FOXBORO — The decision was an easy one for Harold Landry after he was released by the Titans in early March.
A free agent for the first time in his career, Landry liked what his former head coach, Mike Vrabel, was building with the Patriots.
So, he signed a three-year, $43.5 million contract with the Patriots on the eve of free agency.
“This was definitely a place that I wanted to be,” Landry said Tuesday. “I was getting excited about the staff he was putting together, and I just felt like this was the right place for me. I’m excited to be here.”
It helps that Landry, who was selected in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Boston College, is familiar with the area, as well. He drove around Chestnut Hill with his wife recently and was amazed at the renovations his alma mater had made.
It’s also obvious from hearing Landry talk about his experience with Vrabel why he wanted to play for the former Titans head coach again. The Titans were 54-45 under Vrabel during Landry’s tenure, making the playoffs three straight seasons from 2019 to 2021.
“I feel like one of the main jobs for a head coach is to make sure your team’s prepared situationally,” Landry said. “And all I know is, as long as I played for Vrabes, there was never a situation I wasn’t prepared for. Like, I don’t care what the score was in the fourth quarter. I don’t know. We just always had a feeling that we was going to pull this out. Didn’t matter what the score was going into the fourth and we just always found a way to win. It’s crazy. We just found a way to win. And that was just kind of the mentality. We just didn’t think we could lose, to be honest, no matter what was going on in the game.”
The Patriots didn’t have reason to believe that last season when they went 4-13 under head coach Jerod Mayo. They went 4-13 under Bill Belichick in 2023, as well, and haven’t made the postseason since 2021.
Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones had a more brief encounter with Vrabel, taking a pre-draft visit with the Titans in 2022. He’s also come away with a strong impression of his new head coach.
“He’s a great guy, when I met him back then, and I’m happy to be back in the building,” Jones said. “And he brings that excitement. And then also he’s one of those guys to where whenever we are doing something, he likes to be hands-on. So just having that in the building, and this, you know, the excitement, having the music playing and everything like that, in the hallways it’s great to be around.”
Jones expects Vrabel to keep up his tradition of getting involved in practice drills by grabbing a blocking pad to help out the defensive line.
Vrabel doesn’t just bring the energy on the practice field. Landry sees his head coach as an “upbeat” personality.
“He wants everybody to be excited when they come to work,” Landry said. “He’s big on that. He’s big on energy.
“Everybody looks at him as this head coach, but he really, he’s really just one of the boys, a locker room guy. I really mean that. He wants to get to know you, know about your family and everything that goes along with being in a relationship with you. … He’s big on treating you how you treat the team. You treat the team with respect, he’s got nothing but respect for you.”
Landry said another primary reason why he wanted to play under Vrabel again was the coach’s ability to put him in the best position to succeed.
The edge defender played five seasons under Vrabel (he missed 2022 with a torn ACL) and registered 41.5 sacks, two interceptions, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, 326 tackles, 55 tackles for loss and 87 QB hits from 2018 to 2023.
“I was excited to come back because he knows my skill set,” Landry said. “He knows how I operate, and I think throughout my career, he and his staff have done a great job of putting me in positions to go out and be productive and help the team, and that’s what I’m looking forward to, and that was one of the main reasons why I came here, because I knew Vrabes and his staff knew me, the familiarity with the scheme and all of it, it just fits.”
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