PHOENIX — Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel managed to break some news during his 30-minute session with reporters Tuesday at the NFL Annual Meeting.
Not that there was any doubt, but Vrabel plans for the Patriots to pick up cornerback Christian Gonzalez’s fifth-year contract option.
“Yes, if we haven’t picked it up, we should pick it up,” Vrabel said Tuesday.
The option, which kicks in next season, is valued at $18.119 million. The Patriots’ plan isn’t just to keep Gonzalez on the roster for 2027, but well beyond that season [with an extension](https://www.bostonherald.com/2026/03/30/what-we-learned-from-robert-kraft-about-drake-maye-patriots-in-2026/).
#### “We want to make sure we draft extremely well and then we identify the guys we want to keep with us, and have earned long-term extensions with us,” Vrabel said. “Christian, Gonzo is certainly one of those players. But I can’t comment on a negotiation.”
Here’s everything else Vrabel said, from a potential trade for Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown to the team’s plan to replace Joshua Dobbs as a backup quarterback.
#### Vrabel says what he can about Brown
Vrabel can’t directly comment about a [potential trade](https://www.bostonherald.com/2026/03/30/eliot-wolf-patriots-havent-had-talks-about-a-j-brown-in-a-long-time/) for Brown, because that would violate the NFL’s tampering rules. Vrabel was still asked if a potential trade for Brown is still on the table, however.
“We’ve talked about this since last January. We’re going to try to do everything we can to strengthen our roster through the draft, through free agency, multiple ways of player acquisition,” Vrabel said. “So, anything that we can continue to do to strengthen the roster, we’re going to try to do.”
If the Patriots do acquire Brown, it likely wouldn’t come until after June 1. Trading Brown before June 1 would subtract $20 million from the Eagles’ cap space. A deal done after June 1 would push dead money into the future and actually increase the Eagles’ cap space by $7 million.
Vrabel has spoken before about his continued relationship with Brown, which started when they were together on the Titans.
“I love the relationship I have with players on our team and the ones on other teams that I’ve either coaches or come in contact with,” Vrabel said. “That’s the beauty of this league in having played it and being able to coach it, the men and the people involved on the field is something that’s special that I hold very near and dear. I have communications with a lot of those players.”
#### Vrabel open to trading future assets.
Vrabel did not sound opposed to dealing selections in the 2027 NFL Draft, whether that would be for Brown after June 1, or for another player.
“I mean compensation is compensation,” Vrabel said. “You have to agree to something, whether it’s capital in this year’s draft … but it’s however you can come to an agreement with a team. I’ve never really looked at it as this year, next year, how good the draft is in three years. I just try to come to an agreement. If you make a trade, you just want to come to an agreement that both teams feel they … that everybody’s happy.”
The Patriots hold the 31st overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, which is considered a weak class. Unless they make the Super Bowl again in 2026, they’ll be picking earlier in 2027, which is considered a much stronger draft.
#### The goal remains the same.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft said Monday that he believes the Patriots overachieved in 2025 by making Super Bowl LX and losing to the Seahawks. He went on to say that his goal for the Patriots is to make the playoffs.
Vrabel expects more, even though the Patriots went from playing one of the easiest schedules in 2025 to one of the most difficult in the upcoming season.
“Championships will remain the goal,” Vrabel said. “It will never change. I appreciate Robert’s support. We want to win the division, we want to host playoff games, and we want to compete for championships. We got a taste of that. We saw what that looked like. We saw the environment that it created. To be able to play those playoff games at home, which was unbelievable and so much fun. I just watch the reactions and I watch the videos because that’s the part that I really didn’t get to appreciate coaching the game, is seeing the fan videos, the videos from the fans and that perspective. We’ll play whoever we have to play. We understand what this looks like. We’re going to play the division winner schedule and that’s how it goes.”
#### Patriots plan to develop third quarterback.
The Patriots currently have two quarterbacks on their roster — Drake Maye and Tommy DeVito — after releasing Joshua Dobbs this month.
Expect the Patriots to find a third quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft or as a rookie free agent.
“Yeah, we need a third arm. And we’ll try to find a young guy that we can develop,” Vrabel said. “We’ll potentially add to the roster, whether that’s on the 53-man roster or practice squad.”
#### Vrabel hopes to draft tight end.
Tight end remains an area of need after the Patriots lost Austin Hooper in free agency and replaced him with former Dolphin Julian Hill.
Back at the combine, Vrabel said he views the tight end draft class as being deep. He said he hopes to select a tight end in the 2026 draft.
“Just trying to find the right guy,” Vrabel said. “Some of them are receiving. Some are more on the line of scrimmage. Some of them do a little bit of both. So I think we’ll just try to come up with the one that fits us best and see where we can draft him.”
#### How Patriots plan to approach 31st overall pick
Outside of tight end, the Patriots have needs at wide receiver, edge defender and linebacker.
So, who will the Patriots take when they’re on the clock at No. 31 overall?
“Best player available, hopefully,” Vrabel said. “Maybe we trade up. Maybe we trade out. I don’t know. But I love being able to work with Eliot (Wolf) and Ryan (Cowden) and their staff and coaching and try to bring that together. I’m trying to bring the coach’s perspective on a player and the personnel side together to bring the best person in there for our football team.”
#### Vrabel high on current wide receiver corps.
The Patriots released Stefon Diggs and replaced him with free-agent addition Romeo Doubs.
Vrabel said the Patriots targeted Doubs because of his consistency through four seasons with the Packers and for the improvement he showed. The Patriots aren’t only counting on Doubs to replace Diggs, however.
“Certainly, you mentioned Kayshon (Boutte), I think Pop (Douglas) is a player that’s going to really continue to grow and develop, and we have to find ways to get him the ball. Kyle (Williams), really excited. We talked about him just improving his play strength, and that’s something that he’s trying to focus on here in the offseason. We know what his speed is and his release skills, and the ability to, you know, we saw him go and track the ball down the field.”
Vrabel went on to say that the Patriots will need to replace Diggs “efficiency.” The veteran wideout had an 83.3% catch rate in 2025.
#### Vrabel isn’t opposed to an 18-game schedule
Kraft supported the idea of an 18-game schedule on Monday, saying he would like to see the NFL add a second bye week, remove a preseason game and have all teams play an international game.
“I’ll support whatever both sides come to an agreement on,” Vrabel said. “I’ll coach as many games as they want me to coach. I love, as you can see, coaching our football team last year. Again it was a (expletive) end to a great year. I’ll coach as many games as they ask me to coach.”