NFL Rumors: Mike Vrabel Unhappy With Titans As Patriots Speculation Mounts

The Mike Vrabel-Patriots rumors just won’t go away. Perhaps it’s time to take them seriously.

Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard on Thursday added more fuel to the fire in a wide-ranging report about Bill Belichick’s seemingly inevitable New England departure. Bedard indicated Belichick won’t allow Robert Kraft to find an “elegant solution” and cast doubt on the possibility of Jerod Mayo becoming the Patriots’ next head coach.

And then there’s this excerpt:

“Look at the Krafts’ track record of hiring head coaches,” Bedard wrote. “As limited as it is, they ended up with two Hall of Fame coaches (Carroll, Belichick). Why wouldn’t they stick with that formula? Both had long track records as strong defensive coordinators (two different teams each) and had experience as a head coach (Carroll had one year with the Jets). Mayo doesn’t fit that profile at all.

“You know who would? Mike Vrabel. If you were drawing a line from the Krafts’ past hiring to their next one, Vrabel would be the ideal candidate. And yet another league source told me this week of Vrabel that ‘(I) don’t think he’s happy’ in Tennessee.”

Bedard then speculated Vrabel could promote Mayo to defensive coordinator while retaining Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator and allowing him to fill out his own staff.

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All of this started early last month when Ben Volin of The Boston Globe reported that Vrabel was Kraft’s “home run” choice to replace Belichick. However, subsequent reporting indicated the Titans had no plans to move on from their head coach, who’s under contract for at least one more season.

But the last three weeks saw a shift, with one report suggesting Vrabel could “force” his exit from the Titans and another directly connecting Vrabel to the Patriots job.

Maybe it’s nothing more than rumor-mongering. But at a certain point, it’s fair to wonder whether there’s a real chance of Vrabel becoming New England’s next head coach.