Robert Kraft just made his stance on Mike Vrabel's Patriots future crystal clear

Musket Fire · Jul 21, 2026 09:00 · 3 min read

Robert Kraft just made his stance on Mike Vrabel's Patriots future crystal clear — Oct 20, 2024; London, United Kingdom; New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft during an NFL International Series game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Amid a lot of controversy this offseason, Robert Kraft isn't showing any cracks in his support of Mike Vrabel.

It wouldn't be a proper Patriots offseason if there weren't a bit of controversy and scandal, even years after Bill Belichick and Tom Brady left the team. And unfortunately, that trend continued this year, but this time, surrounding head coach Mike Vrabel and his alleged relationship with NFL insider Dianna Russini.

That became the biggest story in New England for much of the spring, prompting rumors of Robert Kraft considering a significant decision regarding Vrabel's future.

Obviously, it's never a good thing to have that kind of press around your team, and because he was only going into his second season as the coach, there was a lot of chatter about whether Kraft would be willing to replace him already, despite the impressive success he helped lead to the team in 2025.

Amidst it all, Kraft appeared to remain loyal to Vrabel and see the decision through. Now that the Patriots are on the verge of starting training camp, with greater focus on what they can accomplish this fall after a Super Bowl run, the owner emphasized his support for the head coach even more.

Robert Kraft isn't loosening his support of Mike Vrabel ahead of the Patriots' 2026 season

Although it's not exactly shocking that Kraft would voice his appreciation for Vrabel again, it does send a clear message before the team reconvenes for training camp that there should be no doubt about whether he will be the head coach this season.

Things can change, of course, but at this point, Kraft couldn't have made it clearer that Vrabel is the guy he wants leading this team right now and for the long haul.

“Well, we’re privileged to have Mike as our head coach. You know, no one is infallible, and what’s great about Mike is he has great intellectual knowledge about football — all the technical skills — he relates to the players beautifully, and he’s someone I have a strong belief and faith in. I hope he’s going to be our head coach for many years to come.”

While this isn't exactly breaking news, it is significant considering we haven't heard from Kraft much since more details about Vrabel's alleged affair were made public. More photos and accusations were posted online, making the situation even worse, and the Patriots remained silent about it all.

Kraft had already expressed his support for Vrabel early on, and although there was no reason to suggest that would change, there were plenty of rumors that he was interested in other head coaches in case the worst-case scenario happened, with longtime Steelers coach Mike Tomlin at the top of the list.

That, at the very least, showed there might be some cracks in his support, even if it wasn't coming straight from his mouth.

His latest comments, however, seem to put those doubts to rest, and now we can go into training camp and, hopefully, the regular season without lingering concerns about what might or might not happen with Vrabel.