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While the NFL’s 2024 season is in its home stretch, the New England Patriots remain in full offseason mode. Nonetheless, the NFL news cycle never sleeps; there is plenty to talk about even with the season — at least for 30 of 32 teams — already over.

One big opening remains on Mike Vrabel’s coaching staff
Even though the Patriots have only announced their head coach and coordinators so far, several coaches have reportedly joined Mike Vrabel in New England over the last few weeks. For all of those, there appears to be a clear plan in case — more on that in a second — but one prominent opening still remains.

As of Sunday morning, the team has not been linked to any wide receiver coaching candidates. Even if the Patriots are specifically targeting members of the Kansas City Chiefs’ or Philadelphia Eagles’ coaching staffs, that is likely to change within the next two weeks. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some candidates we believe could make sense due to their connections to Vrabel or Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Chris Beatty: A veteran receivers coach at both the college and NFL levels, Beatty worked with new Patriots tight ends coach/pass game coordinator Thomas Brown in Chicago last year. Besides coaching wideouts, he also served as interim offensive coordinator.

Edgar Bennett: With the Raiders overhauling their coaching staff, his future in Las Vegas is in question. Bennett was been with the club since 2018, and coached wideouts before, after and during Josh McDaniels’ tenure as head coach in 2022 and 2023.

Kylan Butler: Butler spent three years as an offensive assistant under Mike Vrabel in Tennessee, and continued to work that same role for the Titans in 2024. Before jumping to the NFL, he coached wide receivers at the college level.

Rob Calabrese: Coaching wide receivers would be a first for Calabrese, but he did play the position part-time in college and despite being only 34 has an extensive résumé. If the Patriots want to McVay-ify their offense, adding the current Rams assistant might make sense.

Nick Charlton: A former wideouts coach, offensive coordinator and head coach at Maine, Charlton overlapped with Mike Vrabel in Cleveland last year. He served as an offensive assistant and run game specialist under Kevin Stefanski, but has the experience to change positions.

Erik Frazier: Before spending two seasons in Tennessee as an offensive assistant under Mike Vrabel, he coached receivers and served as passing game coordinator at Montana State. In 2024, he worked as wideouts coach at UCLA.

Ryan Griffin: A former backup quarterback in New Orleans and Tampa Bay, Griffin also spent 2024 with the Bears alongside Thomas Brown. He served as an offensive assistant whose focus was primarily on working with QBs and WRs.

Chandler Henley: Formerly a wide receiver at Yale, Henley spent three years on Mike Vrabel’s Titans staff as a quality control coach. He since moved to Atlanta and most recently worked as senior offensive assistant in Miami.

Mick Lombardi: Before moving with Josh McDaniels to Las Vegas to serve as his offensive coordinator, Lombardi coached wide receivers in New England. A reunion would give McDaniels a familiar face to work with.

Chad O’Shea: In his 10 years with the Patriots, O’Shea coached wide receivers and helped with the red zone offense. Since 2020, he has served as receivers coach and passing game coordinator in Cleveland — giving him a connection to both Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels.

Robbie Picazo: Another member of the Bears’ 2024 coaching staff, Picazo was an assistant working with quarterbacks and wide receivers. Before that, the former Stanford backup QB filled similar roles in Seattle and Houston.

Luke Steckel: Steckel has experience working with wide receivers, and he spent five years under Mike Vrabel in Tennessee. He currently is still employed as tight ends coach in Las Vegas, but the Raiders’ regime change might prompt a move.

Tony Washington: We are going admittedly deep with this one: Washington spent 2017 training camp with the Patriots under OC Josh McDaniels, the final stop in his brief NFL career. Since then, he has become a wide receiver coach at various colleges, most recently at Liberty.

Wes Welker: The Dolphins surprisingly fired Welker earlier this month, opening the door for a potential return to New England. Welker played under Josh McDaniels and was teammates with Mike Vrabel in New England, and offers vast experience as an NFL player and assistant coach.

Myles White: Another NFL wide receiver turned coach, White worked as a coaching assistant in Green Bay in 2024 under Mike Vrabel’s former offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur. While less experienced as other names on this list, he is a coach on the rise.

As can be seen, there are plenty of suitable candidates to fill the last remaining big opening on Mike Vrabel’s Patriots staff. Whether any of those coaches listed here will eventually end up in New England remains to be seen.

Projecting the Patriots’ staff
Based on the information available so far and the rumors making the rounds, let’s make our best-guess assumption what the Patriots’ 2025 coaching staff will look like moving forward. The opening at the wide receiver spot will be filled in eventually; for now, our focus is on who has definitively been added to, or retained by, the team so far this offseason.

Head coach: Mike Vrabel
Offensive coordinator: Josh McDaniels
Quarterbacks coach: Ashton Grant
Running backs coach: Tony Dews
Wide receivers coach: —
Tight ends coach/Pass game coordinator: Thomas Brown
Offensive line coach: Doug Marrone
Assistant offensive line coach: Jason Houghtaling
Offensive assistant: Riley Larkin
Defensive coordinator: Terrell Williams
Defensive line coach: Clinton McMillan
Outside linebackers coach: Milton Patterson
Inside linebackers coach: Zak Kuhr
Cornerbacks coach: Kevin Richardson
Safeties coach: Scott Booker
Defensive assistant: Ben McAdoo
Special teams coordinator: Jeremy Springer
Special teams assistant: Tom Quinn
Will this projection prove to be accurate? Time will tell, but the signs point in a direction that looks very much like this.

Drake Maye’s fifth-year option
The most recent NFL-NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement restructured how the value of the fifth-year option for first-round draft picks is calculated. Under the new system, there are four tiers players can enter based on playing time levels and Pro Bowl designations.

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, of course, just performed in the all-star event this week. So, has his price tag already gone up after Year 1?

No, it has not.

Maye was named to the Pro Bowl as an alternate, rather than make it in on first ballot. While that distinction does not show up in the record books, it makes a difference from a contractual perspective — one that, speaking strictly in terms of finances, works in the team’s favor.

Pro Bowl still valuable for young players
Even though Maye may not have performed at a level worthy of first-ballot Pro Bowl recognition he still made the trip to Orlando alongside some of the biggest names in the sport. For ex-NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, that more than anything else is the biggest benefit from receiving the honor as a young player.

“[Thursday] night, I saw Drake Maye having a conversation with Baker Mayfield, and to me, there’s value in that,” Manning told the Pat McAfee Show. “A young quarterback like Drake Maye learning how to be a pro, learning how to go through a coaching change, which Baker Mayfield has done several times. That’s the value.”

Julian Edelman not interested in lobbying for the Hall of Fame
Before the NFL season will wind down on Super Bowl Sunday, Pro Football Hall of Fame debates will take center stage. Julian Edelman is not currently eligible, and unlikely to make it to Canton despite a prolific career.

For him, however, that is not neither issue nor something he is intent on changing through lobbying.

“I’m not a campaigner,” he told the Dan Patrick Show. “That wasn’t my goal in life, to make the Hall of Fame. My goal in life was to go out and hoist a Lombardi Trophy. I got to do that three times, and played my best football games in those matches. So, that’s pretty much where I stand with all that stuff. I’m not going to sit here and campaign, try to get into the Hall of Fame. I think that’s lame.

“If I get in, I get in. If I don’t, I’ve got a beautiful 8-year-old daughter and I’ve got three trophies that I’ll be happy with for the rest of my life; four, because I got the MVP of the last one.”

Joe Thuney building a Hall of Fame résumé
Speaking of the Hall of Fame, one name to consider further down the line is Joe Thuney. The Patriots’ third-round draft pick in 2016, Thuney has built an impressive résumé since his arrival in the league: he is a four-time first-team All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler, and as a current member of the Chiefs will compete for his fifth Super Bowl ring next Sunday.

New England’s two-decade dynasty will not have produced a lot of Hall of Famers — 10-15 seems like a fair estimate at the moment — but Thuney could very well be among them when all is said and done. His play as both a Patriot and a Chief will warrant recognition whenever the ultra-reliable 32-year-old decides to call it a career.

NFL happy with new kickoff rules
The NFL released its concussion numbers for the 2024 season this week, revealing that there has been a 17 percent drop compared to last year and a 12 percent regression compared to the averages between 2021 and 2023. One reason for that, per the league, is the new kickoff rule which eliminates high-speed collisions.

“The new Dynamic Kickoff rule worked as intended,” the NFL wrote in a press release.

The league shared data that while returns increased 57 percent in the regular season and there were seven kickoffs returned for touchdowns, the most since 2021, the reduced speed of the play led to a concussion rate down 43 percent compared to the previous three seasons’ average. The NFL will have to discuss the rule this offseason after a one-year implementation, but those numbers will likely play a big role in the decision to make it permanent.

Setting up the week ahead
With the East-West Shrine Bowl and Senior Bowl both in the rear-view mirror, the first big wave of offseason draft preparation is in the books. For the Patriots, the focus will continue to stay on evaluating college prospects and assessing the upcoming free agency class this week — even though their are no items that prominently featured on the agenda.

Besides the offseason preparation, the Patriots will likely continue putting the finishing touches on their staff. In addition, some of their players will be in New Orleans for Super Bowl week; cornerbacks Christian Gonzalez and Jonathan Jones are among those who will visit Radio Row in the coming days.

In addition, the NFL Honors ceremony and Pro Football Hall of Fame announcement are coming up on Thursday, Feb. 6. From a Patriots perspective, there are several players up to be honored.

Adam Vinatieri, Fred Taylor and short-time Pats Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne could get a gold jacket this week. Furthermore, Deatrich Wise Jr. is up for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, while Christian Gonzalez appears to have a minor chance of being named NFL Comeback Player of the Year.