Dianna Russini NFL reporting return, Digi Mart USA News: Dianna Russini is reporting on NFL news again, seven months after photos of her with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel preceded her resignation from The Athletic.
Her post on the Minnesota Vikings’ search for a quarterback pointed to Kirk Cousins, whom Minnesota ultimately acquired from the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday. Several fans answered it by revisiting the scandal rather than the trade talk.
Russini’s four-sentence report laid out where Minnesota’s quarterback hunt stood. She wrote: “Minnesota is calling around on QBs all day.
The Vikings checked in on Mac Jones in San Francisco, but the price is too high right now. The name everyone keeps coming back to is Kirk Cousins, as Adam Schefter said.
That’s the deal league sources think they’re really trying to get done.”
Pro Football Network replied to Russini’s post with a meme that says “I know that ain’t who I think it is,” alongside the caption, “Everybody in the comments.”
One fan accused Russini of “trying to sneak back in like nothing happened.” In April, the New York Post published photos of Russini and Vrabel hugging and holding hands at an adults-only resort, and her resignation followed one week later. Tabloids kept publishing older photos of the two in the weeks after.
Another fan made a similar point: “Look at her just reactivating like nothing happened.”
Another fan put it more bluntly: “You have ZERO credibility, period. 6 months isn’t long enough…try, I don’t know…forever.”
The Athletic’s internal review found no clear bias in her coverage, though it concluded that she violated its standards by not disclosing her close ties to Vrabel.
The Patriots coach turned up in another fan’s joke, one that tied the Vikings report back to him: “Mike Vrabel seeing that Dianna Russini is back but then realizing she now has a source on the Vikings.”
Vrabel downplayed the photos when they first surfaced, telling Page Six in April that they “show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable.” However, Vrabel told reporters on April 21 that he had “had some difficult conversations.” At an April media availability, he also declined to answer when asked whether he had any thoughts on Russini’s resignation.
League officials ruled out a personal conduct investigation, and the Patriots stood by Vrabel publicly even after he missed Day 3 of the NFL Draft to attend counseling.
New England came up again when another fan wrote: “Surprised her first tweet back wasn’t about AJ Brown and the Patriots.”
Minnesota traded a 2027 third-round pick to land Cousins, while the 49ers decided to hold onto Jones.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
