Patriots EVP/Player Personnel Eliot Wolf said the team had “varying levels of dysfunction” in the few years leading up to 2025, but bringing in coach Mike Vrabel gave the franchise “some stability,” according to Mark Daniels of MASSLIVE.com. The Patriots’ 2024 campaign with then-head coach Jerod Mayo was “anything but a dream,” so the team moved on and hired Vrabel in January 2025. That “led to a productive offseason” for Wolf and the Patriots’ front office -- which then led to a 14-win 2025 season and a Super Bowl appearance. Sources mentioned that part of the issue in 2024 was that the team “lacked direction under Mayo.” When it came to free agency and the draft, there “was minimal input in what the coaching staff wanted in their players at certain positions.” But that lack of direction “changed drastically” under Vrabel. In his first offseason, Vrabel held a team meeting with the scouting department before the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine and told the staff what “type of player he exactly wanted from every position.” Wolf said that this year, he has” been impressed with Vrabel’s staff’s willingness to dive into draft prep following a long Super Bowl run.” Wolf noted that the relationship between the coaching staff and scouting department “has been helpful in their roster building” (MASSLIVE.com, 3/31).
GOOD CHANGE: In Boston, Ben Volin wrote the Patriots’ turnaround from 4-13 to 14-3 and an appearance in the Super Bowl with Vrabel “probably left a few NFL owners, executives, and coaches cursing under their breath.” But Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones “admires the Patriots’ rapid improvement and sees it as great for the NFL.” Jones said, “There’s no question, it gives all fan bases around our league hope. It’s great for the overall fan base of the NFL, that any one market, even though they may have had a tough year, you can draft a great player, then you get a great coach and put good players around it, great things can happen” (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/30).
HIS ROLE: In Boston, Greg Bedard noted at this week’s league meetings in Phoenix, Patriots President Jonathan Kraft held an informal, off-the-record discussion with local media. Bedard added he has a feeling “there will be a lot of discussion about Jonathan Kraft’s involvement with the media.” Bedard: “Do I think it was significant? Yes and no.” Bedard added he asked Patriots owner Robert Kraft “last year about when he would take step back,” and he responded that “they would look at that in 2-3 years.” Bedard: “I think there might be some sort of on-ramping for Jonathan ... but I don’t think anything is imminent. Robert is still very involved, and Jonathan is quite busy, and not just with their businesses.” Bedard noted Jonathan Kraft has been chair of the board for Massachusetts General Hospital since 2019 (BOSTON SPORTS JOURNAL, 3/30).
FACILITY ALERT: In Boston, Doug Kyed reported the Patriots have shifted their football offices into the recently opened 160,000-square-foot New Balance Athletics Center, “which will house player lockers and abut the team’s practice fields.” Robert Kraft is “excited for everyone, including the media, to see it.” He said, “The training center, I think it’s very special, and I think it’ll give our coaching staff and players reason to celebrate the efficiency and what can go on there, and it’s right on the field. I’ll be very interested to get the reaction of all of you experts in the media when you see it, and how it compares to our competition. I think it’s one of a kind” (BOSTON HERALD, 3/30).
