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

Huckleberry1 · Mar 4, 2026

Watching one of the Boston Sports media football podcasts and they are talking about $ 30 million a season for Pierce. If that's the cost no thanks. I wouldn't want him for $23.

Hogo145 · Mar 5, 2026

Henry was a good Patriot but i'd also move on from him. Better to be a year early. Only problem is I have no idea who we'd replace him with outside of the draft.

borisman · Mar 5, 2026

If no action is taken this year then this will be the last year Barmore, Landry and C. Davis are on the team.
Cap savings will be enormous next season. Around $45 million.

Hogo145 · Mar 5, 2026

Wozzy said:
I was told Bradbury was the 32nd worst center in the NFL in 2024 and by fans here. After 2025 PFF said he was a stud. Meanwhile Wozzy told you and others Kevin O’Connell’s system in Minnesota gets his QB’s killed. Then despite signing a Pro Bowl center to replace Bradbury the Vikings were once again once of the highest sack and sack percentage teams in the NFL. You should probably listen to Wozzy instead of PFF.

I think he was ok last year but the eye test says we could never get any push up the middle in 3rd and 1 scenarios. Cant remember Maye running too many effective QB sneaks.

Huckleberry1 · Mar 5, 2026

Hogo145 said:
Henry was a good Patriot but i'd also move on from him. Better to be a year early. Only problem is I have no idea who we'd replace him with outside of the draft.

Which means you are creating a hole with no plan to fill it.

patfanken · Mar 5, 2026

Remember when Diggs was signed there was a whole barrage of signing a 32 year old to a 69MM 3 year contract. Later we find out it was essentially a $20MM on year contract with minimal dead cap consequence. And Diggs earned EVERY cent. So, let's not get overwhelmed by some of the numbers we are hearing now. Even the ones that are thrown about AFTER players start to get signed. We should all know by now that NFL contracts come in all variations and forms. It is often a few days after before the true nature of these deals start to leak out

And I'd sign Pierce to a $23MM/yr deal in a heartbeat, not that I think he's worth it, no WR is, but THAT is what it will cost. It's just a fact of life. BTW- I'm not sure what Buffalo's cap space is, but that are in a much more dire need of WR help that we are. I find it hard to believe that they will not try and outbid us on Pierce. He's become exactly what they hoped Coleman would be when they drafted him only faster.
If he's a good fit for us, he's even a better fit for Buffalo. Pierce picked a good year to break out and hit FA. The competition for his services will create a premium on any contract, so a $30MM deal is NOT out of the question

Wozzy · Mar 5, 2026

Hogo145 said:
I think he was ok last year but the eye test says we could never get any push up the middle in 3rd and 1 scenarios. Cant remember Maye running too many effective QB sneaks.

I think the run game suffered from a multitude of issues. It started with RB’s all fumbling, it also had to do with McDaniels lack of inventiveness in plays called, it was all power-I right up the middle in bunch formation that telegraphed to the opposition what was coming... along with the fact we had a very young QB who Josh was overly conservative with. It took Rhamondre getting hurt and having to rely on Henderson to convince Josh running out of spread formations was even a thing. When Rhamondre came back these plays worked just as well.

Our offense is predictable, until Maye gets wiser and mature enough to call audibles, read defenses and challenge opposing defenses I don’t see the run game getting that much better. Josh is a play caller, not some genius who beats you with scheme. Drake has to get better, the line has to get better, Henderson also has a lot of room to improve. But in short, this offense had a lot of new faces and moving pieces that had to learn to play together. We’ll see how they grow.

n1997y · Mar 5, 2026

Hogo145 said:
Henry was a good Patriot but i'd also move on from him. Better to be a year early. Only problem is I have no idea who we'd replace him with outside of the draft.

They won’t release Henry this year, imo. More likely they move on from Hooper and keep Henry for continuity, maybe double dipping at TE in draft and FA. Depending on how the replacement for Hoop and the developmental player(s) perform Henry won’t be extended after his contract expires at the end of next season. Letting him go now with no clear successor as TE1 is too risky.

Ring 6 · Mar 5, 2026

Hogo145 said:
Henry was a good Patriot but i'd also move on from him. Better to be a year early. Only problem is I have no idea who we'd replace him with outside of the draft.

So why would you move on? He was good last year.
Why not move on when it’s time than a year early.
That quote has been bastardized horrifically over the years.

Ring 6 · Mar 5, 2026

patfanken said:
Remember when Diggs was signed there was a whole barrage of signing a 32 year old to a 69MM 3 year contract. Later we find out it was essentially a $20MM on year contract with minimal dead cap consequence. And Diggs earned EVERY cent. So, let's not get overwhelmed by some of the numbers we are hearing now. Even the ones that are thrown about AFTER players start to get signed. We should all know by now that NFL contracts come in all variations and forms. It is often a few days after before the true nature of these deals start to leak out

And I'd sign Pierce to a $23MM/yr deal in a heartbeat, not that I think he's worth it, no WR is, but THAT is what it will cost. It's just a fact of life. BTW- I'm not sure what Buffalo's cap space is, but that are in a much more dire need of WR help that we are. I find it hard to believe that they will not try and outbid us on Pierce. He's become exactly what they hoped Coleman would be when they drafted him only faster.
If he's a good fit for us, he's even a better fit for Buffalo. Pierce picked a good year to break out and hit FA. The competition for his services will create a premium on any contract, so a $30MM deal is NOT out of the question

I think we are bb far his best fit because Drake Maye is the best QB in the league at throwing the types of routes Pierce thrives on.

WhatJustHappened · Mar 5, 2026

Someone with a brain...

Huckleberry1 · Mar 5, 2026

n1997y said:
They won’t release Henry this year, imo. More likely they move on from Hooper and keep Henry for continuity, maybe double dipping at TE in draft and FA. Depending on how the replacement for Hoop and the developmental player(s) perform Henry won’t be extended after his contract expires at the end of next season. Letting him go now with no clear successor as TE1 is too risky.

I don't think they will be letting anyone go without a plan in place to deal with it. The Patriots front office, led by Vrabel, has their **** together. They had a plan for last season, and a long term plan in place to go with it. They will make mistakes now and then, as every FO does, but they know what they are doing and they will put another strong offseason together this year to go with the work they did last year. .

One-If-By-Sea · Mar 16, 2026

borisman said:
If no action is taken this year then this will be the last year Barmore, Landry and C. Davis are on the team.
Cap savings will be enormous next season. Around $45 million.

Agreed. It takes a good QB and about 3 drafts to get any franchise on a competitive long-term footing. 2027 will be the 3rd draft. Let's see if Vrabel's team can draft as well as the late 1990s and early 2000s.

One-If-By-Sea · Mar 16, 2026

Hogo145 said:
I think he was ok last year but the eye test says we could never get any push up the middle in 3rd and 1 scenarios. Cant remember Maye running too many effective QB sneaks.

I would have left it at "could never get any push up the middle". It was not only short yardage situations.

Salsalife · Mar 19, 2026

I very very afraid this offseason of how competitive this season will be. I look at our schedule and I'm very very nervous. Biggest issue this season i.m.o.is the offense, full stop. Hoe do we compete against Seattle's and Denvers defense..Not impressed so far..

TheRainMaker · Mar 19, 2026

Salsalife said:
I very very afraid this offseason of how competitive this season will be. I look at our schedule and I'm very very nervous. Biggest issue this season i.m.o.is the offense, full stop. Hoe do we compete against Seattle's and Denvers defense..Not impressed so far..

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.

Wozzy · Mar 19, 2026

Salsalife said:
I very very afraid this offseason of how competitive this season will be. I look at our schedule and I'm very very nervous. Biggest issue this season i.m.o.is the offense, full stop. Hoe do we compete against Seattle's and Denvers defense..Not impressed so far..

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.

Salsalife · Mar 19, 2026

Wozzy said:
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.

Well there's a **** storm coming this season and I hope he's practicing alot....

Salsalife · Mar 19, 2026

TheRainMaker said:
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.

So is it the chicken or the egg... Oline help or better recievers?

TheRainMaker · Mar 19, 2026

Salsalife said:
So is it the chicken or the egg... Oline help or better recievers?

They really have done either yet.

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

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