NFL Rumors: Patriots Could ‘Pry’ Coach After Hiring Mike Vrabel

The New England Patriots addressed their biggest offseason need by naming Mike Vrabel their newest head coach, but that alone didn’t stop the rumors.

Vrabel, New England’s Jerod Mayo replacement, rejoins Foxboro with eight seasons under his belt as a Patriot and 11 as a member of the Houston Texans, Tenessee Titans and Cleveland Browns coaching staffs. Still, that leaves a few more coaching voids to fill and perhaps Vrabel’s past ties could do just that for New England.

“The question now is who would the coordinators be?” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Sunday. “… Shane Bowen, currently the defensive coordinator with the Giants. I had mentioned the other day, I didn’t expect the Giants to make a change at defensive coordinator but Bowen was with Vrabel in Tennessee so if they wanna pry him away perhaps the Gianta will allow Bowen to walk and head up to Foxboro. We’ll see about all that. Those dominoes are going to fall into place.”

Bowen spent three seasons as Vrabel’s defensive coordinator in Tenessee, and the rapport between the two could come full circle with the Patriots. Vrabel and New England also have the liberty to step in and speak with Bowen without any restrictions from the Giants. A departure makes sense, especially when considering how New York’s defense, which never fit under Bowen’s scheme, performed last season.

The Giants ranked ninth in allowing the most yards (346.8) per game and 12th in points surrendered (24.4), which wasn’t good enough to catapult New York into contention territory — the team finished 3-14 at the bottom of the NFC East.

Vrabel’s relationship with Bowen, coupled with their solid runs with the Tiants, make the 38-year-old a reasonable and potentially effective follow-up hiring as the Patriots work to clean up their 14-3, last-place campaign under Mayo.