Craig Carton: Mike Vrabel, Dianna Russini Are 'Madly In Love'

For the third straight week, New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini are the talk of the NFL world.

Back on April 7, Page Six shared exclusive photos of Vrabel and Russini hugging and holding hands at a hotel in Arizona. Before the start of the NFL Draft on April 23, the publication released photos from March 2020 that show Russini and Vrabel getting cozy at a bar in New York City.

Russini has resigned from her role with The Athletic. Vrabel, on the other hand, has already spoken to his players about this situation.

"I've had some difficult conversations with people I care about -- with my family, the organization, the coaches, the players. Those have been positive and productive. We believe in order to be successful on and off the field, you have to make good decisions. That includes me. That starts with me," Vrabel told reporters. "We never want our actions to negatively affect the team. We never want to be the cause of a distraction. There are comments and questions that I've answered for the team and with the team."

As if this story couldn't get any crazier, David Covucci of FOIAball discovered that Russini made a Spotify playlist called "Turning the Page" for a user by the name of Mike. This playlist happened to coincide with a four-game losing streak the Tennessee Titans had during the 2022 season.

Once this Spotify playlist was shared with the public, WFAN's Craig Carton declared that Russini and Vrabel are "madly in love with each other." He's also convinced they're heartbroken about how things have played out.

"Dianna Russini made a playlist, sent it to one person - Mike! Why don't we come around to the reality that they're madly in love with each other," Carton said. "Whatever was going on in their respective marriages, they found some type of connection and the connection was real. Because they both live very public lives, they didn't know how to leave their wives or husbands, they didn't know how to tell their children they're moving on."

Is Mike Vrabel safe as the coach of the Patriots?

Vrabel had to miss Day 3 of the NFL Draft in order to attend a counseling session. Although he has already returned to the Patriots, there are people convinced he could resign this offseason.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer suggested that Vrabel has "lost his edge" over the past week.

"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 reporters Russ Weakland and Ben Nagle said the Patriots could target Mike Tomlin if they lose Vrabel this offseason. However, ownership in New England would like to retain the reigning Coach of the Year.

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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 2:34 PM.