Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Should The New England Patriots Regret A Trade Not Made?

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

The New England Patriots had a great off-season “on paper,” but should Mike Vrabel, Eliot Wolf, and Ryan Cowden regret one move they didn’t make?Also, Pop Douglas and other Patriots had a lot to say about Vrabel earlier this week and the differences between Vrabel and Jerod Mayo are crystal clear. And, you won’t believe the Patriot that was the victim of one of the worst snubs this offseason. Packed episode!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!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.Skylight CalendarRight now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch Calendars by going to Skylightcal.com/NFL.LinkedInPost your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.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)

In hindsight, the Pats might have missed out on a golden opportunity this offseason. 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 Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Patriots fans? I am 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, Pats players have very telling comments about their head coach and an inexplicable snub of one of the best players on this roster. But first, we focus on an off season move that was not made and whether or not the Patriots should have some regrets. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listen and for being an everydayer, the Locked On Patriots podcast is a proud part of the Lockdown podcast network your team Every day, let me first say this the Patriots had a tremendous offseason on paper. I've talked about it I graded their offseason at an a-minus

I believe they did a fantastic job of addressing needs with this football team free agency the draft They did a terrific job overall. But they weren't flawless. And we can look at certain decisions that were made or not made. And we can say, yeah, it might be a nitpick, but they're reasonable nitpicks. And there is a reasonable nitpick I wanted to address on the show today. A nitpick of something the Patriots could have done in the offseason but chose not to even entertain it reportedly. And that was trading for Joe Tooney. The Patriots had

no interest reportedly in making that trade with Kansas City. Tooney ended up going to the Chicago Bears. The Patriots now are looking at a left guard competition. It's wide open, which we'll get to a little bit later, but they had an opportunity to make that deal. They had an opportunity to go after tuning. And they didn't. And I'm talking about this today because Joe Tooney this week agreed to a contract extension with Chicago.

Here's what ESPN writes the bears and Tooney have agreed to a two-year extension. The extension is for $17.5 million per season, making his new three-year contract worth $51 million, with $33.5 million fully guaranteed at the signing. Lots of money. I know some of you are going, wait a minute, Nick, you're gonna pay Tooney that much money when you're paying Michael Wenu the amount of money that you're paying him?

You're going to go back to back years with big time contracts at guard? That's why I mentioned this is really in hindsight. It's in hindsight because the Patriots, I believe thought they were going to be able to sign a left garden free agency and they ended up not doing so. They swung and missed on the interior offensive line outside of Garrett Bradbury in West Schweitzer. That was not the plan. The reported plan was to go out there and try to sign one of the best guards that were available in free agency, but they didn't. So here we are. I understand that it's a lot of money that you would be paying out to Tuni and to Wenu, but in hindsight, in hindsight, I would have gone after

Tuni for a number of different reasons. Let's begin with his level of play. I know he's going to be 33 years old later this year. I understand that you don't always feel great about paying somebody in their 30s, especially in the NFL, this amount of money. But Joe Tooney is still a high level offensive lineman. When you look at Pro Football Focus and their grading system, Tooney, his overall grade, he was the 12th best guard in football and they graded 136 guards from 2024. Tooney was 12th out of 136 guys.

He wasn't the best at run blocking. He was 23rd, which is still good out of a 136 number. He was 23rd in run blocking, but where Tooney really made a difference, made an unbelievable impact when he was playing his natural position and not being asked to play left tackle in the Super Bowl against really good pass rushers in Philadelphia. We're looking at what he did on the balance of the year and Tooney at guard was the fifth best pass-blocking guard in football fifth out of 136 guys

Tooney is one of the best guards in football hands down arguably a top two or three left guard in football. And he was there. He was there. And the price wasn't much at all. Chicago traded a 20-26 fourth round pick for Tooney. So it's not like it was cost prohibitive. You were not going to be giving up a draft pick in this year's draft.

You were giving up a fourth round pick in 2026. And for that level of play, that asset is a no brainer to give up. You're landing one of the best guards in football. It's a pretty easy decision. The thing that made me a little shaky on it going back to when this happened in real time was the contract. But the way this offseason unfolded, the fact that you spent the pick for left tackle with Will Campbell instead of signing Ronnie Stanley to a gigantic contract, the fact that you did not sign

a big moneyed center or interior offensive lineman which was a part of the plan this off season. When you look at it again in hindsight, I would be regretting not going after Tooney and not trying to chase him down and get that deal done. But it's not just because of Tooney's level of play. I just mentioned Campbell. You draft Will Campbell and he's going to be your starting left tackle. At the OTA practice open to the media, Campbell played a ton of left tackle, got a ton of snaps.

And one of the questions about Campbell we know is the arm length because of the pass protection. And there were times where he gave up some pass rush in college. And those times happened to be when he was going against, for the most part, guys who were quick, had that speed, beat him to the inside. Now overall, when you look at pro football focus, his grading system, speaking of it, Campbell was tremendous at LSU. He really was.

His pass protection grade was great. All those things. But the past blocking on the left side blind side of Drake may with Campbell being a rookie with maybe having occasional issues with speed. Even if he's an above average left tackle, which would be fantastic if that ends up happening. There are still some questions, especially early on whether or not he can combat that speed because of those length issues that he has. Just imagine having Tooney as the solid rock right next to him, his right hand man, so to speak. Tooney, one of the best blocking

left guards, one of the best blocking guards period, one of the best blocking guards period end of sentence in all of football. That would have been a nice anchor to have right next to your rookie left tackle. I think it would have settled Campbell down a little bit. Not to say that Campbell's going to be rattled. I think he's very confident in his ability. He certainly speaks like he's confident in his ability and he should be given the overall production that he showed us in the SEC at a big time college like LSU. But it would have been a nice insurance policy to have Tooney right next to Campbell.

And he's going to get mentored. Campbell's going to get mentored by Morgan Moses. Of course, we talked about that, but it doesn't hurt to have another mentor. And it doesn't hurt to have that mentor be the guy that's right next to you on the offensive line. And Joe Tooney having somebody like that with some of the early questions with Campbell, as he transitions to the NFL, we know Garrett Bradbury was God awful in pass protection last year at center to have a nice steady rock in pass protection from left tackle to center to have somebody like Tuni in the middle there, I think would have helped, would have helped because right now we've got a bunch of questions at left guard and I think

they can get average left guard play out of one of these guys this year. I want to be clear. I don't think it's going to be abysmal. Injuries could happen. Injuries could make it abysmal But I'm not going into 2025 season thinking left guard is going to be an absolute disaster But there are questions at guard and certainly There are a heck of a lot more questions at left guard now than you would have if you traded for

Joe Tooney Layden Robinson, Cole Strange, City So, all three of those guys have shown inconsistencies during their NFL careers. All three of those guys have dealt with injury. So I don't know if I'm super confident in any three of them being able to hit the field and be ready to go. Wes Schweitzer is better off being a backup,

versatile interior offensive line piece. And Jared Wilson, I'm sure he might get some snaps at left guard at some point, but he was only a one-year starter at Georgia, and that was playing center. So there are questions. I think they'll be okay at left guard, but man, imagine if you had Campbell,

Tooney, Bradbury slash Wilson Oh when ooh and Morgan Moses I'd feel even better about this offensive line, even though they have improved on paper this offseason Revealing player comments about their new head coach That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of locked on Patriots part, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. As a small business owner, your work doesn't end when the clock hits five. Your business is always on your mind, which means when it's time to hire, you need a partner that works just as hard as you do. That's where LinkedIn jobs comes in. When you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in.

LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free, share it with your network, and get qualified candidates all in one place. Here's how it works. Post your job. LinkedIn's new feature can help you write job descriptions and then quickly get your job in front of the right people with deep candidate insights. And here's a pro tip. Add the hashtag hiring frame to your profile picture to double your reach to qualified candidates. No wonder 72% of small businesses say LinkedIn helps them find quality hires, and not only quality, high quality hires.

Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Turn terms and conditions apply. Feels like almost every time a Patriots player speaks to the media, that Patriots player highlights differences between Mike Vrabel and last year's head coach, Gerard Mayo. And I'm not saying that the players are doing that with any kind of purpose. I don't think they're intentionally going out of their way to compare last year's

head coach to this year's head coach, but it's happening. And when they have these conversations with the media, they just keep highlighting the difference between the current guy and the last guy. Now difference doesn't always mean better. Something can be different but worse. But in this case, I feel like different is better. Let's get to some of these comments that were out there in the ether the past couple of

days. That were out there in the ether the past couple of days Karen garee, G and og at mass live Spoke with Christian Gonzalez and Gonzalez said quote about variable great energy everything you see on TV That's exactly what you get. He'll put on the little 51 Jersey, which I thought was something he did in the past But he still does it his energy. He has great energy Hunter Henry quote just briefly being on the field with him has been awesome. He was a player, so he kind of has that energy like we all do. On the coaching side, he brings a great energy. You feeling the theme here?

That I think everybody likes. Now, of course, these are players. They're not going to sit there and kill their head coach publicly, or at least they shouldn't. This is the honeymoon phase. So a lot of this is expected, but let's just take the words for what they are. Let's take the words for what they are in real time. When I think of energy, I think of involvement. When the head coach is showing that amount of energy and when players keep bringing that word up, it feels to me like the players believe that Mike Vrabel

is just super involved with everything. He's showing that energy, he's running around, he's a part of things. He's a part of the operation. And he's bringing that energy to the operation. And I will tell you, and again, different doesn't always mean better. And there are plenty of coaches that don't have the same level of energy at practices that variable has that have been very successful coaches.

I'm sure Andy Reid's not running around with a penny Jersey on, although that would be hilarious if he did. And he reads a good coach. But I just can't help thinking of the image when I'm reading these quotes from Gonzalez and Henry talking about this undeniable energy and involvement from Vrabel. And I just can't help but go back to last year's training camp when I was standing there at the facility watching Gerard Mayo just stand. Stand there sometimes arms crossed, sometimes with a whistle in his hand and whipping the whistle around, but just being a bystander. And I can't help but imagine that Vrabel being so energetic and so involved is palpable to the players, especially after last year's head coach and how he held practices and handled himself during practices.

He was pretty much just a bystander hanging out last year. Now you got a guy with that jersey on, he's in there, he's got the energy. And when you have energy and you have the involvement, that means you're engaged. And when you're engaged, you're creating deeper relationships. You're making deeper contacts with those players. Let's go back to Karen Guregian. This time with Pop Douglas. Pop said, quote, Vrabel is a players coach.

He's on the field with us. You coach. He's on the field with us. You have a head coach on the field with us. It's different. He's very in tune to what we're doing and wants us to be better. When I read that quote from Pop Douglas, and he talks about Vrabel being very in tune to what the players are doing and the fact that Vrabel wants them to be better. Of course, Gerard Mayo wanted his players last year to be better. Of course, but was he in tune? Was he in tune with all of the players? I don't think so.

There have been multiple stories written how players were questioning the coaching staff last year almost immediately. And it felt like the coaches were throwing stuff up against the wall very early in the process. And you know what that does? It shatters your confidence as a player. When Pop Douglas and Hunter Henry and Christian Gonzalez are out there and Frabel's out there and he's got the energy. He's engaged, he's involved, and he's in tune. And he's talking about all sorts of things that relate to you.

And it leaves the player feeling like that coach wants us to be better. That's a confidence within the player that is pivotal. Pop Douglas, he's confident that he can improve. He can develop into a better player and he feels more confident in that idea because of how Vrabel is handling himself at these practices. And of course, when you're confident that you're going to improve, that means that the team should improve, that means that you're going to win more, that also means that you're going to produce more. If you produce more, you make more money. And that is music to the ears of any professional athlete. In tune, I want to hone in on that in tune Pop Douglas saying Mike Vrabel

Is in tune. He's very in tune to what we're doing and wants to Make us better That to me screams that Pop Douglas has trust in Mike Vrabel's evaluation This has trust in Mike Vrabel's evaluation that Vrabel is very in tune with what is going to make each player better, what is going to make the team better. And when you believe that the head coach is very in tune like that, and he knows what can make you better, that builds a trust between you and that coach. Because you believe that that head coach has your best interests at the front of his mind and head. And so that's the kind of trust that you want between coach and player that guy wants to make me better.

Any is very into he knows. What can make me better and he's very in tune. He knows what can make me better. Let's look at one more. Another one from Pop, Karen Guregian transcribed, quote, it's constructive criticism. He knows both sides of the ball. He knows what needs to be done. And that's how I know he's in tune with us. There it is again. And he's making sure we're all on one accord and we're all doing what we need to do. Depth of knowledge, football IQ. When Pop Douglas says, Mike Vrabel knows both sides, he knows both sides of the football. He notes what needs to be done. Pop obviously appreciates the football knowledge, the football IQ of his head coach.

And the constructive criticism part, quote unquote, it's all about accountability. Last year's football team fell short of accountability so many times. I can't even count that high. But when you're giving a player the constructive criticism, you're keeping that player accountable, you're making that player responsible. You're trying to make that player better. And if the player believes when you wrap all of this together, you say, Brable's got great energies involved, he's engaged. He knows what he's talking about. He's in tune with us. He just wants to make us better. He has an incredible football IQ. When you put all of those things together,

you're creating belief from the players. You're creating buy-in from the players to the head coach. And that also creates team cohesion. So the players, again, it's the honeymoon and they're going to talk great about their head coach. We know that. But what they're saying matters. You won't believe the snub of a young Pat Studd. 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 almost unbelievable. One of the most ridiculous off-season ranking snubs that I have seen, at least this year, if not the last couple of years, if not the last several years. And this snub left me saying, really? Really, Pro Football Focus? I use Pro Football Focus a lot. PFF is a vital resource for me. I know some people don't like it, it's fine. I use Pro Football Focus a decent amount

in season, out of season. I think it's a valuable tool. But this ranking that I'm going to talk about just left me questioning whether or not I want to continue to use pro football focus as that vital resource. Jonathan Macri had a column at PFF and it was PFF's top 25 players under 25 years old, the top 25 players under 25 in the NFL. And I want to make sure that we're all on the same page here as far as the prerequisites. Macri wrote, here, we'll look at the top 25 players in the NFL under the age of 25. Since our cutoff point is when the 2025 season kicks off, this list excludes

the likes of Sauce Gardner and Aiden Hutchinson, who are under 25 at the time of publication, but will turn 25 before week one. So you can't turn 25 before the football is kicked off week one. That's the prerequisite. Now, there are a lot of good names on this list. Penne Sewell, Kyle Hamilton, Trent McDuffie, some really good names on this list. But you know who's not on this list? You know who is a ridiculous snub?

Christian Gonzalez. How is Christian Gonzalez not on this list? How on God's green earth does that make any sense? Gonzalez certainly didn't miss the cut because of his age. Gonzalez is only 22. He turns 23 years old next month. So he made the age requirement by a landslide. We're talking about somebody who was literally an all pro last year, second team all pro. And he doesn't make this list.

He's a second team all pro who has only played 20 NFL games and he didn't make this list He's a second team all-pro who has only played 20 NFL games and he didn't make this list He was a second team all-pro after only 20 NFL games who doesn't turn 23 until June and Plays a premium position outside corner And he didn't make this list. How in the world is Christian Gonzalez not considered one of the top 25 players under the age of 25 in the NFL? I find that ridiculous. I find it absurd.

And if, if the motivation was to get people to talk about this list and congratulations, you've done it, Jonathan Macri, but that's not really what pro football focus goes after right what we're supposed to believe that it is highly analytical it is highly intellectual. It's not about the low hanging fruit and creating some kind of clickbait articles this is supposed to be. Analytically driven. supposed to be analytically driven. And I don't know how somebody like Gonzalez who plays the amount of man coverage he does, I don't know how he doesn't make this list. I think it's crazy that a second team all pro who's 22 years old. Doesn't make this list, but there are a couple of other

observations I want to make. Gonzalez is not on the list and the Patriots, as a matter of fact, they don't have a single player on this list. And we can draw a direct line from this list, not having Christian Gonzales on it, not having any other Patriots on it. We can draw a direct line from this ranking, from pro football focus, directly to the draft over the last few years. Frankly, the Patriots have not drafted well.

We all know that. Gonzalez was a fantastic pick. But the reason why you don't have a single guy on this list, even though Gonzalez should have been on it, the reason why you don't have anybody other than Gonzalez, let's sayales should have been on it. The reason why you don't have anybody other than Gonzales, let's say he should have been on there. The reason why is because you just have not done a good enough job drafting. If you drafted well, you might have two guys on the list, you might have three guys on the list. And I also believe that when you, when you look at this, you have to truly understand and appreciate

that if you're not drafting well and you don't have players that are 25 or under that are considered blue chip guys. Again, Christian Barmore, I believe is 25, but he's coming off the blood clot season, so he's not on the list. You could argue that Gonzalez and maybe Barmore, if he was healthy, would have been on this list, should have been on this list. But I just think it crystallizes something. It crystallizes that there really are only a couple of guys that you could even mention

as a possibility on this list. That means the bad drafting, but it also means that you have to rely. When you don't draft well, you are relying on free agency. And when you're relying on free agency, you are relying on older players. Even though the Patriots had a great off season, one of the questions that's underlying is that their free agents are older guys. And that's because older guys hit free agency. If you are very productive, if you're great, if you're an all pro, if you're a pro bowler, a lot of times you're going to get your second contract with the team

that drafted you. Now, that's not always the case. Sometimes guys slip through the cracks. We know that I'm talking about the vast majority, but the guys who are getting to their third contracts, the guys that, you know, are not getting a second contract with the team that drafted them, it means they haven't been as productive. And then if you're getting to your third contract, now you're talking about a guy who's, you know, in his late 20s, early 30s. Harold Landry, late 20s, racing towards 30. When you look at Spillane, Robert Spillane, When you look at Spillane, Robert Spillane, late 20s, racing towards 30. And so when you start looking at these players, Morgan Moses, 34 years old. Carlton Davis.

Let me look up Carlton Davis for a second. I think Carlton Davis is 29, 30. All right. He's 28 turns 29 and in December, new year's Eve, good birthday. 30. All right, he's 28 turns 29 and in December, New Year's Eve. Good birthday. So we're talking about guys who are 28, 29, 30, 34. You got to draft well, because you've got to replenish your roster with younger talent. Football's a young man's game. Last point when I'm looking at this ranking in the snub of Gonzalez, who could make this list for 2026? How many guys could the Patriots have on that list next year if it comes out?

How many possibilities? Not guarantees, but how many possibilities? How many guys should be in consideration? How many guys do you hope would be in consideration? Gonzalez, if he's healthy for 2025, he better make it. Outrageous snub this year, it would be even more outrageous if he missed on back to back years. You obviously would say Drake May.

If you're wondering, Jaden Daniels was fourth on this list of top 25 players under 25. Drake May, you would certainly hope, would be in consideration for this list by the time it comes out next May. And you wonder, anyone from this draft class, will anyone from this draft class break through? Will anybody from this draft class have a good enough rookie season to even be considered

a top 25 player under 25? It's tough. It's tough to earn that in your first year. But could Will Campbell, if Will Campbell's in consideration, I would say will feel great about that pick at four. Will Trevion Henderson make enough big plays? Kyle Williams, will he get involved? So it'll be interesting to see. This list comes out next year. Gonzales best be on it. Barmore will be too old, quote unquote, so he can't make it next year.

But I'm looking at Gonzales. I'm looking at Gonzalez. I'm looking at May. I'm looking at this draft class. Can the Patriots get Gonzalez and another player on that list? Can they get Gonzalez and another two players on that list? That would represent turning the corner a little bit as far as young talent on this roster, because they certainly need it. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots on tomorrow's show. An underappreciated edition talking about free agency.

Let me know your thoughts on today's topics. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today. For your second listen, check out Lockdown NFL scouting. Kyle Krabs, Joe Marino, they will make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason. Find Lockdown NFL Scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day and we will see you tomorrow.