Tuesday’s report from Page Six of the New York Post regarding the photos of Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and New York Times reporter Dianna Russini raises plenty of fair questions moving forward.
There’s one important question moving backward. How did the Post get the photos?
Vrabel and Russini have separately said the photos do not show evidence of impropriety.
It’s highly unlikely that someone in Sedona, Arizona — two hours from the site of the recent NFL annual meeting in Phoenix — was bird watching and just happened to see Vrabel and Russini in a setting that could be plausibly characterized as questionable. Common sense suggests that someone was actively looking for evidence. Whether it was a freelancer who then sold the photos to the Post or whether it was someone the Post dispatched isn’t known.
Still, the photos were either harvested accidentally or by design.
There’s an intriguing nugget lurking in the shadows of this one. Did someone give the photographer or the Post a tip? If so, who? If so, why?
Accident or design. Spontaneous or planned.
Whatever the truth, there’s a potentially compelling story there as to how the photos came to be. There could also be a potentially compelling story as to any and all discussions that preceded the publication of the photos.
The Post may have had them for a week or more, and the Post got statements from Vrabel, Russini, and Russini’s employer before posting the story. Who made the call to publish?
And what, if anything, may have been done before they were published to prevent their publication?
Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren appears headed to being a late first-round draft pick later this month.
McNeil-Warren has become a popular top-30 visitor.
He is currently visiting the Dolphins in Miami after recent visits with the Patriots, Browns, Cowboys and Falcons, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report. McNeil-Warren will head to Pittsburgh after finishing in Miami today.
McNeil-Warren earned second-team All-American honors last season when he totaled 77 tackles, three forced fumbles, two interceptions and seven passes defensed.
Dane Brugler of TheAthletic.com ranks McNeil-Warren as his 23rd-best player in the draft, third among safeties.
Having won the CFP National Championship with Indiana in January, running back Kaelon Black has a busy pre-draft schedule.
Black has several teams on his list for pre-draft, top 30 visits, including the Jets, Broncos, Panthers, Colts, Texans, Dolphins, Packers, Vikings, Patriots, and Raiders, a source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT.
He may also meet with the Bengals.
Black played under head coach Curt Cignetti at James Madison for two years before transferring to follow Cignetti to Indiana in 2024.
He rushed for 251 yards for Indiana in 2024 before becoming one of the Hoosiers’ two 1,000-yard backs in 2025, finishing the season with 1,040 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 36 yards.
The entire NFL is abuzz regarding a new report from Page Six of the New York Post regarding Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini, who covers the NFL for The Athletic.
Before going any farther, I’ll say this: Coaches and reporters are entitled to lead their own private lives. Personal business is only the business of the persons involved.
However, both Vrabel and Russini have given comments to the Post. Once that happens, a private matter becomes inherently public.
The Post has published photos of Vrabel and Russini, as explained in the article, “holding hands and hugging” at a resort in Arizona other than the resort where last week’s NFL annual meeting occurred. The photos speak for themselves. And the relevant parties have said their piece about the images.
“These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable,” Vrabel told the Post. “This doesn’t deserve any further response.”
Russini gave the Post a statement, too: “The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day. Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.”
She’s right about interactions away from stadiums and other venues, but there’s arguably a difference between the interactions depicted in the photos and the usual interactions between reporters and sources.
The Athletic, for its part, doesn’t seem to be troubled by the development.
“These photos are misleading and lack essential context,” Steven Ginsberg, executive editor of The Athletic, told the Post. “These were public interactions in front of many people. Dianna is a premier journalist covering the NFL and we’re proud to have her at The Athletic.”
The Patriots had no comment on the situation, in response to an inquiry from PFT.
Again, it’s an inherently private issue. But both have become public figures. And both have provided comments on the situation.
The photos ultimately are what they are. Whether they are innocent or not (or whether “many people” were present) will be in the eye of the beholder, and reasonable minds may differ on what the images depict. Whether anything comes from it remains to be seen.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Patriots let it be known that they were set to release linebacker Marte Mapu.
They’ve now found a trade partner for him instead.
Per Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, the Texans have agreed to trade for Mapu with a late-round pick swap between the two teams.
Mapu, a third-round pick in the 2023 draft, appeared in 44 games with 10 starts for New England over the last three seasons, with his action m mostly being on special teams last season. He was on the field for 58 percent of the unit’s snaps and just 12 percent of defensive snaps in 2025.
Mapu is set to make $1.509 million in base salary for the final year of his rookie contract.
