Slater will not be back with the team under new head coach Mike Vrabel.
When the New England Patriots announced their coaching staff for the 2025 season, Matthew Slater’s name was nowhere to be found.
After spending the previous year as a special assistant to head coach Jerod Mayo, the 39-year-old would not reprise that role or hold any other under Mayo’s successor, Mike Vrabel. As a consequence, he will not be present at One Patriot Place for the first time since his arrival as a fifth-round draft pick 17 years ago.
Instead of focusing on the Patriots, Slate is now fully committed to another team: his family, as he recently explained.
“I’m a dad and a husband, and that’s what’s right for me right now,” Slater told Dan Roche of WBZ-TV during the Boston Winter Ball over the weekend. “That’s what I’m most excited about doing. I’ve put that on hold for a lot of years and that’s what I’m going to do in the near future.”
Joining the Patriots as the 153rd selection in the 2008 draft, Slater saw action in 239 regular season games and 25 playoff contests over the course of his Hall of Fame-caliber career. A three-time Super Bowl champion and the best special teamer of his generation, he was a mainstay for the organization both on and off the field.
He continued filling a prominent role after his 2024 retirement. Rookie head coach Jerod Mayo — a former teammate of Slater’s back when both were still playing — hired him to serve as one of his closest advisors.
When Mayo was fired after New England’s 4-13 season, however, Slater’s tenure with the team also came to an end. Nonetheless, he holds no ill will against the Patriots.
“I’ve had a tremendous experience as a Patriot. They’ve been nothing but good to me,” he said. “They allowed me to live out my childhood dream, and I’m very thankful for that. I’m thankful for all the Kraft Family has done for me. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
“I’ll always be a Patriots fan; I’ll always support the team. Right now, it’s important that I support my family, and that’s what I’m going to do moving forward.”