Good morning, and a happy Sunday to all, and here is your Patriots news for 06-28, along with this week’s NFL notes.
First, the sad news: RIP to Steve Zabel, an outstanding linebacker for the Patriots, Eagles, and Colts, who passed away this week at 78. Zabel was a two-way player at Oklahoma, playing tight end and defensive end, as well as a punter. He played two ways for the Eagles when he first entered the league.
In 1975, amid a contract dispute with Philly, he was traded to the Patriots, reuniting him with his college coach, Chuck Fairbanks. He was a member of the Patriots All-Decade Team from the 1970s. And in 1976, showed his versatility by kicking an extra point in the team’s final regular-season game, a 31-14 win over the New Orleans Saints.
Zabel was an early labor organizer who stated that the Players’ Union didn’t do enough for the players. After his contentious negotiations with Philly in 1975, a Patriots preseason game was canceled when Zabel and his teammates refused to play, citing a lack of progress on changes to the players’ pension, insurance, medical benefits, and working conditions.
After retiring, he coached at small colleges and high schools so that he could spend more time with his family. He and a former Sooner teammate founded a foundation in Oklahoma City to feed the homeless and mentor youngsters.
For those of us who remember him, he was a great football player and one of the Three Steves at linebacker for the Pats: Zabel, King, and Nelson. Thoughts and prayers to the Zabel family.
We are in what is normally the quiet time of the offseason, after OTAs and minicamp and before training camp. But as we know there is never much quiet time around Foxborough.
Inane Column By CBS Sports Marks The Patriots’ Offseason As The Worst
There are hot takes, and then there are really hot takes, and then there is this drivel. CBS Sports has never been a hotbed for pro-New England Patriots content, but this one deserves a mention.
So, the author of this piece was compiling a list of NFL teams with the worst offseasons. And the Patriots came in as having the third-worst.
He spent a considerable amount of word salad on the Mike Vrabel, Dianna Russini situation, while patting himself on the back for having “not being afraid” to address the situation.
While going on and on about the woes of the New England offseason, he failed to mention that the Patriots signed a three-time All-Pro wide receiver, A.J. Brown, to go along with a young QB who was one vote shy of an MVP award. But the addition of Brown, Romeo Doubs, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Reggie Gilliam, and three-time 1st Team All-Pro Kevin Byard III, who led the league in interceptions in 2025, with the Bears. Not a word.
“To make a list of NFL teams that had the worst offseasons and not include the Patriots would be disingenuous,” he wrote. “To make matters worse, the Patriots are the prime regression candidate in 2026. After going 14-3 last season with help from the easiest schedule since the turn of the millennium, the Patriots have the sixth-toughest schedule in 2026…”
When all else fails, it is the schedule…right?
Quick Hitters For the Patriots and NFL News
Jeremy Springer/Kayla Burton: Congratulations to the pair, who announced their engagement this week. The Patriots’ special teams coordinator proposed to Burton a very familiar face from NBC Sports Boston, on the beach in San Diego.
According to the couple, they’ve been seeing each other for the past two years.
Patriots in Scotland: The talk of the town since the World Cup began has been how Boston embraced the Scots, and how the Scots absolutely endeared themselves to the locals. And now the Patriots, having hosted the Scottish National Team at “Boston Stadium,” want to play a game in Scotland.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft has “made it known” to the NFL that New England would like to play an international game in Scotland, according to The Boston Globe.
Scotland hasn’t hosted an NFL International Game, but did have a franchise in NFL Europe, the Scottish Claymores (that was a sword, and not the anti-personnel mine).
Let’s hope that the NFL can make that happen. That’s a road trip that everyone can get behind, although one’s liver would need plenty of time to recover after a week’s worth of libations in Edinburgh and Glasgow. “Dinna fash yersel.” It will be a fun time for all.
With training camp a month away, we’ll take a look at some of the more interesting names to keep an eye on once camp opens.
Elijah Ponder: The Patriots’ second-year edge rusher, with prototypical size, had a very productive spring and is one of the Patriots’ breakout candidates for 2026.
Ponder was an UDFA out of Cal-Poly last year. He made the team out of training camp and became a valuable special teams contributor, who worked his way into the defensive rotation at the edge.
He played 24 percent of the defensive snaps last year, and notched four sacks, four tackles for a loss (TFL), two fumble recoveries, nine hurries and two quarterback hits as a rookie. With Harold Landry still rehabbing from offseason surgery, and Gabe Jacas unsigned, Ponder may have the opportunity to work himself into even more meaningful snaps.
Greg Bedard said on his podcast that, “So you have Harold Landry, Dre’Mont Jones, Elijah Ponder—who, by the way, the Patriots love Isaiah Ponder. They think that he is going to be something this year.”
The 6’3, 261-pounder will be someone to keep an eye on this year.
Khalil Jacobs/Amari Gainer: The Patriots have a depth issue at the off-the-ball linebacker position behind Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss. This offseason, they lost Jahlani Tavai, Jack Gibbens, and Marte Mapu. And Jacobs will be a player to watch this summer.
Although he is a bit undersized at 6 ‘1, 227, the Patriots were very interested in him, as he had three visits with the team prior to the draft. However, the Patriots selected Namdi Obiazor in the draft and added Jacobs as a UDFA.
He’s a smart, instinctive player who, despite probably never becoming a starter in the NFL, has the tools to become a subpackage rotational piece. And like the players that the team lost, his value is definitely tied to special teams, where he was a core member of Missouri’s STs. He could factor in replacing Mapu as the personal punt protector.
Gainer is another intriguing player to watch this summer. The Patriots signed the 6’3, 240-pound linebacker to their practice squad in December of last year. He offers a bit of versatility as he displays comfort in dropping back into coverage, playing in the box, or lining up on the edge as a pass-rusher.
Gainer is also a candidate to be a core special teams player. He finished his college career at UNC, where he was a teammate of Drake Maye, who praised him.
“I played with him my last year in college,” Maye said. “He’s a great guy in the locker room. He’s good on the edge. He’s fast. He’s played inside a little bit. He’s played on the edge.”
Gainer has good speed and is very athletic, posting a 9.33 RAS when he came out for the draft. And he fits the mold that the Patriots are now coveting. During the Bill Belichick era, the Patriots went after smart, bigger, more physical players. Now they are changing it up in Vrabel’s (albeit brief) time in New England by looking for faster, more athletic players.
Josh McDaniels: The Patriots’ offensive coordinator, who was awarded the AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year honors in February for transforming the Patriots offense, is back for his second season with Drake Maye and with some new intriguing weapons to work with.
McDaniels’ work with Maye, who entered 2025 largely unproven, was set against the backdrop of what many analysts believed was the worst skill-position group in the NFL and a new offensive line, and he transformed them into a very good unit. Many questioned whether the game had passed McDaniels by…those naysayers are quiet now.
The Patriots finished 2nd in the NFL in points scored, 2nd in EPA, and 1st in EPA per pass. During the offseason, they’ve made improvements (unless you are from CBS Sports).
While releasing Stefon Diggs, they added A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs (more below) at wide receiver. Alijah Vera-Tucker was brought in to play left guard. Jared Wilson was moved to his natural position at center.
Both he and LT Will Campbell (healthy now after an injury late last season) have had a year in the program and are now stronger. Morgan Moses’ eventual successor at RT, Caleb Lomu, was drafted in the first round. TE Eli Raridon was drafted in the 3rd. Reggie Gilliam was signed from the Bills to be the new FB.
This gives McDaniels more freedom to move pieces around and hunt favorable matchups. In his second year at the helm, he’s challenged Drake Maye to take more of a leadership role, with the ability to change formations and play calls at the line of scrimmage.
The Patriots won’t be sneaking up on anyone this year, but McDaniels is used to that, and with better pieces in the passing game, an improved running game, and better pass protection, the offense will be fun to watch in 2026.
And in a twist to the story here, former Raider safety and 1st-round draft pick Jonathan Abram is NOT a fan of McDaniels.
In an Instagram post, Abram wrote, “Josh McDaniels ruined everything we built! He should be arrested for sabotaging the organization and going back to (New England).”
Abram is currently an unrestricted free agent and hasn’t played since being released from the Saints’ practice squad late in the 2024 season.
Mike Brown: After losing Jaylinn Hawkins in free agency, the Patriots signed All-Pro safety Kevin Byard III to replace him. So, with Byard and Craig Woodson as the starters, who will be the third safety in the defensive groupings?
Dell Pettus is arguably the frontrunner for that slot, but Brown, who was signed in free agency, is a possibility there. The 6 ‘1, 218-pound Brown played under Mike Vrabel in Tennessee, although that was primarily as an STs player.
And his role with New England will definitely include ST duties, but during the spring, he got plenty of looks as the third safety in some subpackages. He can play the deep part of the field, in the box, or as a dime linebacker. He’s got the size to play a valuable role, and there should be good competition this summer between him and Pettus, along with John Saunders Jr. and UDFA Peter Manuma.
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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.
Is Romeo Doubs The “X-Factor” For The Offense This Year?
The Patriots released Stefon Diggs this offseason and then signed Doubs from the Packers to a four-year, $68 million contract. While he doesn’t have the production to match Diggs, he was seven years younger, as he just turned 26 in April, while Diggs will celebrate his 33rd birthday later this year.
So, he should be just hitting his prime at exactly the right time. But soon after his signing, all of the talk was about the worst-kept secret in the NFL, the A.J. Brown trade from Philadelphia to the Patriots.
And while Doubs can’t match Brown’s production either, he should greatly benefit from playing opposite Brown in Josh McDaniels’ offense. And he could be the Patriots’ X-Factor in 2026.
Doubs has good size at 6 ‘1, 210, and is a proven red-zone threat with 21 career touchdowns, of which 19 have been in the red zone. And with his very good, quick release at the line, that should continue.
He’s coming off the best year of his career with 55 receptions on 83 targets for 724 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. Doubs averaged 13.2 yards per reception in 2025.
Doubs came from Green Bay, where the Packers spread the ball around. Now in New England, Josh McDaniels does the same thing, which Doubs said appealed to him. With Brown drawing the obvious top coverage players for the opposition, this should open the door for Doubs to have a very good 2026.
Training camp will be the first opportunity to see how Maye develops his rapport with his two new wide receivers. And once the pads come on, it will give us all a more realistic look at how the secondary will fare against the new-look passing game. It would seem that McDaniels will be moving the pair around the formation, between the “X” and the “Z,” and even in the slot, hunting favorable matchups.
And Doubs, who has been overlooked in the hoopla that surrounded Brown this spring, will have the opportunity to show what he can do.
While some on social media have said the additions of Brown and Doubs are akin to the 2007 additions of Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Donte Stallworth, that may be just a wee bit of a stretch, okay, a massive stretch there, as that trio combined for 256 catches, 3,365 yards, and 34 TDs in 2007. No one is expecting, nor should they expect, anything close to that kind of production.
But it will still be fun to watch.
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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
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
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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)
