Mike Vrabel Said the Patriots Would be 'Aggressive' in Free Agency. Promises Made, Promises Kept.

My first order of business is to apologize for the delay on this. I was traveling Monday and naively thought the Patriots would give me time to get to my destination before wildly rebuilding their roster. I should've known better. As Sun Tzu put it, "If you're waiting for the start of free agency to sign free agents, then the battle is lost before it began." So consider this my make up blog on this working vacation. 

In short, the Patriots broke the will of the Patriots media:

Mike Vrabel promised a few things this offseason. He said the Pats would be "aggressive" in pursuing free agents. He vowed to build a team that's "violent." He said the key to good football in the current era is to protect your quarterback and disrupt the opposition's quarterback. And his stated goal was to build from the trenches, out. Though I guess those last two points, - the last three, really - are redundant. If your intention is to improve the worst pass rush in the game last season, you're not going to do it with wide receivers. And so the Pats filled their shopping cart with disruptors. Tough, solid - sometimes spectacular - veteran presences around the defense. Beginning with the defender I coveted most:

Milton Williams

Like reusing a tea bag, I'll post what I said last week for the third and final time:

Williams is a former 3rd round pick who has improved every single season of his career. A smaller, penetrating defensive tackle in the mold of (not comparing them; just talking about their playing style) of Aaron Donald. What the Pats hoped Dominique Easley would be, Williams has become. Last season he was 15th in overall Pro Football Focus defensive grade among DTs, No. 1 at his position in pass rush grade, and finished in the top 10 among interior rushers in sacks, hurries and total pressures. Pete Prisco of CBS has him listed as his 6th best free agent. And tomorrow is his 26th birthday. Plug this guy into the middle of the line alongside (a hopefully fully healthy) Christian Barmore and Keion White, and you'll create matchup nightmares among all guards and centers in the league, where last year there was no pass rush at all to speak of.

Moreover, he was sixth overall on CBS's Pete Prisco's list of top free agents before this all began. It sure seems like Williams was the Patriots top priority, and the feeling is mutual:

Keeping with the theme of destroying pass protection:

Harold Landry

This is where having a head coach who's been around the league, as opposed to Jerod Mayo, pays off. Landry out of Boston College was the second pick of Vrabel's first season in Tennessee. In his six seasons (he missed all of 2022), he had three with double digits sacks, including 16 in his Pro Bowl season of 2021. Last year was more or less average for him, and he still would've led the 2024 Patriots. And as far as finishing fifth in Pro Football Focus grade against the run? New England's best edge defender against the run was Anfernee Jennings. He finished 24th. 

Speaking of run stuffers:

Robert Spillane

Bussin' with the Boys' Compton approves:

With good reason. Once Ju'Whaun Bentley went down last year, the Patriots defense fell off the end of the Earth. Jahlani Tavai was forced to become an every down LB and ended up leading the team with just 74 tackles. Meanwhile in Las Vegas, Spillane had 110. Which was third in the league. As was his 91.3 PFF grade against the run. The 110 was his career high as he's earned more playing time since being a UDFA out of Western Michigan. And as far as the goal of building a more "violent" defense, here's your proof:

And while this is just one man's opinion, we're long overdue for a guy who wears the shaded visor. 

Sticking with the theme of defense:

Carlton Davis:

With Davis, you don't need stats. Davis was the CB1 on the No. 7 scoring defense in the league, and a 15-2 team. He was the No. 1-ranked free agent corner on NFL.com:

Davis has more value to Detroit or any defense that plays heavy man-to-man coverage, a skill he’s excellent at.

Those terms are acceptable to a franchise that has been placing an emphasis on man coverage for 25 years. Though more than anything, it's this testimonial from the best receiver in football that should have every Pats fan changing the sheets after dreaming of Davis opposite Christian Gonzalez:

“There are very few corners in the NFL — you can probably name five — who have the same presence in the passing game and the running game. I bring aggression and coverage skills, and I’ve been displaying both for years.”

Finally, let's conclude with the other side of the line of scrimmage:

Morgan Moses

A career right tackle, Moses is not the answer to all our offensive line deficiencies we were hoping for. The left tackle talent pool drained fast when all the top names kept getting re-signed by their own teams. But Moses does plug a Mariana's Trench-sized hole nevertheless. His presence on the right allows Michael Onwenu - the only NFL-caliber blocker on the roster last year once David Andrews went down - to right guard where he belongs. In his 11th season last year, blocking for Aaron Rodgers, he posted his highest pass-blocking efficiency of 97.9%. He allowed just two sacks in 723 total snaps. And adds a steady, reliable veteran to an O-line that has been chaotic since the mistakes of allowing Joe Thuney and Shaq Mason to walk out the door. 

As of the time I'm posting this, Over the Cap is reporting that all this activity on Day 1 leaves the Patriots with just $92 million in cap space. Still the most in the NFL. Meaning all this is just a nice start. Be afraid, NFL. Be very afraid.