The New England Patriots are in no rush to hire a general manager, and they may not hire one at all this year.
Sources told CBS Sports that the Patriots have not taken any steps to interview an external candidate for their senior football executive vacancy following Bill Belichick’s departure. The team hasn’t had a reigning general manager since Belichick took over, and that could continue in 2024 since the team’s personnel group is now led by Eliot Wolf.
League rules would allow the Patriots to keep this position vacant throughout the season, thus not having to interview anyone for the position. Team owner Robert Kraft strongly suggested they were going to ride short term with members of their staff.
“We have a lot of people internally who have had the chance to train and learn under the greatest coach of all time and a man whose footballing intellect is very special,” Kraft said last month. “So, in the short term, we’re looking for collaboration. Our team has a tremendous opportunity to position itself well, given our salary cap space, and we’ve never drafted, in my 30 years of ownership, we we have never written like [high] while we write.
“So we rely on our internal people, who we continue to learn and evaluate. So we will let this evolve and develop, and before the key decisions are made, we will appoint someone.”
When Jerod Mayo took over as New England’s head coach, he got Belichick’s old title, but not all of his power. Belichick was the team’s “chief football executive,” a designation with the NFL league office that informs everyone at the top of the football standings. In Dallas, it’s owner Jerry Jones. In New Orleans, it’s executive vice president and general manager Mickey Loomis. In Kansas City, it’s general manager Brett Veach.
In New England, according to sources, there is no one.
And while Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh was considered the No. 2 decision-maker in New England football last year along with Belichick, the “secondary football executive” position is also vacant.
Director of scouting Eliot Wolf is leading the staff in New England, multiple sources say. Wolf, son of legendary Packers executive Ron Wolf, was an assistant general manager in Cleveland for two years before joining the Patriots in 2020. In recent years, he interviewed with the Bears and Vikings for their general manager positions.
This week, the Patriots added longtime NFL executive Alonzo Highsmith to the personnel group. Highsmith worked with Wolf in Green Bay, and his arrival once again proves Wolf’s mastery of the personnel department.
Sources say Highsmith will, in part, help the team evolve its scoring system. While Belichick’s Patriots had strict scoring rules on specific players and their fits in the organization, the Packers’ system has long been known for emphasizing traits such as athleticism, versatility and explosiveness.
The Patriots general manager position is the latest high-level “vacancy” among NFL clubs. Eight teams had head coaching vacancies this cycle, and they were filled well before the Super Bowl. Four teams have new general managers.
There has been talk of the Patriots looking after April’s draft, but league-wide sources find that unlikely. Why allow the current group to chart the course for the team’s future (especially with the No. 3 overall pick) just to bring in a new leader shortly after?
If Kraft chooses to fill the top football management position — whether it’s Wolf or anyone else — he will have to launch a full search, per league rules. This would involve interviewing at least two external minority candidates before hiring someone as a top football executive.
The Patriots were able to avoid a coaching search because there was a contractual provision in Mayo’s deal that allowed him to be promoted to head coach if Belichick left. There is no known provision in New England for the GM role, so someone to fill it would have to get there via a traditional search.
For the Patriots, the downside to keeping the position vacant is that another team could poach a talented executive without being able to block the interview. But the Patriots don’t seem concerned about that possibility.
Outside of the hiring of Highsmith, the lack of personnel moves seemingly indicates that New England officials believe the problem that plagued the team in free agency and the draft is no longer there: Belichick.
Yet many past and present leaders have ties to New England. Jon Robinson, who started as a Patriots scout before becoming Titans general manager, was one name brought up. So did former Patriots executive Scott Pioli. Dave Ziegler, who was fired last year as the Raiders’ general manager, worked in New England for nearly a decade. Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi grew up in nearby Everett, Massachusetts, and interviewed for the Commanders general manager position last month.
But it looks like there won’t be any interviews happening anytime soon in New England for this position. And, technically speaking, there may even be no “work” at all.