The Patriots have reached another tentpole event on the NFL's offseason calendar, with annual league meetings taking place in Phoenix, Arizona this week.
On Tuesday, head coach Mike Vrabel spoke to reporters at The Biltmore Hotel about a wide range of topics. With the initial wave of free agency now completed, New England has mostly turned its attention to April's Draft as it continues to build out its roster. From a big-picture standpoint, Vrabel spoke about the challenge ahead for the 2026 Patriots, which will play a first-place schedule and likely have more marquee games as the reigning AFC champs.
"Championships will remain the goal. That will never change," said Vrabel. "We want to win the division, we want to host playoff games, and we want to compete for championships. We got a taste of that. We saw the environment that it created to be able to play those playoff games at home, which was unbelievable and so much fun. We'll play whoever we have to play. We're gonna play the division winner's schedule, and that's how it goes."
Along with having a tougher schedule, Vrabel noted that he's thinking "a lot" about how to recreate the team chemistry that was palpable with last year's Patriots. New England had rare locker room chemistry that contributed to their 14-3 regular season and run to Super Bowl LX. As the one who sets the tone for the team, one of Vrabel's superpowers is his culture-building, but each year is different.
"We spend a lot of time together, and we all come from different backgrounds. Some players are going to be coming back, some of them are new," Vrabel said. "We'll continue to find ways to [build chemistry] without being, you know, never want to make it a gimmick. It's important to me that it's not gimmicky. That what we do is authentic, real, and genuine."
The Patriots head coach hit on several themes from a birds-eye view, but Vrabel also touched on roster specifics in his 30-minute Q&A on Tuesday morning. Here are our top takeaways.
1. Patriots and Eagles Confirm Plan to Hold Joint Practices in Foxborough This Summer
On Monday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed reports that the Patriots and Eagles will have joint practices in Foxborough this summer. Along with getting practice work in against another playoff-caliber team, that suggests the Eagles will be on the Patriots preseasons schedule as well in August. On Tuesday, Vrabel gave his two cents on practicing with Philly this summer.
"I didn't think we were gonna [confirm the practices], but then Nick said something yesterday, so I guess we're kind of forced into doing it," Vrabel joked. "They're a talented football team. Just their consistency over the last four or five years. I felt like that would be a good opportunity for us to go against a really good football team."
With the Eagles slated to come to town in training camp, the scuttlebutt around star receiver A.J. Brown feels relevant: Will he be practicing for the Eagles or the Patriots? To that end, Vrabel said, "We've talked about this since last January. We're gonna try to do everything we can to strengthen our roster through the draft, through free agency, multiple ways of player acquisition."
2. Vrabel Shares Thoughts on the New Balance Athletic Center Next to Gillette Stadium
Before heading out to Arizona, Vrabel and the rest of the Patriots football operations moved into the brand new New Balance Athletics Center located next to Gillette Stadium. Spanning 160,000 square feet, the facility is a fully integrated performance campus for football operations, featuring a massive locker room, football offices, and new workout facilities that open onto the Patriots' lower practice fields.
"Our players come in on April 20, I think there's going to be an energy they're going to enjoy coming to work just from how nice it is," Vrabel said of the new facility. "The functionality, the space, all those types of things. So it'll be a great place for learning, a great place to develop our players from the weight room to the training room to the locker room, cafeteria, and just the meeting space that we have is going to be really nice."
3. Vrabel Says Star CB Christian Gonzalez Has Earned Long-Term Extension
One of the hot-button topics around the Patriots this offseason is signing Pro Bowl corner Christian Gonzalez to a long-term contract extension. As he enters his fourth season, the Patriots can sign Gonzalez to an extension to his rookie contract that will likely pay him near the top of the market as one of the best corners in the NFL. By doing so, New England will keep one of its best players for the foreseeable future.
"We want to make sure that we draft extremely well, and then we identify the guys that we want to keep with us and that have earned long-term extensions with us. Christian is certainly one of those players, but I can't comment on ongoing negotiations," Vrabel said.
With the Patriots star under team control for two more seasons due to his fifth-year option, New England doesn't necessarily need to rush a Gonzalez extension. Still, as chairman and CEO Robert Kraft noted earlier this week, it is believed that the sooner teams sign their homegrown players to extensions, the better.
4. Vrabel Outlines Areas of Growth for QB Drake Maye and Adding a Third Quarterback
Along with Gonzalez, Maye is another foundational player for the Patriots who is coming off a second-team All-Pro season where he was the runner-up for the NFL's MVP award. The Pats HC explained that he wants to see Maye grow at the line of scrimmage in his third season.
"His ability to control the game at the line of scrimmage, whether that's operationally or getting us into a better play. Continue to take ownership of the offense. He's an extension of Josh [McDaniels] and Josh sends the play in. We want Drake to own it and bring life with cadence, communication, all the motion, and orchestrate. There's nothing physical. He's very talented, so continue to push him to lead," Vrabel said.
Vrabel emphasizing pre-snap communication with his young quarterback could speak to some of the blitz pressure he saw in the playoffs that gave the offense problems, especially in the Super Bowl loss to the Seahawks. Although it's easier said than done, the quarterback sets the protections and puts the offense in positions to succeed before the ball is even snapped. Seattle won that chess match with its pressure package, so one would expect the Patriots to continue pushing Maye to be a better pre-snap processor in year two under McDaniels' system.
The Patriots head coach also confirmed that New England will be in the market for a third quarterback after releasing veteran Joshua Dobbs early this offseason. The Patriots re-signed backup QB Tommy DeVito, but Vrabel added that the team will look to "find a young guy that we can develop" at quarterback, likely in the draft or in undrafted free agency.
5. Tight End Remains on Vrabel's Wish List for the Patriots in the Draft
After highlighting the tight end position as an area of depth in the draft during the NFL Combine last month, Vrabel said he "hopes" that the Patriots will select a tight end in April's Draft. New England signed veteran Julian Hill in free agency, who is known for his blocking ability, and captain Hunter Henry will return in 2026. However, Henry is entering his age-32 season, so adding some youth and upside to the tight end room appears to be part of the draft plan.
"I love them. Give me nine of them. Get them all. Bring as many tight ends as we can get," Vrabel joked. "Just trying to find the right guy. Some of them are receiving, some of them are more at the line of scrimmage. We'll just try to come up with the one that fits us best and see where we can draft them."
Outside of projected first-rounder Kenyon Sadiq, the Patriots could target several tight ends on day two of the draft, such as Georgia's Oscar Delp, Ohio State's Max Klare, Stanford's Sam Roush, and Vanderbilt's Eli Stowers, among others. To Vrabel's point, part of having a deep draft class at a specific position is sifting through all the different skillsets, which will determine who the Patriots target.
6. Vrabel Discusses Being More Consistent Running the Football Next Season
The last takeaways from Vrabel's check-in with the media was the Patriots head coach acknowledging that he'd like to see the offense run the ball more consistently next season. New England ranked 25th in rush EPA last season, with some big runs by Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson propping up their yards per carry average to 14th in the NFL (4.4 yards).
"I just want to be more consistent. We, the Patriots, want to be more consistent," Vrabel said. I just felt like there were too many times where we wanted to run it, and it was just inefficient. We popped some which were great. We had some explosives, so when you go back and average it all out, it's like, okay. But I want to be able to do it more consistently to allow for some of the run actions in the passing game to really come alive."
The Patriots improved their rushing offense in free agency by signing starting LG Alijah Vera-Tucker, FB Reggie Gilliam, and blocking TE Julian Hill. Those signings might fly under the radar for some, but they should help bring the consistency to the running game that Vrabel wants.
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