FOXBOROUGH – Following informal sessions for the media with a bunch of the new Patriots free agent signings on Thursday, Eliot Wolf had an informal sit down of his own for about 15 minutes.
Wolf answered questions about Stefon Diggs, Maxx Crosby, a certain receiver in Philadelphia, the upcoming draft, potential free agent moves still to be had and more.
Here’s everything that stood out:
On not re-signing Stefon Diggs
“Just a variety of factors. Looking at financials, ability, you know, a lot of things go into this. We have nothing but respect for Stefon. He was an absolute warrior for us as I said to him multiple times after games. Just really appreciate all of his contributions to the team…we talked about a variety of options and ultimately went in this direction and you know, decided to move forward.”
On if they’d re-visit possibly bringing Diggs back later in free agency
“I wouldn’t say the door’s closed. Again, we’re going to do and look through everything we possibly can to help improve the team.”
On if the team is still open to more wide receiver moves
“Again, we’re always open to trying to improve the team any way we can. If we see something out there that we think can help us out, then we’ll look towards it.”
On if the Patriots were ever in on Maxx Crosby
“We make a lot of exploratory calls and you know, I’ll just leave it at that.”
On if the Patriots would re-visit Maxx Crosby talks
“Maxx Crosby specifically? I’d have to talk to Richard Miller about our numbers right now. So, again, we’ll look into any player that we think can help us.”
On signing Alijah Vera-Tucker
“It’s a risk-reward. We just looked at the film, the use and the type of injuries it was, they’re all factors we talked about. Ultimately, we felt like taking a swing at a player that is still young and still has upside and is a really good player at his position.”
On the importance of last year’s rookie class to take the next step
“Yeah, I mean I think it’s huge. We always talk about draft and develop. We had a number of guys play a lot of snaps for us, but any time those guys can take the next step to get to the next level, I think it’s important. We have some guys that played a lot that certainly could improve on some things, and we have some guys that maybe didn’t play as much that we’re expecting to take that next jump.”
On if the team is interested in AJ Brown
“Again, we’ll explore anything that we think can help the team.”
On why the team immediately said Will Campbell would stay at left tackle after the season
“We know who the free agents are going to be at left tackle. We know who’s in the draft at left tackle. We know we pick 31st. Again, if there’s somebody that’s a better left tackle than Will Campbell that’s available, we’ll look at anything. I’m just not sure how realistic that is.”
On if he believes reports Tom Brady would not deal with the Patriots
“No. I’d be surprised if that was true. I have a really good relationship with John Spytek the Raiders’ general manager. We spoke this week about a variety of things. That’s never been a thing.”
On if there’s a certain deadline where a team has to walk away from a deal in the offseason
“I think the only real deadlines you have are sort of, maybe salary cap related. For instance, did we spend money in free agency that would take us out of something else? But, I wouldn’t say there’s a deadline trying to improve the team.”
On how rewarding it is to have free agents that now want to play here
“It’s been tremendous. I just have to thank the Krafts. I have to thank Vrabel and the culture that really has been instilled here, them being responsible for that. Every free agent kind of says the same thing; ‘I want to play for Vrabel. I want to play with Drake.’ It’s pretty sweet.”