The Patriots Just Introduced Four of Their Top Free Agents and Holy Moly I Am Ready to Run to a Wall Right Now

NFL Free Agency, like the Draft, is impossible for those of us on the outside to predict. You can draw up your list of available players you'd like to see added to your team because you think they'll be an upgrade from what you have. (Which is pretty much all of them when you've been 4-13 two seasons in a row.) But there are a billion factors we're not privy to. Talent assessments. System fits. Salary demands. Intangibles, and the like. 

So it's always helpful to hear not only from the guy making the final call on all these decisions, but the players who chose to sign with him, despite the fact they might have had better opportunities. And in that regard, this afternoon's press conference with Mike Vrabel and four of the Patriots early signings was exactly what a Patriots fans' soul needed. 

The major takeaway from all of it was that the number one consideration for Mike Vrabel's staff was to change the culture in Foxboro. The priority was to stock the roster with tough, reliable, high character types. To fill the locker room with Alphas. Then let the leaders emerge from the pack the way they have around here from Vrabel himself all the way to David Andrews (godspeed). The head coach/defacto GM said so without actually saying it. It was woven into every answer he gave.

And therein lies a great point. The benefit of having Vrabel as a head coach as opposed to a Jerod Mayo, is that he's around the NFL. Therefore he's been able to attract assistants who have as well. Meaning he's got a staff of guys who have worked with literally hundreds of players, and can assess them in the crucial elements that don't necessarily show up on film. So you can feel confident that say, Robert Spillane and Harold Landry are worth the money because Vrabel brought them into the league in Tennessee and Josh McDaniels coached them in Las Vegas. That Carlton Davis is worth the risk because Terrell Williams worked with him in Detroit.

And that door swings both ways when you've got a known commodity running the organization:

And to a person, all four of the signees they introduced at the presser are here precisely because they're bringing the work ethic and professionalism this team has been lacking. The new veteran right tackle who was brought to be a leader:

The No. 1 cornerback on the market who likes to work with top corners like Christian Gonzalez because "iron sharpens iron":

The who's known the coach since Vrabel tried to recruit him to Ohio State, and known McDaniels since became a 140-plus tackle LB under his watch:

And finally the big fish they landed in Milton Williams, who needs no introduction after a Super Bowl in which he had two sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, two TFLs, and could've been MVP. Oh, and who had two passes defensed in the NFC championship game. Williams was the youngest top tier free agent to hit the market. And the attitude to match:

The Prime Directive since the offseason began was to change this team's entire approach to the way football is played. And while I'll confess that after the last few years of watching this franchise drifting aimlessly toward the bottom of the standings, I'm an easy lay at this point. But right now I'd have to say it's so far, so good. But there's no reason to stop signing more guys like these.