Daily news and links for Wednesday.
TEAM TALK
- Flashback: Celebrating 31 years of Kraft family ownership. (4 min. video)
- Patriots Unfiltered: Offseason wishlist, Coaching updates, Divisional round recaps. (2 hours)
LOCAL LINKS
- Andrew Callahan addresses the 3rd of 5 offseason fixes: No. 3 — Revive the pass rush.
- Alex Barth characterizes the Patriots’ biggest offseason needs for 2025.
- Nick O’Malley tells us who Mel Kiper had the Pats pick in his initial 2025 mock draft: Penn State EDGE Abdul Carter.
- Mike Reiss reports the Patriots are expected to hire Josh McDaniels as their offensive coordinator and are also set to name Lions DL coach/run game coordinator Terrell Williams as their defensive coordinator.
- Karen Guregian considers whether Mike Vrabel hired the right offensive coordinator in Josh McDaniels.
- Ian Logue offers his thoughts on McDaniels back as offensive coordinator. His return certainly makes sense.
- Lauren Campbell rounds-up what those around the NFL are saying about New England’s reunion with McDaniels.
- Mark Daniels and Chris Mason report the Patriots hired new defensive coordinator, former Lions DL coach/Run game coordinator Terrell Williams.
- Tony Massarotti’s Fourthought: On Josh McDaniels, Jayson Tatum, Brad Marchand and the Red Sox
- Alex Barth reports New England completed filling out the coordinator level of their coaching staff with the hire of defensive coordinator Terrell Williams.
- Bernd Buchmasser writes the Patriots reportedly hired Tony Dews as RB coach: A former assistant to Mike Vrabel, Dews most recently worked for the Jets.
- Sean T. McGuire identifies four coaches the Pats could target off Sean McVay’s Rams.
- Meghan Ottolini offers her 2024 Rookie NFL quarterback superlatives: Drake Maye gets Most Potential.
- Lauren Campbell highlights Bill Belichick on how Tom Brady made him a better coach.
- Nick O’Malley reports the NFL asked the Patriots to take down their ‘Bluesky’ account, because it’s not an approved social media platform for the NFL yet.
- Locked On Patriots podcast: Mike D’Abate and Steve Balestrieri discuss Josh McDaniels back at OC and Lions coach Terrell Williams as next DC. Mike also talks with Patricia Traina (Locked On Giants) about new Pats front office hire Ryan Cowden. (37 min.)
NATIONAL NEWS
- NFL Nation (ESPN) 2025 NFL draft: Big questions for teams with top-10 picks.
- Kyle Koster (SI) Mel Kiper Jr. doesn’t have Shedeur Sanders or Travis Hunter going No. 1 in debut Mock Draft.
- Gilberto Manzano (SI) NFL Fact or Fiction: Rams Need to Bring Back Matthew Stafford; Plus, did the Ravens miss their Super Bowl window?
- Brigid Kennedy (SI) Bill Belichick says he was never ‘big fan’ of this NFL hiring practice; Honestly, he’s got a point.
- Judy Battista (NFL.com) Winning the press conference: Do first impressions matter for newly hired head coaches?
- Bryan DeArdo (CBS Sports) Patriots hiring Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator: Six-time Super Bowl champion returns to New England.
- Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Patriots to hire Terrell Williams as defensive coordinator.
- Grant Gordon (NFL.com) Head coach Kevin O’Connell agrees to multiyear contract extension with Vikings.
- Staff (Football Zebras) Shawn Hochuli (NFC) and Clete Blakeman (AFC) are the Conference Championship referees.
- John Breech (CBS Sports) NFL playoff picks: Predicting win
- Nate Davis (USA Today) Power ranking final four based on which team is biggest Super Bowl threat. 1. Chiefs, 2. Commanders, 3. Eagles, 4. Bills.
- Charles Robinson (Yahoo! Sports) Patrick Mahomes vs. Josh Allen — the NFL’s new Brady vs. Manning — can add to its legend.
- Nora Princiotti (The Ringer) Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills are on a quest to be more than second best.
- Ryan Young (Yahoo! Sports) Mike Pereira blasts idea that Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs are getting special treatment from officials.