Patriots News 5-12, Rookie Mini-Camp, Eliot Wolf IS The GM
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Good morning. Here are your Patriots news and notes for May 12. The Patriots conducted their rookie mini-camp, and the team allowed the media access on Saturday’s practice session.
But the big news of the day, not necessarily surprising news is that the Patriots announced that Eliot Wolf was named the Executive Vice President of Player Personnel. So, essentially Wolf is now the GM of the Patriots, and will control the personnel department, manage the salary cap, and control the 53-man roster.
The move doesn’t come as a surprise, he was expected to land the job all spring.
“As I have stated multiple times during the offseason, the plan was to observe the working relationship and involvement between Eliot and Jerod and see how they managed our offseason personnel decisions,” said Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
“Then, following the draft we would formally undertake a process for setting up the permanent structure of our personnel department. I have been impressed with Eliot’s management style and experience and I’m excited that he has agreed to take on this new position.”
“It is an honor to accept this position with the New England Patriots,” Wolf said. “I am grateful to the Kraft family for this opportunity and want to thank my family, especially my wife and children, for the support and strength they have given me as I move forward in my new role. I also want to thank all of the people I have worked with and learned from over the years.”
With all of the draft prep, analysis, and discussions post-draft, which was the priority during the past couple of months, there were some other stories that needed to be looked at.
The first was about Ernie Adams, who emerged from the shadows (so to speak) during the “The Dynasty” miniseries. Adams was one of the speakers who left watchers wanting more of him on screen. About a month or so ago, Adams on the Julian Edelman podcast, “Games With Names.” It was fantastic, or as Edelman says, “situational podcasting.”
They spoke about Super Bowl XXVI against the Rams, and Adams had some great moments in an almost three-hour interview. But one of the best soundbites for me came when he talked about being on the staff of Chuck Fairbanks for the Patriots in 1975.
Adams opined that the system and staff that Fairbanks and Bucko Kilroy built in New England had a direct line of descendancy to the Giants of the 1980s and the Patriots under Belichick. This is why I continue with the blurb every week in this column about why Fairbanks and Russ Francis belong in the Patriots Hall of Fame. In Francis’s case, he belongs in Canton as well.
Calvin Anderson: The team signed the Patriots’ offensive tackle last year to compete for the left tackle position. But right before training camp, Anderson was placed on NFI for what was reported as a “serious illness.” We never knew what that illness was. Now we do.
The Boston Globe’s Chris Price, who is no stranger to Patsfans.com, wrote a fantastic piece this past week about Anderson and his wife Sherée and what the pair went through when Anderson contracted malaria.
After coming home from a trip to Nigeria in July (where his wife is from), Anderson’s temperature spiked to 104.5, and she rushed him to a hospital, despite his objections since training camp was right around the corner.
Anderson’s struggles during the illness and its aftermath lend an appreciation of how tough it was to endure this and still play in the team’s opener despite not having a training camp. This didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates.
“I definitely made sure to let him know how much I appreciated his effort Sunday because that’s tough,” said David Andrews after the game. Obviously, he’s a veteran player, but it’s really hard missing a training camp. You need a training camp and a new system. So I really appreciated his effort.”
Check out Price’s article on the Globe’s website. It is well worth the read. On social media, Chris talks about how people should find life partners who talk about each other the way they do. Amen.
So, here’s to seeing a strong, healthy Anderson competing again this season.
Patriots’ New Logo: The Patriots have a new logo that is being placed around the facilities and on the team’s social media pages. Former Patriot LB Brandon Spikes recently visited Foxboro and posted the picture on “X,” or Twitter as it used to be called.
Fans quickly derided the logo, not wanting to see it placed on helmets. Which I completely agree with. It would be (at least IMHO) hideous.
However, the Patriots, perhaps sensing the waters, were quick to point out that this logo would NOT be placed on the helmets, opting to keep the “Flying Elvis” with the “Pat the Patriot” as the alternate.
If the team is just using it on social media or in the facility, that’s fine. But one has to wonder if that is truly the case. Will they change the logo on the helmets or jerseys in 2025? I wouldn’t be shocked. We’ll see.
No one is a bigger Elvis fan than me (the entertainer, not the logo). But I wish they’d go back to the “Pat the Patriot” logo full-time, with red and white uniforms. The away unis with the red pants were the best.
Patriots 4th & 2 Podcast: This past week, we discussed the latest news from Foxboro in our PatsFans.com podcast.
Derek Havens and I welcomed Paul Perillo from Patriots.com and Patriots Unfiltered on the pod. Paul was great, and it was catching up with him and talking about the new players, coaches, and front-office personnel.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t in is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed the game with how teams used the tight end position. This will be discussed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
The roast of Brady on the streaming giant was fantastic, hilarious, raunchy, and very funny. But let’s get the bad out of the way first. Why the heck was Kim Kardashian even invited? Because of a scandal sheet rumor that the two were dating? And after all the noise Netflix made about “nothing is off-limits,” they sure as hell edited all of the boos that greeted Kardashian as she took the stage. That was complete BS.
But the rest was utterly fantastic. Jeff Ross got the ball rolling and left no doubt that this wasn’t a network roast where things got a bit/lot watered down. Nope, this wasn’t your Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts on NBC.
Nikki Glaser absolutely killed it, her bit about her boyfriend was an instant classic. She was my favorite roaster of the long list. Kevin Hart kept it flowing right along. But former Patriots Drew Bledsoe, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, and Bill Belichick were great. It was hilarious watching Gronk and Belichick struggle with the teleprompter.
But Belichick got one of the best zingers of the night when he said he was asked about he and Brady butting heads. “It was hard to butt heads with Tom, because it was so far up Alex Guerrero’s ass.” And his bit about Matt Light was fantastic.
It was great entertainment and well worth the three hours.
“How did Drake Maye Look?” That seems to be the question on everyone’s mind, and why not? The Patriots just invested the third pick in the draft on Maye. And it was as expected. They are new players to the NFL, the Patriots, with a new coaching staff, a new offense, and a new playbook.
The reports today all say the same things, some very good things, some things that need some work, and the physical tools that we all know about were on display. Maye can drive the ball. “Bazooka” Joe Milton can definitely drive it. So watching the QBs later this spring/summer is going to be fun.
Caedan Wallace was playing left tackle, Layden Robinson was repping at left guard, so, at least for now, the two rookies were at least getting some footwork drills in. Wide receivers Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker came as advertised. Jaheim Bell made a really nice catch on an over-the-shoulder toss from Maye.
Patriots.com writer Evan Lazar wrote that “but Polk’s smooth movement skills caught the eye. He’s a natural, while Baker is a twitchy mover with a knack for changing gears mid-route.”
The coaches were (rightfully so) stressing fundamentals at this early juncture. Jerod Mayo said the rookies were all staying at the same hotel so that they could study and watch film together, while prepping for the next day’s practice.
None of it really means a thing this early, but it is exciting to see the Patriots’ rookie class doing football things on the field. There is a long, long way to go, but the ball is rolling.
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“Yeah, man, they look good. I know you all just watched them. They look good. They made some plays in seven-on-seven. I don’t know if I threw a couple behind them, but they still made the catches. So I don’t know if we have one on the ground yet and knock on wood. So that’s the goal out here, come out here and [inaudible] and be 100%. But those guys, they’re going to be some special players.”
Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye on playing for the first time with WRs Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker.
“No, that’s a great question. I would say across the league, most offensive coordinators, they interact with the quarterback, the starting quarterback for the most part. We do have a group of coaches that have quarterback backgrounds, but I would say overall, it’ll be AVP [Alex Van Pelt] as far as that.”
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo, on who the primary person will be in Drake’s ear and Joe Milton’s ear, whether it’s T.C. McCartney or Alex Van Pelt.
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“Talent sets the floor; Character sets the ceiling.” Bill Belichick
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts on Apple and YouTube as Russ Goldman, Derek Havens, and myself from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.
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