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New England Patriots reportedly knew about the Vrabel-Russini situation before hiring Mike Vrabel, according to a radio host.

The Patriots allegedly knew about the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini situation before hiring Vrabel, Boston radio hosts claimed Monday. The controversy took another turn when WEEI radio hosts raised a pointed question that nobody inside Gillette Stadium seems eager to answer: Did the New England Patriots already know about their head coach’s relationship with former The Athletic reporter Dianna Russini when they hired him in January 2025?

WEEI hosts Adam Jones and Tim Keefe argued on-air that the photos connecting Vrabel and Russini had been circulating within NFL circles long enough that the organization almost certainly knew about them. The photo trail stretches back years, to a New York City bar encounter in 2020, a Mississippi casino in January 2024, and ultimately the now-viral images at the Ambiente Sedona resort in Arizona on March 28 of this year, which New York Post Page Six first published.

If true, it raises new questions about what the Patriots knew and when they knew it.

“The whole league kind of knew what was going on and everybody just kind of chose to look the other way,” Jones said on the broadcast. “I find it hard to believe the whole league is gossiping about Vrabel and Russini and what they’re up to — this has been going on for at least six years — and the Patriots had no idea.”

Jones added that Vrabel’s continued prominent role during the first two days of NFL Draft weekend in Foxborough may itself be a tell.

“If the Patriots and the Krafts were blindsided by this, that is where Vrabel could get in some trouble,” he said. “If they had an idea what was going on and it started to unravel and they asked Vrabel about it and they’re like, come clean and he told the truth, then that’s probably why he’s here.”

Whether the Patriots were surprised or fully aware could shape how this story is judged inside New England.

Mike Vrabel’s Status With Patriots Amid Ongoing Scrutiny

For now, the Patriots are standing behind their coach. The organization released a statement expressing full support for Vrabel’s decision to step away from Day 3 of the draft to begin counseling, calling it a reflection of his commitment to his family and the team. The Patriots also confirmed that football executive Eliot Wolf and the personnel staff ran Saturday’s draft operations without Vrabel present.

Wolf told reporters that the time away was genuine and not a working absence.

“So last night, we kind of talked through things and made the decision that the time away really needs to be time away,” Wolf said, according to MassLive‘s Mark Daniels. “We were not in contact with Mike today other than some ‘hope everything’s going okay’ kind of text early this morning.”

Vrabel returned to the Patriots facility by Monday, according to an EssentiallySports report. In his absence Saturday, New England selected six players, including cornerback Karon Prunty, offensive tackle Dametrious Crownover, and quarterback Behren Morton.

Meanwhile, Page Six obtained new photos showing Vrabel at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Saturday, purchasing what appeared to be a baby blue women’s sweatsuit at a store called Hip & Humble, believed to be a gift for his wife, Jen Vrabel. Vrabel and Jen own a home in Park City, Utah. He was still wearing his wedding ring. Jen Vrabel was not photographed with him at any point during the trip.

Russini Exit and New Legal Questions Emerge

The situation for Russini continues to unfold separately. After The Athletic launched an internal investigation, she resigned on April 14, citing the public inquiry in which she said she had no interest in participating.

“This media frenzy is hurtling forward without regard for the review process The Athletic is trying to complete,” Russini said in her statement. She also deactivated her X account, which had carried a substantial following built over more than 15 years in sports journalism at NBC, ESPN, and The Athletic.

Her husband, Shake Shack executive Kevin Goldschmidt, has taken the opposite approach. He remains active on LinkedIn and other public platforms rather than retreating from view, according to The Spun‘s Andrew Holleran. The couple married in September 2020 and have two children.

Legal questions also linger around the original Sedona photographs. Sports law analyst Michael McCann wrote in Sportico that the Ambiente resort explicitly prohibits photography of other guests in common areas, raising the possibility that the images constitute a civil or even criminal privacy violation under Arizona law, which bars knowingly photographing someone with a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The New England Patriots face a full offseason with their coach at the center of a story that shows no sign of abating. Whether New England knew beforehand may become the defining question of Vrabel’s first full offseason as Patriots coach.