Good morning, and a Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads out there who are taking care of their families each and every day. We wish you all a happy Sunday, and here is your Patriots news for 06-20, along with this week’s NFL notes.
First of all, I’ll preface this by saying I’ve never been a soccer or a World Cup fan, despite the great efforts of our former podcast co-host Russ Goldman. I don’t get the finer points of the game, and honestly, probably never will.
But after watching all the social media messages, mostly from Boston but also from elsewhere in the United States, I have loved seeing fans from all over thoroughly enjoying themselves here in the US.
The fans of Scotland and Norway, especially in Boston, have been awesome. I don’t think I could ever think of Scotland again without the thoughts of “No Scotland, No Party.” Or the Norwegians rowing a Viking longship up the escalator at the TD Garden, and at Gillette Stadium.
Now, when those teams play, I’ll be watching…and rooting for them, as well as the US. Our friends from across the pond have shown us all that we do have a great country to live in, which many of us already knew. I won’t be a “crabbit” about a game “I dinna ken” a thing about. To my “kompis” Russ: “Kjør på!”
So, with that… let’s talk some football. Some thoughts on the Gabe Jacas situation will be posted below.
The Patriots wrapped up their mandatory minicamp, and the next time we see the team will be for the start of training camp at the end of July. In the upcoming days, we’ll take another stab at a 53-man roster projection prior to training camp.
I have been watching a lot of shows and podcasts, and the vast majority of them are NOT impressed with the Patriots’ 17-win season last year and don’t have them making the playoffs. And many aren’t too impressed with Drake Maye either, especially in western New York and in the Rocky Mountains.
But one of the things that I’ve also noticed this spring and actually every spring, the talking heads on the national beat are constantly beating the drum about the Dallas Cowboys and “is this the year” yada, yada.
The last time the Cowboys went to a Super Bowl was 1996, 30 years ago; it was also the last time Dallas went to a conference championship game. In that same timeframe, the Patriots have been to the Super Bowl 10 times.
So, I’m not going to get too concerned when they put New England out of the playoff picture. We’ll see where they are once the games begin.
Quick Hitters For the Patriots and NFL News
Drake Maye’s Contract: The talk of the town has been the status of Christian Gonzalez’s extension, which hopefully will get done soon, but feels like it should have already been done, at least from here. And it will probably be in the neighborhood of $35 million a year.
But Maye’s contract will probably be close to double that. Albert Breer from SI was on 98.5 this week and talking about a possible Drake Maye contract and what it will cost. And Breer is convinced it will be in the $70 million to $75 million range.
He used Dak Prescott’s deal as a baseline, which at the time Prescott accounted for 23.4 percent of the Cowboys’ salary cap. Given where the salary cap will probably be next year, that 23.4 percent of the cap will be in the $70 million range. Breer said he could foresee a six-year, $450 million deal in the works for Maye.
Kraft Sues Foxborough: The Patriots, Robert Kraft, and The Kraft Group have filed a lawsuit against the town of Foxborough this week over an entertainment license fee of nearly $1 million related to hosting the World Cup.
The suit was filed in Norfolk Superior Court, where the Patriots argue that the town was “improperly squeezing them for nearly $1 million in new licensing fees that are not authorized under state law.”
The dispute stems from a March issue between the two sides, when plans were underway to host select 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer matches.
Kraft is steamed over an invoice of $953,640 presented as a “condition for renewing the entertainment license.” The suit argues that under state law, Foxborough is not authorized to charge more than $100 for an entertainment license.
Back in March, Kraft agreed to pay up front for security costs for the World Cup games held at Gillette Stadium. As soon as the news about this broke, there were immediate flashbacks to The Godfather Part II, when Senator Geary tried to squeeze Michael Corleone to pay $250,000 and a percentage of the casino’s profits in Vegas for a $20,000 license.
Quintayvious Hutchins: The Patriots’ rookie edge player who was drafted in the 7th Round (247th overall) from Boston College signed his contract this week, which was a four-year contract worth a total of $4,502,092. His signing bonus and total guarantee totaled $122,092, which is prorated annually over the length of the deal.
His contract doesn’t count against the team’s Top 51, although his $30,523 signing bonus proration does count against the cap this year. His salary ($885,000) won’t count against the cap unless he makes the team.
And even given the state of the edge position right now, that is a long shot.
Kayshon Boutte: Boutte, who was in attendance for the team’s mandatory minicamp, is probably best served by a trade. In the final year of his rookie contract, Boutte will be looking to get paid, and the best way for that to happen is for him to have a productive year.
And with the current state of the Patriots wide receiver room at the X-position, the opportunities are going to be limited. The Patriots just traded for A.J. Brown, and paid Romeo Doubs to come to New England. Plus, with Mack Hollins and Kyle Williams in the mix at the X, the chances of Boutte getting enough passes thrown his way to garner the production to get paid are slim.
We know Brown’s value, and Packers’ quarterbacks had an 112.7 passer rating when targeting Doubs, who has 21 career TD receptions, so he and Brown are going to be huge red zone upgrades for the offense.
I’ve been in the camp that I didn’t want to see Boutte traded, and pairing him with their new receivers would be an excellent way for the Patriots to attack opponents’ defenses. Taylor Kyles of CLNS posted a video stating the offense pairing Brown and Boutte could be dynamic in 2026.
But for Boutte’s best interests and to see him get paid, that would probably be served by trading him to a team that would feature him much more than he will in New England.
DeMario Douglas: In a post on “X” by Mike Reiss, he had a leftover from minicamp about Douglas, specifically what offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels wants for him to focus on.
“More savvy. Don’t do what I see on the piece of paper. Go add my swagger to it … add some juice to it. He believes in me, and I appreciate him for that.”
Douglas had a very good spring, but it should be remembered he had a very good spring/camp last season. However, his production last year fell to a career-low of only 31 catches, but with a career-high yards after catch.
With the additions of A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs, it should open up chunks of the field underneath for Douglas, who is one of the Patriots’ quickest players to thrive in McDaniels’ offense.
Patriots’ wide receiver coach Todd Downing said that being in McDaniels system for the second year has given Douglas more confidence.
“The first year I learned that offense, it is kind of tricky,” Douglas said looking back to last season. “Year one is like, you have to learn [the system] and gain confidence. Year two is like, ‘Oh, I have my confidence, now let me go out there and play.’ Let me go out there and play fast.”
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Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriots tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed how teams used the tight end position.
We will continue to display this in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
The Gabe Jacas Situation Is Not Ideal…For Anyone
The Patriots are now off until the end of July, when training camp begins on July 25 at the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium. And that’s when hopefully we’ll see the Patriots’ rookie 2nd-Round draft pick on the field for the first time.
Jacas has yet to take the field with the Patriots in any capacity. He was at rookie minicamp, but stayed on the side and didn’t take part. He wasn’t at the OTAs and mandatory minicamp, losing out on valuable learning time.
It was later learned (via ESPN’s Mike Reiss) that Jacas had a knee operation, characterized as a “clean-up” procedure, and something that shouldn’t hold him out of training camp.
Jacas has yet to sign his rookie contract, the only 2nd-round draft pick to do so. But with the Patriots not giving him the standard “participation agreement” that would protect him if he was injured during the spring, he stayed away, something that doesn’t sound like anyone is happy.
Reiss also mentioned that teams found that Jacas has a slight labrum tear in his shoulder that will eventually need surgery, as well as a stress fracture in his foot that will likewise need to get addressed.
The Patriots gave up three draft picks to move up and get Jacas (#s 63, 131, 202), and this situation is far from ideal; for the player who lost valuable classroom learning time with his first NFL team, and for the team, who drafted him to provide much-needed help along the edge.
With Harold Landry still rehabbing from his offseason knee surgery, it isn’t known if he’ll be ready to go once the season starts. Or if his knee injury will be a chronic issue. Reiss stated that it seems like Jacas will be ready for the start of training camp. But he’s starting from scratch.
Jacas has been working out with former Colts linebacker Marcus Howard, who posted video of the pair on his Instagram account. The situation with Jacas’ contract probably won’t be resolved until he is completely healthy, and that may not be until after the July 25 start date for camp.
This leaves Dre’Mont Jones, Elijah Ponder, and Bradyn Swinson on the edge. While Mike Vrabel has come out publicly and stated he’s confident in the group overall, they are painfully thin. If this carries over into the season, how would it be addressed?
The Team May Opt For Veteran Help
The team could add a veteran edge player, and there are some well-known players out there, including Joey Bosa, former Patriot Kyle Van Noy, and Jadeveon Clowney, among others.
Bosa is probably not an option for them because he is a liability against the run, which was the reason they didn’t resign K’Lavon Chaisson. Van Noy is 35, and his best pass rushing days are well behind him. Clowney is 33 but did half 8.5 sacks last year in Dallas.
He’s also an outstanding edge setter in the running game and has had two different stints with Vrabel. In Tennessee and in Houston. However, it is generally believed he’ll end up in Green Bay as the Packers need help until Micah Parsons is back to full health.
Vrabel Has Confidence In His Group
“No, that’s a good group. I’m excited about adding Dre’, the development of Ponder and Swinson. We added Luketa and some young guys. Again, we’ll continue to try to look at every position and make it stronger, but that group has done a nice job,” Vrabel said.
“Again, we’ll continue to look at it, but we’ll have to see where we are at numbers-wise, and when we get into training camp just how many guys you can rep, based on the practices.”
“Young players that work hard and have a full offseason to train, sometimes that’s a great window of opportunity for a guy that is 22, 23 years old, to make some significant improvement in their speed, in their strength, explosion,” Vrabel said.
“I think [Swinson and Elijah Ponder] are kind of in the same category. I think Bradyn has done a nice job of working hard in the offseason, knowing what it is that we are looking for, and what he is going to need to do to help himself and help our football team.”
Down the stretch last season, the Landry injury situation hurt their pass rush production. They were able to rectify that by scheming up pressure packages and got after opposing quarterbacks. The team notched 12 sacks in their first three playoff games against the Chargers (six), the Texans (three), and the Broncos (three).
They may opt to continue that type of pressure scheme if the Landry and Jacas situations don’t improve by the start of training camp. But there is reason the Patriots didn’t want to give him a standard participation agreement. And that is far from ideal.
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“Somebody asked me what success looks like, and I said, ‘Yeah, you can judge it by wins and losses during the season, but success for me in the offseason is going to be that the players believe in what we’re doing, and they believe in the message, they believe in the teaching, and they believe in the connections that we’re making.’” — Mike Vrabel
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A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)
I don’t think you can say that Landry and Jacas may not be able to play. To speculative. Dre’mont Jones and Ponder may get hurt in Summer camp too and leave the Pats with nothing. If Landry’s injury was bad enough that he wasn’t going to be ready for Sept, and or was high risk of being viably healthy this year, he’d have been gone already. Same scenario as Mumford and Gibson/RB being good players that are gone per injuries that won’t be healed for Sept. Jacas, I assume had a medical eval by the Pats. Did some injury happen… Read more »