Mike ReissFeb 6, 2026, 06:00 AM ETCloseMike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.Follow on XMultiple Authors
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Near the end of a sweltering training camp practice at the New England Patriots facility in late August, veteran center Garrett Bradbury was asked if he had a sense for what success might look like for the 2025 Patriots. The team was in the midst of a reset after back-to-back four-win seasons and Bradbury had signed on as a free agent months earlier.
“Honestly, no,” Bradbury said. “This is [Year] 7 for me and there’s been years where I didn’t think we would be very good, and we win a bunch of games. And vice versa.”
Five months later, Bradbury was in the locker room at Denver’s Empower Field at Mile High after the Patriots had won the AFC Championship Game. He attempted to make sense of the Patriots’ success that included a 14-3 season and now a trip to Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara, California (Sunday, 6:30 p.m., NBC).
Over the last year, the Patriots have made a series of calculated decisions that led to an improbable Super Bowl run.
It began with owner Robert Kraft firing first-year head coach Jerod Mayo, and hiring Mike Vrabel, who had six seasons of head coaching experience with the Tennessee Titans (2018-2023). From Day 1, Vrabel had a vision of the team he wanted to build — one that was deeply rooted in team culture and connection.
That vision translated into free agency and the NFL draft, adding a group of gritty players who would end up delivering clutch on-field performances under pressure in critical games — such as a Week 5 road win over the divisional rival Buffalo Bills. Those moments, along with an MVP-caliber season by second-year quarterback Drake Maye, have been key to getting the Patriots on the Super Bowl stage faster than anyone expected — including players.
Executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said he could see early on that what Vrabel was building was working.
“After like two weeks, when the players got here in the offseason, I was like, ‘All right, Mike’s going to be able to flip this.’ But I didn’t know how quickly it would happen,” Wolf said. “It happened very quickly. And obviously, you know, the results are here. Maybe quicker than some expected.”
The Patriots one-year turnaround is anchored by five pivotal moments that explain exactly how they’ve succeeded.
“This whole situation is on me,” he said, bringing his right hand to his chest and patting it twice. “Now I have to go out and find a coach who can get us back to the playoffs and hopefully championships.”
Kraft said he went back and forth over December of 2024 on the decision to fire Mayo. One factor he had to consider was Vrabel, who spent a year as an offensive assistant with the Cleveland Browns after being fired by the Titans, interviewed for the rival New York Jets’ head coaching vacancy on Jan. 3.
As a result, the 32-year owner swiftly hired Vrabel, who had won three Super Bowl championships as a linebacker in New England from 2001-2008, on Jan. 12, 2025.
As soon as his introductory press conference, Vrabel mapped out his plans for galvanizing the Patriots back to winning, saying, “We want to treat every player the same way they treat the team, and we want to treat every employee the same way they treat the team.” He wanted a program that supported players and was one they’d be proud to fight for. One of the guiding philosophies: “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Hiring an experienced staff of assistants that were aligned with that vision was critical, many of whom had been with Vrabel in Tennessee. Vice president of football operations and strategy John Streicher was Vrabel’s right-hand man with the Titans, and his presence was mandatory for Vrabel. Likewise with vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden, who joined the front office under Wolf.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was another key hire given the presence of Maye, who Vrabel said was a primary factor in why he coveted the job.
“From Day 1, [Vrabel] set that standard, that culture, and he brought in guys to help him with that message,” linebacker Harold Landry III said. “Vrabel is at the forefront of it all.”
“I like to shop like everybody else. When you go and there’s only one certain car, maybe you have to pay a little more for that one car,” he said.
Defensive tackle Milton Williams turned out to be that car for the Patriots; his four-year, $104 million contract was a team record, highlighting an aggressive theme from Vrabel & Co. in restocking the roster with a multi-year vision in mind because of shaky drafts in prior seasons.
And while Williams has been the engine powering a defense leading the Patriots through the playoffs, there have been plenty of passengers alongside him.
The Patriots spent $209 million in guaranteed money on free agents, the most of any team in the NFL last offseason.
Of the 17 players the Patriots committed guaranteed money, 15 remain with the team — most in key roles. The exceptions are veteran offensive lineman Wes Schweitzer (retired) and safety Marcus Epps (released), who accounted for a combined $650,000 in guaranteed money.
Veteran cornerback Carlton Davis III ($34.5 million guaranteed) played for the Detroit Lions in 2024, where current DC Terrell Williams was the defensive line coach. Landry ($26 million) spent the first six years of his career playing for Vrabel in Tennessee. Linebacker Robert Spillane ($20.6 million) broke into the NFL with Vrabel’s Titans as an undrafted rookie.
The Patriots hoped to add Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin, but Godwin chose to stay in Tampa for significantly less than the $30 million per season the Patriots were offering.
Vrabel had stressed the importance of being able to pivot in those situations, and it led them to Diggs ($26 million). That came with risk, as the 32-year-old Diggs was returning from a torn right ACL sustained in October of 2024. But the reward was a bonanza — not only did Diggs lead the team with 85 receptions for 1,013 yards, his competitive spirit resonated as his early-season pre-game speech of “We all we got, we all we need” became a team rallying cry.
“I think some of the guys that we brought in — Spillane, Diggs, Milton Williams — have really shown these other guys what they can be capable of,” Wolf said of the free agent class after the AFC Championship Game.
Offensive tackle Morgan Moses (three years, $24 million), receiver Mack Hollins (two years, $8.4 million), edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson (one year, $3 million) and Bradbury (two years, $9.5 million) also turned out to be shrewd under-the-radar signings.
He had also cautioned at the time that there would likely be some signings that didn’t work out, which was one of the few times Vrabel has been off the mark in a year he was named AP Coach of the Year.
“There’s not a guy in that free agency class we didn’t hit on,” said Moses, who at 34 is the team’s oldest player and delivered a season of “superb” play in Vrabel’s view.
“That’s kudos to the front office. That’s kudos to Coach Vrabel [for] doing his due diligence. It’s been a great collaboration throughout all of us. Every guy that came in has played a significant part and role. And also as people in the locker room grooming the younger guys as well.”
The Patriots’ Four H’s: History, Heroes, Heartbreak and Hope
On April 7, 2025, Vrabel introduced a team-building exercise during the Patriots’ voluntary offseason program that would stay with each player throughout the season.
“When we first heard we were going to do these ‘4 H’s’, and kind of get up there and share our stories, guys didn’t really know how it was going to go, what it would look like,” linebacker Jack Gibbens said. “But Coach Vrabes got up there first, and he really opened up. I think when everybody saw that, we saw how cool this could be and get to know each other that way.”
The “4 H’s” usually came near the end of the week, with one hour of meeting time devoted to them. While mostly an offseason project, it continued into the start of training camp when rookies were included. Players sent in pictures, and once those were uploaded, they knew they were in the queue to be called upon by Vrabel.
As many as five or six players shared their “4 H’s” in a single day, their names picked out of a coffee mug.
“Every time that coffee mug came out, I knew I was going to hear somebody’s story, an inspiring story,” running back Rhamondre Stevenson said. “All of them just made me respect my teammates more. I knew what they went through, their trials and tribulations. It makes it that much more special — you know who you’re fighting with on that field.”
Before the Patriots departed for the Super Bowl last week, Vrabel referenced the “4 H’s” to the team, bringing it full circle.
With 11 selections in the 2025 NFL draft, a trip to Baton Rouge in the days leading up to the draft solidified their first move — selecting offensive tackle Will Campbell with the No. 4 overall pick.
“Whenever Vrabes came down for my private workout, that was probably the fourth time we had been around each other. I knew what was at stake,” Campbell said.
Vrabel sensed from the moment he stepped on LSU’s campus that Campbell “wanted to show us that he was the guy.” Then Campbell quickly found a way to Vrabel’s football heart by knocking him on his backside while they worked on cutoff blocks, before taking Vrabel and the other eight Patriots executives, scouts and coaches to his favorite restaurant — Phil’s Oyster Bar & Seafood Restaurant.
Old LSU jerseys adorn the walls at Phil’s, where char-grilled oysters are devoured. Campbell was such a regular that he casually references the name of owner Anthony Piazza as if he’s a longtime friend.