Tag: Eliot Wolf

4 scenarios could make Patriots pass on drafting QB with No. 3 pick

Is there any scenario where the Patriots would actually pass on drafting a QB? Patriots Wire’s Cam Garrity explores four possibilities.

After a 4-13 finish to the 2023 season, the New England Patriots are selecting third overall in the 2024 NFL draft.

Most are expecting them to take a quarterback with the pick, but they could just as easily go in an entirely different direction. There’s no sugar-coating the fact that they are not a good football team. The defense was in the top-10 in the NFL, but it’s an offensive-centric league now.

With an offense that has been near the bottom in the last few seasons, they need a hard reset.

The Patriots recently named Alex Van Pelt as their offensive coordinator. Van Pelt has virtually a blank canvas to come in and shape his offense. With no roster commitments in terms of draft capital used in recent years, or bad contracts, the Patriots could theoretically wipe the slate clean.

I do not think that will be the case, but the option will be there for them do so if they see fit. Let’s take a look at some scenarios that could keep the Patriots from taking a quarterback with the No.3 pick.

Patriots could reportedly target OT with No. 3 draft pick, if this happens

There are no guarantees the Patriots will draft a quarterback with the No. 3 pick

Most have assumed the New England Patriots will be targeting a quarterback with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. But given the team’s great draft positioning and lucrative salary cap situation, they could also choose to go in a different direction.

The Athletic’s Jeff Howe pointed to the possibility of the team selecting an offensive tackle with the No. 3 pick, especially if director of scouting Eliot Wolf is given the reins for personnel decisions.

Howe wrote:

In-house candidates Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh have also been under consideration. If it’s Wolf running the show, expect the Patriots to give a long, hard look at drafting a left tackle with the No. 3 pick.

Wolf could potentially be the leading in-house candidate to take over as general manager.

The Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi noted in a previous report that Wolf is an alluring candidate for the Patriots due to the fact that he isn’t a Bill Belichick guy. Unlike Matt Groh, who worked his way up under the former Patriots head coach, Wolf cut his teeth in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers.

Offensive tackle is one of the biggest areas of need on the roster for the Patriots, and they would be in a position to select either Notre Dame’s Joe Alt or Penn State’s Olu Fashanu. Neither would be an exciting pick on paper, but both could prove to be what the Patriots need most right now.

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Where things stand currently with Patriots’ GM plans

How the Patriots plan to move forward without a general manager in place

The New England Patriots lost both a head coach and a general manager the moment they moved on from Bill Belichick.

Ever since announcing Jerod Mayo as the new head coach, the team has been in scramble mode conducting interviews and looking to fill positions on the coaching staff with no single individual in charge of the front office.

During Mayo’s introductory press conference, owner Robert Kraft explained it would be a collaborative effort with the personnel decisions. The two key individuals in the decision-making is expected to be director of player personnel Matt Groh and director of scouting Eliot Wolf.

However, per the Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi, via NESN’s Dakota Randall, Wolf is believed to be the one that will eventually run the front office.

Giardi wrote:

Some external and internal sources believe Elliott Wolf will eventually be the choice to run the front office. However, it remains unlikely that he’ll get the title of general manager. He has established an excellent relationship with the Krafts and appeals to them partly because he didn’t grow from the Belichick tree. Wolf has filled several roles during his career, including scouting for the Green Bay Packers (while working under his father, legendary GM Ron Wolf) and aiding Mayo in his coordinator search.

It’s no surprise that the Patriots would be looking to get away from the Belichick model of drafting and signing players, considering that’s been the biggest issue for the team.

Despite Belichick’s ability to still coach at a high level, he had far too many misfires with the personnel decisions, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, to the point where he wasn’t able to overcome them on the football field. The Patriots probably aren’t looking to run that back with Groh.

Perhaps Wolf is the best internal option to provide new direction for an organization that desperately needs it.

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Projecting Patriots’ front office hirings and promotions in 2024

Taking a look at possible front office fits to support the post-dynasty era Patriots

The New England Patriots have officially moved on from Bill Belichick after 24 years and have already named Jerod Mayo as the team’s 15th head coach.

Belichick is the greatest coach of all time, but he is seemingly losing touch towards the end of his career, like every other all-time great has across other sports.

It rarely ever ends in a fairytale way, and the Patriots are headed for a true, long-term rebuild this offseason, after a 4-13 finish to the 2023 season. They haven’t won a playoff game since the 2018 season, and they got knocked out in the first round by the Tennessee Titans in the 2019 season.

The NFL has changed since Belichick and Tom Brady dominated it, and owners are opting for former players to run their football teams more so than ever. Players across the league seem to play hard for former players, and those former players know how to connect with their team.

However, moving on from Belichick means the Patriots might not be as good to start. I still think Belichick is a good overall coach, but in the long-term, New England will be in a much better position to compete.

Over the last few days, there have been reports as to what the Patriots might do to replace Belichick, who had his hand across all of the team’s football operations. It is much harder to entrust Mayo, a first time head coach to immediately take all of that on.

Let’s take a look at what a potential New England front office could look like to support the post-dynasty era Patriots. It is likely that Mayo and top coaches will have a hand in evaluation and team building, but it will take a few different pieces to replace what Belichick did for this team over the years.

Patriots executives Eliot Wolf, Matt Groh attend Senior Bowl in wake of Dave Ziegler’s departure

The Patriots are preparing for the NFL draft, with the draft a couple months away.

Bill Belichick did not attend the Senior Bowl for the second straight year. Instead, he sent scouts Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh in his place last week.

Their presence is notable in the wake of Dave Ziegler’s departure after he left his gig as the New England Patriots director of player personnel for the Raiders general manager job. The Patriots are surely determining how to fill his shoes.

Wolf officially became the director of football operations in 2016. He has football connections, as his father was one-time Green Bay general manager Ron Wolf. The younger Wolf was interviewed for the Bears and Vikings general manager jobs last month.

Groh also has football bloodlines. His father Al was a defensive coordinator for New England under Bill Parcells. He also took over the New York Jets job once Belichick came to New England

As the organization undergoes a fair amount of turnover, Wolf and Groh may help bring the Patriots some stability for April’s draft.

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Report: Patriots’ Eliot Wolf a finalist for Bears general manager position

Eliot Wolf played a huge role in the 2021 draft and his presence would be missed in Foxborough.

New England Patriots scouting consultant Eliot Wolf is expected to make the second round of interviews for the Chicago Bears’ general manager position, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.

Wolf spent the past two seasons with the Patriots and he played a major role in the 2021 draft. Some of the key names to come out of the draft were Mac Jones, Christian Barmore and Rhamondre Stevenson — players who will make a huge impact for years to come.

The Patriots lost Nick Caserio last offseason and that created opportunities for other front office members to step up. Monti Ossenfort is in for the Bears’ position as well and he began with the Patriots before joining the Tennessee Titans last year.

Dave Ziegler, the Patriots’ director of player personnel, is another front office name that has been perusing external interviews — the Las Vegas Raiders have put in a request already.

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George McCaskey spotted picking up Bears GM favorite Ryan Poles at the airport

Bears chairman George McCaskey may have just secured his team’s new GM.

They say you know it’s true love when they pick you up from the airport. If that’s the case, Chicago Bears chairman George McCaskey may have just secured his team’s new general manager.

McCaskey was spotted picking up Kansas City Chiefs executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles at O’Hare International Airport late Monday evening. A fan posted a brief video of McCaskey, donned in Bears gear from head to toe, walking with Poles as they exited the airport.

On Monday, it was reported that Poles, along with Tennessee Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort, and New England Patriots senior consultant Eliot Wolf, were finalists for the vacant GM job. Other names could still be in play, such as Indianapolis Colts director of college scouting Morocco Brown, but it appears as if the Bears have zeroed in one those three, with Poles potentially being the frontrunner.

Poles has held a number of roles with the Chiefs dating back to the late 2000s. He rose through the organization under multiple GMs and is highly thought of around the league as he’s helped turn the Chiefs into a perennial title contender. He spent the first part of his career in scouting before moving into player personnel. Poles is also considered a finalist for the Minnesota Vikings vacant GM job as well.

The fact the Bears chairman personally met Poles at one of the busiest airports in the world doesn’t necessarily guarantee the job is his, but it’s definitely a good sign and could mean this search is coming to an end sooner rather than later. We’ll see if he winds up going back to the airport or if he’s here to stay.

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Finalists for Bears GM job are becoming clearer

The Bears have started to narrow down their GM candidates to their finalists, which includes Ryan Poles and Monti Ossenfort.

The Chicago Bears are nearing the end of their search for a new general manager and head coach, and things are finally starting to progress at GM.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Bears have at least three finalists for their GM vacancy: Chiefs executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles, Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort and Patriots senior consultant Eliot Wolf.

Rapoport also noted that Colts director of college scouting Morocco Brown could also receive a second interview. He interviewed for the first time on Monday, so confirmation of a second interview could come Tuesday.

That’s not to say the finalists will stop at three or four. But we have a good idea of which direction the Bears are leading with these first three, possibly four, finalists.

Brown has been a “strong candidate” from the start of this process, and there’s a reason why he was among the last to interview.

Chicago has also requested a second interview with three head coaching candidates: Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and former Lions/Colts head coach Jim Caldwell.

We’ll see how quickly the Bears get their new GM in place before presumably starting the final round of interviews for head coach.

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Bears GM candidate profile: Get to know Eliot Wolf

We’re taking a look at what Eliot Wolf brings to the table in our Bears GM candidate profile.

The Chicago Bears fired general manager Ryan Pace after seven seasons, and they’ve wasted no time exploring candidates to replace him.

Chairman George McCaskey, President/CEO Ted Phillips, Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian, VP of Player Engagement Lamar ‘Soup’ Campbell and Senior VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Tanesha Wade will conduct the search for Chicago’s next GM, a process which McCaskey promised would be “thorough, diligent and exhausted.”

The Bears have cast a wide net of GM candidates that they’ve extended interviews to, including New England Patriots front office consultant Eliot Wolf, who interviewed for the job earlier this week.

Let’s take an in-depth look at what Wolf brings to the table in our Bears GM candidate profile:

Bears completed interview with GM candidate Eliot Wolf on Tuesday

The Bears conducted an interview with GM candidate Eliot Wolf on Tuesday.

The Chicago Bears are in the middle of their searches for a new general manager and head coach following the firings of Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy earlier this week.

Chairman George McCaskey, President/CEO Ted Phillips, Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian, VP of Player Engagement Lamar ‘Soup’ Campbell and Senior VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Tanesha Wade will be conducting the GM search for the Bears, where they’ve been conducting interviews.

They completed another interview for their GM job with with New England Patriots senior consultant Eliot Wolf on Tuesday.

Wolf spent his first 13 years with the Packers. He started as a pro personnel assistant in 2004 and climbed his way to director of football operations in 2016. He left Green Bay to serve as the Browns assistant GM (2018-19) and currently serves as director of scouting with New England. The Patriots reorganized their front office this year, and Wolf is believed to be a big part of that.

Here’s a look at the complete list of head coach and GM candidates the Bears have requested to interview:

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