Violence, required: These are now Mike Vrabel's New England Patriots
This team needed an attitude adjustment. Milton Williams, Carlton Davis, Robert Spillane and a (very rich) FA class officially make this a classic Vrabel outfit. He wants fighters.
First, a disclaimer: Throwing wads of cash at a roster guarantees you nothing in pro football.
Teams flush with salary-cap room in March only have that much room because they’ve been drafting so terribly. There’s nobody worth extending on their roster. ]Bill Brasky could’ve mined for better talent on draft day than Bill Belichick toward the end of the head coach’s New England days.
Secondly, this year’s class was particularly sterile. The timing for a spending spree was not ideal.
Even then? The New England Patriots unequivocally made up the most ground this week. There’s no reason to think a team that went 4-13 in 2024 cannot flirt with .500 in Year 1 with Mike Vrabel The Patriots devoted their NFL-high $129 million in cap space to one snarling theme. These are players who bring an element of violence. Vrabel launched the Tennessee Titans into the AFC Championship in 2019, then into the No. 1 seed in 2021 with the same type of personalities.
He clearly has an ethos in mind. In 24 hours, Vrabel flooded this roster with sour players… surly players… or as crusty old scouts scribble on their legal pad? Ornery pricks.
That’s what must fuel any team trying to toughen up and upset more talented contenders in this loaded conference.
To recap, the Patriots signed defensive tackle Milton Williams (four years, $104 million), cornerback Carlton Davis (three years, $60M), edge rusher Harold Landry III (three years, $43.5M), linebacker Robert Spillane (three years, $37M) and tackle Morgan Moses (three years, $24M). The current group of wide receivers has Patriot fans yearning for the glory days of Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell. Obviously, the Patriots need to somehow land a No. 1 wide receiver — at some point. Even a No. 2 would be nice. D.K. Metcalf said New England is “not a desirable place.” The Patriots made a strong push for Chris Godwin, but Ian Rapoport reported the vet took $20 million less to stay in Tampa Bay.
In the meantime, Vrabel, Eliot Wolf and Ryan Cowden are proactively building a team that’ll be one giant pain in the ass for anyone to face in the AFC.
All in possession of a young quarterback — Drake Maye — who hinted as a rookie that he’s got it.
Williams is the big-ticket purchase. And like his very-rich UFA forefathers, he’s a gamble. Through four seasons in Philadelphia, he played next to the one of the best defensive tackles of one era (Fletcher Cox) and one of the best in the next (Jalen Carter). Watch a reel of Williams 'highlights and there’s a good chance Carter’s belligerence is creaking a door open for his teammate. In 17 games (seven starts), Williams totaled 24 tackles, five sacks and 10 quarterback hits. He’s never played more than half the snaps in a season.
The Patriots are banking on the 25-year-old Williams being a sleeping lion because there aren’t many 6-foot-3, 290-pound interior players who bring the hostility we all saw through his 25 snaps in Super Bowl LIX. Williams had two sacks, including this dagger of a strip-sack and recovery vs. Patrick Mahomes.
Even if there’s a 50/50 shot this backfires, who cares? The bigger disappointment would’ve been walking away without such a boom-or-bust player.
Then, there’s Davis. Go Long readers may remember the voice of the Miami Gardens, Fla., native in these pages.
Back in 2023, Davis opened up on everything from shootouts breaking out after youth football games to so many of his peers becoming “true killers.”
“People who are in jail now — who killed people — I grew up with them. Played with them. Broke bread with them. Hung out with them. Sweated with them. Became a blood brother with them. Through grinding and football. So, going through shit, being around shit, a lot of shit don’t faze you.”
His play style on the boundary directly reflects his rugged upbringing.
Opposite No. 1 corner Christian Gonzalez, Davis may be a perfect fit. He views man coverage as true combat. Hence, those legendary battles vs. New Orleans Saints wideout Michael Thomas.
We sat down in Tampa, Fla., right when the rest of the country expected the Buccaneers to be one of the worst teams in the NFL. The retirement of Tom Brady, coupled with financial problems led to a less-than-inspiring Baker Mayfield vs. Kyle Trask training camp battle. Davis didn’t give a damn what anybody thought. His message was explicit: “Anybody who feels we’ve lost Tom — and lost something — is going to be in for a rude awakening. A rude awakening. … “We’re going to wreck shit. Like, wreck shit. Interceptions. Turnovers. Plays will be made. I will say. Plays. Will. Be. Made.”
Teammates — Godwin included — heard those words, and followed his lead.
To everyone’s shock, Tampa Bay won its division and came within a few plays of the NFC Championship. Nobody’s expecting such a run out of these Patriots but finishing second to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East is a reasonable place to start. Davis will not tolerate losing. Davis is precisely the type of leader a disoriented organization needs — old-school. He’ll get beat occasionally. He’ll draw penalties. Ultra-physical press corners in the NFL are hard to find. Davis, 28, showed enough last season with the Detroit Lions to justify a payday.
Spillane? There’s plenty of attitude to his game, too. Arguably the best defensive player in the sport, Maxx Crosby, once told his Raiders teammate he’s “the fucking best linebacker I’ve ever played with.” Vrabel’s Titans originally signed Spillane as an undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan in 2018. After four years of spot starts with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he finally got his shot as a full-timer in Las Vegas and broke out with 148- and 158- tackle seasons. His run grade of 91.2 is PFF’s third-best amongst all linebackers since 2023.
It doesn’t take much of an analytic dive to realize Spillane is exactly the brand of the hellraiser Vrabel seeks.
Landry has spent six of his seven NFL seasons with Vrabel. The good news? He’s got 19.5 sacks his last two years. The bad? Landry’s pass rush win rate of 4.8 percent last season ranked 64th of 64 eligible edge rushers. He hasn’t shown the same explosion since tearing his ACL in 2022. Skeptics may view this signing as a new commander in chief getting too nostalgic. On offense, Moses is a 34-year-old lineman with 166 career games on the odometer. New England is betting on the 6-foot-6, 318-pounder withstanding more weekly poundings in the trenches. This, too, is a gamble.
By no means should anyone expect New England to hit 5 for 5 on these free-agent additions, but this all bears a striking resemblance to how the Washington Commanders sought to transform the building under new coach Dan Quinn a year ago.
Quinn’s first run as a head coach in Atlanta mirrored Vrabel’s Titans years. Both jolted life into a dead organization, nearly reached the sport’s pinnacle, then tapered out. Last spring, both Quinn and Commanders GM Adam Peters aggressively filled their roster with players they were familiar with in Dallas, Atlanta, San Francisco and/or vets they knew would set the correct tone for younger players. Signings like Austin Ekeler, Bobby Wagner, Dante Fowler Jr., Frankie Luvu, Tyler Biadasz and Dorance Armstrong.
Remains to be seen if Vrabel can work the same magic as Quinn, a coach who may understand the human condition better than anyone in his profession.
Either way, there’s direction. These Patriots are rudderless no more. That wasn’t the case last season with Jerod Mayo, the most cringe coach in the NFL. Good Lord. Mayo was in over his head from Day 1 — constantly stepping in dog feces at the podium, constantly regretting what he said. On second thought? It might’ve been smart for Robert Kraft to, uh, you know, interview another coaching candidate.
Hey, maybe it was all for the best. Last season’s disaster led New England to Vrabel.
This week, the Patriots progressed from total joke to relevant.
There’s a reasonable chance that either Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter or Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter falls to No. 4 overall considering so many teams will be chasing quarterbacks Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders. New England can add another foundational piece in the draft and — eventually? — the weaponry will come. New England has a chance to follow Buffalo’s footsteps. If Maye hints that he’s a rising star, like Allen did in Year 2, top receiving talents across the NFL won’t mind the absurd weather and equally absurd taxes.
Maye has a legitimate chance to have the same magnetic pull.
Surrounded by slop as a rookie, he gained believers. We talked to one of them on the Go Long Pod in Matt Hasselbeck. The former Pro Bowler believes Maye or Jayden Daniels should’ve gone No. 1 overall.
The ex-Seahawk was blown away by how Maye weathered total chaos off the field.
Most quarterbacks are quick to say “we” need to do better and “we” can’t turn the ball over after making mistakes, Hasselbeck explained, yet slyly take the credit when things go well by claiming “I” had a good game today.
“And I think having spent time with a lot of these quarterbacks, Drake is just off the charts at that leadership side of it,” Hasselbeck said, “which to me matters just as much as, ‘Can you make the throws?’ There’s a lot of guys in the NFL who can make the throws. Most of ‘em are backups. It’s the guys who can do it at the moment of truth, do it while injured and have that intangible leadership quality where you’re the guy that everyone wants to go into battle with.
“That’s what the difference is between good versus great.”
The Patriots have a long way to go to become “great,” but this week their identity began to sharpen. Before you can even think about making the playoffs, opponents must fear you. At least now when other teams see New England on the schedule, they know their body will hurt on Monday AM.
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ICYMI:
Thanks for this Tyler. Here’s hoping Maye and Vrabel not directly following Brady and Belichick works out long term.