The Patriots had only Tommy DeVito behind starter Drake Maye until Saturday. That’s when they used a seventh-round pick on Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton, making him the 234th overall pick.
Morton is the ninth quarterback selected in the 2026 draft, although LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier isn’t one of those.
Morton finished last season with 2,780 yards passing with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions in 12 games. He missed two games with a hairline fracture in his right leg.
Morton spent five seasons in Lubbock, starting 3 1/2 of those seasons. He started 36 games, going 26-10 and completing 62.8 percent of his passes for 8,989 yards with 71 touchdowns and 28 interceptions.
As Patriots coach Mike Vrabel misses a fairly important work day due to the controversy that has consumed the NFL for 18 days, there’s a fairly important question to ask about Vrabel’s relationship with owner Robert Kraft.
Was Vrabel honest with Kraft from the start?
Either Vrabel didn’t tell Kraft the truth about what happened, or Vrabel did and the strong public statement regarding the initial photos of Vrabel and reporter Dianna Russini (he called the situation “laughable”) were a calculated (and misguided) P.R. effort from the Patriots organization.
Regardless, it’s clear that Kraft is a strong proponent of telling the truth when it comes to landing in a troubling spot.
Rodney Harrison, a member of the Patriots Hall of Fame, admitted to using a performance-enhancing substance in 2007. He later explained the message he received from Kraft.
“When I was going through the situation and Mr. Kraft pulled me to the side, he said, ‘Look buddy, I love you. All I want you to do is be completely honest with everything. Don’t lie. Be honest,’” Harrison said at the time. “And that was the thing I really tried to do. [Kraft] says, ‘Hey, deal with the consequences, but you always come out better when you tell the truth.’ And that’s what I did. That’s the only advice I give to any of these athletes. We see when you lie what happens.”
We’ve seen what happened since Vrabel first provided this quote to the New York Post: “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable. This doesn’t deserve any further response.”
When asked by reporters on Thursday to explain the shift from calling the situation “laughable” to missing the third day of the draft to attend counseling, Vrabel said, “That’s a private and personal matter. I don’t think that those comments — I think that that was an attempt to protect your family. And I would never be dismissive.”
But he was dismissive. The plan to “protect your family” (or perhaps to protect yourself from your family) was to insist it was nothing, and that anyone who believes otherwise is misguided.
In hindsight, everyone would have been better off if the truth had been told from the get-go. The denials from Vrabel and Russini operated as a Gary Hart-style dare to prove them wrong.
So, again, what did Vrabel say to Kraft when the photos first emerged? And how does Kraft feel about that?
Don’t expect any late-night statements to be issued on that point, even if it’s the most important long-term ramification flowing from the entire situation.
When Berj Najarian left Boston College in December 2025, the question became whether he’d reunite with Bill Belichick at North Carolina.
That’s not going to be happening.
Via Pete Thamel of ESPN, Najarian has taken a job at Michigan. He becomes the assistant general manager/strategy, with the job of assisting new coach Kyle Whittingham as to contracts, negotiations, and “strategy for the new college sports landscape.”
Najarian served as Belichick’s right-hand man for 24 years in New England. When Belichick took the job at Carolina, Najarian was already working for Bill O’Brien at Boston College.
The connection to Belichick nevertheless endured. An April 2025 email from Belichick regarding publicity for his book (which Jordon Hudson posted on social media during the kerfuffle following his disastrous CBS interview), showed “Berj” as a recipient. That raised an interesting question regarding whether and to what extent Najarian (unless Belichick would be sending the email to some other “Berj”) was collaborating with the head coach of a conference rival to his current employer.
So why wouldn’t Najarian rejoin Belichick? As noted in December, the elephant in the room may have been North Carolina G.M. Mike Lombardi.
Last year, Pablo Torre reported that Najarian was one of multiple key Patriots employees who complained about Mike Lombardi during his stint with the Patriots, resulting in Lombardi being ousted. (Lombardi has claimed he left voluntarily.)
Or maybe it’s as simple as Najarian seeing a more viable future in Ann Arbor, where things are just getting started, than in Chapel Hill, where another lackluster season could mean things will be coming to an end for Belichick and company.
The Patriots have traded up for the second time in two rounds.
After moving up to snag offensive lineman Caleb Lomu in the first round, the Patriots made a swap with the Chargers to get in position to take former Illinois defensive end Gabe Jacas.
The Chargers will receive the 63rd, 131st, and 202nd picks in exchange for giving up their original pick.
Jacas spent the last four seasons at Illinois and had 11 sacks during his final college season. He also led the team in sacks in 2024 and had the team high in tackles for loss both seasons as well.
New England has six more picks over the final five rounds.
The Patriots used a first-round pick on an offensive lineman for the second straight year and faced questions about where that player will line up for the second straight year.
Will Campbell’s selection in 2025 was met with questions about whether he might line up at guard because of his short arms, but the Patriots started him at left tackle as a rookie. Campbell struggled in the postseason, which meant that Thursday night’s selection of another college left tackle in Caleb Lomu led to executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf being asked about where he’ll end up.
“Will’s the left tackle,” Wolf said, via a transcript from the team. “And like I said, Caleb has some versatility. So, we feel like some of the pro day workouts that he did were on the right side and we were comfortable with that. But again, he’s very athletic, so I don’t think either side will be a problem for him.”
The Patriots have veteran right tackle Morgan Moses returning for 2026 as well and Wolf was asked if Lomu could wind up at guard.
“I think it’s possible,” Wolf said. “Again, that’s maybe one that we’ll see a little bit more when he gets here. But just from a physical athletic standpoint, I don’t see a reason that he couldn’t.”
Whatever route the Patriots wind up taking on the line, they’ll need the group to be stouter than the one that fell short against the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.
