Slowly but surely we are learning how the Patriots will go about their collective and collaborative business in the post-Bill Belichick era in New England.
Jerod Mayo is running the show on the sidelines and now has a bigger coaching staff to help him do his job. Mayo is bringing a new culture to the football team built on love, relationships and sharing the new-age “why?” with his players.
There’s more titles and even coaches getting to know the media in off-the-record social settings. It is indeed a brave new world.
But there are still plenty of questions left to be answered, and some of those might just be cleared up when Eliot Wolf steps to the microphone Tuesday morning at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
First, it’s notable that Wolf will even be holding a press conference, something that the Belichick-led Patriots rarely did, annually joining a handful of other teams without media access in Indy.
Second, it’s telling that Wolf’s media session seems to solidify the fact that he’s the highest ranking member of the New England personnel department at this point in the transitional process post-Belichick.
As such, here’s a handful of questions that Wolf might shed some light upon when he takes to the forefront of whatever football contingent from Foxborough makes the foray to Indiana.
1 – Does Wolf have final say on personnel, draft and roster decisions?: Collaboration is supposedly the way these days at Gillette.
Mayo, Wolf, Matt Groh and others will theoretically work to retool the roster and inject talent through free agency. That sounds fine and dandy, but at some point with tough decisions one person probably has to make the final decision. Is that Wolf? Is it Mayo? Is it someone else above their paygrade?
2 – What’s Wolf’s working relationship like with Mayo?: Mayo was the clear chosen one on the coaching side. He’s young and fully admits he has limited connections outside the building. Mayo is the face of the team now to some degree. But he acknowledges he’ll be leaning on other experts to do their jobs, jobs they are qualified to do. It will be interesting to hear from Wolf what his relationship with Mayo is like as the duo seemingly prepares to tag-team the efforts to turn things around as quickly as possible in New England.
3 – What’s Wolf’s working relationship with Groh?: The tail end of the Belichick era also so a supposedly more collaborative approach, with Groh taking over the lead role in personnel. He was the one holding pre-draft press conferences. He was the one talking about the draft process and “spending money” in free agency. Now, Wolf seems to have leapfrogged over Groh. Some might think that could be cause for some hard feelings. It will be interesting to hear from Wolf as to his relationship with Groh and how the duties/power/responsibilities will be divvied up in the personnel department.
4 – What are Wolf’s first comments in terms of the No. 3 overall pick?: Mayo created waves when some believe he tipped the team’s hand at his introductory press conference, when the coach talked about taking the best player at a position of valuable need. Will Wolf echo those comments? Will he talk up the idea of a trade or being “open for business” (for a trade up or down!) as some teams have declared with high picks in the past? Wolf’s words about No. 3 will be dissected.
5 – What are Wolf’s first public thoughts on the 2024 QB class?: Most assume the Patriots will strongly consider taking a quarterback at No. 3 overall. There is the perception that there are three prospects at the position worthy of going in the top handful of picks. What Wolf says about those three, as a group or individually, will be potential clues for what New England may have in mind at the pick and the position.
6 – Are the Patriots planning to use the franchise tag?: The window is open for teams to use the franchise tag and runs till next week. The Patriots have three likely potential candidates for the tag in safety Kyle Dugger, offensive lineman Mike Onwenu or tight end Hunter Henry. A possible franchise tag could be the first step in the team-building and free agent process, even if relatively costly for any of the three players.
7 – Is Wolf ready to burn some cash in free agency?: In an appearance on WEEI, Mayo sounded excited to hit free agency and “burn some cash” as the Patriots will approach $100 million in cap space to try and jumpstart the roster retooling. It will be interesting to hear Wolf’s approach to free agency and spending, his professional and familial roots coming from Green Bay where free agency was often a lesser part of the process. Still, much like 2021, it seems the Patriots will need to be aggressive in free agency and Wolf will be a key part of that charge.
8 – Getting to know Wolf’s general philosophies: No matter what questions Wolf is asked in Indy, the answers will begin to paint a picture of his personal philosophies on personnel and roster-building. It’s getting-to-know time. Soon we will have signings, trades, draft picks and actual moves to analyze to get a feel for the way Wolf does business. Actions will speak louder than words. But for now, the things he says on Tuesday will be the foundation of our speculation as to what he, Mayo and the Patriots will do in the critical coming months.