Daily news and links for Thursday
TEAM TALK
- Patriots announce coordinator positions on Mike Vrabel’s coaching staff: OC Josh McDaniels, DC Terrell Williams, ST Jeremy Springer.
- Evan Lazar breaks down Josh McDaniels’s offense and how it fits Drake Maye.
- Patriots 2025 Mock Draft Tracker: What the top ‘experts’ are predicting the Pats will do in the first round.
- Patriots Catch-22 with Evan Lazar and Alex Barth: Coaching staff updates, CFP/Senior Bowl, Draft talk. (2 hours)
LOCAL LINKS
- Andrew Callahan addresses the 4th of 5 offseason fixes: Six potential trade candidates.
- Ian Logue points out that experience is the theme with the new Patriots coaches.
- Karen Guregian talks with former NFL QB Matt Hasselbeck, who believes McDaniels-Maye union will work just fine.
- Zolak & Bertrand guest Phil Perry says that even before Mike Vrabel was hired, it was believed Josh McDaniels would be back. Should this be a problem?
- Nick O’Malley notes WEEI guest Bill O’Brien had lofty praise for Josh McDaniels.
- Andrew Callahan sees the Patriots beginning to solve one of their biggest problems. Josh McDaniels was as close to a perfect hire as perfect gets.
- Trevor Hass shares four things to know about new DC Terrell Williams. 1. He’s coached premier talent.
- Chris Mason reports Alex Van Pelt will not be back on Mike Vrabel’s new coaching staff.
- Matt Dolloff is hearing the Patriots are reportedly adding Tony Dews, another Vrabel assistant from the Titans.
- Chris Mason notes the Patriots struggled in the trenches last season, but that hasn’t stopped Cincinnati from scooping up a number of their line coaches.
- Khari Thompson wonders if the Patriots could be the next year’s Commanders.
- Locked On Patriots podcast: Mike and Murph discuss Josh McDaniels and Terrell Williams: the Patriots dynamic duo of coordinator hires, their potential impact and more. (40 min.)
NATIONAL NEWS
- Joel Corry (CBS Sports) Agent’s Take: Aaron Rodgers, Maxx Crosby among 15 players who could be traded or released in 2025 offseason.
- Nick Shook (NFL.com) QB Index: Six free agent quarterbacks teams can’t let hit the open market this offseason
- Maurice Jones-Drew (NFL.com) RB Index: Team fits for six running backs set to become free agents in 2025.
- Around the NFL (NFL.com) NFL Honors: Finalists announced for MVP, other awards from 2024 season.
- Nate Tice (Yahoo! Sports) Football 301 Playbook: Players who will decide the NFC, AFC champions (other than the obvious ones)
- MMQB Staff (SI) NFL Conference Championship Game picks: Predicting Super Bowl LIX Matchup.
- Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) 2025 NFL playoff picks: Backing the road underdogs in NFC, AFC Championship games
- Will Brinson (CBS Sports) Championship Sunday best bets: Bills take down Chiefs, Commanders shock Eagles.
- Ben Austro (Football Zebras) Ron Torbert is the referee for Super Bowl LIX.
- Tom Dierberger (SI) Rob Gronkowski gives Bills advice for dealing with Chiefs’ friendly whistles. “When they sack Patrick Mahomes, just touch him. Don’t do anything more, you know. Don’t throw him too hard down on the ground—you might get a penalty.” The Chiefs’ advantage in the whistles extends much further than last weekend’s win. According to ESPN, the Chiefs have been called for 30 fewer penalties than their opponents in the playoffs since 2021 and have never been flagged more than their opponents in a single postseason game over that span.
- Dan Wetzel (Yahoo! Sports) Jets new head coach Aaron Glenn is bringing an attitude of no excuses to chaotic franchise.
- Steven Ruiz (The Ringer) The Bears are getting Ben Johnson. Now they need him to prove he’s worth the hype.