One of the first dominos in the hiring of Mike Vrabel is about to fall as the Patriots are expected to hire Giants advisor Ryan Cowden to a front office advisor role. Charles Robinson reported it first. 

Cowden spent last season with the New York Giants as an advisor to general manager Joe Schoen.He  is a Vrabel ally from their time together in Tennessee where Cowden served as director of player personnel and eventually interim general manager after Jon Robinson was let go. 

Vrabel is expected to have a say in the front office structure and the final roster. He had never worked with current vice president of football operations Eliot Wolf and needs someone who is on the same page with him in the front office. It appears that will be Cowden. 

We will learn more in the coming days as to how much power Vrabel will actually have. It is highly unlikely that he will have anything approaching the kind of power and control Bill Belichick had but he will have some. At least over the 53 man roster.

The front office is expected to undergo some changes after the draft with some familiar names potentially leaving. You could also see some other new faces being hired as well.