When first-year New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel took over the team in January, he had plenty of problems to address. The Patriots won just four games under coach Jerod Mayo in 2024, and only four the year before that under legendary â but probably past his sell date â coach Bill Belichick, in the six-time Super Bowl winning coach’s final season there.
That crisis-level disaster doesn’t happen without multiple factors going awry. But arguably there was not a more conspicuous flaw in the Patriots than the pass rush. And Vrabel has made tremendous progress in fixing that problem. New England rushers have already sacked opposing quarterbacks 19 times in eight games, good enough for 13th in the 32-team NFL.
But Vrabel and the Patriots are apparently not done upgrading the pass rush yet, at least according to new reporting on Saturday morning by senior NFL insider for The Athletic Dianna Russini.
Patriots Target Pass Rusher From AFC East
According to Russini’s report, the Patriots have shown “interest” in trading for Miami Dolphins 2021 first-round draft pick â 18th overall out of Miami â Jaelan Phillips, who in his last fully healthy season, 2022, racked up seven sacks and eight tackles for loss (TFL).
The Patriots this season are only nine sacks short of their total for all 17 games in 2024 (28), a total that placed them dead last in the league. They weren’t much better in 2023, when their collective 36 sacks ranked 27th.
The Patriots’ team leaders in sacks last season, with five each, were Keion White and Deatrich Wise Jr. Neither remains on this year’s edition of the team.
So far in 2025, edge rushers Harold Landry III and K’Lavon Chaisson already have 10 between them, with 5.5 for Landry and 4.5 for Chaisson.
Would Phillips Add Anything?
After trading White to the San Francisco 49ers, Vrabel is likely looking for depth at the edge position. Phillips could definitely bring that. He logged 8.5 sacks in his rookie year of 2021 in Miami.
The question with the former Hurricane comes down to his ability to stay on the field. After only four games in 2024, the linebacker suffered a season-ending knee injury.
The ACL tear, which required reconstructive surgery, came just a year after Phillips’ 2023 season came to a screeching halt after only eight games when he tore an Achilles tendon during a perhaps aptly named “Black Friday” game against the New York Jets.
Entering the 2025 season, Phillipps admitted that he had been dealing with an oblique strain, but so far that injury has not caused him to miss time. Phillips has started all nine games for the Dolphins, with three sacks and three more TFL.
Patriots Would Need to Part With Day 2 Pick
Phillips is playing the fifth-year option season of his rookie contract, and comes with a $13.3 million cap hit. But with more than $54 million in salary cap space, the Patriots lead the league in financial flexibility and could comfortably absorb Phillips salary this season.
Next season is another story, with the edge rusher’s contract expiring after the season. According to Russini, the Dolphins want “at least a third-rounder in return” for Phillips. Whether that price is too high for the Patriots to pay for what could turn out to be an eight-game rental will be decided by the trade deadline, Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern.
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