The Titans aren't trading Mike Vrabel to the Patriots
I honestly don't think there's ever been an easier headline, or lede, written in my years of writing: The Tennessee Titans aren't trading Mike Vrabel to the New England Patriots. It's time to shut the conversation down. For starters, the Titans have to agree to a trade for this to even happen – and that's […]
I honestly don't think there's ever been an easier headline, or lede, written in my years of writing: The Tennessee Titans aren't trading Mike Vrabel to the New England Patriots.
It's time to shut the conversation down. For starters, the Titans have to agree to a trade for this to even happen – and that's "not happening", per The Athletic's Diani Russini.
Frustrated New England Patriots fans can stop hoping owner Robert Kraft will trade with Tennessee and replace head coach Bill Belichick with his former player Mike Vrabel.
It’s not happening.
Angry Tennessee Titans fans can stop hoping owner Amy Adams Strunk fires Vrabel.
It’s not happening.
Based on multiple conversations with high-ranking Titans officials, the franchise strongly and collectively believes it has the right coach for long-term success. – Diana Russini, The Athletic
The idea of the Titans trading Mike Vrabel to the Patriots never even had ground to stand on
Sure, it made sense on the simple, basic level of Vrabel returning to the place where he spent his glory days as an NFL player, but it's easy to see why this has zero sohot of happening. And it's all due to the relationship between Vrabel, general manager Ran Carthon, and owner Amy Adams Strunk.
Strunk literally fired Jon Robinson and involved Vrabel in the hiring process that led to Carthon. Since then, the GM and head coach have worked side-by-side in constructing the Titans roster. Vrabel called it a "collaborative effort" during the 2023 NFL Draft and even confirmed the decision to trade fan-favorite and All-Pro safety, Kevin Byard, was a joint effort. Once Carthon was hired, the entire theme of the offseason became one of teamwork and co-captaining the franchise.
You don't just ship that away after a few months. The only strategy that would make that even remotely feasible would be a bounty of first- and second-round picks. I'm talking more than the two firsts and two seconds (plus $8 million) the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sent the then-Oakland Raiders back in 2002, as well.
There's no way the Patriots are going to do that. Especially considering they're going to need those picks to rebuild what is a subpar roster of their own.
None of this is realistic and it doesn't take much to figure it out. You don't even need to be an NFL insider like Russini to connect the dots.
What Vrabel has to do next
It's simple: hit on draft picks and free agents.
At a reasonable rate, of course.
That's been Vrabel's biggest issue since he became head coach in 2018. The shared misses with Robinson have finally caught up and it's a major reason why the team is currently 3-7. It's kept the team from building the depth it needs to survive the injuries it's experienced over what is about to be three seasons, now. Even a 50% hit rate would have the Titans in a much better spot – just imagine having what Caleb Farley should've been on the field, right now. Or, God forbid, Isaiah Wilson.
So far, this year's draft class looks pretty good and the free agent class is at about 50% in terms of quality. It's a good start, but as we know in the NFL, it's all about sustaining and finding the consistency the other 31 teams are trying to find.
Unless the bottom falls out or Vrabel just does something stupid, he's staying in Tennessee. There's no other way to put it.
You can check out Russini's full column, here.
