Shannon Sharpe Responds To Fans Saying Mike Vrabel Should Be Fired

Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe had an awful lot to say about Mike Vrabel's messy situation.

Back on April 7, Page Six shared photos of Vrabel holding hands with NFL insider Dianna Russini at a hotel in Arizona. Although they denied any wrongdoing, Russini eventually resigned from her position with The Athletic. As for Vrabel, he stepped away from the Patriots during Day 3 of the NFL Draft in order to undergo counseling.

"I can only say that whatever my family needs, that's what I'm going to provide," Vrabel said. "I'm confident that if I weren't able to be here, we have people in place. I just know I'm going to take the necessary steps with the people I care about - that's my family and this team."

After Vrabel returned to the Patriots on Monday, fans started speculating about his future in the NFL. Some people think he should be fired as early as this week.

During the latest episode of his "Nightcap" show, Sharpe made it clear that he doesn't believe Vrabel should be fired for his actions.

"Those are people that worked at that institution. Now, in some situations, they have it, you can't do that with an employee. If you're a coach, you can't mess with another employee or subordinate…Dianna Russini has to take that up with her husband, and Mike Vrabel is gonna have to take that up with his wife," Sharpe said, via Awful Announcing.

"It's a moral issue. You got two married people, two married consenting people engaging. What are you firing Mike Vrabel for? What is it that he did? What law or code? Some colleges have ethics or codes. So what code did he break? He broke his vows. Like I said, that's between him and his wife. That's between him and God. They're not the same. Just being honest, guys…I just don't see the correlation."

Will the Patriots fire Vrabel?

There's zero indication that New England will move on from Vrabel this offseason. However, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer said the reigning Coach of the Year may have lost his edge due to this scandal.

"I can just tell you factually he has not been the same the last two weeks in that building. The sense I've gotten talking to people is that bravado and everything else, I think this has taken a chunk out of that," Breer said. "I really like Mike personally – I've covered him for a long time. I think deep down he's a good guy with a good heart. I would say it's like what you don't want is that version of Mike Vrabel walking around for the next six weeks until summer. You want to find a way to get the full Mike Vrabel back."

Daily Mail's Russ Weakland and Ben Nagle have reported that Mike Tomlin would be New England's top option in the event Vrabel steps down.

For now though, Vrabel is expected to coach the Patriots this fall.

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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 6:54 AM.