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

[Toofy]

A lot of people won't want to hear this because they think Drake is the entire reason for last season's meteoric rise... but he wasn't solely... not close to it. They need him to grow as a QB, and understand the game better.

You can beat the lesser teams and dregs of the NFL with raw talent, but to beat playoff teams and the best of the best you have to be a smart accurate QB.

He has to understand where pressure is coming from, when to audible or bring in additional blockers, know where his hot route is at and what his best blitz beater plays are. He has to know where his receivers have a mismatch and win before the ball is snapped. I've said it multiple times, he has a stellar arm, but he needs to cultivate a short game. The schedule is going to be tougher, Drake and McDaniels have to be better and smarter.

Absolutely bang on Post !

I am nervous about this season not because of oline but because of Maye. Can he evolve into Maye 2.0 . The gunslinger we saw last year is not a scalable strategy .


I think the schedule helped us so that a lot of deep throws connected . But teams have tape now.

 

[Huckleberry1]

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.

If we are talking about the same guy he also said the Patriots would be picking top 10 again because they drafted Will Campbell. He's a genius.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Absolutely bang on Post !

I am nervous about this season not because of oline but because of Maye. Can he evolve into Maye 2.0 . The gunslinger we saw last year is not a scalable strategy .


I think the schedule helped us so that a lot of deep throws connected . But teams have tape now.

If he didn't prove himself to you last season he never will.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Absolutely bang on Post !

I am nervous about this season not because of oline but because of Maye. Can he evolve into Maye 2.0 . The gunslinger we saw last year is not a scalable strategy .


I think the schedule helped us so that a lot of deep throws connected . But teams have tape now.

The QB Maye was last season is who he is, the best young QB in football. I honestly don't know WTF he has to do to convince people. Does he have to be the MVP of the NFL , NBA, and Major League Baseball to convince people?

This place is ****ing ridiculous.

 

[BTTA]

The QB Maye was last season is who he is, the best young QB in football. I honestly don't know WTF he has to do to convince people. Does he have to be the MVP of the NFL , NBA, and Major League Baseball to convince people?

This place is ****ing ridiculous.

It is two entirely different things to say that Maye is the best young QB in football, and to say the team would benefit greatly if he took another step forward, and that he has room to grow. You can say the second without inferring any criticism of his play last year.

 

[Huckleberry1]

It is two entirely different things to say that Maye is the best young QB in football, and to say the team would benefit greatly if he took another step forward, and that he has room to grow. You can say the second without inferring any criticism of his play last year.

And it's another thing to suggest that he still needs to prove himself to Patriot fans. It's like the criticism that he didn't have 4th quarter comebacks after the Buffalo game when they had been ahead all season. Can he continue to get better, sure, but he has nothing to prove to Patriot fans. If they don't believe in him by now then they are ridiculous.

 

[Wozzy]

The QB Maye was last season is who he is, the best young QB in football. I honestly don't know WTF he has to do to convince people. Does he have to be the MVP of the NFL , NBA, and Major League Baseball to convince people?

This place is ****ing ridiculous.

The playoffs aren’t the regular season. Are you seriously suggesting Drake Maye in year two was a finished product? He was the second youngest QB in history to play in a Super Bowl. He wasn’t very good in the playoffs against playoff caliber defenses. There’s a lot of room to improve.

 

[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.

Feeling Like outside of him not wanting to restructure his deal.. .maybe it was a good thing the team released Stef...

 

[Real fan 02]

Absolutely bang on Post !

I am nervous about this season not because of oline but because of Maye. Can he evolve into Maye 2.0 . The gunslinger we saw last year is not a scalable strategy .


I think the schedule helped us so that a lot of deep throws connected . But teams have tape now.

I feel even better about the upcoming season as every fan should as well.

Here me out...

This organization had 8 wins previous to last season. Once Vrabel came in and established the culture it resonated throughout the entire organization and you can see it.

I believe the Kraft family got some humble pie.. being pretty much embarrassed by the performances on field 2022-2024.. and the last in in spending reports as well as the survey reports. A man who cares very much about perception this in my opinion made he and Jonathan to acclimate to the times.

So 2025 was phenomenal for many reasons Drake to the leap from talented with potential to elite. This wasn't a fluke.. People say the schedule however we when we won superbowls in 2003 ,2014, 2016, 2018 wich were all supposedly "soft" schedules there was no talk of a weak Schedule.

We showed the potential with a evolving incomplete roster this past season.

Coaching had so much to do with this. In the NFL a team doesn't win 10 straight games by luck or fluke.

This season we made sensible, intentional signings.. the running game projects to be a physical run game that wants to run teams over.

On defense adding dre Jones and byard are significant upgrades.

Although the roster is still being built the make up of the team is going to be better suited to Contend.

Additionally this team still gets no respect they represented the AFC in the superbowl and pundits have them 10th..

This all helps them!

 

[Real fan 02]

A lot of people won't want to hear this because they think Drake is the entire reason for last season's meteoric rise... but he wasn't solely... not close to it. They need him to grow as a QB, and understand the game better.

You can beat the lesser teams and dregs of the NFL with raw talent, but to beat playoff teams and the best of the best you have to be a smart accurate QB.

He has to understand where pressure is coming from, when to audible or bring in additional blockers, know where his hot route is at and what his best blitz beater plays are. He has to know where his receivers have a mismatch and win before the ball is snapped. I've said it multiple times, he has a stellar arm, but he needs to cultivate a short game. The schedule is going to be tougher, Drake and McDaniels have to be better and smarter.

Wozzy,

I definitely see your points.. however every NFL game a team plays is tough these are the top athletes in the world!

We won superbowls 2001 ,2003,2014 ,2017, 2018 those seasons were supposed "soft" schedules.

The 2022-2024 patriots did more to beat themselves than what any opposing team had done to beat them during those years.

Coaching and the QB position is why we lost. Now you have the coaching, the QB and a reinvested culture along with Ownership who's been embarrassed by the 2022-2024 seasons... and the last and spending and NFLPA surveys.

I say all this because it's a direct correlation to how we got to the 2025 and beyond patiots culture..

 

[Wozzy]

Wozzy,

I definitely see your points.. however every NFL game a team plays is tough these are the top athletes in the world!

We won superbowls 2001 ,2003,2014 ,2017, 2018 those seasons were supposed "soft" schedules.

The 2022-2024 patriots did more to beat themselves than what any opposing team had done to beat them during those years.

Coaching and the QB position is why we lost. Now you have the coaching, the QB and a reinvested culture along with Ownership who's been embarrassed by the 2022-2024 seasons... and the last and spending and NFLPA surveys.

I say all this because it's a direct correlation to how we got to the 2025 and beyond patiots culture..

Agreed, they went from 4 wins, to the best record in the entire NFL because of team… not because Drake Maye magically made some huge leap in his development.

He still has a lot of growing to do. He’s the most impressive young athletic specimen at the QB position in his age group. Tom Brady over 23 seasons was arguably the worst athlete at the QB position… and is now considered the greatest QB in history.

Success at QB is cerebral, it is understanding the game and how to win…. not being physically impressive. If physical was all it took, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson would have rings right now. Relying solely on athleticism is a great way to get bounced in the playoffs every year.

 

[Real fan 02]

Agreed, they went from 4 wins, to the best record in the entire NFL because of team… not because Drake Maye magically made some huge leap in his development.

He still has a lot of growing to do. He’s the most impressive young athletic specimen at the QB position in his age group. Tom Brady over 23 seasons was arguably the worst athlete at the QB position… and is now considered the greatest QB in history.

Success at QB is cerebral, it is understanding the game and how to win…. not being physically impressive. If physical was all it took, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson would have rings right now. Relying solely on athleticism is a great way to get bounced in the playoffs every year.

Agreed here. Drake is still maturing and getting even better than he already is. He too a tremendous leap in year 2.. he had a lot to do with the team success as he's the QB and he's even taken on bigger leadership roles as the season wore on.

But to your point it's a team game. As we saw with Brady he solidified the position and had great coaching and a great defense to win with his early years. The Same elements Drake has.

Drake is the modern day QB.. being mentally tough, cerebral and the athletic abilities you need to extend plays things that can't be coached.

Drake football IQ is off the charts and when he waa drafted team's knew this is why O'Connell and Shcien wanted him so badly.

So here we are the 2026-27 patriots. The way the culture is built they have a standard and won't settle for mediocrity.. they tasted success and learned how to win last season they will only build and thrive off of this.

However they win/lose it's always as a team.

 

[Real fan 02]

Agreed, they went from 4 wins, to the best record in the entire NFL because of team… not because Drake Maye magically made some huge leap in his development.

He still has a lot of growing to do. He’s the most impressive young athletic specimen at the QB position in his age group. Tom Brady over 23 seasons was arguably the worst athlete at the QB position… and is now considered the greatest QB in history.

Success at QB is cerebral, it is understanding the game and how to win…. not being physically impressive. If physical was all it took, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson would have rings right now. Relying solely on athleticism is a great way to get bounced in the playoffs every year.

What you love to see...

Source: ESPN
Patriots notebook: Drake Maye, WRs spotted throwing at FAU

 

[n1997y]

What you love to see...

Source: ESPN
Patriots notebook: Drake Maye, WRs spotted throwing at FAU

Good to see Hollins, Pop, and especially Kyle Williams working out with Drake in Florida this week. Sounds like a cool experience for the college players on the FAU team. Seems like Zappe may be to thank for hooking Drake up with the FAU coach. Too bad Doubs wasn’t there. Or Boutte.

 

[Wozzy]

Agreed here. Drake is still maturing and getting even better than he already is. He too a tremendous leap in year 2.. he had a lot to do with the team success as he's the QB and he's even taken on bigger leadership roles as the season wore on.

But to your point it's a team game. As we saw with Brady he solidified the position and had great coaching and a great defense to win with his early years. The Same elements Drake has.

Drake is the modern day QB.. being mentally tough, cerebral and the athletic abilities you need to extend plays things that can't be coached.

Drake football IQ is off the charts and when he waa drafted team's knew this is why O'Connell and Shcien wanted him so badly.

So here we are the 2026-27 patriots. The way the culture is built they have a standard and won't settle for mediocrity.. they tasted success and learned how to win last season they will only build and thrive off of this.

However they win/lose it's always as a team.

I like what I see in Drake so far, he needs to keep improving in the game a management side. I’d like to see a more competitive streak as well… some anger or emotion, a desire to win it all. Perhaps in time….

A lot of this I also put at the feet of Josh McDaniels. He needs to improve Drake’s efficiency, it’s not all on the young QB.

 

[Wozzy]

Good to see Hollins, Pop, and especially Kyle Williams working out with Drake in Florida this week. Sounds like a cool experience for the college players on the FAU team. Seems like Zappe may be to thank for hooking Drake up with the FAU coach. Too bad Doubs wasn’t there. Or Boutte.

I want to see Kyle Williams step into that Diggs role.
Let’s see what he learned playing with the guy for a season.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Here's my worrisome concern about Drake and JOSH, Several times in the SB I watched backfield defenders run up tp the LOS on Drake's left side and both Drake and his left side receivers do nothing. Drake got sacked or pressured. Almost never happened to Brady. If this is noticed by this sandlot QB, it's a problem.
Josh should have planed for this and coached his QB and WRS to step across the LOS and look for a quick outlet blitz killing pass. Never happened. This needs to be fixed big time in training camp. Seriously.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Here's my worrisome concern about Drake and JOSH, Several times in the SB I watched backfield defenders run up tp the LOS on Drake's left side and both Drake and his left side receivers do nothing. Drake got sacked or pressured. Almost never happened to Brady. If this is noticed by this sandlot QB, it's a problem.
Josh should have planed for this and coached his QB and WRS to step across the LOS and look for a quick outlet blitz killing pass. Never happened. This needs to be fixed big time in training camo. Seriously.

JT O'Sullivan talked about that during his video breakdown. It's good stuff as always. He mentioned this is something he found extremely odd that there were no plan for protections and hot routes. WR's would just run their normal routes with poor awareness while Drake is running around.

 

[Real fan 02]

I like what I see in Drake so far, he needs to keep improving in the game a management side. I’d like to see a more competitive streak as well… some anger or emotion, a desire to win it all. Perhaps in time….

A lot of this I also put at the feet of Josh McDaniels. He needs to improve Drake’s efficiency, it’s not all on the young QB.

Drake lead the league in completion %... I believe in 2025. His efficiency is amazing. Again at merely 23 years of age to come in and put in the work last off season with a brand new coaching staff it's still remarkable how he became elite.

Drake elevated this team. Having the experience, being coached hard by Josh and Vrabel is helping him you could see the leadership that was in him come out more and more as the season wore on..

What i believe will help him is an improvement in the running game. I believe we see this with the upcoming season.

 

[p8ryts]

I want to see Kyle Williams step into that Diggs role.
Let’s see what he learned playing with the guy for a season.

I thought he was getting more separation deep at the end of the season. Drake just wasn't getting the time to find him.