Monday Patriots Notebook 9/1: Patriots Roster Thin in Key Areas, Wolf’s Future in Question?
Patriots news as the Patriots begin preparing for the Raiders on Sunday.
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Some Patriots news and notes on this Monday:
1) Insight on Peppers Release: With the Patriots beginning their preparation this week against the Raiders, the hope now is that they can begin settling things down defensively and build some cohesiveness ahead of Sunday’s opener.
The departure of Jabrill Peppers remains fairly shocking, primarily because of his experience and what he brought to the locker room. This one goes down as a similar situation that we saw back in 2003 when Lawyer Milloy was released, albeit it’s certainly a little different.
In Peppers’ case, he was a guy who was seemingly well liked, while Milloy’s ties ran deeper and he was definitely more beloved by the majority of that unit. But it’s similar in that like Milloy, Peppers was a tone-setter and there aren’t yet many vocal leaders on that side of the football. They don’t have a Rodney Harrison-type of guy right now to fill the void, or at least it doesn’t feel like it.
Third-year cornerback Christian Gonzalez is more of a quiet “lead by example” type of player, and aside from him, New England really doesn’t currently have anyone in the secondary that is quite at the level to step into that role.
From a football standpoint, that seems to be the bigger issue. Reports said that heading into last week’s practices, Peppers dropped down the depth chart, with the veteran getting some work with the second unit. It’s not known whether or not that sparked an issue, or if there was something else behind it. By all accounts, nothing off the field seems to have been a factor, so this one definitely feels more football-related than anything else.
Mike Reiss of ESPN reported in his Sunday column that the club did have trade discussions around the league for Peppers, but it sounds like they weren’t overly aggressive during that process. Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald also reported in a recent podcast that a league executive texted him “definitely not about on the field at this point, something must have happened or has been happening.”
That assessment essentially makes you wonder if there wasn’t some sort of verbal exchange, which could have been related to a potential role change. Reiss writes that like Kyle Dugger, Peppers’ strength is playing downhill and not necessarily in coverage. It’s also possible that may have been the reason he was out there in the finale against the Giants, as well as why Mike Vrabel wanted to get a look at him out there with rookie Craig Woodson this preseason to see if it’s a role Peppers could handle.
“Well, no,” said Vrabel after last week’s game when asked if there was something else behind Peppers seeing so much time on the field. “Just, again, we got to have 11 out there, but wanted to see him play with Craig [Woodson] alongside. He’s played a couple… Pep’s played a couple of different spots and wanted to just see him play safety alongside Craig.”
“I know he’s played some in nickel. He’s played some in the box on third down. He’s played some different places. Really where we, tonight, wanted to see him was alongside Craig, playing safety exclusively.”
For now, it’s definitely a group with some questions. With Peppers gone, the club still at least has a veteran in Kyle Dugger as part of that unit to give them an experienced veteran. But after that it’s Jaylinn Hawkins and Dell Pettus, with special teamer Brenden Schooler available if he’s needed.
Not ideal, and certainly concerning. However, as we’ve seen, some of the best seasons with this team have come after some difficult roster decisions. Hopefully, with Vrabel now the one setting the tone, his players respond in kind.
2) Offensive Line Depth a question: The Patriots still have significant questions up front, with this group getting its first test on Sunday as the club finally kicks off the 2025 season.
All eyes will be on rookie Will Campbell, who has the key responsibility of protecting Drake Maye as the rookie left tackle begins his NFL career.
Staying healthy is going to be big for the former LSU standout, as the team doesn’t have much of an answer behind him. Last year’s starter, Vederian Lowe, is back on the active roster after seeing time both at left and right tackle this preseason, with rookie Marcus Bryant also getting some work on both sides. Lowe has shown he can start, but we’ve already seen the results. He’s good to step in for a game or two, but definitely not someone you want out there much more that that.
Last year’s third-round pick, Caedan Wallace, is another big question mark. He’s moved from being a potential tackle to being in the mix in the left guard competition. He seems to have fallen out of that race and the team still has him listed as a tackle.
Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal said during a recent Q & A that when it comes to Wallace, the level of play is there, but his commitment to the game seems to be the biggest question.
“He has first-round talent, but his love of football and his toughness is very much in question,” said Bedard. “Too much talent to not give more time.”
At left guard, it had been rookie Jared Wilson and Wallace in the mix, with Cole Strange and Ben Brown also getting some looks. Strange is gone and he’s since landed with the Browns, but that position is now a big question mark heading into this week.
Garrett Bradbury had a shaky preseason at center, so it’s tough to feel overly confident there. But after that, it’s Mike Onwenu at right guard, with Morgan Moses anchoring the right side in what should be a tough match-up against the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby this weekend.
The team did recently add veteran tackle Thayer Munford to its practice squad. Munford saw four starts as a rookie in 2022, which included time at right tackle as well as an extra tackle on the left. He also saw even more time in 2023. He provides some additional depth behind Moses and could also give them someone to use as an additional blocker alongside Campbell, which we saw the Patriots do at times during Mac Jones rookie year.
Either way, the margin for error certainly feels a little slim, and Sunday’s opener should absolutely be a good test for this group.
3) Wolf’s Future in question?: Executive Vice President of Player personnel Eliot Wolf’s name has been discussed quite a bit in recent weeks, especially given how things played out with the majority of its 2024 Patriots draft class this preseason.
Most of that criticism has come following the swing-and-miss for Ja’Lynn Polk, who will forever be compared to Ladd McConkey. He’s a name who was there for the taking and the campaign the now Chargers wideout had has frustrated fans ever since.
It didn’t help that Polk again had a rough camp this year coming off an offseason procedure, and an injury essentially ended his sophomore campaign before any real evaluation could be made. After what we’ve seen, the odds are probably good he might not have survived the cutdowns, and his future is in question.
Aside from Polk, there have been – at least so far – just two other players from that class who did ultimately end up not panning out. Both Layden Robinson and Jaheim Bell were the two who were let go outright, while Javon Baker was a project who Vrabel has supported all summer. Baker would likely even still be here, but he seemed frustrated to be sent back down to the practice squad one day after being placed on the 53. He instead opted to join the Eagles’ practice squad, and it remains to be seen if he’ll end up regretting it.
Wallace’s future feels a little uncertain, and Marcellus Dial had a solid rookie campaign on special teams and looked poised to earn a role in the secondary after a promising preseason. Unfortunately, an injury ended that run and he’s now on IR, but he potentially might have ended up on the 53.
As a result, last year’s draft wasn’t necessarily a disaster, but Polk’s selection over McConkey is what turned the overall perception for fans for that group when it comes to Wolf. The writing is probably on the wall for Polk, who will likely need a miracle about-face in 2026 to change that. Missing on him played a big role in their woes on offense last year, and that one will certainly be talked about for years to come.
As for Wolf, he’s probably facing a tough road. Despite him repeatedly saying he’s the one who does have “final say” when it comes to the players, he’s tried to make it clear that part of his role doesn’t matter. He’s emphasized on more than one occasion that it’s more important to have Vrabel as the one to make the decisions, with Ryan Cowden and John Streicher clearly involved in helping Vrabel make that call.
Greg Bedard has probably said it best. Wolf’s strength has been when he’s able to be hands-on outside the building and managing the scouting department. But when it comes to making the final call, it’s really up to Vrabel and his staff to take the information Wolf and his staff have helped provide and then choose the player.
Bedard said that Wolf not being able to be out working during Jerod Mayo’s first year as a coach was an issue.
“Wolf couldn’t go to any all-star games last year, especially the Senior Bowl (where he was this year with Vrabel), because he was holding Mayo’s hand putting together a coaching staff,” wrote Bedard.
“Wolf is NOT IN CHARGE,” he added. “It’s over. It’s moot. He organizes the scouting staff, that’s it.”
How Wallace and Dial ultimately pan out will give us the last bit of context on last year’s class, and Wolf’s future will probably hinge on how much influence and data he provided during this year’s draft. If he played a big role in helping Vrabel and Cowden put this year’s group together, maybe that will help his cause.
However, Callahan also added during his podcast that the question when it comes to Wolf is a very real thing. While both Vrabel and Cowden have spoken highly of Wolf to this point, it’s hard not to wonder what the future holds for him by the time next spring gets here.
“There was an executive in the league who raised this idea to me about, again, cleaning out all the [Bill] Belichick and Mayo guys,” said Callahan regarding Peppers. He said, ‘No, I think this is about the Wolf guys. Wolf himself might be next,’ which is, of course, speculation. This person does not know, doesn’t seem to have talked to Mike Vrabel about this.”
“But there are plenty of grounds and reasons to get rid of Eliot Wolf at this point, especially as Mike Vrabel goes into year two, not the least of which is Ryan Cowden is waiting right behind him, as we know, as his number two.”
4) Kickoffs Are Up: One interesting note from Ben Volin’s Sunday column is the fact that the NFL’s kickoff rule change seems to be a hit, at least based on the numbers.
Volin points out that the data from 49 preseason games saw 469 kickoffs this preseason, with a touchback percentage of just 20.4% compared to 64.3% last year and 73% in 2023.
This preseason, 78.3 percent of the kicks were returned, which is up from 32.8% in 2024, and 21.8% in 2023.
That likely means that area will continue to be a little more exciting than it’s been in the past. We’ve already seen first hand how it might benefit New England after TreVeyon Henderson’s electrifying 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown during New England’s 48-18 win over the Commanders in week one of this preseason.
Overall, the Patriots averaged 42.5 yards per kickoff return this preseason, with Henderson (2 returns, 126 yards), Jeremiah Webb (2 returns, 82 yards), and Antonio Gibson (1 return, 62 yards) leading the way. They averaged just 25.5 as a team in 2024.
Special teams as a whole seems improved this year, and based on what we’ve seen so far, they already seem to have a pretty good handle on this latest rule change.
That certainly adds another wrinkle to watch as we get closer to Sunday, and fingers crossed it’s a sign of things to come in 2025.
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April 8 - April 23 (Through 26yrs)
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