With voluntary offseason workouts in full swing, one key member of the Patriots’ offense hasn’t been volunteering to show up.
As noted by Mike Reiss of ESPN, Boutte has been working out on his own.
Yes, it’s not mandatory (except for the annual mandatory minicamp). But it makes sense to be there; if a player suffers a serious injury while working out on his own, the team has the prerogative to deem it a non-football injury and not pay him.
It’s unclear why Boutte isn’t there. The sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft is currently eligible for a new contract, and he’s entering the final year of his rookie deal at a base salary of $3.674 million. He’s possibly withholding services while he angles for a financial reward.
Boutte has had his moments, even if he’s never had more than 589 receiving yards in any of his three NFL seasons. He had three catches for 75 yards and a touchdown during the divisional-round win over the Texans in January.
The arrival of Romeo Doubs via free agency will complicate Boutte’s attempt to have the kind of fourth season that will set him up for a solid free-agency deal. The expected trade for A.J. Brown will only make things more difficult for Boutte.
Whatever the reason(s), Boutte isn’t there for voluntary workouts. Whether he’ll be there beyond the 2026 season remains to be seen; it’s entirely possible that, once Brown arrives (if a trade with the Eagles happens after June 1), the Patriots will make Boutte available to any other interested team.
Tom Brady has spent the past two seasons working as a broadcaster for Fox. He has yet to call a game in New England.
That will change this season.
Fox announced that Brady will be in the booth for the Patriots’ Week 9 game against the Packers, which is set for a 4:25 p.m. kickoff.
“He’s backkkkk,” Fox wrote in a social media post.
It seems a certainty that the Patriots will honor Rob Gronkowski at that game. The former tight end was recently elected into the Patriots Hall of Fame, and the team announced last month that the date of Gronkowski’s induction would be announced at a later date.
Brady spent 20 seasons with the Patriots, winning six of his seven Super Bowls there. Gronkowski played with Brady for nine seasons in New England and two in Tampa.
Brady retired in the 2023 offseason.
If you had the over on 2.5 references to the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini situation in the Chargers’ release video, go get your money.
The Halo-themed presentation by the Chargers makes three references to the story of the offseason.
In the portion of the video devoted to the Week 12 Sunday night game against the Patriots, a road sign says “Next Photo Dump 1 mile.” Then, a box emerges in the lower right corner of the screen that says this: “NYPost has sent you a message.”
Finally, the credits include a reference to the Spotify playlist that Internet sleuths discovered last month. “Operation Playlist” expands from a series of options, with a reference to the date on which the playlist emerged: December 18, 2022 — one day after Vrabel’s Titans lost their fourth game in a row.
To the Chargers.
The video also includes a reference to the final score of the game: 17-14.
It’s no surprise that the Chargers found a way to make the point, without making it too obvious or overtly embarrassing to anyone involved.
It’s on brand for the Chargers to treat nothing as being off limits. And the Vrabel-Russini situation could not be ignored, Dan.
Yes, the 2026 NFL regular season opens with the same game that ended the 2025 postseason. It’ll be a Super Bowl rematch in Seattle, with the Seahawks hosting the Patriots on the night the defending champions hang a banner.
It’s an interesting choice, to say the least. The Super Bowl wasn’t close. And that was at a neutral site. In Seattle, what will happen?
The Seahawks have opened as 3.5-point favorites at DraftKings. Our guess is that will move in Seattle’s direction.
Beyond the game, the selection of the Patriots will bring into focus the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini situation. It will require NBC to deal with the issue, at some point during the broadcast.
It also opens the door, frankly, for a potential sit-down by Russini with Oprah (or whoever) on Tuesday, September 8.
Look at it this way. Memorial Day is coming. Things will slow down during the summer months. Labor Day lands on Monday, September 7. With the Patriots-Seahawks game only two days later, Tuesday night becomes the perfect time to attract maximum attention — and to create maximum chaos.
Russini may not decide to tell her story on the record. If she does, Tuesday, September 8, has instantly become the perfect night to do it.
We don’t know if Fernando Mendoza will be starting at quarterback for the Raiders in Week 1 of the regular season, but we do know who the Raiders will be playing in the first overall pick’s potential debut.
The NFL’s schedule reveal on Thursday night shows that the Raiders will host the Dolphins at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 13. The game will be on Fox.
Mendoza will have to get the nod over Kirk Cousins in order to start for the Raiders. Offseason addition Malik Willis is expected to make his first appearance for the Dolphins. Both teams will definitely have head coaches making their offseason debut as Las Vegas hired Klint Kubiak in February and Miami hired Jeff Hafley in January.
Sunday will also feature a pair of divisional games in the late afternoon window. The Packers will visit the Vikings while the Commanders will be in Philadelphia to renew their acquaintance with the Eagles. The NFC North matchup will be on CBS while the NFC East clash will be broadcast by Fox.
The other late game on Sunday afternoon will see the Cardinals visiting the Chargers on CBS. Arizona could have Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew or rookie Carson Beck at quarterback for that contest.
The 1 p.m. ET games will send the Bills to Houston for a date with the Texans while the Browns go on the road against the Jaguars. The Colts will host the Ravens, the Saints will visit the Lions, the Buccaneers will travel to Cincinnati for Dexter Lawrence’s first game as a Bengal, and the Steelers will kick off the Mike McCarthy era — with or without Aaron Rodgers — at home against the Falcons.
Previous reports revealed that the Jets will be in Tennessee and that the Bears will head to Charlotte to face the Panthers. The Jets-Titans game will be on CBS along with the Bills-Texans, Ravens-Colts and Browns-Jaguars games. All the other 1 p.m. games will be on Fox.
The entire Week 1 slate will kick off on Wednesday, September 9 with a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl rematch in Seattle on NBC. Thursday will bring a Netflix game between the 49ers and Rams in the NFL’s first game in Melbourne and Sunday night will find the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium to meet the Giants on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Those games were all announced ahead of Thursday’s full schedule reveal, which was also the case for the ESPN Monday night game between the Broncos and Chiefs in Kansas City.
