Patriots' Mike Vrabel Gives Vague Answer When Asked About Gabe Jacas' Contract Situation

Patriots’ Mike Vrabel Gives Vague Answer When Asked About Gabe Jacas’ Contract Situation originally appeared on NESN.
Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The New England Patriots started mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, and second-round draft pick Gabe Jacas remains unsigned.

Mike Vrabel was asked about which players were in attendance for the mandatory minicamp, and he noted that all players under contract were in attendance. Gabe Jacas is the only Patriots draft pick yet to sign his rookie contract, and Vrabel confirmed that he is not in attendance as he is not under contract. Vrabel also mentioned that Jacas underwent some kind of procedure recently.

Vrabel was asked whether he believes Jacas’ absence is related to the recent trend of second-round picks holding out for better terms on their rookie contracts. He dodged the question with a vague response, simply restating that he is not under contract.

“I don’t attribute it to anything other than he’s not here, and that he’s not under contract at this current time,” Vrabel said to reporters on Tuesday. “I don’t want to say that there’s a reason for it, other than that that’s what it is right now.”

The Patriots’ pass rush was not great last year. They had just 35 sacks as a team in the regular season. The team signed Dre’Mont Jones and drafted Jacas to try and get more sacks this season. Jacas’ procedure may impact him even when he does take the field, but it does not seem like that will happen until he signs his contract.

He dealt with a hamstring injury before the draft that kept him out of the NFL Combine and Illinois Pro Day. It’s unclear iof the procedure is related to that. Over the last few years, NFL teams have seen second-round picks wait to sign their contracts in hopes of getting better terms. Just last year, the Patriots had to wait until mid-July to agree to terms with TreVeyon Henderson.

More NFL: Patriots Declined Multiple A.J. Brown Trade Packages, Months Of Negotiations