My Two Cents: Vrabel to Patriots Would Be Titans' Boldest 'Year of Transition' Move
NASHVILLE — I am a big believer in the ''where there's smoke, there's fire'' mantra, especially when it comes to players or coaches moving from one team to another.
Baseless rumors are one thing, but when things come from well-respected media members like the Boston Globe's Ben Volin, I tend to believe it.
Volin wrote in The Globe that two sources close to the Patriots have independently said the same thing: They believe Vrabel, currently the Titans’ coach, is the Krafts’ “home run” choice to succeed (Bill) Belichick.
Vrabel, who was part of three Super Bowl titles as a player in New England, is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Titans. He was the 2021 NFL Coach of the Year, went to the playoffs three times in his first five years and reached the AFC title game once, beating the Patriots in the playoffs along the way.
During the Titans' bye week two weeks ago, Vrabel was inducted into the Patriots' Hall of Fame and even sat next to owner Kraft the following day at the Patriots' game in Foxborough, Mass. He even said ''we'' a few times when referring to the Patriots.
When we starting this 2023 journey with the Titans, I called it the ''year of transition.'' Vrabel was a constant, of course, but we also had a new general manager in Ran Carthon and veteran starters Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry in the final year of their respective contracts.
Some parts of this transition are easy. There is no way that Tannehill, who's 35 years old, is the starting quarterback for the Titans in 2024. That transition, to be honest, has probably already begun. Tannehill got knocked out with an ankle injury on Oct. 15 and has missed two games. Will Levis, the Titans' second-round pick this year, has started the past two games and done some good things.
He's the future, without a doubt. He also should be the present, too, and start the rest of the season as long as he continues to play well.
Henry, who's still one of the best running backs in the game, is a different story. His contract is up, but the Titans chose to not trade him at the deadline. The chatter is that they would like to sign him to a new deal for a couple more years, but it has to work financially. Can a deal get done? The Titans are hoping so, and I've been told that Henry does, too.
There have been talks, and one part of it is that Carthon — a former running back himself — doesn't want to be the guy who walks away from Henry. The threat he poses in the backfield is a big plus for a young guy like Levis, who's actually very good already at play-action passing.
Outside of trading popular safety Kevin Byard to Philadelphia, the Titans wound up being pretty quiet at the trade deadline. They wanted more draft capital, but to be honest, it's a much bigger deal that they'll go into 2024 with nearly $100 million in cap space.
That's some serious shopping money.
Volin wrote that "there is chatter that Vrabel doesn’t always see eye to eye with new GM Ran Carthon, who was a surprise outside hire.'' I've heard some of that, too, and that's always been a topic of conversation in this ''year of transition.'' Who's making the final calls on roster management? Does the Carthon hire diminish Vrabel as the biggest voice in the room?
Vrabel signed a contract extension in 2022 along when general manager Jon Robinson, who was fired a year later. So if the Patriots wanted him, they'd have to trade for him.
There's plenty of history of that in the NFL. The Patriots traded with the New York Jets to get Belichick 20-plus years ago. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded two first-round picks for Jon Gruden back in 2001 and won a Super Bowl a year later.
For the Titans, who are desperate for draft capital, trading Vrabel to the Patriots would fix that need in a heartbeat, because New England is likely to have a top-five pick this year.
There's no question that Vrabel is an excellent coach, but there's an obvious question that has to be asked here. If it's his choice, would Vrabel rather coach the Patriots or the Titans? What's really difficult is that I don't think we know that answer to that.
Carthon wouldn't be the first general manager who wanted his own people in key spots. In public, Carthon and Vrabel always seem to be in lock-step. But what about behind closed doors? Is this a relationship that can move forward, even through a rebuild of sorts?
This much we know for sure. The Patriots are 2-6, dead last in the AFC, and Kraft just might finally be ready for a change since Belichick is just 27-31 since Tom Brady left prior to the 2020 season.
We also know that Vrabel has always been one of Kraft's all-time favorites. It's obviously a fit that works.
Could this really happen? Three months ago, I would have said no way. But now? I can definitely see it happen.
Stay tuned, right. This is going to be interesting.
