Mike Vrabel is promising a big free agency period for the New England Patriots – kinda.
The new Pats head coach spoke to reporters for the first time since his introductory press conference during media availability at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday. He was asked what he expects from the team in free agency during the off-season. The Patriots lead the league with more than $128 million in salary cap space, according to Over The Cap, so 2025 should bring a lot of spending from Vrabel and the front office.
Vrabel used a word that Patriots fans should be hoping for: “aggressive.” But preceding that was a less promising word.
“Hopefully aggressive,” Vrabel said. “I mean, we want to be aggressive. We want to target players that we feel like are going to help us. They’re going to be outstanding players, they’re going to be outstanding additions to the locker room and the community, and if that all fits, and the compensation fits. But I’m confident that we’ll be aggressive.”
Asked later about free-agent spending, Vrabel acknowledged that the Patriots may have to overpay for a certain player if they really want him. That’s especially considering that the Patriots are in a rebuild and coming off a 4-13 season that looked even uglier on the field than the record suggests.
“I like to shop like everybody else,” Vrabel said. “And so when you go and there’s only one of a certain car, maybe you have to pay a little bit more for that one car because there’s only one of them. When you start to get into a range where you feel like there’s an area where players are comparable, and you like three or four players in a certain area for a certain role, you may not have to overspend. But it’s free agency. I think that everybody overspends sometimes in free agency.”
As part of his combine comments, Vrabel alluded to the different stages of free agency. There’s the beginning, which is when the best available free agents agree to big-money deals, often before it even officially begins. Then there’s the mid-range free agent group, which wouldn’t command nearly top-of-the-market contracts. Then there are the later stages, where players are just looking for an “opportunity.”
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Vrabel is obviously hopeful that the Patriots will be able to dip into that first stage of free agency. If ownership and their new-look coaching staff want to give Pats fans real hope for 2025 and beyond, they’ll invest in at least one impact player that will step right in and make a notable difference on the field. Even if it’s just one nice car, that first drive off the lot would send the right message in New England.
But that word, “hopefully.” That’ll give Vrabel an out if the Patriots aren’t actually aggressive in free agency. We’ll know who to blame.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.