FOXBOROUGH - With just nine days until round one of the NFL Draft, Mike Vrabel insists the Patriots aren't sure what will happen in the three picks in front of them.
"No, I think we probably know as much as everybody else and what gets reported," he said. "I mean, Tennessee is not calling, or Cleveland's not calling, even though I was a consultant there last year, I haven't heard their plans on who they want to pick. So, we'll see as we get closer. If any of that information is available, we would love to have it."
There remains uncertainty beyond what the Titans are going to do at one (pick Cam Ward) and whether the news of Shedeur Sanders' meeting/workout with the Giants and Derek Carr's injury in New Orleans (the Saints at picking #9 and could feel compelled to move up) will push one of the blue chippers, Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter, into the Pats' lap. That said, the team has winnowed the number of players they'd seriously consider at #4.
"Well, I think where we're drafting, there's a handful of guys," said Vrabel. "We're not in the market for a quarterback, so that ought to eliminate anybody that throws the football. But I do think that there are certainly players that we covet at every level.
"I think that's the thing that we're finding as you go through, and so it's a complete package. It's about the player, and it's about the person. And most importantly, I think for me, the vision that we have for them and the impact that they're going to make in the locker room and make in the community."
The Pats prioritized finding good football players with high character during the free agency period. I asked Vrabel if that approach would continue to be a big motivator in the draft or if they'd be willing to take some risks based on their work in strengthening the locker room with the likes of Morgan Moses.
"We don't want to take risks," he said. "I mean, we want to take - I think we want to be aggressive. I think there's a difference between taking risks and being aggressive and adding quality players and people to the roster. That'll happen throughout player acquisition.
"I think that's something that's important, but certainly the talent of the player has to be evaluated first, and then you go through a lot of different exercises and conversations and try to figure out the type of person. But you can't win, and you can't do what we want to do with just a bunch of good dudes. That's not going to get it done."
This leads me to Carter, who teams have concerns over not just because of the stress reaction in his foot, but as Greg and I have been reporting since the Senior Bowl (nice of everyone to get on board late...), his attitude and coachability. The Patriots are one of those teams, and they had a face-to-face meeting with the electric Penn State edge rusher earlier this week. Vrabel wouldn't go into any details but did say, "The tape is dynamic. There are a lot of great qualities of a disruptive pass rusher. Very slippery, loose, sudden player. And it was a fun tape to watch."
From a personality standpoint, few in this draft are as clean as Will Campbell, another player considered for the Pats' pick at #4. His tape is terrific, too; it's just that arm-length/wingspan thing I'm not writing about here (I've been there, done that, and may have to do it again). No one specifically asked about the LSU star, but Vrabel was asked if there were starting tackles worthy of being picked at that spot (Armand Membou?).
"I think there's some starting tackles that certainly will come in and start in the NFL, and that's what you start to look for, right? Is impact players, when you start picking that high, what they're going to do for you? What's the impact? What's the position? You know, you talk about premium position. And so then that's where you kind of weigh all the circumstances and end up making that pick.
"So, do I think that there are starters in this draft at left tackle? Yes, I do."
From my vantage point, the answer felt lukewarm, but the Pats head coach wasn't exactly spilling secrets for the rest of the league to know. But I interpreted picking at 4 and starting left tackles in the draft as separate answers. Maybe that's just me, but there's enough there to chew on til the Pats are on the clock two Thursdays from now.
ODDS AND ENDS
On how aggressive the team will be in terms of draft day trades: "I don't know if you can answer that. I think we always, when we coach the football team, we ask the players to play. We want them to be aggressive. We don't want them to be reckless. There could come a time, and there's a lot of possibilities. There could be players that maybe we covet on the board, that are there at a certain point, and we have to determine, how far we are away from where that player is. And that'll be the same thing when you talk about trading back. How far do you want to trade back? Are there still going to be players you want at that particular level? So I think we all have experience enough doing that of going up, going back and presenting. Every time you pick, there's probably a question: Are we going to stick and pick? Or what's the what's the best offer that we have? ...sometimes they're good offers, and sometimes they're not-so-good offers."
On Joe Milton trade: "Well, we felt like his reps were going to be decreased as we worked through the off-season. And we felt like, just like every other decision, we're going to try to do what's best for the team, and that's what we the decision that we ultimately made, and so excited to move forward with Drake and Josh (Dobbs)."