NFL Insider Calls Out Robert Kraft After Patriots Hire Mike Vrabel

The Patriots on Sunday completed their head coaching “search,” which probably is a generous term for what transpired in New England last week.

The six-time Super Bowl champions took the path of least resistance to an expected result. The Patriots hired Mike Vrabel, a former New England linebacker, as head coach exactly one week after the franchise fired Jerod Mayo.

The organization was praised by many for the backfill, as Vrabel’s track record speaks for itself and he arguably was the best candidate to take on the challenge of guiding a rebuild in Foxboro. But there also was a clear spot for criticism once Robert Kraft and company made the decision.

“Robert Kraft barely tried to hide how telegraphed the Vrabel hire was,” longtime NFL insider Jason La Canfora posted to X. “And how little regard he gave to the actual spirit of The Rooney Rule.”

The Patriots certainly made a mockery of the Rooney Rule, which requires all teams to interview at least two minority candidates before hiring a head coach. New England technically satisfied the rule by speaking with Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton two days after firing Mayo, but it was clear neither coach had a real chance of landing the job.

In fact, Vrabel might have been the only candidate who the Patriots seriously considered. According to one team insider, New England’s other supposed legitimate interview actually was nothing more than a “leverage play.”