According to reports, the Patriots made their first addition in free agency by reuniting former Titans edge rusher Harold Landry with head coach Mike Vrabel on a three-year contract.
Landry initially joined the Titans as the 41st overall pick in Vrabel's first draft as Titans head coach. The Boston College product would have three consecutive seasons with at least nine sacks, including a career-high 12.0 sacks when he made the Pro Bowl in 2021. Tennessee released Landry in a cap-saving maneuver with a post-June 1 designation following a nine-sack season, opening the door for him to sign in New England.
Adding the 28-year-old is a good start towards improving the Patriots defense. Last season, New England ranked 29th in team pressure rate, 28th in rush DVOA, and last in the NFL in sacks (28). As a result, Vrabel and personnel chief Eliot Wolf stressed the importance of fortifying the trenches during their media appearances at the NFL Scouting Combine last month.
Landry is a "nuts and bolts" free agent who is a starting-caliber player at his position and fits the more attack-minded scheme that many anticipate the Patriots to run next season. At his best, Landry wins with excellent play speed, bend to turn a tight corner, and instincts in the run game to beat blockers to their landmarks at the point of attack.
After reviewing last season's tape from Landry's nine-sack, 26 run-stop campaign, here are some thoughts on New England's first notable addition to the roster this offseason.
Pass Rush
Although the sack totals looked good in the box score, Landry took a slight step back in terms of pass-rush productivity with the Titans last season.
According to Pro Football Focus, Landry's pass-rush win rate of 4.8% ranked last among 95 qualified edge defenders during the 2024 season, with 30 total pressures on 423 pass-rush snaps. Here were Landry's win rates in his five prior seasons: 10.3%, 7.7%, 7.5%, 6.1%, and 7.9%. Landry's career-low win rate a year ago was an outlier following a defensive scheme change in Tennessee. Hopefully, Landry's pass-rushing output will return to form by reuniting with Vrabel and Pats DC Terrell Williams.
As a pass rusher, Landry's calling cards are his first-step explosiveness, bend/flexibility to turn a tight corner, and longer strides to corner the edge. Landry lacks ideal length, but masks that with his ability to convert speed-to-power and dip around tackles' punches with a great "ghost" rush. According to NextGen Stats, Landry had the fastest "get off" among edge rushers at 0.72 seconds, showing that he can still win with pure speed.
In terms of foundational rush moves, Landry's "ghost" rush is his go-to move, but he sets that up by being able to collapse the pocket by converting speed to power. Above, Landry uses a bull rush on the right tackle to sack Texans QB C.J. Stroud in the end zone for a safety. Landry is a very efficient mover off the ball, with long strides and zero wasted movement, allowing him to walk the right tackle back into the quarterback.
Once he establishes his bull rush, Landry can really go to work by using the ghost move to bend the corner and rip through the tackles' punch. In this example, Landry bluffs the long arm to get the right tackle to brace for power and then unlocks that bend to limbo underneath the blocker and uses that rip finisher to clear his frame to flatten out his rush for a sack.
The other way Landry can be effective in the pass rush is as a "wrap" player on stunt schemes. Landry logged a 9.45 relative athletic score out of 10 at the 2018 combine, so he's a "plus" athlete with good change-of-direction and closing burst. Therefore, he's a skilled rusher wrapping around picks from teammates and can clean up by closing the middle of the pocket. Above, Landry runs a T/E stunt with Titans DT Jeffery Simmons. Simmons gets the inside penetration to free up Landry to wrap around through the middle of the pocket. Landry finishes the job when then-Jets QB Aaron Rodgers steps up in the pocket.
Landry's burst and bend that made him a top-50 draft pick and a highly productive player in his Titans career are there in flashes. He's most dangerous as a speed rusher off the edge. Last season, Landry's counter moves off his speed rushes, power (bull) or inside counters (crossover), were less effective, which might explain his dip in production. Still, Landry can be a useful one-on-one pass rusher and operate within a pass-rush plan, whether on stunts or dropping into coverage to simulate pressure.
Run Defense
The other intriguing aspect of the Landry signing is how effective the veteran is vs. the run, allowing him to play in all situations throughout his career.
New England has rotated on the edge situationally in recent years, swapping out early-down edge setters (Anfernee Jennings) with situational pass-rushers (Joshua Uche), which might've hurt their early-down pass rush. Furthermore, the Pats run defense was 28th in DVOA after ranking third the season prior. Last season, Landry led all Titans linebackers with an 83.1% snap rate while posting a career-best 82.2 run defense grade via PFF (fifth among EDGE). The veteran also logged 26 run stops, ranking sixth among edge defenders.
Landry made "splash" plays in the backfield by using his great burst to beat blockers to the point of attack. For example, the Jags try to run a counter scheme toward Landry, pulling the left guard from the backside to block him. However, Landry's anticipation and explosiveness allow him to shoot into the backfield before the puller can get him blocked.
This time, the Colts are running a split-flow zone scheme where the tight end is working across the line of scrimmage to block Landry. Once again, Landry's aggressive approach allows him to beat the "sift" block by the tight end to make another play behind the line of scrimmage.
Along with making plays by flying upfield, Landry can also set a sturdy edge. Above, Washington is running a gap-read scheme with QB Jayden Daniels keeping the ball when the "read" defender crashes toward the inside run. Landry does well to post up on the outside shoulder of the tight end, so when Daniels attempts to turn the corner, Landry is waiting.
Based on comments from Vrabel, the Patriots want to play a more aggressive brand of defense. Rather than building a wall to hold the point of attack, New England could allow defenders to fly upfield more to make plays on the other side of the line of scrimmage. If that's the goal, Landry's Titans tape is filled with him wrecking run plays in the backfield.
Conclusion
To set themselves up for success next season, one roster-building theory for the Patriots this offseason was signing several mid-level free agents to improve the talent "floor" of the roster.
By adding productive veterans like Landry to the mix, New England can "take advantage of bad football," as Vrabel said in his introductory press conference. These might not be the flashiest signings, but hitting on a group of free agents in that mold can be highly lucrative. Take, for example, the Commanders last season. In 2001, former coach Bill Belichick added several veterans to a roster that eventually would win the Super Bowl. One of those savvy signings was Vrabel, who blossomed into a Pro Bowl-caliber defender on three championship teams with an increased role in the Pats defense compared to Pittsburgh's.
Landry is more of a household name than Vrabel was in 2001, but the hope is the results will be similar. By adding the former Titans Pro Bowler, the Patriots are getting a solid starter on the edge of the defense who can slide right into a high-snap volume role in a familiar defensive system.
With more signings in this mold, the Patriots can fill holes with NFL-caliber talent to accomplish two things. One, if the Pats had to line up to play a game tomorrow, they'd have serviceable starters across the roster. It will also allow New England's brass to make splashier moves by targeting the best available talent regardless of position, whether in the veteran market or the NFL Draft, to elevate the team's ceiling in 2025.
The Patriots are on the board this free agency period with the Landry signing, which many saw coming when the former Vrabel draft pick became available this offseason.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
