“We wanna be aggressive” - Mike Vrabel makes feelings clear on Patriots’ plan for free agency with $125,580,793 in cap space

The New England Patriots have cash to burn in free agency, and their new coach wants the club to put all that money to good use. According to Spotrac, the Pats have $125,580,793 worth of cap space. New coach Mike Vrabel discussed how they intend to tackle the free agent market, with all that money.

"We wanna be aggressive," Vrabel said on Tuesday. "We wanna target players that we feel like are gonna help us, that are gonna be outstanding players, that are gonna be outstanding additions to the locker room and the community, And if that all fits, and the compensation fits... I’m confident that we’ll be aggressive"

The former three-time Super Bowl champion with the Pats, explained that there are plenty of layers to the team’s free agency approach.

There’s going to be this ‘high level,’ that things are gonna get done very quickly," Vrabel said. "That’ll transition then to, you know, maybe just some ‘mid-range dollars.' And then obviously, you look at opportunities. So free agency gets broken down into, you know, compensation, and then it gets broken down into opportunity.

He went on to say that the Patriots were in a position to offer both "compensation and "opportunity". Vrabel takes over a team that won just four games in each of the past two seasons.

Where might the Patriots use that money?

The Patriots have quite the luxury this off-season, not only with a lot of money available, but they also have the fourth-overall pick. That’s a lot for the former NFL Coach of the Year to work with, giving the team plenty of intriguing options.

One of those options may be Tee Higgins, who’s sure to draw the allure of numerous NFL teams this off-season. The Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver will be a free agent on March 12, and though he has said that he wants to stay, New England might be a win-win situation for him and the Pats.

On February 13, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky said:

I’d love to see the Patriots bring somebody in that looks like Ja’Marr Chase, for Drake Maye."

His ESPN colleague Scott Van Pelt chimed in to mention:

Well, there’s a guy that (Chase) played with in Cincinnati that every single team that needs a receiver thinks might come play for them.

The Bengals are notoriously known for not breaking the bank when it comes to spending on players, leaving many to believe Cincinnati might move on from Higgins. Pats quarterback Drake Maye threw for 2,276 yards in 2024, with his leading receiver being Hunter Henry, who had 674 yards through the air.

Higgins has registered over 900 receiving yards in four of his five seasons in the NFL, including a 911-yard season in 2024, along with a career-high 10 touchdown catches. He would likely be a go-to guy on Vrabel’s team if the Patriots can acquire his services.