Mike Vrabel found the perfect fit with Patriots, who can't be embarrassed | Opinion

Mike Vrabel chose wisely.

No, no, no. I’m not referring to what you think I am. Not directly, at least.

In the weeks after the 2024 NFL season ended, Vrabel had options. He interviewed with the New York Jets and the Chicago Bears, and would have been at the top of several other teams’ wish lists if he and the New England Patriots hadn’t quickly come to a deal.  

The Patriots, however, were a perfect fit. Not only, as it turns out, because Vrabel won three Super Bowl titles when he played for New England and the Patriots have a promising young quarterback.

The New England Patriots can no longer be embarrassed

See, the Patriots and owner Robert Kraft are immune to embarrassment. They’ve weathered enough scandals and cringe-worthy episodes already that the drip-drip-drip of photos and videos linking Vrabel to an extramarital relationship with Dianna Russini, The Athletic’s former NFL insider, barely raise an eyebrow.

Vrabel has been able to offer word salads instead of apologies and skip out on the third day of last month's NFL draft without a word of protest from the Patriots. Quite the opposite, with the Patriots offering Vrabel their full support.

It’s not that Vrabel’s situation isn’t messy. It is. Every few days, it seems, there are new photos or anecdotes suggesting the relationship between Vrabel and Russini, both of whom are married to and have children with other people, was not strictly professional.

Just this week, in fact, TMZ reported they’d taken a private boat trip together in 2021, while Russini was pregnant with her first child. Complete with photos of their signed safety waivers!

This steady diet of tawdriness would probably not go over well with some other teams. Like, say the Bears, which are owned by the very Catholic McCaskeys. Or a team whose principal owner is a woman.

For the Patriots, though, this doesn’t even qualify as a major scandal.

Patriots' history of scandal extends beyond Spygate, Deflategate

First came Spygate, so named because New England was caught spying on opponents and filming their signals in 2007. The Patriots and coach Bill Belichick were fined a total of $750,000 and docked a first-round draft pick as punishment — and there are still some NFL owners who think they got off too easily.

That contributed to the uproar over Deflategate, when the Patriots were accused in 2015 of deflating footballs to make them easier for Tom Brady to throw. The science on it was dubious, but the Patriots were still fined $1 million and docked another first-round pick, as well as a fourth-rounder.

Brady also was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season because NFL commissioner Roger Goodell didn’t buy Brady’s story about destroying all his old cell phones. Turned out, the only cell phone Brady destroyed just happened to be the one the NFL wanted to see.

Then, in 2019, Kraft was charged with solicitation after he was seen on videotape twice paying for sex acts at a spa. The charges were dropped after a judge determined the surveillance had been illegal.

And that’s not even the worst of it! Aaron Hernandez killed a man while he was on the Patriots roster.

The tight end was charged in June 2013 with first-degree murder, less than a year after he signed a $39.58 million, five-year extension with New England. The Patriots immediately released Hernandez, and he was convicted of murder in April 2015.

He died by suicide in prison in April 2017.

So, yeah, a coach appearing to be having an affair pales in comparison. Even if it is with a member of the media and raises questions about where Russini was getting her information.

The Patriots won't abandon Mike Vrabel

If Vrabel quits, or steps away, it will be because he chooses to, not because the Patriots forced it. They long ago decided that winning matters more than character, and Vrabel taking New England to the Super Bowl in his first season is going to far outweigh being a liar and a cheat.

Vrabel has baggage. So do the Patriots. It makes for a perfect marriage.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Vrabel scandal makes New England Patriots, coach a perfect fit