As the events slogan states, the draft starts in Mobile when teams such as the Patriots head to the Senior Bowl to ramp up their preparation for the NFL Draft.
After taking in two Senior Bowl practices while observing the Patriots reconstructed brain trust, my prevailing thought from two days in South Alabama is that this whole thing for the football team in Foxborough comes down to their new “big three” at the top of the decision-making ledger. There will be discussions about the pros and cons of the coaching staff when the entire staff is eventually announced, but the bottom line is that it comes down to players, not plays.
New England’s roster needs a significant upgrade. If those roster improvements don’t occur for whatever reason, it’s unlikely that the Patriots will improve on the field. To that end, this whole reimagination of the Patriots football operations comes down to the three senior-most decision makers in the organization identifying talent to add to this roster: head coach Mike Vrabel, EVP of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf, and VP of Player Personnel Ryan Cowden.
Earlier this week, we checked in with Vrabel, Wolf, and Cowden in Mobile. Right now, the trio, or “big three” as I’m coining it, is getting things going with boots on the ground at the Senior Bowl, which is a notable difference from this time last year. In the 2024 offseason, former coach Jerod Mayo and Wolf didn’t make the trip to Mobile. In particular, this quote from Vrabel from my interviews with the Pats top brass stood out.
“We had some conversations this morning with the three of us, and it was what I envisioned it being: our shared vision, but also it brings three different ideas that have been different places and that have looked at it different ways,” Vrabel said.
The shared vision piece is important with the scouting process for the draft and free agency in full swing. Although you don’t want yes men in those positions, it appears that the Patriots are trying to build the roster in Vrabel’s image, with the Pats head coach identifying the types of players he wants to run the schemes he intends to run in New England.
