in Vrabel, his front office , and coaches will believe in their moves, those who don't won't. I don't expect Sam, the captain, Thunderhead and others to ever have a positive take on their moves, but I do.

The reality of the situation is that every off season is a series of calculated risks and every in season is spent trying to maximize the benefits of the bets that went right and minimizing the impact of the bets that didn't work out. The best coaches are the ones who can manage that dynamic. Based on last year it seems like this coaching staff does a good job getting the best out of the roster. So we have that going for us, which is nice.

 

[palialka]

Agreed.

There is no way Vrable trades away Bradbury unless him and Doug Marrone felt Wilson was an upgrade at C.

Yep…at worst, Bradbury is Wilson’s floor otherwise there’s no way the Pats pull the trigger on trading Bradbury to Chicago.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I like the moves they made, but do think they should have made a few more. They have more info than we do so we can speculate about things all day long but in the end we should trust that they're doing the best for the team. That doesn't mean we can't criticize but those folks you mentioned would not be happy regardless of the moves made.

I like what they have done, and like you I'd like to see more, there is, however, a lot we don't know. We don't know how they are viewing the rookies that didn't play much last season. Guys like Swinson and Marcus Bryant. We don't know how they view other rookies that played more, like Farmer, Ponder, and Taylor. We don't know what the difference is between the Pats and Eagles on a deal for AJ Brown. We don't know what they set aside for Gonzalez, nor what they believe it will take to pay Maye. And we don't know what their evaluation of this draft class is, and how likely they think it is to get an impact player they really like on day one of the draft, nor how they see the rest of it. We should have answers to most of these questions by August, and then will come the ultimate question, which is whether they were right on the choices they made.

Next season is going to give us a great sense of how good of a job the front office and coaching staff are doing in choosing players and developing young players. Not just the continued development of higher profile players, like Campbell, Henderson and Williams, but also the lesser known players, like Farmer, Swinson, Ponder, Chism, and Taylor etc... if they take the next step in development it will be huge for this team, as they won't need to do as much in free agency in 27, and will have built a really strong foundation with the guys they drafted and developed. If they are wrong about those guys then we will be looking at a very different situation, and many more questions will be asked and holes will have to be filled.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I went into free agency wanting two players, Lindebaum and Pierce. Love both players but
those contracts were massive, and would have made it difficult if not impossible to do what Vrabel clearly prioritized, which was getting much tougher on offense. Lindebaum would have helped, but they wouldn't have been able to get the rest of it done.

In football you have to be able to execute your plays, and to do that you have to win the fistfight. Vrabel came away from the playoffs, and specifically the Super Bowl knowing the Patriots had lost the physical battles on offense, and as such made building a much more physical;/ tougher offense his #1 priority. And while everyone was disappointed they didn't sign any of the big names, myself included, when you look at what he did on offense in totality he achieved that goal, and still was able to address WR. AVT, Gilliam, Hill, and moving Wilson to Center will make this team much more physical. They will be able to run the ball and protect Maye better, and that was his biggest goal. They still have the draft and remaining free agents to continue to build with, and will by the time they are done have a stronger team than last season's was. They still need more, but his biggest priority has been significantly addressed.

 

[Real fan 02]

He was terrible, Ken.
He was so bad he made people think Will Campbell was bad.

@TommyD4207 @TheRainMaker

I'm sure both you gentlemen would agree.. being rookies, & getting injured totally compromised them. Campbell had no business even on the field with that injury, and I'm not convinced Wilson was healthy either with the high ankle sprain..

Additionally remember Wilson Was taking snaps at C over Bradbury in Training camp.. I believe he was moved to play LG in order to have Bradbury on the field being that he was traded for and Vrabel at the time was implementing a new culture.. ( just my Inclinations)

Bradbury was okay during the season but provided no push up the middle in the running game, short yardage and red area.. that Bengals game was a obvious show of this.

In summary the team feels Wilson is better suited at C as Vrabel's shown us..

 

[The Gr8est]

I like the moves they made, but do think they should have made a few more. They have more info than we do so we can speculate about things all day long but in the end we should trust that they're doing the best for the team. That doesn't mean we can't criticize but those folks you mentioned would not be happy regardless of the moves made.

I won’t name names, but a notoriously negative poster didn’t post for a couple of weeks after the 2025 draft.

Most of us were over the moon with the Pats draft, and I guess it took him a while to find something to complain about.

 

[TommyD4207]

@TommyD4207 @TheRainMaker

I'm sure both you gentlemen would agree.. being rookies, & getting injured totally compromised them. Campbell had no business even on the field with that injury, and I'm not convinced Wilson was healthy either with the high ankle sprain..

Additionally remember Wilson Was taking snaps at C over Bradbury in Training camp.. I believe he was moved to play LG in order to have Bradbury on the field being that he was traded for and Vrabel at the time was implementing a new culture.. ( just my Inclinations)

Bradbury was okay during the season but provided no push up the middle in the running game, short yardage and red area.. that Bengals game was a obvious show of this.

In summary the team feels Wilson is better suited at C as Vrabel's shown us..

That's the hope of course.
I need to actually see it though, because Wilson's poor play wasn't just a product of him playing out of position.

 

[Real fan 02]

That's the hope of course.
I need to actually see it though, because Wilson's poor play wasn't just a product of him playing out of position.

That's why I mentioned the ankle injury... anyone's who's ever had one it's brutal let alone for an NFL OL who needs to plant his footing fending off DL.. so we'll see as you mentioned.. if Wilson is getting pushed back into Drake by a rejuvenated Barmore all camp then...

 

[Real fan 02]

Agreed.

There is no way Vrable trades away Bradbury unless him and Doug Marrone felt Wilson was an upgrade at C.

Agreed.. what will significantly help the OL is having AVT at LG and Gillaim at FB.. Wilson and Campbell got great experience last season and will be better players because of it.

The hope is Campbell comes back healthy and has no lingering issues from the injury.

 

[The Gr8est]

Agreed.. what will significantly help the OL is having AVT at LG and Gillaim at FB.. Wilson and Campbell got great experience last season and will be better players because of it.

The hope is Campbell comes back healthy and has no lingering issues from the injury.

Keep in mind too that the NFL season is longer than the college season, and rookies hit a wall at some point, and that is with just a regular season, not one that is extended by extra games all the way to the SB.

We had several critical rookies and they will be better off for it in their second season.

 

[Real fan 02]

Keep in mind too that the NFL season is longer than the college season, and rookies hit a wall at some point, and that is with just a regular season, not one that is extended by extra games all the way to the SB.

We had several critical rookies and they will be better off for it in their second season.

Absolutely. Essentially they play almost 2 NCAA seasons last year. Year 2 is essential for rookies in thier development as we saw this with Drake.. year 2 he became an all pro/MVP candidate.

The most important thing is they come into the offseason healthy and stronger like Vrabel said he wants them to be.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

With good coaching, being healed, and a full NFL training regimen for a full year, not just post-draft, I expect both of Wilson and Campbell to be smarter and tougher. Probably still won't have found their ceiling or floor yet, but likely a smoother year overall.