Personnel decisions are at the heart of any NFL team’s success. If you make more right ones than wrong, you may just have a successful team. If not, you’ll be consigned to the dustbin of last place in your division, as the Patriots have been the past two seasons in the AFC East.
Hopes have been rekindled in Patriot Nation now with the astute hiring of Mike Vrabel as Head Coach and de facto personnel guy. Vrabel’s presence has turned the franchise on its head in the personnel area. Bad decisions have been replaced by good, and his first draft seems to be a huge hit already.
Yet Vrabel, like any other new coach or personnel man, will still be impacted by the team’s earlier decisions, both in the draft and by ill-advised contract extensions. After the 2023 season, the Patriots handed out a bunch of them, and it’s instructive to see if that money was well spent.
The 2024 extensions and how they’ve panned out
After the 2023 season, Eliot Wolf became the Executive Vice President of Player Personnel, in complete charge of personnel after the dismissal of Bill Belichick. It was a head-scratching decision by owner Robert Kraft since Wolf had been a top advisor to Belichick in personnel, and that operation’s decision-making had been widely trashed.
In his first season, Wolf drafted Drake Maye, a great decision. Unfortunately, he followed that pick with a plethora of others who can’t seem to contribute. Yet, it was in another arena that Wolf made his defining statements. That was in dishing out contract extensions to players who’d just been part of a woeful 3-14 season, which precipitated the firing of Belichick himself.
Wolf dished out eight extensions to the then-current Patriots’ players. Some were acceptable, but many have failed to meet the required standards. The eight were Christian Barmore, Rhamondre Stevenson, Hunter Henry, Jabrill Peppers, Davon Godchaux, Jahlani Tavai, David Andrews, and Brenden Schooler.
Positive 2024 contract extensions
The best of the eight was Hunter Henry, who had a solid 2024 with 66 catches for 674 yards and two touchdowns. Also making the grade was special teams ace and possible future safety, Brenden Schooler. He had a solid year on special teams, as well as contributing two sacks and three quarterback hits in limited action as a safety. He was a big plus.
Linebacker Jahlani Tavai also had a decent season with 115 total stops and five passes defended. But he had only one sack, seven tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits. He’s not a playmaker, and he doesn’t fit the smaller, faster linebacker profile favored by Mike Vrabel. His 2025 status is questionable.
Contact extensions that failed to make the grade
Three other extensions can be categorized as incomplete and/or unproductive. Christian Barmore suffered a health issue that sidelined him for much of the season. Jabrill Peppers also only played in six games, which severely limited his contributions. Similarly, David Andrews played in just four games before being sidelined by injury. He’s since been released by Mike Vrabel and retired.
The worst two of the lot are probably Godchaux and Stevenson. Nose tackle Godchaux played in 17 games and logged 67 total stops with a pass defended and no sacks with one quarterback hit and a tackle for loss. He didn’t make plays.
It was a tepid performance by a player who, unfortunately, received an extension in a panic signing by Wolf, perhaps due to Barmore’s health issue. Godchaux didn’t measure up, and Vrabel wasted no time in shipping him out of town for a measly seventh-round draft pick.
The final dud of an extension was to formerly top running back Rhamondre Stevenson. He’s battled injuries for much of his career, and after a 1,040-yard rushing season in 2022, his performance has gone downhill. Last season, he gained only 801 yards in 15 games with a paltry 3.9 yards per carry and seven touchdowns. The most telling stat, however, was his fumbles.
Stevenson fumbled a monstrous seven times in 2024. For most backs, it would be a quick ticket out of town, but he’s still around at present with Vrabel. He should have been a trade candidate this offseason, but the weakness of the running back room precipitated otherwise. Regardless, Stevenson is probably on a short leash, and continued fumbles will likely result in an exit.
Eliot Wolf’s foray into contract extension had mixed results. While Henry and Schooler were fine, the others all had issues and generally underperformed. The overall grade would be a C. That, plus a terrible 2024 draft except for Maye, are reasons Mike Vrabel and his team are now major influencers on personnel. Thankfully, the team’s personnel decision-making is now in considerably better hands.
