Patriots Daily: Brenden Schooler is Ready for Leadership Role

The New England Patriots said goodbye to arguably the greatest special teams player in NFL history after the 2023 season. Matthew Slater wasn’t just an extraordinary player, he was an incredible leader too. The baton of special teams ace in Foxboro passed to Brenden Schooler. With Slater gone, Schooler says he’s also ready to take on more of a leadership role.

Slater wasn’t the only core special teams player to depart. Cody Davis also retired. Chris Board and Mack Wilson Sr. departed in free agency. Schooler discussed what the changes in the Patriots special teams core would mean for him.

“I hold myself to a super high standard to begin with, so I don’t think anything changes in that aspect,” said Schooler. “But being one of those guys that has a lot of game experience, especially when you talk about special teams and that core group, I think trying to take more of a leadership role, when Matt (Slater) was the guy for the past few seasons I was here.

Read More: Matthew Slater Talks NFL Retirement and Much More

“Just taking that leadership role on and holding those guys to a certain standard. And any little bit of information I have, with a tip or anything, I’m trying to these young guys bring along with us. Because the faster they get acclimated to the game and the more they know, that’s better for the whole team in general. So, it’s been fun taking on that new role.”

Brenden Schooler signed with New England as an undrafted free agent out of Texas. He earned NFL All-Rookie Team honors in 2022. Last season, Schooler was named to the NFLPA All-Pro Team. He also won Patriots Football Now’s inaugural Matthew Slater Award in 2023 as the Patriots Special Teams Player of the Year. Slater’s retirement left a leadership void in New England. Fortunately for the Patriots, Schooler sounds ready and able to try and help fill it.

Also in today’s Patriots Daily:

New England Patriots

Drew Bledsoe Chimes in on New England Developing Drake Maye

Meet the New England Patriots 90-Man Roster (Plus One)

Patriots Football Sunday: Eliot Wolf Lands Top Job

Patriots 90-man roster spotlight: LS Joe Cardona

NFL News

CBS Sports – Grading every team’s 2021 NFL Draft

ESPN – Nevada court orders Jon Gruden case to go to NFL arbitration

NBC Sports – Jared Goff extension won’t make Dak Prescott deal any cheaper

NFL.com – Cowboys-Browns will be Tom Brady’s broadcast debut

Yahoo! Sports –Jason Kelce signs multi-year deal with ESPN

Yardbarker – Micah Parsons makes history with new Bleacher Report deal

Boston Bruins

Go to our sibling site Boston Hockey Now to check out the great Boston Bruins coverage from Jimmy Murphy and the BHN team. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway and plenty is happening in the Bruins 100 Anniversary season.

Boston Hockey Now –Bruins Postgame: Staying Alive! Bruins Beat Panthers 2-1

PFN+

Subscribe here or on Boston Hockey Now to get a subscription to both sites. Subscribers get bonus coverage such as NFL Draft scouting reports and weekly NFL Power Rankings. It also provides a completely ad-free experience on the sites.

Use code KELLEY10 and get $10 off a yearly subscription. It is less than $2.50/month!

Football Fun Fact of the Day

New England made 60 first-round picks in the NFL Draft since the 1970 merger, before their 2024 selection of Drake Maye. Of those picks, 21-of-60 (35%) went on to win a Super Bowl with the Patriots. This includes today’s birthday boy, 2015 first-round pick, Malcom Brown, who won Super Bowl 51 and Super Bowl 53 with New England.

Post of the Day

Today’s post shows Malcom Brown finding out that he’d been drafted by the New England Patriots:

Former Texas #Longhorns #Hookem DT Malcom Brown reacts to being selected by the #Patriots #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/5RtmeGZJRu

— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) May 1, 2015