The writing’s been on the wall for some time now, but the long-rumored favorite to take over lead front office duties in New England, vacated during the exit of former head coach Bill Belichick, will officially be taking the job.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network was the first to report that director of scouting Eliot Wolf, who had been acting this offseason as de facto general manager of the Patriots since Belichick’s departure, has officially been named the team’s executive vice president of player personnel. 
The news may seem a bit underwhelming giving the lack of a “general manager” title, but it appears that Wolf’s promotion is essentially the Patriots’ action to fill that general manager role. New England has long been without an official general manager after owner Robert Kraft hired Belichick as head coach and name him “de facto” general manager, as well. That trend appears set to continue, according to Pelissero, as the team still won’t have a general manager in title.
That doesn’t lessen the importance of Wolf’s new position, though. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Wolf will oversee the overall direction of the player personnel department, will oversee management of the salary cap, and will be in control of the team’s 53-man active roster, all roles that are generally filled by a team’s general manager.
At 42 years old, Wolf has been in working in the NFL for 20 years. He first broke into the league as a pro personnel assistant with the Packers in 2004 before being promoted to assistant director of pro personnel in 2008 and assistant director of player personnel in 2011. A year later, Wolf was elevated to director of pro personnel before receiving promotions to director of player personnel in 2015 and director of football operations in 2016.
After two seasons in that role and 13 years in Green Bay, Wolf spent two years as the assistant general manager for the Browns under then-general manager John Dorsey. When Dorsey and the Browns parted ways, Wolf joined the Patriots in 2020 as a scouting consultant. For the last two years, Wolf has served as New England’s director of scouting. Wolf may not have been around for the era of the Patriots’ dynasty, but he does hold a Super Bowl ring from his time in Green Bay that saw seven NFC North titles and 10 playoff appearances.
Together with newly promoted head coach Jerod Mayo, Wolf helps to form a new, young top two under Kraft. Several years removed from the reign of Tom Brady and now without Belichick, it will be up to Mayo and Wolf to bring in a new era of success in New England.
Flipped a coin huh. I mean they only had one other guy interviewed. Well done.
*Steven Weight voice*
I am shocked. Shocked, I tell you.
Steven Wright, that is…
They let him oversee an offseason and an overhaul of their player evaluation system. Would’ve been strange to then give someone else the big chair.
I’ve been a fan of the Patriots from age of six so basically for 57 years, this team in its composition reminds me of a team of the early years going down in flames…
I am buying into the whispers that this will be the worst team in the NFL in 2024.
If Aaron Rogers can stay upright past game one and Tua protects his head, the AFC East may be the toughest division this year, so you may be right. Especially with so many holes to fill on that team.
They are probably still paying Belichick and company a whole boat-load of coin, thus they saved a few pennies going with the in-house talent that was already on the payroll.
Tag your it !
Wolf for president. Miss him in The Land.
No sh it didn’t see this coming and 3.2.1 here comes the penalty’s and they deserve a lot of them at less a high draft pick and record breaking fine Kraft is cheap pathetic clown he should just stick to his massage shops
Before you all cry I am a pats fan for over 40yrs not no bandwagon fan like most of you was happy they finally fired Bill but Kraft done nothing but smear his name and his accolades
Another lifetime Patriots fan disgusted with its ownership. They currently have about 50 million in cap space available on a team that is full of holes. It all seems like appearances are the most important thing to ownership when they’re not telling everyone what a fantastic owner they are getting a rub and tug.
New head coach has basically zero chance of success and bringing over staff from previously failed Browns organization seems foolish. No happy ending here.
The offensive line is bad , skill positions are not good. Any QB playing is likely to get his head jerked off.
No happy ending here … likely to get his head jerked off.
Well done, Stan Papi. Well done.
Why would a man worth $6.6 billion risk getting a $59 hand job at a strip mall massage parlor?
Hall of Fame football columnist, Ed Bouchette once wrote about how the Steelers used to refuse to give personal directors the title of GM in order to save money. Likely a similar case here with the Wolf deal.
Anybody else see that Netflix roast of Tom Brady? Absolutely brutal! And hilarious!
Jon is the GM.
There was a time GB fans were really upset he wasn’t named as the Packers GM. Now it seems fans of his current employer would rather have anyone but him. I’ll probably regret asking this, but…
What happened?