INDIANAPOLIS -- Mike Vrabel would like to have a No. 1 receiver. But he also knows he can't conjure one out of thin air.
"If we find a [No.] 1 receiver, they're just not walking around here," Vrabel said at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday. "Let me know if they are. We'll get them. But we're going to do everything that we can."
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Vrabel has really had just one "No. 1" in his time as head coach, and that was A.J. Brown with the Titans. The 2019 second-round pick quickly became one of the best receivers in football. After being traded to the Eagles in 2022, he continued on an upward trajectory, and he caught a touchdown to help beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX earlier this month.
Vrabel knows as well as anyone that those No. 1 types are typically either drafted (as Brown was to the Titans) or traded (as Brown was to the Eagles).
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"It's hard to find," Vrabel said of acquiring a top-flight pass-catcher. "You usually have to draft them. Then sometimes, based on circumstances (they're) available for trade. I think we'll explore every opportunity that we can to add great players that we feel like are the right fit and we feel like that can help us.
"There's only so many options in free agency and in trade and the draft. We'll explore all three of those."
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NFL evaluators believe it is a shallow talent pool at wideout in both free agency and the draft. The top free agent receiver in this year's class is scheduled to be Cincinnati's Tee Higgins, though it appears as though the Bengals are preparing to keep him.
Tampa Bay's Chris Godwin, if he shakes free, would perhaps be the next best in the class. But his injury history makes him a dicey proposition -- he missed 10 games last season -- for any potential new club.
Bears veteran Keenan Allen, Giants wideout Darius Slayton and Cardinals receiver Zay Jones all have garnered varying levels of interest from clubs eyeing the free-agent market. But the star power there is limited; none of those would be considered No. 1s.
In the draft, the high-end talent might be even harder to find. If the Patriots can't draft Colorado dual-threat Travis Hunter at No. 4 overall, there may not be another No. 1 in this year's draft. Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan may be the closest to earning that designation, but he's not thought to be a burner, and some clubs will consider him a contested-catch-dependent No. 2.
That could force the Patriots to get creative if they're going to get their go-to guy at the receiver position for Drake Maye. Perhaps that means trying to find a way to get Davante Adams if and when he leaves the Jets. Perhaps that's putting together a package that could coax the Seahawks to part with DK Metcalf.
Whatever it is, based on what Vrabel had to say from the Combine, the Patriots will be open to a variety of different paths to acquiring the receiving talent they now sorely lack.
"I think everybody wants to have [a No. 1]," Vrabel said. "We've won games in certain ways in the past. What's ideal? I'm not going to sit here and tell you we can't do something. The better players you have, the easier it is to win in this league. That's the bottom line. If not, then we'll find other ways to win."
No excuses there if they aren't able to get a top-of-the-depth-chart weapon. But the message is clear: Better to have a No. 1 than not.
Finding one and reeling him in, though, is easier said than done.
