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BREAKING: Patriots sign Jack Gibbens in NFL free agency. What can Mike Vrabel do with Jack Gibbens?

Posted on March 20, 2025 - 11:23 am by

Even though most of the big names on the market have been accounted for, the New England Patriots keep making moves in free agency. Their latest came on Wednesday, when they added former Tennessee Titans linebacker Jack Gibbens via a one-year contract.

Full details of the deal are not yet known, but we can already assess what signing the 26-year-old means for the team from a big picture perspective.

Christian Elliss replacement?

Signing Gibbens was not the Patriots’ only linebacker-related move on Wednesday. Christian Elliss, who was originally tendered at the original/undrafted level by the club, signed a restricted free agent offer sheet with the Las Vegas Raiders. New England has until Monday to either match the offer or watch Elliss depart.

How does Gibbens tie into that? At first glance, he appears to be a possible replacement should New England decide to let Elliss leave. However, while he would fill a rotational role in the Patriots’ linebacker room, their skillsets are different.

Whereas Elliss is better suited as a coverage linebacker, Gibbens projects as more of an early-down presence.

In his last year with Mike Vrabel as his head coach in Tennessee in 2023, Gibbens played 316 run snaps versus 290 in coverage and 22 as a pass rusher. The numbers are a reflection of his performance, too: Gibbens seems more comfortable attacking downhill than dropping back.

That said, he did make some strides in that area as well over the course of his three-year career. If the Patriots do feel comfortable in this part of the game, they very well might see him as a player suited to take over for Elliss. Come Monday, we will get an answer.

More linebacker movement

With Gibbens in the fold, the Patriots now have eight off-the-ball linebackers under contract for the 2025 season as a look at our regularly updated depth chart shows. That number includes the aforementioned Christian Elliss, whose future with the team is in question with the Raiders going after him:

Linebacker (8): Robert Spillane (14), Ja’Whaun Bentley (8), Jack Gibbens (–), Jahlani Tavai (48), Christian Elliss (53), Curtis Jacobs (52), Monty Rice (45), Andrew Parker Jr. (47)

What exactly the linebacker depth chart will look like remains to be seen. All we know at the moment is that Robert Spillane, who joined the team on a three-year, $33 million contract, projects as a starter while Gibbens will mostly be a rotational player with definitive two-down value and upside as a three-down defender as well.

Besides Elliss’ future, there also are questions about the Patriots’ previous starting duo, Ja’Whaun Bentley and Jahlani Tavai. Both are bigger players at the position, and might not be seen as fits for what Mike Vrabel and coordinator Terrell Williams have in mind for their defense. They remain on the roster, but are definitive players to watch moving forward.

Special teams help

Based on the composition of the Patriots’ linebacker group at the moment, Gibbens should fit into the mix in some capacity. However, it seems likely that playing defense is not entirely why he was signed: he also has extensive special teams experience and could become a major factor in the kicking game, depending on what his defensive role will ultimately look like.

Over the course of his three-year career in the NFL, he has played a total of 466 special teams snaps split between five units: he has played on kickoff return (142), punt coverage (116), field goal/extra point block (72), punt return (71) and kickoff coverage (65), registering a combined seven tackles along the way.

At the very least, he will be another option for special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer to consider.

More familiarity

By now it has become no secret that the Mike Vrabel-led Patriots put an emphasis on culture fits and players they have familiarity with. Gibbens is the latest example of that, arriving in New England after spending two years with Vrabel in Tennessee.

He shares that distinction with fellow defender Harold Landry, who signed a three-year, $43.5 million contract with the Patriots earlier in free agency. The rest of the team’s free agency class — with a handful of exceptions — also has some ties to New England’s staff.

While that is natural to a degree given that there are only so many coaching opportunities and roster spot available on the league’s 32 teams, New England has made it clear that it values personal history in its acquisition both on and off the field. That is one of the biggest changes to the previous regime under one-and-done head coach Jerod Mayo, whose network in the league was far smaller than Mike Vrabel’s.