Three games into the New England Patriots' season, and Mike Vrabel's tenure has been underwhelming. Many of the team's offseason acquisitions, a key indicator of the front office's performance, have yet to yield significant results.
Unsurprisingly, the Patriots' front office isn't rated highly by The Athletic among NFL front offices.
Players like free agent defensive tackle Milton Williams have performed well, as have draft picks, left tackle Will Campbell, and guard Jared Wilson. Yet, other free agents, such as linebacker Robert Spillane (until the Steelers game), right tackle Morgan Moses, and some draft picks like TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Williams, have not made much of an impact at all.
The coaching has also been subpar, but one player who's stood out is quarterback Drake Maye. But he can't do it alone. The offensive line, with four new starting players, is surrendering sacks at an alarming rate, checking in with 12 thus far this season. If the new players aren't performing, that's a front office matter, and the Patriots' front office isn't highly regarded.
The Patriots are nowhere to be seen among the NFL's top front offices
Good NFL teams are built in the offseason. Bad teams have to make dramatic changes if they're to turn around their fortunes. Good teams merely have to maintain. Whether Mike Vrabel was in charge of the Patriots' 2025 offseason or his front office, the results thus far have been poor and haven't garnered much positive attention.
Jeff Howe of The Athletic has written about "Which NFL teams have the best front offices? Head coaches and execs cast their votes".
"In the NFL, success must start at the top. Players win games on the field, but team success involves every corner of the organization. A quality front office is every bit as important as a franchise quarterback. For the front office to reach its full potential, it’s essential to have the trust of ownership.
Owners who constantly stagger the hiring and firing of general managers and coaches create a situation in which one side of the organization is always guessing what the other side wants. Fingers are pointed, and self-preservation and job security take precedence over winning...As the 2025 season began, The Athletic asked 29 general managers, head coaches and high-ranking team executives to rank their top front offices in the NFL (no one was allowed to vote for their team)."
The front offices of the top 13 teams' front offices unsurprisingly didn't include the Patriots. The top five, as listed by Howe, were the Eagles, Ravens, Rams, Bills, and Chiefs. Those results suggest that if you have a good front office, you'll probably have a top team. There's no doubt about that. Great teams are built in the offseason, where solid front offices truly shine. The Patriots' 2025 offseason thus far has not delivered much to justify the lofty expectations placed on it.
The New England Patriots front office has a lot of work to do
The supposition was that Vrabel assembled the 2025 Patriots' team. Regardless, every top personnel executive has to have a competent staff. Vrabel seemed to be shaping the roster, and it included brooming several former starters and all six 2024 captains. This was no trimming around the edges; it was wholesale reseeding of the roster.
The two positions in most need of renovation were the offensive line and wide receivers. Four new offensive line starters were acquired through free agency and the draft, and four wide receivers were added with the concomitant exits taking place. It was a wholesale restoration, but it hasn't necessarily resulted in upgrades.
The offensive line has been inconsistent, except in the number of sacks it's allowing, surrendering 12 in three games. Continuing that average will well-exceed the dismal 52 sacks allowed by the much-maligned 2024 unit. Getting worse was surely not what either Vrabel or Patriot Nation anticipated. Yet, statistically, in sacks allowed, they are.
The wide receiver unit has similarly underwhelmed. The top receiver is Stefon Diggs, a highly paid free agent. He has 13 catches in three games for only 112 yards and no touchdowns. He's coming off a serious injury, so that's not shocking. Yet, the other receivers brought in have also underperformed. No wide receiver has stood out, and one who may have that potential, rookie Efton Chism III, has inexplicably been kept on the shelf by Vrabel.
Thus far, the offseason's acquisitions haven't panned out. Whether this was Vrabel's doing or more the front office's is irrelevant. If the trend continues, the Patriots will remain a bottom-third NFL team, regardless of how high expectations were. They may only escape last place in the AFC East again if the hapless Dolphins and Jets continue their ineptitude. That's not exactly what Patriots Nation was hoping for when Vrabel was hired.