Mike Vrabel firing foreshadows bad news for the NY Jets

The NY Jets have made it clear that they don't plan to make any coaching changes this offseason, but while the Jets sit on their hands, a number of top coaching candidates have been made available. Mike Vrabel is the latest highly-touted name to join that list.

The Tennessee Titans made the controversial decision to fire Vrabel on Tuesday, bringing his successful six-year tenure with the organization to an abrupt halt. Vrabel is expected to be one of the hottest coaching candidates on the market in years.

He joins the likes of Jim Harbaugh, Ben Johnson, Raheem Morris, Mike MacDonald, and potentially even Bill Belichick in a star-studded lineup of head coach candidates.

While that's already bad news for a Jets team that could very well be looking for a new head coach as early as next year, it's the latter of those five names that could be extra troublesome for both the Jets and the entire AFC East.

Mike Vrabel could haunt the NY Jets as the Patriots' next head coach

The New England Patriots have yet to make a decision on the future of Bill Belichick, but it's grown increasingly likely that the organization is ready to move on. The Vrabel firing could be what pushes them over the edge.

Vrabel has strong ties to the Patriots organization dating back to his time playing for the team between 2001 and 2008. New England's interest in him as a coach has been no secret over the years. It doesn't take much to connect the dots here.

The Patriots have long eyed Vrabel as a potential successor to Belichick, and with the former Coach of the Year now available, this would be the perfect time for New England to make the change.

Vrabel remains one of the most respected and revered coaches in the NFL. He helped lead the Titans to four consecutive winning seasons to start his head-coaching career, including an AFC Conference Game appearance in 2019 and a 12-win season in 2021.

The team's struggles this season have largely been due to a lack of overall talent, and you could very easily argue that Vrabel has still managed to overachieve with an inept Titans team each of the last two seasons.

As for the Patriots, they're in the midst of a transitional period following their worst season in over 30 years. Belichick has overstayed his welcome and, quite frankly, done a lot of damage to the organization over the last few years. They've been one of the league's worst drafting teams for quite some time now.

The Patriots are already in line to potentially add their quarterback of the future with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Now, they might land a top-level head coach as well. Not a bad recovery after one season of bottoming out.

New England seems like the most obvious destination for Vrabel after his shocking departure from Nashville. The Jets and the rest of the AFC East can't be happy.