Once it was clear that Jerod Mayo would not be returning as the Patriots' head coach in 2025, speculation began about who would succeed him and who would make up the new regime's staff, assuming most from this season would not remain.
That kicked into high gear once it was announced that Mike Vrabel would be the next head coach, especially since immediate hires were not announced.
A week later, only a few names have been confirmed to be in the building in Foxboro as part of Vrabel's personnel, one of which is Ryan Cowden. He spent the last two years with the Giants as the executive advisor to the general manager, and he also spent time with the Titans during Vrabel's tenure from 2016 to 2022. According to reports, that connection has led him to New England, where he will serve as Eliot Wolf's No. 2.
On paper, that sounds like a great decision and hire by the new head coach. But some reporters are unsure about just how compatible the new partnership might be.
NFL insider suggests potential issues might be on the horizon for the Patriots executives under Mike Vrabel
Because Vrabel intends to keep some of the front office staff that were with the Patriots before he was hired as the new head coach, the new people he brings in will need to work seamlessly with those already in their roles.
That seems to imply that the new regime believes it will be just fine, but insider Albert Breer is already expressing some possible concern about how Cowden and Eliot Wolf will work together given how different they operate.
"His friends will tell you he’s loyal to a fault, but he can be prickly. If he isn’t in on you, then it can be a problem. So I think it’s gonna be on Eliot and Ryan to figure this out. I think it’s gonna be on Eliot and Ryan to work through whatever entanglements there might be in melding the way that one guy does things, the way the other guy does things.”
Breer further detailed how Cowden's addition to the organization will work behind the scenes and who will report to them.
"I think so much is gonna come down to, 'Eliot, Ryan, you guys need to figure out how this is gonna work. You guys need to figure out your relationship. Eliot, you're number one. Ryan, you're number two. ...
You have four months to really figure this out and create a good department that's gonna work well underneath you.' Underneath them, they've got a bunch of guys who have been here for a lot of years that came up in a very coach-centric system to begin with, so it doesn't mean it's gonna work like it did under Bill, but those guys are used to, 'OK, here's the coach's vision and here's how we make that vision come to life.' "
Because Vrabel feels good about his conversations with Wolf about continuing together in Foxboro, it is assumed that the new executives he's bringing in will suit what they're all trying to accomplish moving forward.
Hopefully, that's the case because the Patriots certainly don't need any more dysfunction, especially since there are high hopes with Vrabel being in the building now.