Patriots 2026-27 Off Season

[Donoghus]

Boston Globe Pitchbot
@BostonSatire
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42m
Report: Page Six says they have no photos of Joe Mazzulla ever doing anything in public with human beings

[MattyIce]

Boston Globe Pitchbot
@BostonSatire
?
42m
Report: Page Six says they have no photos of Joe Mazzulla ever doing anything in public with human beings

i guess i'm dropping the ball, side gig? lol

[nickagneta]

Personally, I do not care about the whole Russini/Vrabel affair thing. It's their and their family's business not mine.

Now some will say "Yeah, but his players might think if Vrabel's wife can't trust coach, how can they?" And that's fair.

But.....these are pro athletes and let's just say it's most likely many of these players have different women in different cities when they travel, married or not married, so it's probably not that big a deal for most of the players.

And it's not like Kraft cares other than from a PR standpoint.

[Goldstar88]

Patriots selected Caleb Lomu, OT at #28. Now they can shift Campbell over to guard.


Watching Will Campbell struggle in Super Bowl LX and realizing Morgan Moses is 35 years old, it felt like offensive tackle was a very important position for the Patriots in Round 1. Lomu's experience is exclusively on the left side, and he didn't allow a single sack last season, but there's an opportunity to try him on the right side if he can add strength in his lower body. As a run blocker, he's a work in progress, but as a pass protector, he's incredibly clean

[Moranis]

Personally, I do not care about the whole Russini/Vrabel affair thing. It's their and their family's business not mine.

Now some will say "Yeah, but his players might think if Vrabel's wife can't trust coach, how can they?" And that's fair.

But.....these are pro athletes and let's just say it's most likely many of these players have different women in different cities when they travel, married or not married, so it's probably not that big a deal for most of the players.

And it's not like Kraft cares other than from a PR standpoint.

I think it is less about the affair and more about Vrabel's messaging that is the issue.  He is always preaching about you have to do the right thing. You have to be accountable. You have to be trustworthy.  Etc.  And then he is out living a double life that has apparently been going on for years and years.  I mean there are the 2020 pictures.  There are now pictures from 2024.  And the pictures from 2026.  How can you bang on the table about being accountable and doing the right thing, when you aren't doing that yourself?  It just comes off as hypocritical, fake, etc. 

[johnnygreen]

Patriots selected Caleb Lomu, OT at #28. Now they can shift Campbell over to guard.


Watching Will Campbell struggle in Super Bowl LX and realizing Morgan Moses is 35 years old, it felt like offensive tackle was a very important position for the Patriots in Round 1. Lomu's experience is exclusively on the left side, and he didn't allow a single sack last season, but there's an opportunity to try him on the right side if he can add strength in his lower body. As a run blocker, he's a work in progress, but as a pass protector, he's incredibly clean

I'm happy with the pick, especially to trade up to get the guy. It might be better for everyone involved if Campbell moves to right tackle or guard if that is where he can perform at his best. At the very least, have both guys fight it out in the preseason, and the best man is the left tackle. I was hoping the Pats would pick an offensive lineman in the first round.

[johnnygreen]

I'll admit that I could care less about the Vrabel scandal. I did find it very odd how he had virtually no takers to be a head coach in the NFL after Tennessee, until the Pats wanted him a year later. Did the other teams know about his relationship with Diana Russini? NFL teams do a lot of digging into players, so why not the head coaches. Did Kraft know about this, but signed him anyways?

One thing is for certain, Kraft is not firing Vrabel. There is no way he is firing two head coaches and their staffs, two years in a row and paying them to do nothing. Plus hire another head coach and his staff, and have three head coaches on the payroll for the next few years.

[SparzWizard]

I'll admit that I could care less about the Vrabel scandal. I did find it very odd how he had virtually no takers to be a head coach in the NFL after Tennessee, until the Pats wanted him a year later. Did the other teams know about his relationship with Diana Russini? NFL teams do a lot of digging into players, so why not the head coaches. Did Kraft know about this, but signed him anyways?

One thing is for certain, Kraft is not firing Vrabel. There is no way he is firing two head coaches and their staffs, two years in a row and paying them to do nothing. Plus hire another head coach and his staff, and have three head coaches on the payroll for the next few years.

That would be a disaster if Kraft had fired Belichick, Mayo, and Vrabel in a span of 3 years

[BitterJim]

Patriots selected Caleb Lomu, OT at #28. Now they can shift Campbell over to guard.


Watching Will Campbell struggle in Super Bowl LX and realizing Morgan Moses is 35 years old, it felt like offensive tackle was a very important position for the Patriots in Round 1. Lomu's experience is exclusively on the left side, and he didn't allow a single sack last season, but there's an opportunity to try him on the right side if he can add strength in his lower body. As a run blocker, he's a work in progress, but as a pass protector, he's incredibly clean

I think Campbell was more limited by his injury in the playoffs than they let on. I'm not worried about him at LT coming into this year.

But after letting Lowe walk, we needed a swing tackle for this year and a long-term replacement for Moses. Lomu seems to check both boxes, so I'm pretty happy with the pick. He'll have plenty of time this year to bulk up and learn the right side of the line, plus get plenty of first team reps when Moses misses practice with minor injuries (like last year), and maybe some starts if Moses or Campbell miss time.

Now I'd just like to see us trade up in the 2nd and get a good edge prospect, someone to take advantage of how much Barmore and Williams beat up on interior offensive lines.

[Vermont Green]

Caleb Lomu is not a sexy pick, that is for sure.  I don't know anything about him.  I thought Campbell was fine until he got injured.  He was not good after the injury.  Generally, you expect a first round pick, particularly one you trade up for, to be a starter or to at least have an impact.  For the OL, if you are not starting, you are not making all that much impact.  Not sure there is a need for a starting OT.  Seems like this is more of a depth pick.  I guess with Wilson switching to Center, there is an opening at OG.

As to Vrabel, yikes.  This keeps getting worse.  I think this will impact his credibility with players.  It is so contrary the coaching persona that he has created for himself.

[Phantom255x]

I thought Iheanachor would be the pick BUT he went at like pick 21 yesterday to the Steelers. Then I was hoping Akeem Mesador would fall to the Pats and then he went right after lol. A few other guys including tackles went earlier in the first round.

I also don't know much about Lomu but it sounds like he can be a great right tackle and just a solid swing tackle-type, which I don't mind. Even if he's a better version of Lowe and can play LT (or spell Campbell for stretches) at an average level, that's nice.

I'm hoping some of it was Campbell's injuries in the second half, but in the postseason he wasn't even average he was just out to lunch some games and horrible. And Lowe went to the Niners this offseason + Moses is 35. If AJ Brown is also being traded to the Pats, the offense is mostly set. Just keep beefing up the lines.

[BitterJim]

Caleb Lomu is not a sexy pick, that is for sure.  I don't know anything about him.  I thought Campbell was fine until he got injured.  He was not good after the injury.  Generally, you expect a first round pick, particularly one you trade up for, to be a starter or to at least have an impact.  For the OL, if you are not starting, you are not making all that much impact.  Not sure there is a need for a starting OT.  Seems like this is more of a depth pick.  I guess with Wilson switching to Center, there is an opening at OG.

As to Vrabel, yikes.  This keeps getting worse.  I think this will impact his credibility with players.  It is so contrary the coaching persona that he has created for himself.

We're set at OG with Onwenu and Alijah Vera-Tucker starting, then Ben Brown filling in when Vera-Tucker inevitably gets hurt. Another depth piece would be good, but that can wait until day 3 where we have a million picks

[Vermont Green]

Caleb Lomu is not a sexy pick, that is for sure.  I don't know anything about him.  I thought Campbell was fine until he got injured.  He was not good after the injury.  Generally, you expect a first round pick, particularly one you trade up for, to be a starter or to at least have an impact.  For the OL, if you are not starting, you are not making all that much impact.  Not sure there is a need for a starting OT.  Seems like this is more of a depth pick.  I guess with Wilson switching to Center, there is an opening at OG.

As to Vrabel, yikes.  This keeps getting worse.  I think this will impact his credibility with players.  It is so contrary the coaching persona that he has created for himself.

We're set at OG with Onwenu and Alijah Vera-Tucker starting, then Ben Brown filling in when Vera-Tucker inevitably gets hurt. Another depth piece would be good, but that can wait until day 3 where we have a million picks

Right, I forgot about Alijah Vera-Tucker.  So Lomu is total depth.  I am not ruling this a bad pick or anything, first round picks for the OL are great.  But using a first round pick on a depth piece is kind of a reach.  If they really love the player (and it appears they do), then I am OK with this.  Maybe he starts next year and with injuries, there could be some opportunities this season as well. 

[Donoghus]

Think the Pats did the right thing. I felt OL was probably their biggest weakness so glad they addressed it right away.  The kid's video is pretty impressive. Great size and his footwork looks pretty good. Also, from things I read, there is a pretty significant dropoff in OL talent so the Pats seemingly got in before that while other positions of need have more depth this draft.

[Goldstar88]

Caleb Lomu is not a sexy pick, that is for sure.  I don't know anything about him.  I thought Campbell was fine until he got injured.  He was not good after the injury.  Generally, you expect a first round pick, particularly one you trade up for, to be a starter or to at least have an impact.  For the OL, if you are not starting, you are not making all that much impact.  Not sure there is a need for a starting OT.  Seems like this is more of a depth pick.  I guess with Wilson switching to Center, there is an opening at OG.

As to Vrabel, yikes.  This keeps getting worse.  I think this will impact his credibility with players.  It is so contrary the coaching persona that he has created for himself.

Patriots didn?t play many good teams until the playoffs, so it?s hard to completely evaluate Campbell. He didn?t do well against the better defenses before or after the injury, though. Against Atlanta, Maye was sacked 6 times. Next game against Cleveland Maye was sacked 6 times. Those were before the week 12 injury. Playoffs were obviously a disaster for him. We don?t know if he can be an effective LT in the NFL.

The O-line is the biggest area of weakness by far. Moses Brown is 35 years old. His days are numbered in the NFL. Depending on how camp/preseason goes, Lomu could be a starter. Lineman also get injured, which we saw last season. Lomu can likely play both right and left tackle. If you don?t have a strong O-line in the NFL, it?s not going to go well. Especially with a difficult schedule. Pats made the right move.