Mike Vrabel has his eyes set on one job.
But that position may not be open and is held by a former teammate.
Vrabel “wants” the Patriots’ head coaching job but team owner Robert Kraft “seems intent” on retaining struggling first-year head coach Jerod Mayo, sources told SportsKeeda’s Tony Pauline.
Mayo and Vrabel played together in Foxborough for one season.
Vrabel, the former Titans coach, will be one of the top coaches in this year’s cycle, seemingly setting up as the No. 2 option behind Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
The Jets, Saints, and Bears jobs are all open while interim coaches finish out the season.
The Cowboys, Raiders, Giants, and Jaguars could potentially be in the market for a new coach as well.
Whether the Patriots’ job opens remains to be seen since that would require the Kraft family dumping its heir apparent to Bill Belichick after one season, albeit a brutal one.
The 3-13 Patriots will secure the No. 1 pick with a home loss to the Bills in Week 18.
While New England has been downright uncompetitive at times despite rookie quarterback Drake Maye looking like a keeper, giving just one season to the hand-picked replacement to arguably the NFL’s greatest coach would seem like a short leash, even by today’s NFL standards.
The Kraft family has a rapport with Vrabel dating to his time as a player from 2001-08 when he won three Super Bowls with the team, and the team inducted him into its Hall of Fame last year while he coached Tennessee. That Vrabel attended the ceremony during a bye week reportedly factored into his dismissal.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, a former Patriots reporter, noted how the Krafts would have to be working the phones if they wanted to land Vrabel since he told NBC Sports that Vrabel is the “fastest-moving train on the coaching market.”
“If you want to be in (the running for Vrabel), you’ve got to back-channel now,” Breer said, as transcribed by NBC Boston. “That’s a discussion the Krafts probably have to have, and have to have alone. They’ve got a level of trust with Mike Vrabel where they could probably talk to him.”
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky recently said he believes “Vrabel is spoken for“, though he did not clarify whether he meant at the professional or college level.
Vrabel’s consulting agreement with the Browns ended Monday, per ESPN, paving the way for him to sign with a team as soon as he can.