Throughout his six-year career in the NFL, new Patriots signee Harold Landry has established himself as a solid and reliable edge rusher–maybe not among the star sackmasters of the game, but he has posted 31.5 sacks in his last three seasons on the field (he missed 2022 with a torn ACL). He posted a Pro Football Focus score of 70.5 last year, which rated No. 35 among 119 pass-rushers in the NFL.
But Landry has room for improvement, and that was one reason that the Patriots made him one of their top targets in free agency this winter, signing him to a three-year, $43 million contract.
Landry told ESPN’s Mike Reiss that a conversation about baseball with Pats assistant Mike Smith will be the precursor to a change in his approach this year. Landry said he is too repetitive with how he attacks tackles, and must do a better job disguising his looks.
“He’s telling us, ‘You’re like a pitcher, you want to make everything look the same so the tackle doesn’t know what’s coming.’ That’s something I’m focusing on this offseason, making sure all my moves look the same initially until the move actually happens,” Landry said.
Patriots Have Rebuilt Defensive Line
Landry will join former Eagles star Milton Williams on the Patriots’ rebuilt defensive line, which underachieved in 2024 as New England registered an NFL-low 26 sacks. A former star at Boston College, Landry is happy to be back in the area.
“I feel great,” he told Reiss. “I’m definitely excited about this new opportunity to come back here. I’m just trying to play my ass off. I know my family is super excited to get up here and I can’t wait for that.
“Just in the locker room, I feel like I mesh well with everybody. I feel like we’re building a great culture here right now. If we come out and take it one day at a time, and stack good days, and just come to work and everyone buys in, we have a chance to do something here. That’s exciting.”
Harold Landry’s Deep Connection to Mike Vrabel
It does not hurt that Landry is also reuniting with his former coach, Mike Vrabel, who is in his first season at the helm in New England. Vrabel was the Titans’ coach from 2018-23, for all but one year of Landry’s career. Landry was a second-round pick of Vrabel’s Titans in 2018.
As Landry said of Vrabel last month, “He’s meant a lot. He’s played a big role in my development as a player, and also as a person. I was excited to come back because he knows my skill set. He knows how I operate and how I think. Throughout my career, he and his staff have done a great job of putting me in positions to go out and be productive and help the team, and that’s what I’m looking forward to.
“That was one of the main reasons I came because I knew Vrabes and his staff knew me, the familiarity with the scheme and all of it. It just fits with what I do with my skill set.”
