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The question to Eliot Wolf was simple (hat tip to the boss man. Squirrel finds a nut. I kid. I kid): Do you think that you guys have improved this team from the one that walked off the field at the Super Bowl to this point in the offseason?
“Yeah, I think so. With some of the free agent moves that we've done – primarily because we haven't done a lot of other things, Wolf said. “But yeah, I think so, and then we'll continue to supplement it. We've definitely increased our flexibility in terms of what exactly the needs – again, the needs on paper are just for this year, but yeah, I think we've improved.”
Obviously, the draft will play an instrumental role in how we feel about the team that takes the field this spring, summer, and into the fall, but is Wolf right? Are the Patriots improved? Yes…and no (the world isn’t always black and white, people. It’s mostly grey).
I lean ‘yes’ because it’s year two of this system, with largely the same coaching staff, and largely the same core (with a few exceptions that I’ll get to). Vrabel knows what buttons to push, and who he can push them on. The group has a good sense of what players can and cannot do. Not that Josh McDaniels still isn’t going to be learning Drake Maye, and vice-versa, but they’ve now been through a full season and played in January and February, where the stakes don’t get any higher. That’s incredibly valuable.
You can also rightfully expect growth from the young players. Hell, they’re counting on it, and so am I. Maye, Will Campbell, TreVeyon Henderson, Jared Wilson, Craig Woodson, and Kyle Williams - to name a handful - will be asked to do more, or at the very least, be steadier (Campbell and Henderson, I’m looking at you). The talent is there.
Speaking of talent, there aren’t too many interior offensive linemen who, when they’re on their game, are as good as Alijah Vera-Tucker. On the other side of the ball, safety Kevin Byard adds yet another layer of professionalism and playmaking to the defense. That all sounds great, doesn’t it? Of course it does.
But it’s not hard to find reasons to say ‘no’ either. I’ll start with expectations. The Pats are no longer an unknown entity. They were in the freakin’ Super Bowl a few months ago. Wanna show you’re team is for real? Beat Maye, Vrabel, and the Pats. No one was saying that until mid-December last year, and even that might be a reach. Now? You’re the big dog. Let’s see if they can handle it.
Vrabel has also found himself in the headlines. As of the writing of this piece, he has not