Free-Agent Defender With Mike Vrabel Ties Reportedly Could Visit Patriots
The New England Patriots reportedly “have shown interest” in free agent linebacker Jack Gibbens.
And it appears that interest is mutual.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported Sunday that Gibbens could make a visit to New England this week to meet with the Patriots. Gibbens hit the open market this offseason after the Tennessee Titans did not tender the 26-year-old an offer as a restricted free agent.
Gibbens has an obvious tie to Mike Vrabel, who gave Gibbens a shot in the NFL with the Titans as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota. Gibbens made the most of his opportunity, appearing in 29 games, including 20 starts, over the last three seasons.
Gibbens’ best season came in 2023 when he recorded a career-high 95 tackles to go along with a sack and three passes defended. He came nowhere close to replicating those results last season after suffering a season-ending ankle injury in mid-November.
If Gibbens does end up signing with the Patriots, he would be the fourth linebacker addition made by the team this offseason, joining Harold Landry III, Robert Spillane and K’Lavon Chaisson. Gibbens would provide depth at that position for the Patriots and most likely will factor in on special teams, having played there a considerable amount in his career.
Given Gibbens’ connection to Vrabel, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Gibbens ended up on the Patriots’ roster. And their past relationship is something Vrabel will consider, too.
“I don’t know how you could do free agency any differently. I really don’t,” Vrabel told reporters last week, per team-provided transcript. “Just the timing that’s involved with a lot of this stuff — it’s important to me, and (owner) Robert (Kraft) has trusted (executive vice president of player personnel) Eliot (Wolf) and myself to bring the right people onto this football team.
“If we have coaches that we trust and believe in and have been with players, we have to take that into consideration. If there’s players that Eliot or anybody else in the personnel department have had or myself, I think that’s critical.”