The New England Patriots have plenty of problems to address on both sides of the ball with Mike Vrabel as their new head coach.
But with a potential franchise quarterback in Drake Maye, the offense is going to receive a lot of attention in the coming months, especially with the Patriots owning the No. 4 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and having around $130 million in salary cap space to spend in free agency.
The Patriots offense ranked 30th in points scored, 31st in total yards and 29th in third-down conversion percentage last season. It's safe to say there's plenty of room for improvement in every facet.
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What kind of offense does Vrabel want to employ in New England?
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"We mentioned things like, 'Aggressive but not reckless,'" Vrabel said Monday during his introductory press conference at Gillette Stadium. "We have to be able to take chances. How do we create plays without having to throw the ball 50 yards down field and just sit there taking shots? The creativity -- we want to be versatile enough, if the players can handle it. You look at zone scheme in the run game, being able to run gap scheme to things that the defense might do. Be under center, be in the shotgun.
"But it's also important to understand, everybody has access to this and everyone has experience with different types of offenses -- it's what the players can get good at. How much can you reasonably do? You don't want to dabble in things and say, 'We're going to dabble in RPOs,' when the quarterback -- if that's not a strength of his. ... It'll be based on what the players can understand and what they can handle."
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The top priority for the Patriots needs to be the development of Maye. The No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft played very well as a rookie. He completed 66.6 percent of his passes for 2,576 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions despite not having much talent around him at the skill positions.
How does Vrabel plan to ensure the young quarterback is set up for success going forward?
"Put great people around him," Vrabel explained. "I would say that my involvement will be as it relates to game management and situational awareness and where we are on the football field, and trying to develop him as a leader of the offense. And when our quarterback, when they call the play, you want to say it like everybody's going to believe it's going to score a touchdown. With that type of emphasis on how everything is going to operate.
"Drake is going to be his own person, but I'm going to give him some things that I feel like are necessary to help us win football games. We have to be a very efficient passing football team. And when you look at statistically what wins in the NFL, our ability to affect the other team's quarterback and our ability to to provide for an efficient quarterback and passing game is a high contributor to success.
"And there's a lot of ways to do that -- by protecting the middle of the pocket and all those things that we're going to talk about as we move forward. But how we protect the football, how we're aggressive but not reckless, understanding where we are in the game and the situational awareness that I feel like I've developed over six years (as Titans head coach) and then my past year in Cleveland."
Protecting Maye is essential. The Patriots offensive line struggled for much of the 2024 season. Left tackle is a spot that needs a massive upgrade. Fixing that unit sounds like a focal point for Vrabel as the Patriots get into this critical offseason.
"You look at the teams that are able to protect the quarterback and dictate the flow of the game offensively -- making sure that up front we're sound, we're strong, whether that's through free agency or through the draft," Vrabel said when asked about his offseason priorities.
The Patriots defense also needs plenty of upgrades after that unit took a step back this past season. But if the Patriots are going to be a contender again in an AFC that's loaded with high-scoring offenses and top-tier quarterbacks, maximizing Maye's potential has to be the No. 1 goal at every level of the organization.