It Feels Obvious Now, but Robert Kraft Deserves More Credit for Mike Vrabel Hire

In nearly every situation, an action can be interpreted by a third party as humbling, selfish, idiodic, foolish or completely and totally justified. So it’s with that in mind that we attempt to revisit Robert Kraft’s decision to abandon Jerod Mayo after just one season, hire Mike Vrabel and, in the following months, propel the team to a 1.5-game lead in the AFC East through 10 weeks. 

This reappraisal now comes after a significant 28–23 win over the Buccaneers on the road Sunday. It was a game billed as the greatest schematic test for Drake Maye in his young career (Maye still finished with a quarterback rating near 90 despite a costly interception). A game that was billed as the biggest test of Vrabel’s defensive acumen (Baker Mayfield threw three touchdown passes, though New England had its thumb on the Buccaneers for most of the day).

At the time, you may have thought Mayo’s firing was foolish. Kraft, after all, positioned himself in the Patriot Legacy Wars with the firing of Bill Belichick and the identification of Mayo as the worthy, player-first successor. We heard Kraft talk endlessly about the moments he knew Mayo was the right coach for the job. We saw the tailwind of effort placed into making New England’s post-Belichick staff seem like the cast of Cheers, always waiting to provide a friendly smile. Kraft bypassed the chance to hire Mike Vrabel the first time and stayed the course. 

At the time, you may have thought the firing was selfish. Kraft, after all, had built the foundation of his legacy as something of a marriage counselor. The dynamic between the GOAT quarterback, head coach and owner was probably more complicated than we’ll ever understand. A new head coach who has never had significant experience or power in his life needs help and a guiding hand. But Kraft, to some, needed a scapegoat more.  

It’s easy to call the firing completely and totally justified now, as the Patriots could very well, in their first year after Mayo, win a division that the Bills have lorded over since Tom Brady’s departure. But what about humbling? What about a step below courageous? What about something approaching noble? 

Sure, hiring Vrabel was the easiest tap-in decision in modern coach hiring history for those of us on the outside. But what about Kraft? While Belichick was out whipping up a frenzy for his next coaching locale and chiding Kraft in the process (this was before he was clawing for that Pop-Tarts Bowl bid), while Brady was buying a piece of the Raiders and cashing million-dollar checks for every quarter of broadcasting, Kraft was the first one to have to truly make himself look like part of the problem in New England instead of the solution. He had to look indecisive. He had to look wrong. 

I know it doesn’t feel this way now. Time and compiling wins are a hell of a magic eraser of the past. In 10 years, I wonder if anyone in New England will even remember the gap year. On Sunday, though, as we watched a swath of blowouts, blown leads and breakdowns, mostly from teams that failed in their efforts to humble themselves in the slightest, it’s worth pointing out that Kraft did at a precarious time for himself. 

So much of football—a painful amount of it—comes down to an owner’s wallet, perception and his concern about the optics of any situation. The Raiders stayed with interim coach Antonio Pierce going into 2024 instead of taking a legitimately hard look at Vrabel, likely because of the concern associated with firing Josh McDaniels in the middle of the season and then having to fire McDaniels’s immediate replacement. The Giants—and I’ll admit that there are certainly some complicating factors here and that I’ve long supported keeping Brian Daboll in place—continue to tie themselves at the wounded leg of Daboll because the three hires that preceded him (all of whom followed Tom Coughlin) were each dismissed after two years. This Sunday, the Giants dropped a fourth game this year in which they had at least a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter. 

Which brings me back to my initial point. Kraft’s decision on Vrabel deserves to be placed in its proper context, which necessitates mentioning that Kraft (while aggressively vying for a Hall of Fame bid) had to look like an absolute ham in front of his old co-workers Tom and Bill for a matter of weeks before the Patriots started winning games. Just as other decisions, in Las Vegas for example, deserve to be placed in the context of fear or confusion. 

It’s not a decision that many other owners would make, even though we can say it was clear in hindsight. Vrabel could have been had by anyone going into 2024 instead of having to spend a gap year in Cleveland. He could be spearheading this turnaround anywhere this year. But one owner—the one Vrabel liked the most—raised his hand and said he made a mistake. That sets him apart in my eyes. 

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