With the Bill Belichick era officially over in New England, the Patriots have a new decision-maker leading the front office.
Eliot Wolf is in charge of the personnel department heading into the most pivotal Patriots offseason in recent memory. A long-time member of the Green Bay Packers front office, Wolf joined the Pats in 2020 as a consultant and has since served as the director of scouting. He was promoted to director of player personnel shortly after Belichick's departure.
Wolf will be tasked with figuring out how to proceed with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He'll also need to build the team through free agency with plenty of cap space to fill the glaring holes on the offensive side.
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What should we expect from Wolf in his first season calling the shots in the Patriots' front office? Former NFL general manager Mike Lombardi, now host of the "GM Shuffle" podcast, joined Tom E. Curran's Patriots Talk Podcast to share his thoughts on Wolf.
🔊 Patriots Talk: Mike Lombardi on the Patriots rebuild, Eliot Wolf, and Mac Jones | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
"I like Eliot a lot," Lombardi said. "I have great respect for his dad (former Packers general manager Ron Wolf). I like Eliot. I've spent a lot of time with Eliot. I think Eliot will do a really good job. Eliot's a very loyal personnel man. And when I use the word 'loyal' to describe a personnel man, that means he'll say what he thinks. He's not gonna say what people want to hear.
"There's two kinds of personnel men. The first kind is the one who will say what he thinks. That's the loyal one. The one who says what you want to hear is the devoted one. There's a difference between loyalty and devotion. Eliot will say what he thinks. Whether somebody wants to listen to it, he could care less. He's convicted in his opinion and that's what you need from a scout."
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Lombardi also made it clear which direction he believes Wolf should go in when the Pats are on the clock in the first round of the draft.
"If the quarterback's there, you've got to get the quarterback," Lombardi said. "And then, once you know who the quarterback is, then we have to build a team around the quarterback."
The Patriots also added former New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo to their staff as a senior offensive assistant. Lombardi praised McAdoo for being a strong evaluator of talent.
"I'll tell you what, people don't realize this: Ben McAdoo's a really good quarterback evaluator," Lombardi said. "Ben McAdoo when he was at the Giants really loved Patrick Mahomes. I know this. And the Giants wanted to draft Davis Webb in that draft. So, McAdoo's very good at evaluating quarterbacks. Eliot will be good at evaluating quarterbacks. ... If there's a good one to take, you take him. Because look, you can't find them. Who's going to play quarterback if you move down? You're gonna lose the team if you go back to Mac (Jones)."
Also in the episode:
- Lombardi's recap of his Felger & Mazz appearance; talking Tom Brady vs Bill Belichick.
- How long will the Patriots rebuild take?
- Which veteran QB should the Pats bring in?