Stefon Diggs' knee injury threw him into a realm of uncertainty he hasn't encountered since he entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick in 2015.
Those worries didn't dissuade the Patriots from pursuing him.
Diggs' three-year, $69 million deal confirmed his standing in the NFL as a playmaker, and while he's headed toward his 32nd birthday in November, his new coach sees plenty of value in Diggs -- especially in how he can help promising quarterback Drake Maye.
"Just trying to make sure we're supporting Drake and supporting the football team," Vrabel said of signing Diggs during an appearance on the "Green Light with Chris Long" podcast. "This is a highly competitive, confident receiver that has produced throughout his career in multiple ways. Play style, he's got a play strength to him that you see. He can play physical, route craft, good at the catch point, good in the red zone. There's a play style to him that I've always appreciated and that we want to continue to enhance and make sure that he's doing things to help us.
"His conversation, demeanor, his attitude and his presence have been great through our conversations. Hopefully we can continue to add good players."
With the power of roughly $120 million in cap space at their disposal, New England has been collecting notable talent throughout this offseason. Diggs followed the likes of defensive tackle Milton Williams, linebacker Robert Spillane, edge rushers Harold Landry and K'Lavon Chaisson, offensive tackle Morgan Moses and center Garrett Bradbury (among many others) to New England, where the Patriots are attempting to transform one of the most talent-deficient rosters into a competitive group.
"In free agency, you have to know these players, you have to know what the person that you're getting and that's going to be in your building, and you have to believe in that," Vrabel said of the Patriots' many signings this spring. "Because it can be a slippery slope sometimes when you go down free agency and one thing that Morgan said that I'm going to remind everybody is that you don't need miracles to win games in the NFL -- you just have to get the right people in the building, and that's what we're trying to do.
"We're trying to get the right player in the building at the right time. And that's through free agency, through the draft, that's through post-draft, that could be going with camp if guys are still out there or at the end of camp maybe somebody gets released. There's a lot of ways we can continue to add to the competition of this roster. When we were really good here -- again, that's not going to help us but tell us what the blueprint is and the history — but there was competition in every position. There was competition at the linebacker spots, the edge spots, up front, and I think that really, obviously, makes everybody better."
The Patriots added Diggs with competition in mind, ultimately with the goal of raising the organization's ceiling. Their fall from greatness was drastic, but with Vrabel leaning on his experience gained from winning three Super Bowls in New England, the Patriots are building toward a resurgence they hope comes sooner rather than later.
The Patriot Way as it was known might be a thing of the past. After his ACL tear, Diggs might never be the same receiver he once was. But it's clear New England isn't shying from trying to bring the franchise back to relevance -- and they're leaving few, if any stones unturned.
