Giants General Manager Has Huge Praise For Recent Patriots Hire

The New England Patriots have already done a lot this offseason, and free agency and the draft haven’t even happened yet.

The Patriots hired Mike Vrabel as their head coach, overhauled their coaching staff under Vrabel and made some notable changes to their front office.

One of those front office moves got a big thumbs up from New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen. Schoen had nothing but praise for the Patriots hiring Ryan Cowden away from the Giants. Cowden, who holds the title of vice president of player personnel with New England, served as Schoen’s executive advisor for the past two seasons.

“He really taught me the ropes early on in the scouting industry and we’ve been really good friends since,” Schoen told reporters Tuesday from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, per the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed. “So, you’re getting a hard worker, you’re getting a really good leader, you’re getting a hell of an elevator. Really good move by coach Vrabel and the Patriots organization to come after Ryan. He’s going to do a good job.”

Schoen revealed the relationship between him and Cowden stretches well beyond their time together with the Giants. They have known each other for over two decades after Schoen replaced Cowden, who received a promotion, as a scouting assistant with the Carolina Panthers. The two were even at each other’s weddings.

That might make Schoen biased in assessing Cowden, but it’s clear Cowden has the trust of Vrabel. Cowden worked as the Tennessee Titans director of player personnel and vice president of player personnel during Vrabel’s time with the organization.

Cowden is a right-hand man of Vrabel — Patriots vice president of football operations and strategy John Streicher is another — and will play an important role after Vrabel hinted Tuesday he will have the final say over football decisions.