Vincent Frank
The New England Patriots do not have a general manager with roughly two months to go before the 2024 NFL Draft.
New England will be relying on a bunch of different front office figures to help run things before ultimately deciding on a general manager following the annual event.
For now, Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf will have final say on what transpires during the three-day event.
He’s representing the Patriots during this week’s NFL Scouting Combine. He also seemingly took a major shot at former head coach Bill Belichick in a Q&A with media. It was not necessarily that subtle. They will have “less of a hard-a** vibe,” Wolf said about a change in the Patriots’ culture following Belichick’s near-quarter century run in New England.
It’s hard not to see this as a shot at Belichick. In addition to running things on the sidelines during his time in New England, the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach also ran the personnel department. He joined Tom Brady in being the face of the Patriots’ dynasty before these two sides parted ways back in January.
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New England Patriots to change NFL Draft philosophy without Bill Belichick
Wolf also made sure to point out that the Patriots’ philosophy heading into this year’s NFL Draft is going to be much different than when Belichick ran the draft room. Here, we’re talking more nuts-and-bolts as it relates to the process.
“We changed the grading system,” Wolf said, via NFL.com. “It’s a little bit more similar to what we did in Green Bay. The previous Patriots system was more ‘this is what the role is’ and this is kind of value-based. So, it makes it a lot easier for scouts to rate guys and put them in a stack of ‘this guys is the best,’ ‘this guy is the worst’ and everything in between falls into place. Rather than more nuanced approaches. I just think it accounts value better and it makes it easier for the scouts.”
Despite the Patriots’ overall success under Belichick, they did struggle during the NFL Draft in recent years. Selecting quarterback Mac Jones to be Brady’s replacement back in 2021 is a recent example of this. New England is set to move off the former Alabama star after just three seasons.
Other recent examples included wide receiver N’Keal Harry in the first round of the 2019 event. He caught just 57 passes in three seasons with the Patriots.
As for the current iteration of the Patriots, they boast the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft. There have been rumors about a potential trade down the board. New England is also meeting with one of the top quarterbacks at the NFL Combine in Indy this week.
