It's looking more and more likely that Nick Caserio will be leaving the Patriots after many years.
According to multiple reports, the Texans are closing in on hiring the Patriots' director of player personnel for their vacant general manager's job. Houston has been after Caserio for years, including in 2019 when the Patriots filed tampering charges against the organization.
[UPDATE 9:35 p.m.]: NFL Media's Ian Rapoport reports an agreement is in place. Caserio is officially gone.
Losing Caserio is a big one for the Patriots, as he's more than just Bill Belichick's right-hand man when it comes to personnel decisions.
"Nick does a great job," Belichick said back in 2019. "He does a lot of different things for us. I'm sure he does more than anybody in the league at his position in terms of his interaction with the team, the coaching staff and the college and pro scouting. He's involved in a lot of different things and does a great job at all of them. His job description would be several pages."
Not only is Caserio heavily involved in signings, trades, etc., he also heads up the scouting department with the draft. Then during the season, he is on the practice field virtually every day (a great fourth-string QB) and on game day is on the headset in communication with the sideline.
This is a case where not one person can replace him.
In terms of in the personnel department, the most logical move is promoting Dave Ziegler, who is currently the assistant director of player personnel. Although it's worth noting Denver has reportedly requested him to interview for its GM opening.
The Patriots front office has been depleted in recent years. Executives Bob Quinn and Monti Ossenfort have departed, while the same can be said for lead scouts DuJuan Daniels and Pat Stewart.
Quinn was fired by the Lions earlier this year, so he's available if Belichick has any interest in bringing him back. Other names to keep an eye on in terms of filling some of Caserio's duties are Eliot Wolf, an executive who was hired this year, and Brian Smith, the Patriots' college scouting coordinator.
If/when the hire becomes official, Caserio will join Jack Easterby in Houston and without a head coach, it will only increase the chatter of Josh McDaniels joining them, but that should not be a guarantee. Caserio and McDaniels haven't been viewed as a package deal in past years and they shouldn't be this year.
Regardless of what else happens, the Patriots will have their hands full with replacing Caserio given all that he did.
