Mike Vrabel didn’t exactly declare Eli Raridon the answer to everything at tight end, but he did leave enough on the table to make Patriots fans sit up.
That matters because New England’s rookie third-rounder out of Notre Dame is already in a spot few first-year tight ends get to enjoy. The original idea had Raridon slotted in as the No. 3 option behind Hunter Henry and Julian Hill. Then Hill went down with a season-ending injury about a month after the 2026 NFL Draft, and the depth chart got thin in a hurry.
Now the 6-foot-6, 245-pound rookie looks like the leading candidate to line up next to Henry, who has been the team’s full-time starter since 2021.
Vrabel’s update on Monday painted a picture of a player making steady, usable progress rather than just surviving camp. “He rarely makes the same mistake twice,” Vrabel told reporters on Aug.
- “ If we coach him on something or he didn't like what he did on one day, he usually comes back the next day and does a decent job at it.”
That’s not nothing for a 22-year-old who arrived with a lighter college résumé than most players taken in the top 100. Raridon played in 40 games for Notre Dame, but he didn’t become a starter until his senior season. His production stayed modest - 48 catches for 623 yards and three touchdowns - and he didn’t spend much time grinding against defensive ends in the run game.
Still, the early signs have been encouraging once the pads came on. Vrabel said, “You can see him consciously trying to do the things that we're asking him to do, and I think we're headed in a good direction, but a long ways to go.”
That’s the balance here: real optimism, but no one in Foxboro is pretending Raridon is walking into the league ready to be a star. Expecting a Gronk-like rookie season would be a huge leap.
Even 30-plus catches would be asking a lot in an offense that’ll feature a lot of A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs, though that number becomes more realistic if Henry misses time.
The bigger story is how New England got here. The Patriots’ tight end situation has been a mess for years, and the roster construction reflects it.
Bill Belichick never seriously replaced Rob Gronkowski with a major investment, and the Devin Asiasi-Dalton Keene pairing did nothing to fix the problem. New England also went three straight drafts without selecting a tight end from 2021 through 2023 before taking Jaheim Bell in the seventh round in 2024.
Eliot Wolf, with help from Vrabel and Ryan Cowden, finally spent a premium pick on a player with upside at a clear position of need. But even with Raridon in the fold, the room remains thin. Henry and Raridon are joined by CJ Dippre, Tanner Arkin, Jack Westover and Mitch Van Vooren.
That’s why the Patriots may still need outside help before the opener. The free-agent options are limited, with names like Jonnu Smith and Zach Ertz available. There’s also the possibility of a trade if New England decides it wants more insurance.
For now, Raridon is the most important variable in the room. He may not be ready to carry the position, and the rookie wall is coming for him at some point. But Vrabel’s comments suggest the Patriots have at least found a young tight end who is absorbing coaching, cleaning up mistakes, and moving in the right direction.
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Patriots Face A New Doubt About Mike Vrabel And Drake Maye
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Cowherd was skeptical that New England can simply roll last years success forward and suggested the team looks more like a wild-card outfit than a Super Bowl contender. Even so, he had high regard for the Vrabel-Drake Maye partnership, ranking it among the leagues better coach-quarterback pairings and putting it sixth overall, which is part of what makes the Patriots next step such an intriguing one. [Read more 🡒]