If you've been following the New England Patriots' busy offseason, then Wednesday's news about Eliot Wolf shouldn't have surprised you.
Wolf, who served as the Patriots' director of scouting in 2022 and 2023, will be in charge of New England's personnel department and have final say over the 53-man roster, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. That would make Wolf the de facto general manager, taking over the role that Bill Belichick had for the majority of his 24-year tenure in New England.
When (or if) the Patriots give Wolf the official GM title remains to be seen. But it's clear that Wolf has been calling the shots as the team builds out its front office and coaching staff under new head coach Jerod Mayo.
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Let's start with the coaching staff, where New England already has made nine new hires. Six of those new hires has a direct or indirect connection to Wolf, who spent 14 years in the Green Bay Packers' front office (2004 to 2017) and two seasons as the Cleveland Browns' assistant general manager (2018 to 2019) before coming to New England in 2020.
Wolf is especially familiar with Van Pelt from their six seasons together in Green Bay. The MMQB's Albert Breer reported that Van Pelt would have some agency in hiring assistants, and that certainly appears to be the case, as T.C. McCartney (quarterbacks) and Scott Peters (offensive line) both worked on Van Pelt's staff in Cleveland, while Jerry Montgomery (defensive line) worked with Van Pelt in Green Bay.
Wolf's influence has been felt in the front office, as well: New England reportedly is hiring University of Miami executive Alonzo Highsmith, who worked with Wolf for six years in Green Bay's front office and was the Browns' vice president of player personnel during Wolf's two seasons in Cleveland.
Highsmith will join new addition Bobby Brown -- who will have a "key executive administrative role," per reports -- alongside Wolf, college scouting director Matt Groh, senior executive Pat Stewart, director of pro scouting Steve Cargile and director of college scouting Cam Williams in a new-look front office post-Belichick.
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"This looks like Eliot Wolf is going to be your GM, ostensibly," Patriots Insider Phil Perry said on a new Patriots Talk Podcast with host Tom E. Curran from Super Bowl Radio Row in Las Vegas. "... This is the way it was trending even before we got the Jerod Mayo hiring officially as new head coach.
"When I spoke to people around that time, what I was told was, expect both Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh to stick in the front office and for them both to have critical roles. But the more people you speak to, the more it became clear the 'GM' of those two front-office guys who have assisted Bill Belichick -- the more qualified to oversee the entire operation -- was Eliot Wolf, given his background with multiple different teams as the No. 2 (in personnel) and a couple different front offices both in Green Bay and in Cleveland.
"He just has a great reputation across the NFL, so this doesn't surprise me."
The stakes couldn't be higher for Wolf. The Patriots own their highest draft pick since 1993 -- No. 3 overall -- and enter NFL free agency with the third-most cap space in the league. How they use their resources in free agency and the draft will go a long way in determining how quickly they bounce back from their worst season in three decades.
