The New England Patriots franchise is in the midst of some major restructuring following the departure of Bill Belichick.
With Belichick gone after 24 seasons, it remains to be seen how the Patriots will run football operations going forward. A recent ESPN column by Seth Wickersham and Wright Thompson raised eyebrows regarding that topic.
Word leaked around the office that if Belichick were gone in 2024, football operations would be split between [Kraft Group senior vice president of business affairs Robyn] Glaser and Jonathan Kraft. Patriots coaches and executives thought that “the Krafts’ meddling has got everyone spun around,” a source on the personnel side said.
This possibility would be alarming to some Pats fans, considering the fact that neither Glaser nor Kraft have experience on the football side of things.
However, longtime Patriots scribe Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston says its not a realistic scenario.
“I couldn’t imagine this being any further from Jonathan Kraft’s dream job: running the organization in a football sense,” Curran said. “He does not want to have football operations responsibility, contrary to what was seen in Seth Wickersham’s piece.
“He wants to see results, but I do think — and this is to the Krafts’ advantage in a way that it wasn’t for the Joneses (Jerry and Stephen) — they found out what they don’t know, and they know what they don’t know, as opposed to guys like the Joneses, who took over and immediately big-footed the entire organization in terms of, ‘We’re gonna be involved in this stuff.'”
Over the weekend, Curran’s NBC Sports colleague Phil Perry provided some more crumbs on New England’s plan for football ops, reporting that the team won’t hire a new GM.
“Here’s what I’m told on the Patriots front-office situation… They are not expected to bring in a new general manager. It’s anticipated by team sources that both Matt Groh and Eliot Wolf will remain with the Patriots and have prominent roles in personnel,’ Perry tweeted.
Here’s what I’m told on the Patriots front-office situation…
They are not expected to bring in a new general manager. It’s anticipated by team sources that both Matt Groh and Eliot Wolf will remain with the Patriots and have prominent roles in personnel.
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) January 13, 2024
Groh has been the team’s director of player personnel recently, while Wolf has served as its director of scouting.
[ NESN ]