New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel publicly acknowledged the fallout from the New York Post’s publishing photos of him with reporter Dianna Russini at a secluded Arizona resort earlier this month.
Vrabel spoke briefly at a press conference on April 21, beginning by saying “let me first by saying thank you, thank you for your patience that you’ve shown in a personal and private matter for me and obviously everybody involved. I know that that’s not easy for you. And I respect that, and appreciate your efforts in doing so.”
“I understand I could’ve addressed you guys sooner but it was important for me to have a conversation with the players, which I did yesterday, very candidly as we begin our offseason program. … It was never my intention to have (players) speak to you before I did, so I asked (Stacey James, a Patriots spokesperson) to come today and talk with you.
“I’ve had some difficult conversations with people that I care about: my family, the organization, the coaches, the players. Those have been positive and productive. We believe in order to be successful on and off the field you have to make good decisions. That includes me. That starts with me. Never want our actions to negatively affect the team. Never want to be the cause of a distraction. Those are comments and questions that I’ve answered for the team and with the team. We’ll keep those private and to ourselves.”
All signs point toward the New England Patriots trading for A.J. Brown, but what will it cost them?
On Monday, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported the Patriots "likely" will land Brown after June 1, when a deal would become more financially palatable for the Philadelphia Eagles. The report, delivered with full-throated confidence, arrived amid mounting speculation about New England being the clear favorite to acquire Brown.
After publishing his story, Schefter offered additional insight during an appearance on the "Pat McAfee Show."
"My guess is (the trade) will involve a future (first-round pick) at some point in time," Schefter said. "I don't know that it'll be 2027 or 2028. The two sides still have to figure that out and see where they wind up. But I think the Eagles had been looking for a first-round pick, at least, for A.J. Brown. ... So, my guess is that trade will include a first-round pick in the end when the two sides wind up agreeing to whatever deal they come up with."
Schefter added: "There's not another team out there that I can see other than New England where A.J. Brown's gonna wind up."
"New England wants AJ Brown and Philly is open to trading him..
Schefter also reiterated that the Patriots and Eagles will not agree to a Brown trade before the 2026 NFL Draft, which begins Thursday night. So, fans will just have to wait until June 1 or later to see whether this long-rumored blockbuster trade comes to fruition.
At 28 years old (29 on June 30), Brown no longer is the elite receiver he once was. But the 30-time Pro Bowler still is a true No. 1 receiver, as evidenced by his 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven TDs last season.
The New England Patriots are putting the finishing touches on their preparation for the 2026 NFL Draft, which means it is time for us to start tossing some predictions out there in hopes to get at least a few right so we can brag about how smart we are over the coming months -- or something like that.
NESN gave us five tries at getting this thing right, with our stories dropping on March 23, March 30, April 6, April 13, and April 20. I'll set out new rules for each crack at it, with the final edition of our series coming under these restrictions: try to get the thing right.
Let's go!
2026 NFL Draft (Mock 5.0)
🚨 2026 MOCK DRAFT 5.0 🚨
I've fooled around a bit, but this is the one. The #Patriots look like they're going to take this approach to the 2026 NFL Draft. pic.twitter.com/coe5lsFLtt
TRADE! (ARI receives No. 31; NE receives No. 34, 104 and 183)
No. 34: OT Max Iheanachor (Arizona State) Iheanachor straddles the line between that of a first-round pick and a second-round pick, with positional value doing the majority of the heavy lifting.
The Patriots likely wouldn’t risk trading back, especially if they consider the need at offensive tackle big enough to address it with an early-round pick, but the board sat nicely and it was obvious that we wouldn’t get spurned trying to finagle things. Iheanachor’s addition alongside some added draft capital helped influence our next few moves.
TRADE! (GB receives No. 63, 131, and 191; NE receives No. 52)
No. 52: EDGE Gabe Jacas (Illinois) “We could complement our room with some speed. I think that’s evident.”
New England executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf pointed in a different direction with his words last week, but the guys who could have added that element (UCF's Malachi Lawrence, Oklahoma's R Mason Thomas, Texas A&M's Cashius Howell) were all off the board by our second pick, so we pivoted and took the best available pass-rusher left. If they aren't comfortable with the current options, this guy could help pick up the slack on early downs, as well.
No. 95: WR De'Zhaun Stribling (Ole Miss) Stribling is the pick at wide receiver. I've now tripled down, so it would be a tough look if they pass him up in the third round.
TRADE! (GB receives No. 104; NE receives No. 120 and 131)
No. 120: LB Keyshaun Elliott (Arizona State) Elliott has met with the organization on three separate occasions, so it's rather difficult seeing him end up anywhere else. Pittsburgh's Kyle Louis and LSU's Harold Perkins Jr. are options earlier, but if they want to wait a bit, this seems like the obvious choice.
No. 125: TE Eli Raridon (Notre Dame) Raridon is quite literally one of the best athletes (4.62 forty-yard dash at 245 pounds) in the entire draft, and has an elite trait (blocking) that will make him useful early in his career. New England needs to develop someone behind Hunter Henry, and there are no better options in the fourth round.
No. 131: S VJ Payne (Kansas State) Payne projects as the exact kind of player who would be better off for sitting and learning during the first couple of years of his career -- say, behind a guy like Kevin Byard.
No. 171: IOL Anez Cooper (Miami) The Patriots need another body behind Mike Onwenu (entering the final year of his deal), Jared Wilson (making a position change after an up-and-down rookie season), and Alijah Vera-Tucker (has missed more games than he has played in the last three seasons).
Cooper can be that guy.
No. 183: RB Kaelon Black (Indiana) RB3. It's a need and they've met with this young man.
Kaelon Black's 25-yard scamper extends the Hoosier lead!
No. 198: TE Dallan Bentley (Utah) Bentley projects as more of a... project. New England could use bodies at the position, though.
No. 202: QB Joe Fagnano (UConn) Fagnano can throw the football, which fits the requirements of what the organization needs for training camp.
No. 212: WR Barion Brown (LSU) Brown likely wouldn't contribute much of anything offensively, but he's a damn good kick returner. New England would be better off for having someone that can lock that position down, especially after cycling through options during the latter half of the season.
No. 247: P Brett Thorson (Georgia) Thorson is one of many decent options in the draft, though we don't actually expect them to draft someone. The Patriots do, however, need to add some competition at the position after a rough campaign from Bryce Baringer.
Summary
I'd imagine that the goal heading into this week will be adding options at several different positions, so we only double-dipped twice.
The Patriots would be smart to leverage the amount of picks they have to move around, which starts with addressing the two biggest positions of need while also covering their own behinds in case they aren't able to trade for Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown.
The New England Patriots currently hold the No. 31 pick in this year's draft, which presents a great opportunity to consider a trade.
New England might consider trading up in the first round of the draft to target a wide receiver or edge rusher. Alternatively, it could also be a great opportunity for the Patriots to trade back from their first-round pick into the second round.
On Sunday, CBS Sports' Bryant McFadden published a mock draft in which he suggested that the Patriots trade the 31st pick to the Arizona Cardinals. This move would allow the Cardinals to jump up from the second round and select quarterback Ty Simpson.
"Quarterback is a major need, and Simpson is the consensus No. 2 QB in this draft, so Arizona couldn't afford to wait and risk missing on him. Simpson at 31 feels like the most realistic outcome for the Cardinals," McFadden wrote.
McFadden didn’t specify what the Patriots would get in return for the trade, but it seems that the deal would need to involve the No. 34 pick, which is the second pick of the second round. Likely, another Day 2 pick will also be included, either this year or next.
A significant trade took place in the NFL on Saturday night when the New York Giants sent their defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for the 10th overall pick.
The trade shouldn't have too much impact on the Patriots' draft plans, as they hold the 31st pick in the upcoming draft. However, Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport just published a new mock draft that has the Giants with two top-10 picks. In this scenario, New England is set to draft UCF pass rusher Malachi Lawrence with their first-round selection.
Lawrence played four seasons at UCF, appearing in 39 games and recording 28 tackles for loss and 20 sacks.
The Athletic's Dane Brugler ranked Lawrence as the seventh-best pass rusher in this class in his draft guide, "The Beast."
"Lawrence is a linear mover and lacks ideal bend, but he offers skill as a pass rusher, stack-shed toughness versus the run and the demeanor that will help him carve out a starting role at the next level. Despite being an older player, he still has upside," Brugler wrote on April 8.
If the Patriots decide to draft Lawrence, he could effectively replace pass rusher K'Lavon Chaisson, who signed with the Washington Commanders this offseason.
The first round of the NFL draft is on Thursday, and the Patriots may consider a variety of areas to address with the 31st overall pick.
New England needs to assess whether it wants to add a first-round player who can help it win this season, such as a pass rusher or receiver, or prefers to draft a player who can sit out the season, like an offensive tackle.
CBS Sports' Carter Bahns published a mock draft on Saturday in which he had the Patriots select Arizona State right tackle Max Iheanachor with the 31st pick.
"Drafting a first-round tackle for the second consecutive year gives the Patriots some Will Campbell insurance and a potential successor to 35-year-old Morgan Moses," Bahns wrote.
"The former is an obvious question mark after he struggled mightily at times as a rookie, and the latter is likely to be out the door when his contract expires at the end of the 2027 season. It would not be surprising to see the reigning AFC champions take an edge rusher here, either, but we'll go with Max Iheanachor."
If the Patriots do add Iheanachor, he likely won’t play this season while sitting behind Moses. However, he could emerge as the starting right tackle by 2027, and New England could end up with two young tackles in Campbell and Iheanachor for the future.
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