Could a Patriots Nick Caserio trade be in the works?

Nick Caserio is intimately familiar with NFL trades thanks to his role as Patriots de facto GM. The New England director of player personnel is often the point man if not the final decision maker on the many deals the team swings over the course of the year.

Now, though, Caserio could be on the other side of the trade process as a possible outcome relating to reported tampering charges filed by the Patriots against the Texans in that team's pursuit of a new GM.

Houston fired GM Brian Gaine last week after barely a season on the job and in the second year of a five-year contract. Reports out of Houston immediately indicated that Caserio – whom the team requested an interview with and was denied before it eventually hired Gaine -- would be the Texans top candidate for the surprise new opening.

This all transpired, coincidentally or not, shortly after Texans V.P. of team development Jack Easterby was in attendance at the Patriots Super Bowl LIII ring ceremony at the home of owner Robert Kraft on June 6. Easterby left New England this offseason after serving as the Patriots character coach/team development for six seasons from 2013-18.

There is speculation that at least part of the tampering charge stems from the fact that Caserio and Easterby were at the ring ceremony one night and the Texans fired Gaine the following day.

Now, in the midst of a tampering situation and employment pursuit that harkens back to the good ol' days when the Patriots and Jets did battle for the services of both Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, one option for a conclusion could be a trade between the Texans and Patriots that would allow Houston to secure Caserio's services.

From @GMFB: The #Texans get hit with a tampering charge in their GM search, with a look at a possible solution. pic.twitter.com/yFyE11NKXk

Of course there are plenty of questions left to be answered before a possible trade or conclusion could come in regards to Caserio's future.

Does Caserio even want to leave New England and take the Texans job? He's often expressed his happiness with his extraordinarily unique role in Foxborough where his duties range from overseeing the personnel department to working in the coaching box on game days aiding offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to even throwing passes and doing on-field coaching during practices.

If Caserio wants to remain in New England and possibly take over the true GM role when Belichick retires rather than join former Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien with the Texans, could the tampering charge simply be his own orchestration in order make life difficult on an AFC rival?

How much would the Texans be willing to give up for Caserio's services if he's indeed in intent on moving on from Belichick's shadow? Belichick and Parcells garnered first-round compensation in jumping sides on the Border War, but it seems unlikely the return for Caserio would be so high.

Another interesting, muddy-the-tampering-water note in the ongoing Caserio saga is a report from Sports Illustrated that he and Easterby share an agent.

One other thing that should be noted in the Pats/Texans tussle: Jack Easterby and Nick Caserio share an agent. So it'd stand to reason that it would be pretty easy for Houston to get around what would constitute "tampering".

Whatever the eventual outcome, the Caserio situation has added intrigue in New England to what is generally the slowest time of the NFL year.