The New England Patriots are entering a new era in their organization's history, turning to three-time Super Bowl champion Mike Vrabel after one failed year under Jerod Mayo.
This is a team with significant holes across the roster, though the Patriots do have cornerstones on both sides of the football with Drake Maye and Christian Gonzalez. Finding more pieces on defense is one of the most important storylines of the offseason, as Gonzalez can't do it all by himself and a smothering defense has long been a calling card of Patriots teams.
Vrabel intends to improve a unit that ranked 18th in opponent yards per play (5.5). Fortunately, there's suddenly an opportunity to reunite the coach with a Pro Bowl linebacker he coached with the Tennessee Titans in a new projected trade.
Patriots Land OLB Harold Landry to Rebuild Defense in Projected Trade
In this trade proposal, the Patriots would acquire Harold Landry from the Titans in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 105). That might sound like a small price to pay for a 28-year-old Pro Bowler who has 19.5 sacks over the last two seasons, though there are reasons to believe this would be appropriate compensation.
Landry has two years left on his deal with cap hits north of $24 million in each season. He's requested a trade, reducing the Titans' leverage. New England has the cap space to take his contract on, and Landry achieved tremendous success with Vrabel in Tennessee.
Originally drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Landry has four seasons under his belt with at least nine sacks. He ranked just 51st out of 221 qualified linebackers at Pro Football Focus last year, but he'd be a veteran leader who could inject life into a pass rush that managed a league-low 28 sacks in 2024.
For Tennessee, getting a pick almost in the top 100 for a player who intends to leave would be a reasonable return. They'd do right by Landry by reuniting him with a former coach, though they could draft his theoretical replacement with that pick.
We'll see what happens over the coming days but New England needs to strongly consider this move.