This week, the New England Patriots hired Mike Vrabel to be their new head coach as they continue to try to move out of the shadow of the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era and become consistently competitive again.
It is now time for Vrabel to assemble his staff, and one insider believes that process will negatively impact the Cleveland Browns.
Mike Kadlick, who covers the Patriots for CLNS Media, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Browns special teams coordinator Raymond “Bubba” Ventrone could head east to join Vrabel in New England.
Bubba Ventrone was/is on my radar as a potential addition to the #Patriots coaching staff.
Played with Mike Vrabel in NE and coached with him in CLE. https://t.co/lG2IEOlZVT
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) January 16, 2025
Ventrone was once a safety in the NFL, and during his eight-year career, he spent two seasons with the Patriots in 2007 and 2008 and the following four seasons with the Cleveland Browns before finishing his pro stint with the San Francisco 49ers.
He then became a special teams assistant coach for the Patriots in 2015, which allowed him to get a world championship ring the following season when they overcame a 25-point deficit to win Super Bowl LI.
He has been Cleveland’s special teams coordinator for the last two seasons after spending some time as a special teams coach with the Indianapolis Colts.
Cleveland was arguably the NFL’s worst team on special teams this season, and rectifying that problem is part of a long to-do list for them this offseason.
First on that list is deciding what to do at the quarterback position, where the beleaguered Deshaun Watson continues to recover from a torn Achilles and backups Jameis Winston and Dorian Thompson-Robinson didn’t show that much promise.
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