Mike Vrabel became connected to each of the first six teams to carry a coaching vacancy this offseason, with only the Cowboys — whose official Mike McCarthy ouster came a day after Vrabel’s Patriots hire — not tied to the former Titans HC. This gave Vrabel considerable leverage in negotiations with the team he played for during most of the 2000s.
The Bears and Jets made late pushes, but the Patriots — who were connected to Vrabel before firing Jerod Mayo — were always viewed as the frontrunners. As of Sunday, it was not known if Vrabel’s leverage was enough to secure him final say on the 53-man roster in New England. De facto GM Eliot Wolf held that last year, but he might no longer wield that power.
Instead, NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran views Vrabel as the top decision-maker in New England now. Wolf and Vrabel met early this week, but the roles of Wolf and 2024 hire Alonzo Highsmith are being determined. The exec Vrabel wanted the Titans to name GM in 2023, Ryan Cowden, is also en route to Foxborough. Cowden may end up being the No. 2 man to Wolf in the Pats’ front office, but the Giants let him out of his contract for this opportunity. That points to a significant role for Cowden, who had been the Titans’ acting GM between the Jon Robinson firing and Ran Carthon hire.
Wolf has been with the Patriots since 2020, moving into a scouting director role in 2022. The Bill Belichick hire, once a popular GM candidate, would still stand to carry a major say in Pats personnel matters moving forward. But the arrivals of Vrabel and Cowden will undoubtedly curb his influence — perhaps by a significant degree. Wolf is believed to be tied to a four-year contract, the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin adds. How the organization proceeds with its current front office leader will be worth monitoring this offseason.
Vrabel’s power will not reach the level of Belichick’s, Curran cautions, and SI.com’s Albert Breer said (via NBC Sports Boston) the official workflow chart should feature both Vrabel and Wolf reporting to ownership. But Curran indicates Wolf will likely see less control over the Patriots’ roster compared to what he held in 2024. Considering the about-face the Patriots completed with Mayo, it is unsurprising they agreed to a Vrabel-friendly structure to help them save face after Robert Kraft had long anointed Mayo.
A desire for more control moved Vrabel onto thin ice in Tennessee, as clashes with ownership — one of which emerging after he sat with Kraft at his Patriots Hall of Fame induction during a Titans bye week in 2023 — developed during the veteran HC’s final weeks on the job. With Carthon eventually sticking around (for another year, at least), Vrabel received his walking papers after Amy Adams Strunk tired of his presence and the Titans’ downward spiral on the field. Of course, matters have worsened for the Titans — who had advanced to three straight playoff brackets from 2019-21 — since Vrabel’s Nashville departure.
This will be more of a fixer-upper than what Vrabel inherited in Tennessee. The Titans had fired Mike Mularkey after a 9-7 season that ended in the divisional round. The Patriots are coming off a 4-13 season, with win No. 4 coming only because of the Bills having secured the AFC’s No. 2 seed. In order for Vrabel to sign off on returning to New England, it certainly appears the Patriots had to provide assurances he will hold considerable say in how the roster is shaped. With a big lead in terms of projected cap space ($120MM-plus), the Pats will see that become a significant matter soon.