The Mike Vrabel–Dianna Russini scandal has transcended sports and become mainstream news, and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
While Vrabel has held a pair of press conferences to address the scandal, Russini has yet to speak out and tell her side of the story.
Now, some NFL analysts are wondering if the Patriots or even the NFL could step in and try to prevent Russini’s tell-all interview from happening with a settlement agreement or NDA.
Will the Patriots or NFL Try to Prevent Dianna Russini From Talking?
On 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Mazz,” Jim Murray speculated that Vrabel and the Patriots may try to prevent Russini from going public with her version of events.
As of now, the NFL has said that they won’t investigate this matter, and Vrabel has gotten through the worst of the controversy without losing his job. As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk has stated, that could change if Russini drops a bombshell or two.
“Let’s say Mike Vrabel goes to ownership and goes to Robert [Kraft] and says, ‘Look, I know I screwed up here. This could get worse.’ There’s a way to make this go away, and that’s an NDA, right? Open up that checkbook,” Murray said. “This is something Mike Florio talked about on Pro Football Talk, so I’m echoing that, but I could see it.
“If she says something that could exacerbate this and it could be bad for Vrabel… there will be some blowback and some people may think he’s gotta go. Some people already think he’s gotta go; I don’t. I’d like to see him back. But if he thinks the heat is going to be too bad, I could see him going to ownership and going, ‘Look, this needs to go away, you need to pay her off. That’s how we might not hear from her, and I think that’s well within reason.”
His co-host, Mike Felger, chimed in and agreed: “I think it’s the most likely scenario. I don’t even know if it’s the Patriots or the league, I’ll keep it opaque: the powers that be. She could do a lot of damage to the league. “It’s in a lot of people’s interest not to have Dianna Russini come out and do a tell-all.”
Essentially, the argument is that Vrabel and the Patriots (or even the NFL) could try to do whatever they can to help this story go away and avoid any additional bombshells.
Vrabel’s first year as head coach featured a historic turnaround, as the Patriots improved by 10 wins (going from 4-13 to 14-3) and advanced to the Super Bowl. New England boasted the NFL’s No. 2-ranked offense and No. 12-ranked defense according to PFSN’s Impact metrics, and Vrabel won the NFL’s Coach of the Year award.
Losing Vrabel would be a massive blow to the Patriots and their culture, which is why there’s speculation that they could step in and take extreme measures to protect him.
As Murray mentioned, Florio has stated that Vrabel could be “one development away from something that makes it impossible for him to return” as the Patriots’ head coach.
“I think that there is a non-zero chance he’s not the coach come Week 1. … One more photo dump. Or I think at some point, Russini is going to say, ‘I’ve got nothing to do but tell my story,'” Florio added. “What if she tells her story to the ‘Today Show’ or ’60 Minutes’? What does she say? Is that the tipping point where Mike Vrabel can’t coach the Patriots this year? So they better have a plan ready, because we’re one news cycle away, potentially, at any given moment, from him not being able to coach the team this year.”
At this point, Russini holds all of the cards. That is, unless the Patriots can get her to agree to stay silent so this story eventually fizzles out.
Kraft reportedly tried to kill the initial photos of Vrabel and Russini before they were published, so it’s not crazy to think he’ll get involved again, including opening his wallet to prevent further bombshells.
