FOXBOROUGH – For the final time until one of the most critical drafts in Patriots history, Mike Vrabel met with the media on Tuesday afternoon to discuss a bunch of different things before it all goes down next week in Green Bay.

Not only is it imperative for the Patriots to get immediate help on the offensive line and at receiver, but the day two and day three picks that are used this year are equally as important for the future of the team. For too long now, draft picks have played one (or sometimes not even one) contract here and then gone on to wear a different uniform. Five years from now, at least four or five guys selected in this class need to be contributing members of winning football teams.

“Well, I think it’s to add as many quality players and quality people. You want to come out of it with some starters. You want to come out of it with some depth and role players that can build the strength and the depth of the roster, the backup players and the situational players,” Vrabel said when asked what his goal was for next week. “There’s trying to find a fit for all these different players, where they are and what we see them doing. Ultimately they’ll come in and define their role. The post-draft process is trying to find some players that may have fallen through the draft that we have an affinity for, or we feel like that we can develop, they have some traits that we can develop.

“That’s something that we believe strongly in as well once you get through the draft.”

Assuming he’s there at No. 4 and the Patriots don’t move the pick, Will Campbell is the name everyone wants to talk about. He could (most likely) plug a hole immediately, but if a player like Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter is there, that possible generational talent must be considered.

Hundreds of ‘mock drafts’ have been done by everyone in the media (proudly, not me) and the Patriots are running their own simulations as well. Vrabel was specifically asked if the team has a plan if both Carter and Hunter are off the board. Vrabel, Eliot Wolf, Ryan Cowden and everyone else involved are still putting final touches on a plan heading into Thursday night.

“Well, we’re in the process of going through what everybody calls these simulations, and that’s been and will continue to be good exercises,” he added. “It’s just running scenarios and what we would do based on those scenarios. So, to say that we have a definitive answer on those scenarios, no, but those are processes that are ongoing, and we’ll be done here shortly.”

So, if not Campbell, does Vrabel believe other O-line prospects could start at tackle in the league?

“I think there’s some starting tackles that certainly will come in and start in the NFL,” he said. “I think that that’s really what you start to look for, impact players. When you start picking that high, what they’re going to do for you, what’s the impact, what’s the position, you talk about premium positions. That’s where you weigh all the circumstances and end up making that pick. Do I think that there are starters in this draft that left tackle? Yes, I do.”

Whatever happens, there’s no sugarcoating how impactful this draft is for the future of quality football in Foxborough.