Some Patriots news for this morning:
1) With the Las Vegas visiting Gillette Stadium to begin the 2025 Patriots season, it’s still a little hard to believe that it will be Pete Carroll leading that group as the head coach of the Silver and Black.
It’s also hard to believe that Tom Brady is a minority owner there, but that’s a story for another day.
But out in the desert, Carroll has apparently reinvigorated a team that has definitely gone through some rough spots in recent years. They hired Josh McDaniels in 2022 to be their head coach, and unfortunately, that didn’t work out. He ended up being fired at the end of October the following season. His loss is now New England’s gain, with the hope he can do with Drake Maye what he did with Mac Jones during the former Alabama QB’s rookie season.
Interim coach Antonio Pierce took over and coached through 2024, but the Raiders decided to turn the page this past offseason by bringing in the 73-year-old former Seahawks coach, who faces the daunting task of resetting the franchise.
Joining him is offensive coordinator Chip Kelly – someone former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had a lot of respect for – with Kelly having spent nearly the last 10 years back at the college level, and hasn’t coached in the NFL since 2016 (49ers). On the other side of the ball is defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham, who is in his fourth season with the team.
So far, Carroll has brought with him the energy and enthusiasm he’s always been known for. Anyone who remembers him here in New England likely recalls the ‘pumped and jacked’ coach who took over following the departure of Bill Parcells in 1997, but couldn’t quite turn that energy into success during his time with the Patriots.
But Carroll grew from his tenure here and enjoyed success later in his career, both at the college level at USC, as well as in the NFL, which included a Super Bowl ring. Now he’s looking to help the Raiders establish a new foundation.
Ryan McFadden of ESPN recently wrote a piece spotlighting Carroll, and it’s clear the new head coach is making an impact. His infectious presence has created an environment where players have been excited to get to the facility early each morning, and it sounds like he’s off to a good start with his new football team.
When the players get there, Carroll is apparently actively involved, not only from a football standpoint, but also on a personal level. He seems to have a penchant for trying to have fun with the guys, sneaking up on them during stretching periods and has also gotten into a wrestling match, claiming “I pinned him” when it came to offensive lineman, Thayer Munford Jr.
Carroll, who has some skills on the basketball court, has also competed with many of them there, establishing bonds with guys who he’ll be going to battle with in a couple of months.
He also often flies around practice, racing guys and keeping the energy high throughout each session.
“It’s got to be some type of drug out there or something,” former Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers told McFadden. “He’s got a lot of energy, man.”
More importantly, after seeing two coaches fired in recent years, players now believe they’re potentially a part of something special that’s happening there.
By all accounts, guys are bought in and they’re excited for the future, which will include a trip to New England to kick things off in Week 1 as Carroll faces off against another guy starting over with a new team in Mike Vrabel.
For now, Raiders star Maxx Crosby has been impressed with what he’s seen when it comes to Carroll and the culture being established there.
“He’s true to that. It’s not fake energy,” Crosby told McFadden. “And it’s not just him, it’s the assistant coaches, the whole building. It just feels different.”
“Pete creates that culture where everyone knows it’s hard. You’re going to work your ass off, but you’ve got a whole group and an organization of people that all got to be on the same wavelength and go in the same direction. That’s one of the hardest things you could do.”
2) Boston Sports Journal owner and head writer Greg Bedard made an interesting comment on his most recent podcast with Nick Cattles, talking about free agent acquisition, Milton Williams.
Williams, who helped Philadelphia win a Super Bowl back in February and was arguably one of the more significant signings this past offseason, is expected to help solidify a defensive line that also features Christian Barmore. With Barmore hopefully now healthy following a season where he dealt with blood clots, the stage seems set for a big year from both players.
Still, Bedard has doubts on whether or not Williams will meet those expectations. After looking at film recently, there were some things that stood out that has him questioning whether or not the Patriots made the right decision based on the contract they gave him.
“So my synopsis is this, and I’ll start from this. My only frame of reference with Milton Williams was really the Eagles’ postseason run,” said Bedard. “And his best game, his highest graded game from PFF was was the Super Bowl. And he was great in the Super Bowl. He had a strip sack of Pat Mahomes. There was a legitimate chance that he could have been MVP of that game because of what he did. And so that’s where I started with him.”
“I also knew that Milton Williams, when you talk about work ethic, football character, the intangibles, off the charts. Anybody you talk to in Philly with the Eagles around the team, off the charts. So with that, the Patriots decided to go where they did as far as the contract, which is $26 million a year, third-highest paid defensive tackle in the league behind Chris Jones and Christian Wilkins. You understood that, and I still understand that because the Patriots, we know, they lack top-end talent. They had money to spend. Milton Williams was probably the only free agent, or at least one of the rare free agents, where you’re just like, ‘This guy’s entering his prime, his best football is in front of him, and you have a chance to grab him.'”
“I understood that the end and the Patriots needed to make a splash and be like, ‘Look, we could still pull one of the premier free agents as far as when we get in the player acquisition, we can still get these guys.’ And you can never have enough good defensive tackles. And so totally understood it. So that’s where I was coming from with Milton Williams.”
Bedard took a close look at both the Super Bowl, as well as Philadelphia’s match-up against Baltimore, primarily because it’s a team Milton will face here in New England (the Patriots will travel to Baltimore in Week 16). However, one thing he talked about is the fact that Williams isn’t a game-wrecker like some of the other big names we’ve seen in the league, and that fans may want to temper their expectations heading into this season.
“When I reviewed the film, I reviewed the Chief’s Super Bowl game,” explained Bedard. “I reviewed the Saints game, which was… And the reason I picked that game, it was one of his lowest rated games on PFF, and also it was by far the most run snaps that he played during during the season. And also I reviewed the Ravens game, which was more of a middle of the road, Ravens are on the schedule this year. I figured that would be a good one to watch.”
“So my overarching takeaway from watching Milton Williams a lot more closely is if you’re expecting him to be Aaron Donald, Chris Jones, Jeffrey Simmons. All right, maybe not Aaron Donald. Aaron Donald is a freak, so let’s put him to the side. But any of these impressive three techniques, interior defensive guys that can dominate a game, that can wreck a game consistently, if you’re talking about right now, he’s not that guy.”
“He’s not. He’s really just a straight ahead power rusher, not many pass-rush moves, not many counter moves. So that was surprising. I thought he was better against the run than I anticipated, even though they weren’t great, but they were pretty good. But so at the end of the day, when I came down to it was, if you think that You look at the money that the Patriots paid him, $26 million. Is he worth that right now, in my opinion? No, not even close. Obviously, the Patriots are banking on the fact that, or Their belief that he’s just now hasn’t played a ton in his career, that he’s on the upswing.”
The next question is simply whether or not Vrabel and defensive coordinator Terrell Williams can help Milton grow and become that type of player, and Bedard’s just not sure if Milton can take that next step.
“Last year, I think he had eight sacks. His stats took a jump,” said Bedard. “Every year, he’s gotten better, that he’s going to continue that ascension, that Mike Vrabel, Terrell Williams, all these guys, that they can do for Milton Williams what they did for Jeffrey Simmons, which is take him to the next level. And I’m not begrudging them that at all. But after watching his film, I was like, he is not close to that player. He’s more of a B player right now. They’re paying him like an A elite player. Yeah. And he has a ways to go to fulfill that contract. I don’t know if he ever will.”
3) The new Bills stadium out in Buffalo is apparently coming along, with a new video having been released showing off its progress.
The massive structure is impressive, and based on the current reports, it appears to be on track to open next season.
The first seats were installed at the beginning of May, with the full completion of the stadium said to be December 1, 2026. However, the team is expected to occupy the facility in June of 2026, with the remainder of the work continuing on behind the scenes even with fans on hand on game day.
“We will still have work going on that needs to be finished, up in areas, completed. Punch list items,” Bills VP of Stadium Operations John Polka told WGRZ 2 in Buffalo.
Construction crews have been hard at work trying to keep the project on schedule, which fell behind at one point due to the weather in Buffalo. The station reports that 1,300 construction workers have been working six days a week, trying to ensure that the Bills will be playing football there next fall.
4) After getting married recently, Drake Maye did something pretty amazing, and it had nothing to do with football.
With Training Camp inching closer, Maye recently posted photos of he and teammates getting some work before things get real, with the second-year quarterback spending some time with a group of teammates that included including Stefon Diggs, DeMario Douglas, Rhamondre Stevenson, Kendrick Bourne, Kyle Williams, Ja’Lynn Polk, and Hunter Henry.
However, he did something incredible behind the scenes following his wedding that came to light on Tuesday.
According to former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak, Maye and his wife quietly passed along their wedding gifts to homeless shelters back in Maye’s hometown in North Carolina, which was something they apparently talked about doing several years ago in the event Maye ever made it to the NFL.
“The wedding gifts, didn’t tell anybody, and he had this supposed deal with his current wife that five years ago,” explained Zolak on Zolak and Bertrand on Monday. “He said, ‘If I ever made it big,’ – they did a lot of donating with the local kids shelters and stuff from the area where he grew up, some kids didn’t enough shoes, didn’t have some Christmas stuff. They didn’t tell anybody, but they took their wedding gifts and sent it to the homeless and help shelters down there. Everything that they got, they forwarded. They got no wedding gifts, didn’t receive any. Forwarded [them] to help. Monetarily and even some gifts.”
That’s definitely an amazing gesture, and Maye’s absolutely been a terrific person on and off the field since they drafted him next April. The hope now is that he’ll take a big step forward this fall, but this latest news certainly gives everyone even more of a reason to root for his success in the coming months as he looks to build on his promising 2024 rookie campaign.
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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.
Bedard is right on Milton Williams. Will he perform like a top 5 player on your team given he has the salary? That is to be seen. Work ethic. Young up-commer. Maybe. He got paid as he had the highest QB pressure percentage in the league per snap. 5 Sacks is modest for a DT but he got pressures that are high value if you ask a coach. Pay the man. QB pressure is key and hard to get in the NFL. Williams play apparently fits Vrabels scheme. So pay the man. Hey Williams earned it and you can’t compare… Read more »