The writing’s been on the wall for a while now, however the long-rumored favorite to take over lead front office duties in Recent England, vacated throughout the exit of former head coach Bill Belichick, will officially be taking the job.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network was the primary to report that director of scouting Eliot Wolf, who had been acting this offseason as de facto general manager of the Patriots since Belichick’s departure, has officially been named the team’s executive vp of player personnel.
The news could appear a bit underwhelming giving the shortage of a “general manager” title, however it appears that Wolf’s promotion is basically the Patriots’ motion to fill that general manager role. Recent England has long been without an official general manager after owner Robert Kraft hired Belichick as head coach and name him “de facto” general manager, as well. That trend appears set to proceed, based on Pelissero, because the team still won’t have a general manager in title.
That doesn’t lessen the importance of Wolf’s latest position, though. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Wolf will oversee the general direction of the player personnel department, will oversee management of the salary cap, and shall be in charge of the team’s 53-man energetic roster, all roles which might be generally filled by a team’s general manager.
At 42 years old, Wolf has been in working within the NFL for 20 years. He first broke into the league as a professional personnel assistant with the Packers in 2004 before being promoted to assistant director of professional personnel in 2008 and assistant director of player personnel in 2011. A yr later, Wolf was elevated to director of professional personnel before receiving promotions to director of player personnel in 2015 and director of football operations in 2016.
After two seasons in that role and 13 years in Green Bay, Wolf spent two years because the assistant general manager for the Browns under then-general manager John Dorsey. When Dorsey and the Browns parted ways, Wolf joined the Patriots in 2020 as a scouting consultant. For the last two years, Wolf has served as Recent England’s director of scouting. Wolf may not have been around for the era of the Patriots’ dynasty, but he does hold a Super Bowl ring from his time in Green Bay that saw seven NFC North titles and 10 playoff appearances.
Along with newly promoted head coach Jerod Mayo, Wolf helps to form a brand new, young top two under Kraft. Several years faraway from the reign of Tom Brady and now without Belichick, it’ll be as much as Mayo and Wolf to usher in a brand new era of success in Recent England.
