The scandal involving Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini dominated the NFL offseason, unlike anything in recent memory. A steady stream of details dating back to 2020 led Russini to resign from The Athletic on April 14, before its internal investigation concluded, and prompted Vrabel to miss the third day of the draft to begin counseling.
The noise around Vrabel and Russini has faded as training camps approach, but the story isn’t closed. The Athletic’s investigation remains ongoing, and Tony Farmer, who has covered the scandal extensively, raised a new question this week about what the league may have missed.
Tony Farmer Hints at Mike Vrabel’s Patriots Tampering Through Dianna Russini
Farmer hinted at how Vrabel’s alleged relationship with Russini may have revealed how the New England Patriots conducted business. On March 9, 2025, one day before the legal tampering period opened, Russini reported that New York Jets offensive tackle Morgan Moses was “expected to hit free agency.”
However, the now-deleted post included a graphic of Moses alongside the Patriots’ logo. She deleted and reposted it without the Patriots logo, but Moses signed with New England less than 24 hours later on a three-year, $24 million deal.
“People completely misunderstand the implications of Dianna Russini’s deleted Morgan Moses tweet [2025],” Farmer wrote. “It’s not potential evidence of wrongdoing between Russini and Vrabel. It’s potential evidence of alleged wrongdoing by the Patriots (tampering) and evidence Russini and Vrabel talked about that alleged wrongdoing by New England.”
“People on X called for an investigation at the time,” he added. “Most journalists and the NFL completely ignored it. If the NFL had investigated, it might have learned that Vrabel and Russini are close.”
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Farmer’s distinction shifts the framing from an off-field scandal to a potential violation of league rules.
Russini blamed her photo editor at the time, but given the alleged affair between her and Vrabel, her mistake is even more interesting in hindsight. Did she have inside knowledge from Vrabel that Moses was planning to sign with New England? And if so, is it because the Patriots were in contact with the free agent before the legal tampering period opened?
The post about Moses isn’t the only reporting thread under scrutiny. Russini was among the first to report a rift between A.J. Brown and the Philadelphia Eagles as early as September 2025, consistently identifying the Patriots as a likely destination.
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Brown was eventually traded to New England on June 1, and many have projected Russini as the driving force behind the wide receiver’s reunion with Vrabel.
As of now, the NFL has shown no appetite for investigating the tampering angle, but that could change if additional evidence surfaces. For now, the league appears content to let The Athletic’s internal investigation serve as the only response to a story that could raise many big questions about Vrabel, the Patriots, and other teams around the league.
