Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Christian Barmore DELIVERS Great News To New England Patriots Fans!

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

New England Patriots Defensive Lineman, Christian Barmore, spoke to the media for the first time in a long time. We discuss Barmore’s great news and his budding relationship with Milton Williams.Also, we have more reaction to the New England Patriots 2025 schedule, as well as the latest intel regarding Mike Vrabel’s relationship with Eliot Wolf.Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPatriots?sid=YouTubeLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL#patriots #newenglandpatriotsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Christian Barmore gives us the update that we've all been waiting for. That's where we start on this episode of Locked On Patriots. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcasts network, your team every day. What's up, Patriots fans? I'm your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, your New England Patriots expert host of the Everything Pats podcast, co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles and

also a sports talk show host veteran on today's episode, three big takeaways from the 2025 schedule and the latest on the front office. But first, let's get to the huge news regarding Christian Barmore. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listen and for being an everydayer, the Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Christian Barmore's 2023 was one of the

lone highlights to a terrible brutal season for the Patriots. We all had a witness that year. It was tough to watch. But Barmore with that defense gave us some hope week to week because Barmore was that good. In 2023, Christian Barmore looked every single part of a game changer, a game wrecker from the interior defensive line.

And of course, last year, he took a step back for understandable reasons. Blood clots, not once, but twice. It was a very, very tough year for Christian Barmore as a human being and as a football player. So what's the latest? Well, Barmore spoke to the media. And this is from Evan Lazar of Patriots.com transcribing it with this post. Barmore says he is fully participating in the offseason program and has been cleared for football activities. This from the Boston

Herald's Andrew Callahan. Barmore expects to be able to play week one. He says he's been cleared for football activity this spring and is not afraid the blood clots will recur again. Let me start with this. For Christian, the human being, this is great news. It doesn't matter if he fails to play another football game for the rest of his life. It doesn't matter if

he never takes a snap. What matters the most is the fact that he's healthy again. This is somebody who's 25 currently will turn 26 in July, a young human being with the rest of his life in front of him. So I'm so happy to hear Christian Barmore say that he has been fully cleared for football activities and that he's not afraid that the blood clots will recur again. On a human level, it's fantastic news. Now let's talk about the football.

If there was a time to limit Barmore, it would be right now. We're talking about voluntary workouts. If Barmore is out there taking part in these voluntary workouts, if he's a full participant as he said, he has been a full participant. If that's the case, that should make you and me feel really good about the prospects of Barmore being a vital piece to this team and a vital piece for that defense in 2025. Because if the Patriots had any concerns,

if the medical team had any concerns, if Barmore had any concerns, there's no way on God's green earth that he would be competing as a full participant in these voluntary workouts. They would say, look, let's go slow. Let's pump the brakes for a minute. Let's give this time.

We got a couple of months until training camp. There's no rush. Let's slowly bring you along. But no, he's a full participant in May. That's great news. And he's fully cleared. That is a major hurdle. Because we could have heard from Barmore that, you know, he hopes

to be cleared. He's on the way to being cleared. They think he will be cleared eventually. That's different than standing up at the podium and telling the whole world, I am fully cleared for football activity. That is a clean bill of health from the medical team. That is a significant hurdle that Barmore has gotten past maybe sooner than I thought he would. Now of course he did have that recurrence late in the year,

in 2024. So we have to make sure to be cautious about the way we talk regarding his impact on this team and make sure we're not taking it for granted and I'm sure that the medical team has been very cautious and Barmore has been cautious I'm sure he has had to pass every single test possible before he could go out there and speak to the media and I don't think he speaks to the media unless until he's fully cleared. So great news across the board. Now let's look at expectations. Personally, I'm going to try my hardest to be patient with my expectations for Barmore

given what he has gone through the past year, past year and a half. There is a clear difference between a voluntary workout program and playing NFL games. A clear difference. The intensity is going to be much, much higher. The physical toll is going to be much, much higher. He's going to be putting his body through a lot. So workouts on a voluntary basis versus practice, joint practices, and then getting to the games, it's a different world. So I'm going to be patient as far as my expectations.

I mean, last year, Christian Barmore, he took only 123 snaps on the defensive side of the ball. 123 snaps last year. If you're wondering, he took 750 snaps in 2023. So from 750 to 123, it was almost a completely lost season for Barmore. And you have to imagine there's going to be a rust factor. But even if Barmore is 75, 80% of what he was in 23 this season, he's still really good. And if you have an 80% Barmore plus Milton Williams, I'll tell you right now, I get excited just thinking of that huge potential those two men bring to this defense.

A devastating pass rush. And that's not hyperbole. When I talk about a devastating pass rush from your's not hyperbole. When I talk about a devastating pass rush from your interior defensive line, that is exactly what Barmore and Williams would bring. You go back to 2023, Pro Football Focuses, Mason Cameron wrote this about Barmore. Barmore had the ninth highest

interior defensive lineman ranking from Pro Football Focus. He was a top 10 interior defensive lineman in 2023. And as PFF wrote, Barmore was a force as a pass rusher in 23, earning the seventh highest pass rushing grade among interior defenders. He racked up 49 pressures at eight sacks. I think he finished with eight and a half to be technical to go with five batted passes at the line. When Christian Barmore was healthy in 2023, he was a top 10 interior defensive lineman when it comes to getting to the quarterback. What about Williams? Williams last year, this is from SI's Alex D'Gastino.

Williams had a 91.7 PFF pass rushing grade last year, which led all interior defenders. Milton Williams was literally the best pass rushing interior defensive lineman in the NFL last year. Barmore in 2023 was the seventh best interior defensive lineman as a pass rusher. You have the potential with Williams and Barmore, even if Barmore is 80%, you have the potential 80 percent you have the potential to have not one but two top eight pass rushers on the interior of the defensive line which is going to make life miserable for any offense. I cannot overstate the impact that a healthy

Christian Barmore will have on this defense. I cannot overstate it. If you're an offensive line, how do you take care of those two guys? You can't double everybody on the defensive line. That's going to leave Landry and Jennings and Chaison and Swinson a bunch of one-on-one opportunities. They're going to to devote, any offense is going to have to devote extra attention to Williams and Barmore. And guess what? Barmore is versatile. The Patriots can move him across the line of scrimmage on that defensive line as well. And we haven't even discussed Keon White, but just Barmore and Williams. This is big news. This is positive news.

And it's great news for Christian Barmore. We have a lot more than just our initial thoughts on the 2025 schedule from yesterday's episode. We have dug in deeper. It's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. There is nothing like the atmosphere of an NBA playoff game. Every bucket, every defensive stop, every moment feels huge. It's electric in the arena.

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The 2025 schedule sets up on paper for a big leap from 2024 It sets up almost perfectly It is mostly a great layout for the Patriots. And I know we looked at on yesterday's episode, the hardest stretch, the softest stretch, the prime time games, but there are more thoughts about this schedule

that I wanted to bring up on today's episode. The soft start, let's look at that. The beginning of the schedule, the beginning of the season. First game is against the Raiders at that. The beginning of the schedule, the beginning of the season. First game is against the Raiders at home. Gillette Stadium, friendly confines. Then you go to Miami, then you host Pittsburgh, then you host Carolina.

So three out of your first four games are home games. It allows you to really get comfortable and settle into the season. Now the first away game is at Miami which is going to be no picnic. We know the Patriots have struggled in Miami for a long time and since it's going to be a week two game it's going to be super hot in Miami. So that is going to be a challenge. But Vegas at Miami, Pittsburgh, Carolina, three of those four games at home. The first week against the Raiders, you have a team traveling from Vegas to New England going cross country for a one o'clock kickoff.

Now I know there's been some studies done. There are analytics that tell us that has less impact today than it used to have for several different reasons. I would imagine that teams have figured out the efficiency during the work week at a higher level. I would imagine that the travel accommodations help out. I would imagine that sports science has helped out. But that's still a very difficult thing for the Raiders to start their season by flying across the country week one and having a 1 p.m. Eastern

time kickoff so 10 a.m. in their head. Very difficult. And then you look at the quarterbacks at the beginning of the season. Geno Smith, good quarterback. Had a good game against the Patriots last year with the Seattle Seahawks. But you got a different defense. You got Carlton Davis. I think the secondary is going to be different. We just talked about this defensive line. I think they're going to be able to get after the quarterback. So Gino Smith, good quarterback, good quarterback. Tuatanga Waialoa. I have never been the biggest fan of Tuah. I think he is a product of his surroundings more than being a product of his own natural raw talent and gifts. And I think you could handle Tua Tunga Vaialoa as long as you limit Tyreek Hill, who was

not nearly as good last year, and Jalen Waddle. If you can somewhat limit those guys and you leave Tua in the pocket trying to figure out what he wants to do, he inevitably turns into a pumpkin from time to time and will turn the football over and make mistakes. And then you've got Pittsburgh at home. Is it going to be Aaron Rodgers? I don't know. Even if it is Aaron Rodgers, I don't think this is Aaron Rodgers from five years ago.

If it's not Aaron Rodgers, then good luck to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bryce Young played much better at the end of last year. Carolina played much better at the end of last year. But when you start the season with three of your first four games at home, and I think the toughest team that you're facing is Miami, I think that's a pretty soft start, all things considered for the Patriots. I think you have some opportunity there. Speaking of opportunity, you have even more of an opportunity in the final five games of this season. Let's run through them. Week 13, you host the Giants. That is going to be a prime time game. You tell

me, who's going to be the starting quarterback for the Giants? Is it Russell Wilson? Is it Jameis Winston? Is it Jackson Dart? Is Brian Dayball even the head coach by week 13 of the Giants? The Giants have an incredibly tough schedule. Brian Dayball could be fired by the time the Giants come to the New England Patriots' fine home of Gillette Stadium. He could already be gone. Then week 14, you

got to buy a much needed buy. The late buy week is tough, and for the second year in a row, it is week 14 for the Pats. That's a really tough draw. One of the toughest things about this schedule is that the buy week is week 14. But you get that bye week. So you get to take that deep breath and you get an extra period of time there thanks to the bye to prepare for the Buffalo Bills who you play at Gillette Stadium week 15. That's going to be a tough game, but you beat them in 2023 with Mac Jones. I'm not counting last year. Give me a break. You beat them at Gillette Stadium in 2023. You'll have the chance to beat the Bills for the third straight year in front of your home crowd week 16 at the Ravens

It's a tough game. No doubt about it. Nuff said week 17. You play at the Jets the Jets could be playing out the string They could be trying to lose for a quarterback. I Don't know what that team's gonna look like. Aaron Glenn as the head coach, Justin Fields as the quarterback. Week 17, they might be done with Justin Fields and looking forward to trying to move up the draft board by losing the last few games.

So they could be ready for a vacation. Speaking about being ready for a vacation, week 18, you host the Dolphins. Have you seen the Dolphins play in cold weather? Have you seen two a quarterback in cold weather? Mike McDaniel, have you seen him coach in inclement weather? It's not pretty. Miami has been brutal in cold weather.

And they're gonna be traveling to New England last weekend of the season in January. It should be 25 degrees at the warmest at Gillette Stadium that day. And you've got Tua and McDaniel. Will McDaniel even be there? I think he's on the hot seat. It's quite possible that you play a Miami Dolphins team in week 18 with an interim head coach in cold weather.

Tua looking like he doesn't even want to be bothered. Can't coon time. You could have can't coon time for the Jets and the Dolphins. And so when you look at that final five, yes, you got the Bills and you got the Ravens. But Vrabel should have this team ready and playing their best football later in the season. The chemistry should be there.

Everybody should understand their strengths and their weaknesses. The Patriots should be playing their best football later in the season. The chemistry should be there. Everybody should understand their strengths and their weaknesses. The Patriots should be playing their best football when they hit December. And when they hit December, they've got the Giants, they've got the Jets, they've got the Dolphins. If you can take one, if you can take one game out of Buffalo Baltimore if you can win one of those two games it is not crazy far from it to believe that the Patriots could end up finishing four and one in their last five games so you look at the start you could start three and two four and one you could end three and two four and

one so the beginning and the end oh and, and by the way, the travel. The travel as part of this schedule is almost nonexistent compared to past years and what other teams are going to have to go through this season. You look at the travel schedule for the Patriots in 2025, New Orleans is the furthest west that you're going to go. That's the furthest west you're going is New Orleans. Then you have New Orleans and Tennessee back to back on the schedule.

I don't know if Mike Vrabel is just gonna stay in Tennessee. I mentioned that on yesterday's show. I think it's quite possible that Vrabel says, we're just gonna stay in Tennessee. We're gonna go from New Orleans to Tennessee, and we're just gonna hang out that week instead of going from New Orleans back to stay in Tennessee. We're going to go from New Orleans to Tennessee. And we're just going to hang out that week instead of going from New Orleans, back home down to Tennessee.

I think it's quite possible that the Patriots pull up in a residency in Tennessee that week. They don't have a single international game. So you don't have to worry about international travel getting in the way. And then I mentioned the last five games. You look at the last five games, they hardly travel. They're going to be playing here in Foxborough. They're going to be playing in Buffalo short trip, and they're going to be playing in Baltimore short trip.

So the travel, I think it really couldn't be any easier for the Patriots from a traveling standpoint in 2025. So an opportunity at the beginning of the season those first four games, an opportunity in the last five games, and the travel schedule very light for the Pats this year. We have the latest on the front office relationships and dynamics. That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This is the time of year where there are a lot of changes in front offices.

And we've seen that recently here with the Patriots. A.J. Highsmith hired to fill the hole left by Pat Stewart. Just this week, Cam Williams leaves his position to go to Denver for a promotion. And you'll see this across the NFL for the next few weeks, a lot of shuffling of the deck in front offices, especially where teams have a new regime, a new head coach, a new GM. You're going to see a lot of changes over the next couple of weeks in the league. And that brings me to Burt Breer. Burt Breer recently at SI, as part of his mailbag, I believe that's where it was, he wrote about the Patriots front office structure. Here's what Burt wrote.

The connection many people didn't make regarding the Pat's front office is Mike Vrabel's link to fellow Ohioan Chad Brinker. Brinker and Vrabel worked together for a year in Tennessee and had a strong relationship. Brinker is very close to Elliot Wolf, with whom he spent nearly a decade with in Green Bay. Vrabel learned the Packers scouting system in his time with Brinker and talked to Brinker about Wolf before taking the Patriots job. Could things go wrong from here? Sure, that's always a possibility when you have a scouting chief inheriting a coach or vice versa. But I think Vrabel Wolf and VP of

player personnel Ryan Cowden, who got close to Vrabel in Tennessee, are on the same page now. Interesting note from Bert, and it really is just the latest reminder that relationships matter. Personal relationships, business relationships, they matter. And when you talk about business relationships, especially in a place like the NFL, you're talking about references. You got to have references trying to get a new job. You put those references on there. They still ask for those references. Not every place does not anymore. But references are crucial. anymore. But references are crucial. And it's it's rather obvious, according to Bert Breyer's note, that Vrabel went to Brinker and said, Hey, are you a reference for Elliot

Wolf? What do you know about the guy? relationships matter not only because of references, but also because they build trust. If you have a relationship with somebody, and it's the right kind of relationship, not a toxic relationship you build trust between the two of you and So you've got Brinker and Vrabel they built trust that year that they spent together in Tennessee If Vrabel was very comfortable, obviously

going To Brinker and asking him. Hey, how do you feel about Elliot? What do you know about Elliot? Give me the good, give me the bad. Because I wanna know about Elliot Wolf and what makes him tick. Is he somebody that I'm going to be able to work with? Is he somebody that I can trust?

And Brinker, who had spent nearly a decade in Green Bay, obviously knows Elliot Wolf like the back of his hand. So Vrabel actually knew who Elliot Wolf was before Elliot Wolf knew who Mike Vrabel was. And I don't mean in the general sense of knowing who, of course they knew who each other were, but I'm talking about, you know, knowing them so well, the ins and the outs, Vrabel was able to talk to Brinker. Now I'm sure Elliot Wolf might have talked to Brinker as well to get a feel for Vrabel. But Vrabel talked to Brinker about Wolf before he took the Patriots job.

So this was all pretty much in the pot already. This was in the oven. And Vrabel was doing his homework. He was doing his research on this front office. And he went to Brinker who he knew for a year, they worked together in Tennessee and said, Hey, I know that you worked with Elliot. And I know that you worked in Green Bay for almost a decade. What do you know about Elliot Wolf? What should I know? Because if I'm going to take this job, I want to make sure that he's the kind of guy that I can trust and I could work with. So Vrabel, I think knew a lot more about Wolf when he took the job than Wolf knew about Vrabel, even though Wolf was part of the interview process. Now, the knowledge of the Green Bay system

here is huge. It is critical that Vrabel walked into this job having at least some knowledge of the Green Bay scouting grading system. It means an awful lot because first of all, we know that the Patriots already made a dramatic change over the last year or so. They went from Bill Belichick's grading system and his methods to Elliott Wolf's methods and grading system that he took from Green Bay What you don't want to do is go from the Belichick system and grading system to the Elliott Wolf grading system To then jump to another grading system the very next year at some point you got to slow things down and say

let's see if Elliot Wolf's grading system works if if variables open minded to it. And because variable had experience with the system and learned about the system from Brinker, it allowed him to walk in and not try to force any change on the front office. It allowed them to hit the ground running. You don't have to slow the process down because you're not bringing in a new system. You're not pouring through all the minutia. Vrabel had a hand in knowing what was going on there. He was able to walk in and hit the ground running with Cowden and Wolf, along with Alonzo Highsmith. The transition was made much easier.

It was a much more efficient process than it would have been if Vrabel walked in, eyes closed trying to figure out what was going on. It also helps when Vrabel is handing out the player profiles to the front office when he's talking to the front office in that February meeting before the combine that was reported, and he's having this session with all of the front office members in the scouting department, talking to the scouts, talking to Wolf, talking to everybody. It's easier for him to give those front office peeps an idea as far as, all right, this is the kind of profile that I look for in a player.

This is what I want from that position. And if he knows the grading system and he knows how the scouting department has already been evaluating all of these college players, it's easier for Vrabel to get his message across what he's looking for because he can talk with their own terminology. He is speaking their language. They are speaking a language that he understands, which again makes it easier to be shot out of a cannon and start the offseason work ASAP. And we can't forget this either. Elliot Wolf is motivated to make this thing work. It wouldn't be great for Elliot if he got dumped.

Not after last off season. So if Elliot makes this thing work, then Mike Vrabel's reputation is really good in football circles. And if by the end of 2025, Vrabel is singing the praises of Elliot Wolf and becomes a reference point for Elliot Wolf's turnaround here in New England after last offseason, if Vrabel becomes that reference for him, that's going to hold weight. So it makes sense for Wolf to make sure this works. And he's motivated to make this thing work. Because not only can he gain Vrabel as a trusted reference, he also puts himself in position

to earn a possible future GM role with another organization where he will get final say like Vrabel has here. So it helps him now, it helps him in the future. And it helps him recover from all the criticism he took due to the 24 off season. So it makes a lot of sense for Wolf to make this relationship work, and it made sense for Vrabel to make this thing work, so they didn't have some kind of hysteria or chaos in the front office as they're trying to turn over so much of this roster like he knew they had to do. So the Brinker relationship, those conversations, they all matter because it allowed for a more

seamless transition for Vrabel to get this program started. He knew what was needed, but they could do it efficiently. And they could be on the same page. And if you look at this off season, it went pretty well on paper. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Let me know your thoughts on today's topics. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio. and don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel Love reading all the comments. I try to get to as many as I can and thank you for making lockdown Patriots your first Listen today for your second. Listen, check out lockdown NFL scouting hosts Kyle crabs and Joe Marino We'll make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason find locked on NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts

Have a great weekend, a safe weekend, and I will see you on Monday.