Wolf has final say on the roster

[borg]

“The game is always won on the lines — offensive line, defensive line,” Wolf said Wednesday. “Not just because of the (Philadelphia Eagles in the) Super Bowl — it’s always been that way.” …

Must be a recent revelation for Ron's kid given the malpractice he committed last offseason as NE's roster decision maker.
In fairness, it's not like NFL teams need starting caliber left and right offensive tackles.

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www.barstoolsports.com

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Karen Guregian confirming what most of us already suspected.

I wouldn't call that "confirming", it's just her speculating. There's so many levels to building a team, and so much coordination needed among GM, HC, other front office staff, and scouts.

e.g., is Vrabel going to set the board? he's gonna research and rank 500 prospects? or will he rely on Wolf's staff for that? Even just the first couple of rounds involves ranking 50 players cause you could do a trade down from 4, a trade up from 38, a trade down from 38, or maybe even a trade up from 4. And we have so many areas of need that we have to take the BPA every time. Ranking across multiple positions is the most difficult part of evaluation. Vrabel needs Wolf for that.

My concern with Wolf is whether he can be influential enough when dealing with other GM's for trades, whether for a player or moving up or down on draft day. He doesn't seem to have the personality of a Roseman or Lynch or Beane etc. I can see Vrabel sitting in on those types of calls.

 

[Real fan 02]

Some of us like myself felt J Daniels was the number one QB in the Draft last year. He sure played like it so there.

I loved JD too.. but JD was drafted into a much better all around situation than Drake was.

 

[lancerman]

That’s a strong argument, and if Mayo was still the coach I would buy into it because I never got any sense at all of what kind of team Mayo wanted to build. Vrabel however is a different story imo, because from the moment they hired him it was clear that he was going to try to build a team that would dominate both lines of scrimmage and be as nasty as possible. And while I believe all of them will be on the same page in that regard I want him to have the final say on the players they bring in.

I just don't see Kraft giving a HC that much power when Bill Belichick was just fired because Kraft didn't believe one guy should have that much control

 

[Real fan 02]

I wouldn't call that "confirming", it's just her speculating. There's so many levels to building a team, and so much coordination needed among GM, HC, other front office staff, and scouts.

e.g., is Vrabel going to set the board? he's gonna research and rank 500 prospects? or will he rely on Wolf's staff for that? Even just the first couple of rounds involves ranking 50 players cause you could do a trade down from 4, a trade up from 38, a trade down from 38, or maybe even a trade up from 4. And we have so many areas of need that we have to take the BPA every time. Ranking across multiple positions is the most difficult part of evaluation. Vrabel needs Wolf for that.

My concern with Wolf is whether he can be influential enough when dealing with other GM's for trades, whether for a player or moving up or down on draft day. He doesn't seem to have the personality of a Roseman or Lynch or Beane etc. I can see Vrabel sitting in on those types of calls.

What I feel like Vrabel could also do is involve Drake in some meetings with trying to court big FAs. Drake and Vrabel are the faces of the organization. The NFLPA survey doesn't help. However showing someone 40 million guaranteed can make a lot of difference. I like your points.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I just don't see Kraft giving a HC that much power when Bill Belichick was just fired because Kraft didn't believe one guy should have that much control

Belichick had full control over all football operations, but I think Kraft wanted Vrabel desperately and gave him control over the roster as part of the agreement. I don’t think he gave him absolute power over everything.

 

[lancerman]

Belichick had full control over all football operations, but I think Kraft wanted Vrabel desperately and gave him control over the roster as part of the agreement. I don’t think he gave him absolute power over everything.

I think he got him and Wolf in a room to see if they could be aligned and I think Vrabel will have a seat at the table. But Kraft is completely done with the idea of one guy having final say over every aspect of the team. He doesn't want to be in a position two years from now where Vrabel might be a good coach but they have to pull responsibilities.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

Ya, sure..

 

[Huckleberry1]

I think he got him and Wolf in a room to see if they could be aligned and I think Vrabel will have a seat at the table. But Kraft is completely done with the idea of one guy having final say over every aspect of the team. He doesn't want to be in a position two years from now where Vrabel might be a good coach but they have to pull responsibilities.

I agree with the idea that Kraft didn’t want to return to a situation like the one he had with Belichick, but I also believe he would have let Wolf go if that’s what it took to bring Vrabel in. Ultimately I think Wolf and Cowden will do the bulk of the evaluations based upon what Vrabel specifies that he wants for each position and unit.

 

[TommyD4207]

Fired Mayo, kept Wolf, hired Vrabel, kept Wolf. Why Wolf? What makes him a special GM? You think he's good at his job? Would you hire him with his track record for the future? Fool me once, shame on me....fool me twice

If he's not fired, you don't have to pay him for being fired.

When the obvious answer is 'Kraft's being a cheap-ass', it's usually the correct answer.

 

[mike_usagisan]

This was an interesting explanation by Breer of the "final say" aspect with the Pats

Breer shares insight on Eliot Wolf's contract, dynamic with Vrabel

Albert Breer joins Next Pats to share what he's hearing about Eliot Wolf's contract and how the Patriots will go about acquiring talent this offseason.

www.nbcboston.com

"What I know is that the draft, free agency, the stuff that goes along with being the primary football executive -- which is the jargon that the league uses to define these rules -- that was written into Eliot Wolf's contract when he was when he was signed on as the EVP of player personnel," Breer said.

"And his contract has not been altered. So, all the control that he had in 2024, he retains now in 2025."

Wolf assumed the "EVP of player personnel" role last winter after Bill Belichick's departure and had final say over the roster last season. Technically, the same setup exists in 2025. But in reality, Vrabel will play a much more hands-on role than predecessor Jerod Mayo when it comes to player acquisition -- similar, Breer believes, to how the Seattle Seahawks operated when Pete Carroll was head coach.

"There have been situations like this in the past where you see that the GM by title ... has personnel control written into the contract, but in practice, the coach has a heavy hand," Breer said.

"On paper, yes, Eliot has final say. I think the way it's going to wind up being structured is what I would call the old Pete Carroll model in Seattle, which is, the scouts (and) the personnel chief, build the roster up, and the head coach, the coaching staff cut it back down.

"So, essentially you're going to be looking for your scouts to build the roster up and put players in front of the coaches and essentially pick the players based on what the coaches want. And then when the coaches get them in-house, the coaches cut the roster back down."

 

[lancerman]

This was an interesting explanation by Breer of the "final say" aspect with the Pats

Breer shares insight on Eliot Wolf's contract, dynamic with Vrabel

Albert Breer joins Next Pats to share what he's hearing about Eliot Wolf's contract and how the Patriots will go about acquiring talent this offseason.

www.nbcboston.com

This is what I figured.

 

[PatsFan2]

This was an interesting explanation by Breer of the "final say" aspect with the Pats

Breer shares insight on Eliot Wolf's contract, dynamic with Vrabel

Albert Breer joins Next Pats to share what he's hearing about Eliot Wolf's contract and how the Patriots will go about acquiring talent this offseason.

www.nbcboston.com

Well we have looked at almost every prospect: IF Wolf Draft someone we don't know my TV is going out the window.

 

[PatsFan2]

This was an interesting explanation by Breer of the "final say" aspect with the Pats

Breer shares insight on Eliot Wolf's contract, dynamic with Vrabel

Albert Breer joins Next Pats to share what he's hearing about Eliot Wolf's contract and how the Patriots will go about acquiring talent this offseason.

www.nbcboston.com

Well they took the High Road in FA24 and Reached for Fourth Round Players in the Second and Third Rounds. IF they do their job in FA25 we take the BPA in the Draft.

 

[Wozzy]

I loved JD too.. but JD was drafted into a much better all around situation than Drake was.

The teams were pretty similar prior to the offseason, the Pats might have even been more talented.

Washington did a good job team building, NE did a crummy job. Washington was pretty well coached. NE less so. Jayden was also 24 and more prepared to start immediately, Maye was 21 and less so.

 

[lancerman]

The teams were pretty similar prior to the offseason, the Pats might have even been more talented.

Washington did a good job team building, NE did a crummy job. Washington was pretty well coached. NE less so. Jayden was also 24 and more prepared to start immediately, Maye was 21 and less so.

There were differences in where talent was. Washington's BIG issue was defense. We thought we were solid on defense and that we had a terrible offense.

We had the 32nd worst offense in points and Washington had the 25th. That looks negligible, but in reality it means we had 13.9 ppg and they had 19.4 ppg. That's a 5.5 ppg difference. To give you an idea a 5.5 ppg difference is massive. If Washington had a 5.5 higher ppg, they become a top 10 offense that year.

So they were dramatically better there when Daniels came on board offensively and that's where he could have the biggest impact. And naturally being able to add a QB to a unit that was much better is going to keep them on the field and help the defense.

Meanwhile, Maye didn't really have much to work with to improve the offense to begin with like Daniels. So there was no rising tide and then all of a sudden the defense took a big dip.

But a lot of it is that Washington
1. Was better on offense to help the QB make a bigger impact
2. Daniels was straight up significantly better than Maye even if you ignore the teams. Daniels was playing like an MVP. Maye was playing like a rookie showing some exciting flashes but lots of areas to work on.

So it's not just "Washington did a better job last year". They did to some extent, but part of it was they just started better where it mattered and got a better player at the more important position.

 

[Real fan 02]

The teams were pretty similar prior to the offseason, the Pats might have even been more talented.

Washington did a good job team building, NE did a crummy job. Washington was pretty well coached. NE less so. Jayden was also 24 and more prepared to start immediately, Maye was 21 and less so.

There you said it. Pretty well coached. The Patriots also don't have anyone on the roster to help Drake at WR like McLaren. I've said personally I'd rather have Drake as the long run development.

 

[dliverey44]

Something else that people are not considering is if the Pats gave Cowden or Vrabel GM title they would have had to hold interviews and comply with the Rooney rule.

 

[dliverey44]

Something else that people are not considering is if the Pats gave Cowden or Vrabel GM title they would have had to hold interviews and comply with the Rooney rule.

If the patriots hire a new guy with more control than Wolf they would have had to satisfy the Rooney Rule because they were hiring a new GM.

Even if they don't use the GM title

 

[Love The Drake]

If the patriots hire a new guy with more control than Wolf they would have had to satisfy the Rooney Rule because they were hiring a new GM.

Even if they don't use the GM title

My guess is Vrabs and Wolf can’t co exist, Wolf if out Cowden gets wolfs role with final say going back to Mike.