New England Patriots have the inside track to bring in one of the most coveted NFL free agents
An under-the-radar connection with Mike Vrabel could be the key to the Patriots signing Alec Pierce during free agency.
The New England Patriots are gearing up for another splashy free agency period as they aim to capitalize on their cap room available with Drake Maye’s rookie contract. Last year, the Patriots signed 14 free agents, picking up a pair of big names in defensive tackle Milton Williams and wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
Thanks to their abundance of cap space ($43.8M as of the time of this writing), the Patriots can be aggressive and have been linked to numerous top free agents, most notably of those being Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce. According to NFL insider Albert Breer, the Patriots might already have a leg up on the competition to bring Pierce to Foxborough.
Mike Vrabel connection bringing Alec Pierce to Patriots?
Last year, plenty of New England’s free agent signings had connections to Mike Vrabel or the Patriots’ coaching staff, such as Harold Landry, Mack Hollins, Marcus Epps, and Jack Gibbens. That connection helped seal the deal to bringing those targets to New England.
According to Breer, another connection could be the key in bringing Pierce’s big-play ability to the Patriots’ offense.
“Last year, like 80-90% of the guys they [the Patriots] signed had connections to the coaching staff. Do you guys know who Alec Pierce’s college coach was? Mike Vrabel’s best friend in the world: Luke Fickell. Fickell and Vrabel played together at Ohio State, they are the best of friends. When you go back and look at some of the things Fickell said about Pierce when he was at Cincinnati, you’ll see what a valuable piece Pierce was there and how Luke Fickell would constantly say, ‘Alec Pierce’s best football is ahead of him’.”
One of the most notable quotes about Pierce from Fickell that will surely grab Vrabel’s attention is from Fickell after Pierce was drafted by the Colts.
“I couldn’t be more excited for Alec and his family. Alec is tough, intelligent, and an incredible athlete. The Colts are getting a guy who has the potential to be a star in this league. He’s an explosive player, and we weren’t surprised when he tested off the charts at the combine…He’s got such a competitive streak that I tried to move him to linebacker when he was a freshman.”
That is a Mike Vrabel football player if I’ve ever heard of one.
If New England can utilize that connection with Vrabel to Fickell to try and leverage a deal to bring Pierce to the Patriots, that would be a huge splash move to kick off free agency. The Patriots desperately need to retool their wide receiver room, and Pierce is the perfect first step into doing so. We’ll see what happens when the dust settles, but don’t be surprised if this deal gets done.
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