What are the Patriots getting in Mike Vrabel? Boomer Esiason joins the show!
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00:00Hey, Boomer.
00:01Hey, good morning.
00:02You know what?
00:03I could tell an uptick in your guy's emotions this morning just listening to you check in
00:06this morning.
00:07I know you guys are all excited.
00:09The Patriots are coming out of the abyss.
00:11Bob Kraft does what everybody expected him to do.
00:14And it's a new day in New England.
00:16It was like Christmas a few weeks later yesterday.
00:20Well, for everyone, unfortunately, Gerard Mayo and his family are going to have to go
00:24through this.
00:25And I call this street cred for coaches.
00:27You know, you got to get fired before you end up finding your way again.
00:30And I'm sure Gerard will be able to do that somewhere, somewhere along the line.
00:34And who knows, maybe in a couple of years, through two or three years, he'll be back
00:37on the sidelines as a head man somewhere else.
00:39But that is the collateral damage of this business.
00:43But I think if I'm Mike Braybill, I'm getting the band back together.
00:46When is Josh McDaniels going to be hired?
00:48You think he's probably the guy?
00:50Yeah.
00:51Why wouldn't he be?
00:52I would hope that they have a good relationship.
00:53And, you know, obviously, Mike was a player when Josh was coaching.
00:55But I think he would respect Josh as a coach.
00:58And look, they got a very they got two prized rookie quarterbacks, by the way, not just
01:04one.
01:05And it would be great, I would think.
01:06But again, I don't know the relationships.
01:08I don't know how a former player who is now ascended to be the most popular coach in Vince
01:13Lombardi is, you know, I don't know the relationship with with the offensive coordinator who used
01:19to be a coach when he was a player.
01:22You know, fans know Mike Braybill, certainly for what he did on the field here.
01:26Somebody who worked with him in Cleveland this past season called him one of the most
01:30brilliant minds they'd ever worked with.
01:33What what do we get from Mike Braybill as a head coach here?
01:37Well, a lot.
01:38You get a lot.
01:39You get instant credibility.
01:40You get a guy that's in the Patriots ring of honor.
01:42You get a guy that's won three Super Bowls.
01:44You get a guy that's played in over 200 games.
01:48You know, what I would consider, Mike, I think he made one all pro team.
01:52Maybe that was back in 07 when I think the whole Patriots team made the all pro team.
01:56But what you get is you get a football lifer, man.
01:59You get a guy that is, you know, is neck deep in everything and all things football and
02:06so much so that he was actually on this brown sideline after he got fired from the Tennessee
02:10Titans, which most coaches wouldn't be doing.
02:12So I think you get instant credibility.
02:15You know, the other thing, too, is, look, he's got the look.
02:18I mean, every owner in the NFL would love to have a guy that looks like that, that has
02:22the presence of Mike.
02:25And it just fits.
02:26It's too perfect.
02:27And as a matter of fact, I mean, you know, the Jets wanted him in the worst way.
02:31And could you imagine, Bob Craft would have the norovirus for the next three years if
02:37that ever happened.
02:38So he dipped into his wallet and he spent a lot of money and he paid off a lot of guys.
02:43And here we sit and he's got the guy he wants.
02:46And I think if you're a part of the Patriots family or the Patriots nation, you've got
02:50to be stoked this morning.
02:51Well, I did see Rex Ryan say yesterday he can't wait to get the opportunity to kick
02:54his ass twice a season.
02:55You know, that's not going to happen.
02:56It's just not going to happen.
02:58He's going to have to do it personally, not with his team.
03:01No sexy Rex in New York.
03:04When if if you're a player in that locker room and you had there was so much turmoil
03:09last year, it seems like what is a guy like Mike Vrabel bring to that locker room, especially
03:15these football players when he walks in that door?
03:18Well, you remember Taylor LeJuan, right?
03:21The big offensive tackle that they drafted down there in Tennessee, and he gave an interview
03:24about Mike Vrabel and what to expect if you're sitting in that locker room.
03:28It sounds a lot like Bill Belichick.
03:30It sounds like sit up straight, take the hats off, take the glasses off, leave the phones
03:35out of the meeting room, get your asses together.
03:37We're going to we're going to go to work.
03:40And you know, that's probably you know, I think Gerard had a lot of that early on in
03:45the season.
03:46Then as you lose, things start falling apart.
03:49That's not going to happen with Mike Vrabel, especially with the amount of money they have
03:53for free agents this offseason.
03:55So I think, you know, he's going to walk in there.
03:57It's immediate credibility.
03:59And you better like as Taylor LeJuan said, you better have your head on a swivel.
04:03So that kind of gives you the idea of the type of coach he is.
04:06And you know, he's a little bit old school, but I think he also can connect with players.
04:10And I'm sure he's going to be talking a lot about his own successes in New England to
04:14the point where I think a lot of players probably get sick of it.
04:18But I mean, if I had that success, damn, I'd be running around with my resume, too.
04:22Is passing on Ben Johnson a mistake?
04:25I just don't think that was a great, great fit for New England.
04:28I really don't.
04:29I mean, this is this is the absolute perfect fit.
04:31I don't like how they went about it.
04:34It's completely obvious and transparent that these interviews with Byron Lefkowitz and
04:38Pat Hamilton were a total sham.
04:42And that's a whole nother story, maybe for another day.
04:44But I guess if you are a part of the minor minority coaching group, if you are somebody
04:50who falls under that category until you all come together and say, we're not going to
04:55do stuff like this, then it's going to continue to keep happening.
04:59I just I don't know what it would like to be going into an interview knowing that I'm
05:02not getting the job and the guy that I'm talking to across the desk is a guy who's
05:07just using me to fulfill some sort of quota or protocol that just doesn't seem genuine
05:14to me.
05:15And I think that's a real problem.
05:16I really, really do.
05:17But at the end of the day, Bob Kraft has done so much for so many.
05:21I don't want to ever question, you know, his right to hire who he wants to run his billion
05:27dollar franchise.
05:28So I I do agree with the guy that he got the right guy.
05:30I just don't like the way that he had to go about getting it.
05:33Is that why you think guys like Aaron Glenn turned down the opportunity to interview in
05:38New England?
05:39One hundred percent.
05:40One hundred percent.
05:41You know, they're not stupid.
05:42A lot of these agents, you know, that represent the coaches, you know, have a number of these
05:46coaches.
05:47I mean, it's like everybody's sleeping with each other in the NFL at one point in time.
05:50So they all know what's going on.
05:52They all understand the kind of the realism of what's happening and whether or not they
05:58should be going into interviews.
06:00So, yeah, there's no question that Aaron Glenn said no.
06:02If he did say no, I don't know if he did or not.
06:04But if he did, Courtney, then I would say he know he knew exactly who they were going
06:08to hire.
06:09Drodd Mayo was fired while his family and the families of other coaches were all there
06:13waiting for them.
06:15Mike Reese reported this weekend that Robert Kraft was asked about the timing at the team
06:21meeting on Monday.
06:23Is that doing Drodd Mayo dirty in your mind, Boomer?
06:27You know, I'm not internally there.
06:30And, you know, Drodd played there, made a lot of money as a player.
06:33He's got, you know, short term comfort because, you know, he is a coach.
06:39They have all guaranteed contracts.
06:41So whatever money that Rob Kraft was paying him, Robert Kraft was paying him.
06:46He's making it.
06:47So I went through this with my buddy Frank Reich.
06:49You know, did Jimmy Ursae do it to him in Indianapolis, did David Tepper do it to him
06:54in Carolina?
06:55I was talking to Frank the other day, just bought a 50 acre spread down in Greensboro.
06:59So it's not like, you know, I mean, the reality is the money is there.
07:03But getting fired or getting cut or released as a player, as a coach, it's still the human
07:09part of it is there.
07:10And you got to try to respect that.
07:12The interesting thing is, it's just like reading all the ex players who are both teammates
07:16of Drodd Mayo and Mike Vrabel and all these ex teammates are all in Vrabel's camp, it
07:22seems like.
07:23Like, they're just forgetting that Drodd Mayo was there.
07:26But again, this is the reality and the hardcore reality of this business.
07:30Boomer, that's a great way to get into this.
07:32Teddy Bruschi was a guy yesterday who went off on the Patriots front office and a guy
07:39that's obviously is connected to the Krafts and the Patriots as anybody else discussing
07:43how they need to clean house with people in the front office that think they know football,
07:47but they don't.
07:49What do you think the ramifications are, are what he said and how much power do you think
07:53Vrabel ends up having in player development and roster control?
07:56Well, according to Robert Kraft himself, he said, whoever the head coach is, and he knew
07:59it was going to be Mike Vrabel, is going to have a lot of power and a lot of say in developing
08:04this roster.
08:06And you know, it's interesting.
08:07I didn't see Teddy and I didn't hear what he said, but I would take everything that
08:10he says is gospel because he knows, he knows the inner workings of the team.
08:14He knows what went on there since Bill Belichick has left.
08:17I'm sure he was a staunch ally of Bill Belichick.
08:19So there's still probably some, you know, anger and residue from, you know, letting
08:24Bill Belichick go.
08:25But I think that this kind of is a new beginning, a new start and a start for everybody to feel
08:33really good about next year, especially if he does bring back Josh McDaniel.
08:37So I, I wouldn't be surprised if there's more, uh, firings to come.
08:42And once Braves gets in there and he decides, okay, this is where we want to go.
08:46You know, the thing about this, when there is a new hire, you gotta be careful about
08:52the people that you are inheriting.
08:55And most times, if it's a general manager or if it's a coach, they are totally cleaning
08:59house unless they have a relationship with maybe a coach on the staff or somebody in
09:04the front, front office.
09:05You know, I, you know, Braves knows everybody involved, knows all the people involved.
09:09And I'm sure that Robert Kraft is going to listen intently to all of his recommendations.
09:13All right.
09:14Real quick to the rest of the NFL was last night, the best game of the weekend.
09:18Yeah.
09:19100%.
09:20We all knew it was going to be every other game.
09:21Stunk.
09:22I mean, it was just awful.
09:23I mean, uh, you know, a lot of losers coming out of this weekend, Justin Herbert, Mike
09:26Tomlin, Russell Wilson, uh, you know, they all look bad.
09:30Jordan Love looked bad.
09:31You know, Joan hurts.
09:32Wasn't great.
09:33But the Eagle defense and running game kind of camouflaged him getting back into the mix.
09:37Uh, I would say that Buffalo with Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, both of those guys look
09:41great.
09:42They just showed their MVP chops.
09:44And next week, six 30 on CBS is going to be awesome.
09:47I am what a game that is going to be.
09:49And I, I really don't care either way.
09:51I am ABC, which is anyone but chiefs.
09:55So I don't, I could care less who it is, but that's going to be a great football game.
10:00I think it's, I think it's going to be fantastic.
10:02And you know, it's going to be fun.
10:03You know, uh, Washington's got to go into Detroit and you've got to see whether or not
10:07Jaden Daniels can do it again on the road.
10:09I mean, are they the chosen team?
10:10I don't know.
10:11I think it's going to be exciting, but I think Detroit is the chosen team.
10:14I think America wants the lions in the super bowl against the bills.
10:19That's what I would guess would be America's choice.
10:22But then again, you know, what do I, what do I know?
10:24I've only been around for about 40 years covering this stuff.
10:27Is Mike Tomlin, is he secure when it comes to this job?
10:30Yeah, absolutely.
10:31Yeah.
10:32100%.
10:33I mean, you're going to hear a lot of noise about trading for him or them.
10:36You know, that's Steelers fans.
10:38Number one are frustrated because they're not winning playoff games.
10:41So you'll hear a lot from the Steeler nation in that regard.
10:44Um, and, but I, I'm just telling you, the Roonies aren't people that just, you know,
10:49overreact to everything, even though that wouldn't be considered an overreaction in
10:52some people's eyes, but in the Roonies eyes, they sign up to a three-year contract extension.
10:57So he still, he still has two years left on his contract.
10:59Buma.
11:00But I don't get like, how is it?
11:02I was with Mike Tomlin in Minnesota.
11:03I think he's a great guy, great coach.
11:05But when you go six straight years of getting bounced from the playoffs, it's been eight
11:10years.
11:11And the Pittsburgh Steelers, they're always a good team.
11:13They're always there.
11:14But when do you, as an ownership group say, okay, the guy we got, he can get us there,
11:20but he's just not getting us over that hump.
11:22Well, I think they realized they need the quarterback.
11:25And I know at the end of Ben Roethlisberger's tenure there with Mike Tomlin, they weren't
11:29winning either.
11:30And they just, they, they're in quarterback hell.
11:33They're, they're just good enough not to be able to draft the quarterback at the top of
11:36the draft.
11:37So I just think that, you know, could they go after Aaron Rodgers next year?
11:42They're going to need another stopgap.
11:43I don't necessarily know that they're going to bring back Russell Wilson depending on
11:47contract demands and things of that nature.
11:50But the Rooney family is not, is probably the most stable franchise in the entire NFL.
11:56They just do it their way.
11:58Nobody's going to force them into making moves or getting rid of people or, or firing the
12:03coach.
12:04So I love their stability and they are very practical when it comes to running their football
12:09team.
12:10And that's why I believe in my heart that there's no way that Mike Tomlin this year
12:14anyway is leaving the Pittsburgh Steelers.
12:17Finally, question of the week for Boomer brought to you by McFarland Energy, the region's most
12:21dependable provider of home heating, oil delivery and expert HVAC services at McFarlandEnergy.com.
12:28Look ahead to next season.
12:29Is Tom Brady in the booth calling games or do his Raiders duties get in the way?
12:35That's a really good question, man.
12:37I don't know.
12:38I think, uh, you know, I've, I heard a very excited Tom Brady yesterday.
12:41At least it sounded like he was really into the game.
12:43It's a big game and it's a big market game.
12:46Everybody's watching.
12:47So maybe it takes that to get the most out of him, but that's a really good question.
12:52I I'm saying 60, 40.
12:54I'm going to say yes, he will still be in the booth because of the 60 part.
13:00$300 million or whatever.
13:01I don't know.
13:02Like if it's any of us on this, on this phone call right now, all of us would be taking
13:06the money.
13:07So I'm working for it like that.
13:08I don't know what anybody says.
13:09All right.
13:10Thanks a lot, Boomer.
13:11We'll talk to you again.
13:12All right.
13:13I'm so glad that you guys are happy again.
13:14It makes me feel good.
13:15It's, it's heavenly.
13:16It really is.
13:17All right.
13:18Take care guys.
13:19I can't wait for Mondays with Mike.
13:20Oh, it's going to be amazing.
13:21Mic'd up Mondays, whatever we call it.
13:22Thank you Boomer.
13:23All right guys.
13:24Take care.