One thing is abundantly clear after Mike Vrabel’s first season as head coach of the Patriots.
If you do everything you can for the betterment of the team, you’ll get taken care of when it’s possible.
Mack Hollins received a $400,000 addition to his signing bonus (reported on Friday by Tom Pelissero) after he came up just four catches short of reaching the incentive during the 2025 season. Hollins needed 50 catches to get the $400K, but couldn’t get there after missing significant time with his injury. Still, the Patriots honored the incentive following the end of the season.
It’s a great first step in reaffirming the culture Vrabel quickly established in the 300+ days the team was together.
Taking care of Christian Gonzalez, K’Lavon Chaisson and Jaylinn Hawkins should be the next steps.
At just 23 years old, Gonzalez doesn’t necessarily need a new contract yet, but it’s been top of mind since the offseason going into 2025 when Vrabel was first asked about it. The message then was guys would be taken care of if they put their egos aside for the team. After a bit of an injury question where both sides seemed to push and pull a bit during camp, Gonzalez was solid in the regular season. But, it was the playoffs where he showed just how valuable he is, particularly in the Super Bowl, despite the outcome.
Signing Gonzalez should be priority No. 1 in terms of ‘big’ business decisions. The Hollins move wasn’t a big one by any means, but they all add up in terms of how the locker room views playing for this organization. Remember, the Krafts aren’t guaranteed those Brady-days ‘hometown discounts’ anymore, although Drake Maye could soon be a guy other players take a little less money to play with.
Chaisson proved to be the team’s most underrated free agent signing coming in. Now going into his sixth NFL season, Chaisson was a great locker room guy and a legitimate pash-rushing threat on the field. Chaisson finished with 7.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in his first season with the team. If Maxx Crosby or Trey Hendrickson end up being too big of fish to get in the offseason, Chaisson is a fantastic culture guy that’s still just 26 years old. He was a first round pick by Jacksonville in 2020 and you may have gotten him just as he hits his prime.
In his second year with the Patriots, Jaylinn Hawkins turned into one of the more dependable players in the secondary.
Hawkins may not be as charismatic as Chaisson can be when speaking with the media, but he’s very clearly a quiet leader in the locker room who does his talking with his play. Hawkins started 15 games this season with 1.5 sacks, 71 tackles (45 solo), five QB hits, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and six PBUs.
If you watch one of those clips after the Super Bowl where Vrabel is telling each guy they have to be ‘pissed together,’ he specifically locks eyes with Hawkins and puts both hands on his shoulder pads. It’s probably just Vrabel being Vrabel, but in that moment, I couldn’t help but get the sense that Vrabel views Hawkins as a long term leader for the secondary.
Whatever Vrabel, Eliot Wolf, Ryan Cowden and the rest of the organization do in free agency and the draft, it will always be with the best interest of the team in mind. But, as is evident with the Hollins move, an equally important part of this offseason is now making sure the culture that’s been established gets reaffirmed, not rearranged.