As things heated up with Mike Vrabel following Jerod Mayo’s firing last Sunday night, one of the discussions around Patriots ownership moving as quickly as they did centered around the fact Vrabel was already taking interviews elsewhere.
Some of the theories were that Vrabel, who interviewed with the New York Jets ahead of his meeting with New England this past week, was done with the intent of trying to put pressure on Robert and Jonathan Kraft to hire the former Patriots linebacker. Many believed that was why Robert Kraft was moving “fast,” something he told everyone they had planned on doing last week.
Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston pointed out last week in a segment discussing Vrabel – and Vrabel’s former teammate, Ted Johnson, agreed – that the interview with the Jets may have been Vrabel “shaking his tailfeathers” to try and motivate the club to make the move, showing that he was willing to explore his options and potentially sign elsewhere.
According to the Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard, that may not have been the case. It sounds like Vrabel might have instead had a different motive behind sitting down with the Jets.
Bedard said on Sunday during a podcast with John Zannis that he heard that the move was made knowing full well he’d be in New England, with the former linebacker instead looking to learn a little more about what is now a team he’ll face twice a season in the coming years.
“Related to Vrabel and the timeline, there’s a rumor in NFL circles, and again, this is just a rumor,” said Bedard. “There’s a rumor in NFL circles that Vrabel didn’t take the Jets interview to pressure the Krafts. He did it to go and get background research on the Jets, having an idea that he might be the next Patriots head coach. I just think that’s interesting.”
It is interesting, and it’s somewhat of a Belichickian move, given that Vrabel got to sit down with Jets ownership and hear about how they plan to improve their team coming off of what was their own dysfunctional disaster in 2024. It also provides Vrabel with a little intel into their mindset, which could certainly come in handy as New England reworks its roster this offseason.
Meanwhile, it adds a little fuel to the fire after Rex Ryan, who also recently interviewed with the Jets, said during a broadcast on Sunday that he’s hoping to land the job with New York, which would give him an opportunity to face off against Vrabel.
Ryan is already trying to restart the border war between the two teams, although his future remains uncertain as the Jets continue exploring their options.
“Hopefully, I get to kick this guy’s a** twice a year,” said Ryan, laughing while adding, “My team, not me personally.”
Ryan said recently during an appearance on the DiPietro & Rothenberg Show that he expects to get the job, simply because he feels he’s the best candidate.
“The reason I think I’m going to get it is because I’m the best guy for it. It ain’t close,” said Ryan via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. “The thing you have to do is, you have to connect with your football team, you have to connect with your fan base. The way they play, that’s the most important thing. It’s not just the Xs and Os and all that. This Ben Johnson, I love him, I absolutely love him, but I’m a better candidate for this job than he would be.”
We’ll see if the Jets ultimately pull the trigger there. But either way, Vrabel is already starting things off playing chess against an organization that certainly remains a mess heading into 2024.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
I yearn for the old days of actual reporting and not personal biased baseless speculation but I guess that is what gets the clicks.