The New England Patriots just went 4-13 and fired their head coach for the second consecutive season. They're not exactly a model franchise at the moment.
But compared to the other NFL teams with head coach openings, the Patriots seemingly have two factors working in their favor that could be crucial in courting candidates -- particularly Mike Vrabel, who currently is viewed as the front-runner for the New England job.
On Thursday's Early Edition, Patriots Insider Phil Perry shared that NFL people he's spoken to view the Patriots' head coach opening as the No. 1 job on the market ahead of the five others (New York Jets, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars).
"Just talking to people around the league, they do acknowledge that the Patriots' job is the best job," Perry said, as seen in the video player above.
"It has to do with two things. No. 1 is the quarterback (Drake Maye). A place like Vegas, where maybe Mike Vrabel will interview eventually, or even Chicago, where they have the No. 1 overall pick from last year and all kinds of ceiling there -- but I think teams in the NFL would rather, for the most part, at least right now, work with Drake Maye than Caleb Williams.
"So, you've got the check when it comes to the quarterback."
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Williams entered the NFL with more fanfare than Maye and technically put up better stats, averaging 208.3 passing yards per game with 20 touchdown passes and six interceptions compared to Maye's 175.1 yards per game with 15 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. But some -- notably including ESPN's Dan Orlovsky -- believe Maye has the chance to be a better pro as well as a better team leader.
The Raiders, meanwhile, have Gardner Minshew atop their quarterback depth chart entering a 2025 NFL Draft with a relatively weak QB class led by Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward.
Perry also noted that New England has a better ownership situation with Robert Kraft and his son Jonathan than the other teams with openings -- even despite the dysfunction that's occurred since Tom Brady's departure in 2020.
"You do have the check, even though the last few years have not been pretty here in New England and post-Bill Belichick and even towards the end of Bill Belichick's tenure here, it hasn't been good -- people still give this organization and ownership here the check over a place like Chicago or Vegas."
If Vrabel feels similarly about the Patriots' QB and ownership -- he was inducted into New England's Hall of Fame in 2023 and has deep ties to the organization -- that could make the Patriots feel a bit more comfortable about Vrabel taking their job, even if he interviews elsewhere.
"They do have some leverage," Perry added. "I think Vrabel has more, and he's got a lot of it, but the Patriots could, I think, afford to wait and still entice Vrabel to come back later."
New England interviewed Vrabel on Thursday and are scheduled to interview Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson on Friday. They could in theory hire Vrabel later at any point, but if Vrabel wants to interview elsewhere, perhaps New England would feel a bit more comfortable about him doing so.
