The noise surrounding Jerod Mayo's future with the Patriots is getting louder and louder as the team heads into Sunday's meaningless season finale against the Buffalo Bills in Foxboro.
The 3-13 Patriots have locked up last place in the AFC East for the second consecutive season and have posted a dismal 7-26 record over their last 33 games. That's unacceptable.
While many cases have been made for giving first-year head coach Mayo a mulligan in 2025. Sometimes cleaning house after a dismal season isn't the worst idea. And should the Patriots choose to do so, they should look no further than Mike Vrabel.
It's very clear who the Patriots should hire as Jerod Mayo's successor
Vrabel spent the 2024 season as a consultant with the Cleveland Browns after the Tennessee Titans fired him in January following six seasons in Nashville, which included a 54-45 record and a trip to the AFC Championship Game in 2019.
It remains mind-boggling that Mayo was named Bill Belichick's successor without the Patriots bringing in anyone to interview, such as Vrabel. You could argue that if the Patriots choose to move on from Mayo following Sunday's game, the next head coach should have no ties to the Kraft family. But Vrabel would be viewed by many in New England as a home-run hire.
For one, Vrabel came within a game of the Super Bowl with Ryan Tannehill as his quarterback. Drake Maye's ceiling is far higher than Tanehill's ever was or will be, so Maye's shifts would reach high levels under Vrabel's watch.
It was a complete shock that Vrabel didn't find a head-coaching home last offseason. But he will arguably be the hottest head coaching commodity this offseason next to Lions' offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
And should Mayo's time in Foxboro come to an end after Sunday - which I'm slowly starting to believe it will after the Patriots laid an egg against the Chargers last week - Vrabel is the right man to come in and turn things around.
Vrabel was weakened by injuries to Tannehill during his final two years in Tennessee, and if New England chooses to make a coaching change, that organization's loss could be the Patriots' gain.