How an assistant’s recommendation led to Patriots signing under-the-radar veteran

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How an assistant’s recommendation led to Patriots signing under-the-radar veteran

Mark Daniels · MassLive

Thu, Jan 1, 2026 ·

3 min read

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FOXBOROUGH – When Mike Vrabel took over, he met with his staff early in the offseason. It was here that the coach explained what he was looking for when it came to team building.

As Vrabel spoke about the type of people he wanted in his locker room, Patriots special teams coach Jeremy Springer immediately thought of safety Jaylinn Hawkins .

A core special teamer and backup safety in 2024, Springer thought Hawkins was exactly the type of player Vrabel would love. That’s why the special teams coordinator recommended to Vrabel that the Patriots re-sign Hawkins.

The team ended up inking Hawkins to a 1-year deal worth up to $2.25 million. With one game left in the regular season, Springer’s words not only became true, but Hawkins became more valuable to Vrabel’s team than anyone anticipated.

“I knew when Vrabel came here, how he talked about what he was trying to build, the first guy that came to my mind was Jaylinn Hawkins ,” Springer said. “Jaylinn Hawkins would play four core, play every play, every play on special teams right now, and then play 100% of the snaps on defense. He’d just do it because he cares so much. That’s the kind of guy he is. He did it for me last year while he was playing safety, and he’s never missed a meeting. He never misses practice.

“There’s nothing bad I can say about the guy, there’s really not. That to me personifies this team right now – a bunch of guys who are selfless. That’s why when I was asked, when that time came around, this past offseason, I was like, ‘Coach, this is a no-brainer. You’re going to love this guy. Whether he plays special teams or defense, you’re going to want this guy on the team.’”

Last season, Hawkins split his time between special teams and defense. He started seven of 17 games played, finishing with 48 tackles while playing the third-most special teams snaps in New England .

The veteran safety doesn’t play as much special teams as he did a year ago, but has been a key piece in the Patriots ’ defense. This year, Hawkins has started all 14 games played at safety. He heads into the team’s regular-season finale against Miami with 70 tackles to go with career highs in interceptions (3), sacks (1.5), and quarterback hits (5).

In the offseason, the Patriots had a lot of roster turnover, signing only a small handful of their own free agents. On Wednesday, Vrabel said that after speaking with his special teams coaches, it was clear that Hawkins would be the type of person they wanted to stay in Foxborough.

“I would say that through Jeremy Springer and Tom Quinn’s efforts to explain to me their group of core guys, he kept coming up,” Vrabel said. “He had to play defense, but he was on every single special team, was the wing. I think they described him as a selfless player who would do anything that he could to help the football team and was playing a lot of defense. Seemed like a veteran guy that we would want to have around.

“He’s earned everything that he has now with the production, the play time. Keeps working, it means a lot to him. He’s a fun guy to coach, and I’m happy that he’s having success.”

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