New Marquee Addition Explains Why He Signed With Patriots

The Patriots on Wednesday announced Harold Landry as their first free-agent signing, and he’s thrilled to be on board.

Landry reportedly signed a three-year, $43.5 million deal with New England. The Boston College product reunited with Mike Vrabel, and the former Tennesee Titans linebacker explained why the Patriots were an “easy choice” for him.

“For me, I felt like it had to be the right fit, the right coaches and the right environment,” Landry said in a Patriots video. “And I felt like it was an easy choice for me to come back here to this area, the Boston area. It’s really where it all started. I met my wife at BC and really where I felt like my career took off as a football player.”

Landry continued and described Vrabel as a “super intense dude” and a “locker room guy.” The Pro Bowl linebacker projects to be one of the defensive leaders for Vrabel’s side.

“Knowing Vrabes and the staff he was putting together, I was getting excited to potentially have the opportunity to come and play with this staff,” Vrabel said. “I have good familiarity with the coaches, the scheme, and you really feel like you have a bright future here. You can feel the energy building around this organization, and it’s just exciting to be a New England Patriot. And I felt like that was the main thing for me was to come into a situation where I felt like I could come in and help, be productive and help set the culture and help set everything up.

The Patriots also reportedly agreed to deals with Milton Williams and Carlton Davis, so the defense should be stout under Vrabel. New England still needs to upgrade the offense, but the new head coach should be happy with the first wave of free-agent deals.