Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Mike Vrabel’s New England Patriots Vision: Free Agency, NFL Draft and Combine, Roster Shakeup

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Can the New England Patriots aggressive offseason strategy reshape their future? With a staggering $130 million in cap space, the Patriots are poised to make significant moves in free agency and the NFL Draft. Mike Vrabel's bold comments about targeting top players set the stage for a transformative period in New England Patriots football.Explore the potential impact of acquiring high-profile targets and the strategic focus on defensive linemen and linebackers. Host Mike D'Abate and guest Steve Balestrieri dissect the Patriots' draft strategy, highlighting key prospects such as Mason Graham and Abdul Carter. They also analyze the 2024 draft class, discussing the potential growth of players like Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker. Will the Patriots' offseason maneuvers lead to a successful rebuild? Tune in for expert insights and a deep dive into the team's future plans. #NFL #newenglandpatriots #nflcombine Find Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFm... Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-... And follow host Mike D’Abate on X, where he’ll be sharing the latest ne ws about the New England Patriots and talking with fans — @mdabateNFL  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuelRight now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if 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)

The success of the New England Patriots in the 2025 offseason will hinge largely on their performance in both free agency and the draft. One thing's clear, after speaking with Mike Vrabel, the Patriots plan to approach both with aggression. Stick around, you're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots

country, so reach out to me. Let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL. While you're out there showing some love to Locked On Patriots social media style, follow our account there as well at LO underscore Patriots. And finally, you can catch me over where the skies are blue on Blue Sky at MDABATENFL.bsky.social. Pets fans, the NFL scouting combine is underway. The workouts may still be a couple of days away,

but that does not mean that action is not already brimming in Indianapolis. The coaches and the general managers meeting the media over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday. And for the first time since his introductory press conference in January, new Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel met with the media. Once again, his tone was matter-of-fact, direct, and honest, and that is something that I believe he is going to continue to cultivate as he and the Patriots Brain Trust attempt to build their 2025 roster. We're going to discuss what Mike Vrabel had to say here today on the pod.

We're going to talk about his hopefully aggressive attitude toward free agency. We're also going to discuss what combine prospects the Pats may have on their radar. Mike indicated that the Patriots have already met with a few individuals and will continue to do so throughout the week. And lastly, the 2024 draft class for your New England Patriots, with the exception of Drake May, of course, hasn't exactly been praised throughout much of NFL media, certainly not at the local level.

But Mike Vrabel still believes there's talent there to be cultivated. Who might find themselves in the midst of a redemption arc this season? Well, we're going to discuss all those points and more today, and I say we because joining me today is the only man with the level-headed, reasonable wisdom and counsel that we need to help guide us through what Mike Vrabel had to say and what he truly meant. And that's my good friend, my Patriots Paisan,

the resident voice of reason here on Locked On Patriots, columnist extraordinaire of Patsfans.com, as well as being the co-host of the Patriots 4th & 2 podcast, Steve Balistrieri. Steve, thanks for joining me here today, and welcome back to Locked On Patriots. Always a pleasure, my friend, and yeah, it's a beautiful day down here. I hope you're enjoying a nice day up there. Absolutely, and you know, New England Patriots right now, as we've said several times here on these airwaves and multiple airwaves throughout Patriots media, face a crossroads this season.

This is a team that is coming off of two straight 4-13 finishes, and Mike Vrabel definitely feels that responsibility. And as he spoke to the media on Tuesday, you got the impression from him that this is a job at which he knows he cannot afford to fail. And he needs to be hitting all of the marks right off of the bat in order to make sure that not only the pride, but also the trust that New England Patriots fans have had in this franchise for so long return to this team in short order. It's going to help them to build and it's going to help bring them back to respectability sooner rather than later. One of the first building blocks of that task is free agency. I know everyone's focused on the draft this week as they should be. Combine time is very exciting, but I was extremely intrigued by what Mike had to say in approximately the 15 minutes with which

he spoke to the media on Tuesday morning. I'm going to quote Mike directly here. He says, we will be hopefully aggressive. We want to be aggressive. We want to target players we feel like are going to help us, that are going to be outstanding players, and are going to be outstanding additions to the locker room and the community. And if all that fits and the compensation fits, I'm confident we will be aggressive.

And Steve, while I'll stop short of saying that's a formal declaration or he's drawing a line in the sand or sticking the flag in the dirt to mark his territory I think Mike is being very matter of fact here I think he's saying this is going to be a team that I'm going to put my stamp on

I'm going to stand behind and I want to make sure that the players we're bringing in allow us to put a better product on the field this year than we had last season. How optimistic should Patriots fans be by what they heard from Mike Rabel on Tuesday morning? I think that's quite an optimistic statement. I mean, you know, he stopped short of saying they were going to burn a ton of cash, which we heard last year. But at the same time, I know that last year it wasn't because they didn't try to.

Right. You tried to. Good point. To be aggressive last year. Just nobody wanted to take their money. I think the situation is vastly different this year. They have a known commodity as a head coach. He's very well respected around the league. I think his assistants are very, very good.

And now you have a franchise quarterback. Things are much, much different. Yes, they have a lot of rebuilding to do. But I think, you know, with the amount of money that they have, the draft picks that they have, and the coaching staff, I think they're going to get a lot more done this year. One of the things that I thought was very interesting in what Mike had to say when it came to the relationship between free agency and the draft. And you and I touched upon this a little bit last week. Murph and I talked about it pretty extensively yesterday here on Mock Draft Monday on Locked On Patriots. We mentioned that Mike's approach to free agency may really have a strong impact or

maybe even dictate how they approach the draft coming up in 2025. And Mike seemed to feed into that, saying that we can put a team out on the field and make sure that every one of our positions has competent, savvy veterans that are able to play the position and play it up to our standards. I think that's going to be an extremely important detail to remember as the draft draws near and as we start to inch closer to the start of the draft. I think Mike is looking at this as an opportunity to go in, get the best players available, enrich, maybe even enhance, maybe, dare I say, bolster some of these positional groups. But he wants to use free agency

very strategically and very selectively to make sure that they're filling holes all in and along this roster. This to me seems to indicate Mike Vrabel gets it right off the bat. That draft needs to be well supported by a strong showing when it comes to free agency next month. Oh, absolutely. And, you know, it takes two to tango, right? They have a boatload of money to spend. There are some free agents out there some top tier guys

that can most definitely help this team in the rebuilding process and we all know who those guys are you know and i think there's a strong middle class as there always is good depth guys good positional players maybe not all pros, but guys that you can plug and play and will do a great job for you. Those will be just as important as some of the top-tier guys because there are a lot of depth holes that need to be filled. That being said, I think they're going gonna target one or two of the really top tier guys right off the bat and i think they're gonna offer them more than the you know area that

for instance a guy like t hayes not saying they're to offer him all this, but I think they might. You know, everyone's considering the market for him about $30 million. Well, if the Patriots come in with a short-term deal, three years, maybe $100 million, would that be enough or will it take even more? I think they have the cap space to do that. And I think the same you could say for a left tackle. Not saying Ronnie Stanley's name, but, you know, you know how that works. Absolutely. And there's, you know, some other although I think Cleveland's going to want a little more for him than the Patriots or anyone else wants to really spend so but a guy like

Max Crosby excuse me I said Mason again didn't I no. That's the second time. They don't need a kicker. Well, they do need a kicker, but not that guy. Max. You know what I mean by that. Absolutely. Yeah. I think, you know, they're going to make a hard push for some of these guys. And I think this year they might be a little bit more successful than last because of the factors that you and I already talked about.

So I think there's a lot of optimism going around, and I think it might just pan out for them. Very well said. And in my opinion, Steve, more than anything else, Mike Vrabel's statements to the media on Tuesday indicated one very important thing, and that is this is Mike's team now moving forward. He's the guy that has essentially the say on what's going to happen with the personnel out on that field. He pretty much told our good mutual friend Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston, I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have wanted to be the head coach if I wasn't comfortable in my impact on the roster. And that's going to mean free agents, folks, but it's also going to mean the prospects that the Patriots are in town in Indianapolis scouting right at this very moment. The Pats have a lot of needs and they need a lot of players to fill those needs. Who might they be

very smart to keep a sharp eye on in the coming days at the Combine? Steve and I are going to talk about that point in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. A proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots. As we continue to break down Mike Vrabel's meet with the media, his first as head coach of the New England Patriots at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine.

A lot to be said, still a lot to be interpreted. And when you need to have some level-headed, reasonable interpretation of what the head coach had to say, you bring in the resident voice of reason here on Locked On Patriots. That's exactly what we've done. My good friend Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com and the Patriots 4th & 2 podcast. Steve, in the previous segment, we talked a lot about Mike Brable's comments with regard to free agency and being hopefully aggressive, meaning that Patriots are going to pursue these guys they're going to look to swing for the fences they want to take that 130 million

in cap space out for a spin and maybe even overspend a little bit if they need to to bring in the type of players they want but they're not going to guarantee it because ultimately it's up to the player whether or not they really want to come to New England. Where they have a little bit more creative control, so to speak, is in the 2025 NFL draft. And according to Mike, this process already underway. When he spoke to the media on Tuesday morning, said that the Patriots had, quote, a great start interviewing defensive linemen, edge rushers, and inside linebackers. Three of the positions that we've talked about before, Steve, as maybe being three of the biggest needs for the Patriots

on the defensive side of the ball. So in that regard, when you hear that Mike Vrabel and the Patriots are already interviewing defensive line candidates, front seven candidates, what does that tell you in terms of what their approach to this draft is going to be? Does this tell you that the Patriots may be indeed looking toward the defensive side of the ball when it comes to the prospects they'll be watching this week? Absolutely. You know, again, they need help in the trenches, and he's talking about help in the trenches,

which leads me to believe that when he mentioned defensive line first among the combine guys that they're targeting i could be reading the tea leaves wrong because we used to have to do this with bill all the time it leads me to believe that they're targeting a big time left tackle hello ronnie stanley uh and free agency because if you have that guy now you're drafting a left tackle i think they still should uh but it's not necessarily a pressing need you know first or second round so i think that tells me that first or second round, they're looking at front seven. Absolutely. I agree with you.

And again, it actually comes back to something Murph and I talked about yesterday here on Locked On Patriots, and that is drafting need as opposed to drafting generational talent, getting the best player available. Now, there are maybe a handful of guys, probably with a couple of fingers left over, that I would consider generational talent in this draft. But there are a lot of potential game changers that really could come in and change the complexity of this team, both on offense and on defense.

I think more of them exist on the defensive side of the ball. And I think you make an interesting point in that if you sign a competent left tackle, a big left tackle a overpaid free agent style left tackle it takes a lot of the pressure off from needing to use high level draft capital to fill that position a lot of people are saying the patriots are so desperate at left tackle right now that will campbell may come in here and he may be the guy regardless of how he uh he measures in terms of arm length uh later this week but again if you're the new england patriots and you don't consider any of the tackles on the board generational type of talent then you can afford to overpay a left tackle right now for two three four years try to give yourself as much of an escape clause in that

contract as you can without having to ruin your financial situation for many years to come to get the job done. And you can focus more on other talent in this draft that you feel could help you more in the short term and in the long term. And that's where a guy like Mason Graham comes in, who is kind of starting to slowly creep his way up, up draft boards. When we talked about the front seven last week, I think we were both so enamored to talk about Jalen Walker because we had just watched a lot of footage on him. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I'll make up for that one myself. I was watching so much of Jalen in anticipation of our discussion

that kind of threw me off target a little bit. But Mason Graham, once again, the more I watch him and the more I look at him, potential game-changing talent in that front seven, especially along that defensive front, whether Christian Barmore is there or not, a player like that could help the New England Patriots dramatically in 2025. Oh, you're not kidding. I mean, you know, when you talk about a guy like Mason Graham, you know, you see a big physical penetrating type of guy that's the kind of defense they want to run you know 2025 and hopefully as we've said many times christian barmore's health issues will be a thing of the past and you put him and Graham beside each other in the interior of that defensive line.

And boy, that's going to put some pressure right up the middle. And that's where you love to get it from. Because, you know, those are the toughest pressures quarterbacks have to get away from. You know, a lot of times, yeah, the edge rushers, they get all the sacks and they get all the glory, but it's because the interior guys are pushing that forward, you know. So a guy like Mason Graham, absolutely. I did a mock draft pre-free agency edition last Saturday, posted it on Monday. And, you know, Abdul Carter was there at number one,

and I thought that was a no-brainer. I mean, you know, you mentioned earlier in the show about generational talent. I think he's one of those guys. He's there, without question. Yeah. So, you know, if a guy like him still happens to be there at number four, I don't think they'll hesitate there. Oh, absolutely.

I mean, you'll jump at that chance. And we had our fun yesterday, you know, breaking down the mock drafts that our listeners send in. And one of them did have Abdul Carter slipping to number four to the New England Patriots, and they were able to pick him up. Yeah, I think the chances of that are probably very slim. But who knows? Things happen all the time between now and the draft.

There's still an awful lot of time, so you don't know if there's going to be trades that could shake the balance of the board right now, which player's stock is going to rise, which is going to fall. There's so much that can happen between now and then. So although it looks like a pretty strong slam dunk right now and i really don't think anything should move abdul carter off top two maybe three at the latest spots on this uh board there is always that chance that it does happen so the patriots have to plan for that and yeah i agree with you they absolutely

take that running with both hands i think tra Travis Hunter is the same type of generational talent. Some people may roll their eyes on that a little bit and say, well, if you use him exclusively more as a cornerback, all of a sudden he's not as generational as you may think he is. But what he can provide to you offensively, to me, makes him that type of generational talent. I don't think you'll ever quite see the two-way players that never leave the field. The Chuck Bednarik Steve are no longer coming back to the NFL, but this kid could give you significant time on the offensive side of the ball. If you have that type of player in your arsenal where you're consistently keeping your opponent guessing, that right there is generational talent.

That right there is generational impact uh maybe is a better uh you know point to uh to use uh but i still think the talent is there on travis as well but bottom line if you're looking at someone like a mason graham coming in here at number four yeah if he's still there and the odds are pretty good that he will be patriots are going to have to make their decision and if they've already got their guy on offense at left tackle, like you said, all of a sudden Will Campbell doesn't become the necessary choice at that position any longer. And I think this leads me quite nicely into my final question for you on potential combine targets. We have a lot of fun talking about the defensive side of the ball, but if you're looking to the offensive talent in this draft,

and you're looking at potential finds for the New England Patriots, who do you think Vrabel and this Patriots brain trust should be watching and keeping a close eye on in the coming days? Yeah. In fact, I have to put the specs back on. I have to use them to look at my notes. You know, I'm looking at a guy maybe third round, you know, for offensive guys. And, you know, for offensive guys.

And, you know, one of the things we always talk about, right, is they don't have somebody that can threaten the defense, you know. And I look at the kid from Texas, Isaiah Bond. Yeah. The wide receiver. And that guy's got speed for days, right? He does. He's not the biggest guy.

But, you know, you look at a guy like Tyree Kill, he's not the biggest guy either. But he can absolutely fly. And his route tree is pretty advanced. So, I mean, I think this guy would be really intriguing to watch. Another guy on the third round offensively, Mason Taylor, tight end from LSU, comes from great long lines. We knew his father quite well, Jason, you know. Jason Taylor was a great player for a long time.

Absolutely. You know, so he's got the football genes in him. Those two guys, I'm thinking, you know, so he's got the football genes in him. Those two guys, I'm thinking, you know, because I'm looking at trenches in the first round, whether it be Abdul Carter or, you know, Mason Graham, somebody like that, maybe even a Will Campbell. We don't know. So I'm looking for somebody there. And then, you know, second or third round, maybe those guys are still there and pop up on the screen. And I think that would be really a good move for their part. You know, I kind of like those guys in that position.

I mean, if they wanted to go for a wide receiver in round two, there's plenty to pick from. But I don't think that's going to be the case this time. Steve and I are going to talk about the 2024 class and Mike Vrabel's impression of the 2024 NFL draft class for your New England Patriots

when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, every on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Locked On listeners, when the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started, and there's no better place to get in on it than FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. With FanDuel, you can place live bets throughout the game. So even if you miss the opening tip-off or want to bet on a fourth quarter comeback, you can stay in on the action. And if you're looking for a bigger payout,

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partner of the NBA. That's fans. Thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots. As we continue to break down, Mike Vrabel's meet with the media at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, currently underway at Lucas Oil Stadium in

Indianapolis, Indiana. Here to help me break it all down, the ins and outs, the ups and downs, and most importantly, the reasonable interpretation we all need here in New England, my good friend Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com. Steve, we've talked about Mike Vrabel's approach to free agency

and the hopefully aggressive model that he's going to follow in conjunction with guys like Elliot Wolfe and Ryan Cowden and, of course, the Crafts. This is all going to be their team that they're going to put out there in 2025. The draft, obviously, is going to be such an important part of this. The Patriots currently possess a significant amount of draft capital, including that number four overall pick. How are they going to use that to help build this team for the future? But building block one last year in

the post-Bill Belichick era here in New England was to draft players that the Patriots had been needing for quite some time. That includes spending all but one of their NFL draft picks last season on offensive players, players on the offensive side of the ball. Well, they obviously got their number one guy in Drake Mayne, and he could potentially be the franchise quarterback here in New England for quite some time. But beyond Drake, there wasn't a whole lot to celebrate when it came to this 2024 NFL draft class. A lot of largely underwhelming picks, whether it be because of injury or whether it be because of non-performance, really has a lot of people wondering what the legacy of this draft is going to be.

Steve, I thought it was interesting that Mike Vrabel was asked about the 2024 NFL draft and was asked about the personnel specifically intends to put out on the field in 2025. Now, Mike was very blunt when he says, I think this team is going to look drastically different, meaning that right now in New England, there are a lot of people that are thinking maybe I should be packing my bags as we speak. It indicated that you're going to see some overhaul, but he was, at least in my estimation, a little more complimentary toward the 2024 NFL draft class than I thought he would be when he was asked the question.

I'm going to read his statement verbatim, so that way I don't misquote anyone and you don't get any wrong impressions here, folks. Mike said when he was asked about the 2024 draft class, they had some talent, didn't have the impact that maybe everybody would have wanted but that's okay i'm trying to explain it to some of those guys the whole sophomore slump thing maybe we just had the freshman 15 and now we gotta lose a little weight in the second year

my question to you my reasonable friend is of the players on the draft list from 2024, who do you think the Patriots might target as those they'd like to see undergo a redemption arc, for lack of a better term? Yeah, you know, when I read that, I was trying to, again, read the tea leaves. And with Mike, it's a little different. You know, I thought when he said they were talented, but they probably didn't do as well, I'm paraphrasing here, as they had wanted. And then he said, you know, you'd lose that freshman 15.

That tells me that there's a couple of guys that don't fit. And, you know, they're going to cut some weight off that class. So the question now becomes, which ones? And, you know, again, I go to the trenches again. And I'm looking at guys like Caden Wallace and, you know, and. Layton Robinson. Yeah. Layton Robinson. Yeah, Layton Robinson. I got a brain cramp there.

So I'm looking at those two guys and I'm wondering, do do they think that they just didn't receive the coaching or they weren't quite physically ready for the challenge of being, you know, a starting offensive lineman in the NFL? And that that happens quite a bit with a lot of college offensive linemen. They need that one year in the strength and conditioning program to build up a little more strength and muscle than they might have had in the college game. I'm thinking that it's those two guys that they might have hope for because you know they thought enough of them a year ago to to believe that they would help that offensive line in 2024 maybe it's just going to take that extra year with different coaching that's a good point and i think a lot

of people are looking at those two linemen right now as maybe being the make or break of this draft class because the receivers had their difficulties. And we'll get into the receivers in just a moment. But I think everybody can agree that there is talent there that can be extracted. Whether or not it's a fit in a Josh McDaniel system, maybe a different type of argument for another day. The unfortunate thing with Wallace is the injury situation and the fact that he spent so much time on the shelf. You didn't really get a feel for the type of lineman, pro-level lineman, that this kid could become. He is an adept guy that can play the left tackle position. I just happen to think that with the seasoning that he's had and the most recent experiences that he's had, I think he's better on the right than he is on the left. So do the Patriots see that and look had, I think he's better on the right than he is on the left. So do the Patriots see that and look at him as a backup right tackle or a potential starter this year? If they get their pie in the sky,

left tackle, if they get the guy they want at the left tackle position, their top choice, then all of a sudden Caden could become a project and maybe even a solid project at the right tackle position. Layden, I think is going to be more of a depth piece at this point. At least he should be with Cole Strange back in the lineup. If David Andrews comes back, comes back strong and he's in the middle,

I think Cole becomes your left guard. And I think Michael Wenu continues to man the right guard position. So those two guys right there, if you can give them the type of seasoning they need, they could evolve into what you need down the line. That being said, I think it's also interesting and maybe even revealing when it comes to the receivers because Polk showed a lot of talent in training camp. You really saw him go up, make some really impressive catches. All of a sudden, it looked like this kid was developing a real nice relationship with Drake May. He was even catching some passes and really making things happen with

Jacoby Brissett. All of a sudden, the regular season started, the bright lights started to shine, and it looked like he was not up to the challenge. Javon Baker obviously had his issues getting acclimated to a pro-level offense, And if he continues to have those issues this year, it's really going to be a very sharp contrast because you and I both know that Josh McDaniels runs a very complex system here in New England, not the easiest in the world. It's going to be very difficult if he can't grasp that right from the start. What are your thoughts on these two receivers?

Do you think both, either one or none, are salvageable when it comes to the type of offense the Patriots are going to employ this year? You know, it's a great question because, like you, I mean, I was really pleasantly surprised at how well Polk started off. And I thought that he was just going to continue that upward trajectory you know once the regular season started but it didn't work out that way and you know I thought as the season went on unfortunately he struggled more and more and I you know uh I remember Gerard Mayo saying it was a mental thing and I agree with that assessment I think it was all in his head um because we saw that he could do it oh yeah yeah but you know he had something holding him back so when when i look at him you know i think so but you know he's gonna have to i think for him he needs to start off fast again right he can't be struggling when they

come into camp or i i think it would destroy his confidence in in regards to baker um you know i i could see things going one or two ways with him either the light comes on for him in year two and you can see some of the attributes of what they liked when they drafted him or i think he could be out at the end of training camp i think it's it's going to be one or the other for him yeah um but you know we never know i mean we've seen this this thing happen before where guys look great and you you know, they see the tape and they, you know, they think they're going to be a fit and then they don't work out or other guys who aren't highly considered at all turn into, you know, really, really good players

like a Julian Edelman. I mean, I remember that, you know, everyone said, why is Bill trapped in an option quarterback from Kansas State? You know, and look at how he turned out. I mean, you know, it's going to be interesting. I think it's a big training camp, really big training camp for those two receivers this year. What can I say, bud? I appreciate all of your wisdom and counsel. Thank you for stopping by, talking a little Mike Vrabel, combine, draft, free agency,

anything you want to talk about. Steve is always ready. He's always there for the handoff, and he's always spot on and prepared for any topic that you can think of when it comes to Patriots Nation. So tip of the cap, my friend, and thank you so much for that. Before I let you go, please let everyone know where they can reach out to you, interact with you, and what you've got marinating

in La Cucina Balistrieri for the rest of the week. Well, thanks for having me, as always. I always look forward to my afternoon with you every week. You can find me on Twitter at SteveB7 seven SFG.

I write for Pat's fans.com. Derek Havens and I do our podcast tomorrow. Sometime we're trying to knock, knock down a time that works for both of us. And, you know, this week we'll be looking at combine stuff because that's what the talk will be.

And, you know, they do a great job. I love rich eyes and he does a great job over there. looking at combine stuff because that's what the talk will be. And, uh, you know, they do a great job. I love rich eyes and he does a great job over there. So yeah, they do. We'll all be looking forward to seeing the guys on the field and the

under armor Olympics and see what they can do. Absolutely. You know, they say draft season begins in mobile. And I think the bowl, uh, you know, I think both bowls,

I think the Senior Bowl and the East-West Shrine Bowl have done a great job of kicking off that season each and every year, but it gets real when the combine comes on. I know some people have tried to lessen its impact throughout the years. I don't know why. I still look forward to this time of year each and every year, and I think it's a great opportunity to see what these players can do when they're working out for pro-level scouts, not just from the workouts, the measurements, but getting a chance to hear how they're interacting with the upper echelon of the NFL's top brass, general managers, team owners, head coaches.

This is their opportunity to shine, and it's their opportunity to sell themselves and to make their case to be a professional football player in the nfl not an easy thing to do very few when it comes to um if you think about it in the grand scheme of things in our population steve very few get the opportunity to play in the nfl and these hopefuls uh will continue to try to cultivate that dream and folks we will continue to bring you the very latest from Indianapolis. Got some exciting guests lined up, so stay locked in. You are not going to want to miss a single second of the action for the remainder of the week.

But in the meantime, I give a final tip of the cap to my good friend, Steve Balistrieri, for his wit, his wisdom, his counsel, and his grit here today on Locked On Patriots. And, of course, I want to thank all of you, all of you everydayers, all of you occasional listeners, and any of you first-timers for making Locked on Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage today. On behalf of Steve Balistrieri, I'm Mike DeBate,

reminding all of you to stay safe, to stay well, to be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Locked on Patriots.