Josh McDaniels

McDaniels was on Bill Belichick’s staff for the entirety of Vrabel’s playing tenure with the Patriots, starting as a personnel assistant before becoming offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. McDaniels served as New England’s offensive playcaller for 13 seasons over two stints, leaving twice for head coaching gigs.

Although McDaniels has never been able to find success as a head coach, he won six Super Bowls with longtime Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and also helped develop 2021 first-round pick Mac Jones as a rookie. He would be an experienced candidate to work with 2024 first-rounder Drake Maye.

The 48-year-old McDaniels hasn’t returned to the NFL since he was fired as head coach of the Raiders in October 2023. He did not move his family to Las Vegas and still lives locally in the Massachusetts area.

Tommy Rees

The 32-year-old Rees is currently the passing game specialist and tight ends coach in Cleveland, working closely with Vrabel last season.

The majority of Rees’s coaching experience is at the college level. He spent the 2023 season working for Nick Saban as Alabama’s offensive coordinator, and previously spent six seasons working at his alma mater, Notre Dame, first as the quarterbacks coach and laer as offensive coordinator.

Rees recently interviewed for Cleveland’s open offensive coordinator position, vacated by Ken Dorsey. If Vrabel prefers a candidate with more experience (e.g. McDaniels), perhaps Rees would still be willing to move as quarterbacks coach or tight ends coach.

Josh McCown

The 45-year-old McCown is currently the quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings, working alongside coach Kevin O’Connell to rehabilitate Sam Darnold’s NFL career.

This season is just McCown’s second year coaching in the NFL — he spent 2023 as quarterbacks coach in Carolina, working with Bryce Young as a rookie — but McCown has experience that sets him apart from the rest of the pool: He worked with Maye in high school.

“Josh was great,” Maye said ahead of the draft last April. “He would go play on Sundays and then fly in and coach us on Friday nights. I’m thankful he’s in the NFL coaching quarterbacks. He’s a great mind and a great player.”

In January 2018, as a member of the New York Jets, McCown moved his family to Charlotte and started a quarterback training group with Scott Chadwick, his friend and coach of Myers Park High School. Maye took part in the camp and ended up transferring to Myers Park after his freshman year, continuing his relationship with McCown.

During Maye’s sophomore season, McCown watched Maye’s film and sent feedback. During Maye’s junior season, he even attended games and Monday practices.

“His two sons Owen and Aiden were some of my best friends in high school,” Maye said. “We still play video games together.”

McCown spent 16 seasons in the NFL, playing for 12 teams.

Wes Welker

Not only were Welker and Vrabel teammates for two seasons with the Patriots but they also were colleagues for a season in Houston. When Vrabel was the Texans’ defensive coordinator in 2017, Welker came on as an offensive and special teams assistant.

Welker spent two years in Houston before joining Kyle Shanahan’s staff in San Francisco as a wide receivers coach. After three seasons, he followed Mike McDaniel to Miami to work in the same role. McDaniel fired Welker this month.

The 43-year-old Welker would be an ideal candidate to work with New England’s young receiver group, given his experience working with productive offenses. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle both eclipsed 1,000 yards in two of Welker’s three seasons in Miami, while Deebo Samuel broke out for a career-high 1,405 yards in Welker’s final season in San Francisco.

Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, who is under contract through the 2026 season, spent two seasons working with Welker in San Francisco.

Shane Bowen

The 38-year-old Bowen was on Vrabel’s staff for all six of his seasons in Tennessee, first working as outside linebackers coach before getting promoted to defensive coordinator.

In 2021 under Bowen, Tennessee’s defense ranked among the best in the league in several statistical categories, including opposing points per game (20.8, tied for fifth) and opposing third down conversion percentage (36.7, sixth). The Titans also surrendered the second fewest average rushing yards per game that season (84.6).

Before Tennessee, Bowen overlapped with Vrabel as a defensive assistant for two seasons in Houston and one as a graduate assistant at Ohio State. Bowen also worked for three seasons at his alma mater, Georgia Tech, where he played linebacker.

Once the Titans fired Vrabel, Bowen became the Giants’ defensive coordinator.

Ryan Cowden

Cowden served as Tennessee’s vice president of player personnel during five seasons of Vrabel’s tenure as head coach. He was promoted to interim general manager when the team fired Jon Robinson in December 2022.

Multiple teams have interviewed Cowden for general manager openings, including Kansas City in 2017, Carolina in 2018, Washington in 2021, and Pittsburgh in 2022. Cowden just finished his second season as an executive advisor to Giants general manager Joe Schoen.

Cowden started his career in 2000 in Carolina, where he advanced from scouting assistant to area scout to national scout to assistant director of college scouting over 15 years.

Reports surfaced Sunday after Vrabel’s hiring that Cowden will join New England’s front office in some capacity.

Mike Borgonzi

Borgonzi has spent the entirety of his NFL career with Kansas City. He started in 2009 as the administrator of college scouting and worked his way up to his current title, assistant general manager, in 2021.

Borgonzi, an Everett native, played fullback at Brown. He also spent one season as tight ends coach at Amherst College and two as assistant recruiting coordinator at Boston College.

Nicole Yang can be reached at [email protected] her @nicolecyang.