TRANSCRIPT: Eliot Wolf Press Conference 3/12
Eliot Wolf Details Patriots' Offseason Strategy, Key Player Decisions, and Vision Ahead
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Here’s what New England Patriots Executive Vice President of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf had to say during his press conference on March 12, 2026.
On how he feels about the improvements made, and if they’ll be a better team in August thatn they were on February 8th leaving the field:
“Yeah, I mean, I think that we’re all excited about the guys that we’ve added and we spent a lot of time evaluating these guys, scouts, coaching staff, putting in work, trying to find out about them as people, finding any connections that we have. And we feel like we’re really intentional trying to get the right kind of people again. We were able to come to agreements with these guys and we’re excited about improving the team any way we can.”
On what went into moving away from Stefon [Diggs]
“Just a variety of factors, looking at financials, ability, a lot of things go into this. And we have nothing but respect for Stefon. He was an absolute warrior for us, as I said to him multiple times after games. And just really appreciate all his contributions to the team.”0
On if there was any consideration of a new contract with him or if it was just them moving on:
“We talked about a variety of options and ultimately just went in this direction and decided – excited to move forward with the guys that we signed today.”
On the fact he had a pretty good year:
“He did.”
On if there’s anything he could have done to come back for a second year:
“I don’t, I’m not sure I know how to answer that. I mean, we factor in a lot of different things, and ultimately, we decided to move forward, and we wish him nothing but the best. And as we told him when we spoke to him, just, and he was super classy, like as we told him, any way we can help out, we will.”
On the fact Romeo [Doubs] didn’t play a ton on the inside, and if he projects him to be someone who can do a little bit more of that than maybe Green Bay let him do:
“I think he has a really cool skillset. I think he can play outside, inside, he blocks. He can play Z, he can play X. He’s good on short routes. He’s good on the deep routes. He’s good with the ball in his hands. He has a lot of route variance that we liked and strong for the ball. There’s some things that he can improve upon that we’ll try to help him with. But overall, just the competitor, the person. I mean, I don’t know if you guys saw him up here. Like, he was already in the playbook. He was, he was on his iPad learning the formations while I was trying to get him to sign his contract this morning. So it was pretty cool.”
On the fact he still wants to do more at wideout and if the door would be closed on maybe revisiting Stephon?
“I wouldn’t say the door’s closed. I mean, again, we’re going to look through every way we possibly can to help improve the team.”
On with Romeo and Stef, it’s sort of a one-for-one replacement:
“As far as?”
On the fact they lose a lot of production with Stefon, he leaves, enter Romeo, and if he views that as ‘All right, we don’t have Diggs last year, but you have Dobbs to sort of replace him in terms of the targets.”
“Yeah, I mean, I think it’ll be a variety of guys. You know, I think it’ll, Stef moved around a lot in the offense, and we have some guys that are still here that we think can do more. Kayshon [Boutte] can certainly move around more than he did last year. Mack [Hollins] can play every position. Kyle [Williams] can play every position. And then, you know, Pop [Douglas], when he was on the field this year, was very productive. So we feel good about the group and, the tight end group’s kind of part of that as well. We’re excited to see what Josh [McDaniels] can put together for the offense.”
On what stood out about Reggie [Gilliam] that made him want to bring him here and work with him:
“Yeah, I mean, when you watch just all his plays, his guy rarely makes the tackle, and he’s light on his feet. He can align multiple areas and get in the hole. He’s very square, attacks people, likes blocking, very good on special teams. He only had 2 catches last year, so we’re hopeful that there’ll be an uptick there. But he does have good hands, so I feel like he was a good addition.”
On the wide receiver corps, if this is it, or if he could you be open to other moves:
“Again, we’re always open to trying to improve the team any way we can. If we see something out there that we think can help us out, then we’ll look towards it.”
On if they were ever in on Maxx Crosby:
“We make a lot of exploratory calls, and I’ll just leave it at that.”
On what his reaction was to that deal falling through:
“I didn’t know too much about it. I think every team and general manager in the league has to act in the faith of what they think is best for their team. And that one was maybe a little unusual, but that’s their business.”
On if he would you be open to revisiting those talks now that he’s back with the Raiders:
“With Maxx Crosby specifically? I’d have to talk to Richard Miller about our numbers right now. So, again, we’ll look into any player that we think can help us.”
On the numbers with [Alijah] Vera-Tucker:
“Yeah, I mean, that’s a good question. It’s a risk-reward. We just looked at the film and the youth, and the type of injuries it was were all factors that we talked about. And just ultimately, we felt like, taking a swing at a player that was still young and still has upside and is a really good player at his position.”
On how big of a factor age was when looking at the roster from who walked off the field in the Super Bowl to who they want to be next season and even moving on from someone like Stefon [Diggs]?
“I mean, it’s a factor. We look at those things when we talk about the length of a contract or, what type of upside does this player have. But I wouldn’t say it was overly intentional that like, ‘Hey, we need to get younger.'”
On Alijah [Vera-Tucker], if he views him playing left guard and Jared [Wilson] going to center:
“I think that’s probably the plan right now. You know, we have some guys that do have versatility, which is always a good thing. But I think that would probably be the plan at the moment.”
On what appealed to them about Dre’Mont Jones:
“Dre’Mont has just been a good football player at a variety of positions throughout his career. Started on the interior and has kind of gotten smaller and moved outside. He still has that alignment versatility to play inside on third down. He can set the edge. He’s a good game rusher. He’s just one of those guys that you just look at him, and there’s not like a major weakness. He’s just a good football player.”
On if he looks at that edge spot as a place that they could still use a little help, or if he’s content with what they have there:
“I think I look at all the spots and try to see where we can get better, what we can improve upon. I think edge is no different from a variety of other positions where we think we need to add something.”
On when he looks at the team that walked off the field in the Super Bowl, one of the things that maybe stood out was they have a very good team, but maybe not enough elite guys, game changers, other than Drake [Maye]. The guys that were signed in free agency are proven starters in the NFL, but in his mind, where do the game changers, the elite players, the difference makers come from on this roster and with this team?
“Yeah, I mean, I think we have a solid roster. I don’t know that I necessarily agree that we don’t have really good players on this team, difference makers. You know, I would say Vera Tucker in 2024 is one of the best guards in the NFL. So I don’t know if you could call a guard a difference maker, but, you know, he’s got a chance to do that. I think Doubs is really good. Dre’Mont’s really good. I think that we’re doing everything we can to help improve the team.”
On if he talked to Morgan Moses because he’s someone who spent time with [Vera-Tucker] when he was in New York:
“Yeah, definitely. We try to find out, use resources to try to find out what kind of people these guys are. Obviously having Morgan, who played next to him for a number of years, was, was valuable. And, you know, I certainly probably think it didn’t hurt if Vera-Tucker had given Morgan a call at some point to see what we’re all about. Because, as much as we’re trying to find out about the players, the players are trying to find out about the culture of the team. So, those relationships work in both directions.
On how important it will be for last year’s rookie class, several of them in particular, to take the next step this season:
“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s huge anytime— we always talk about draft and develop. I mean, we had a number of guys play a lot of snaps for us, but anytime those guys can take a next step to get to that next level, I think is important. And we have some guys that played a lot that certainly could improve upon some things, and we have some guys that maybe didn’t play as much that we’re expecting to take that next jump.”
On the fact it seems like there was an emphasis on improving the ground game and how does Julian Hill potentially factor into that:
“Yeah, I mean, I think there are points in the season where we didn’t run the ball as well as we would have liked last year for a variety of reasons. And I think adding the fullback, a guard, and a tight end who’s primarily been a blocker in his career certainly was intentional, trying to get some toughness and some identity guys for Coach Vrabel in that offense. Julian is a guy that obviously we’ve played against and played at a smaller school, and kind of made the team as an undrafted rookie, and has really kind of improved each year that he’s been in it. We think there’s probably still some meat on the bone in the passing game as well for him, but certainly a physical tough guy at the point of attack.”
On the reports and rumors out there about the team having interest in trading for AJ Brown, and if that’s a situation he’d like to continue to explore:
“Again, we’ll explore anything that we think can help the team.”
On the fact they still have a significant amount of cap space, and if the priority now is using that cap space to sign free agents, or if he’s started to focus a little bit on future contracts, renegotiations, or anything like that, (possibly extending Christian Gonzalez):
“Yeah, I mean, we’ve, I mean, it’s no secret we’d like to keep Christian Gonzalez. And I don’t know what the timing of that is, but that’s something that certainly we’re preparing for.”
On the fact that very quickly after the season, coach Vrabel declared that Will Campbell is the left tackle next year, and why not take a little time to consider all options, and why make that declaration so soon?
“We know who the free agents are going to be at left tackle. We know who’s in the draft at left tackle. We know that we’re picking 31st. Again, if there’s somebody that’s a better left tackle than Will Campbell that’s available, we’ll look at anything. Just not sure how realistic that is at this time.”
On the fact there’s a story going around before the Crosby deal fell apart that Tom Brady with the Raiders was not interested in sending a player of the caliber of Crosby to the Patriots, and if there’s anything to his knowledge about conversations or anything like that that happened:
“No, I’d be surprised if that was true. I have a really good relationship with John Spytek, the Raiders general manager, and we speak about a variety of things, and that’s never been a thing.”
On how wary he has to be of announcing deals before physicals are done, things like that:
“I mean, I think the way it’s set up now, with the quote-unquote tampering window, probably less worried about it. I think, I think it’s good to announce that you’ve agreed to terms with somebody just so maybe other agents or other teams stop calling them. And also we actually have to do that now in order to start Nancy with the travel process. So that’s kind of the way it’s set up to work now. Yeah.”
On the fact he’s mentioned the importance of versatility at safety, being able to do a lot of different things, line up in different places. and if he sees Kevin Byard in that mold at this point in his career:
“Yeah, I mean, I know he’s an older player. I haven’t seen any real drop-off from him. I think he can still do everything. I think he proved that last year, obviously making All-Pro, but he’s someone that our coaching staff has a ton of familiarity with, and they were— I mean, it was ecstatic, would be an understatement when we were able to agree to terms with him. Definitely think that he still has the ability to play down, play back, cover, tackle, all the things that you need to do at safety.”
On what his history is with Howie Roseman in terms of players that he has available, like A.J. Brown, and if there’s a point, a deadline, where they just have to say when building the team, you just have to kind of move on from that, say the draft:
“I’m not sure I follow.”
The first question is what history you have with Howie Roseman, you have a good relationship with John Spytek – you talk all the time – so just curious about that. And then in terms of somebody like AJ Brown, in the team-building process, is there a point where you have to say, ‘Okay, this hasn’t happened by this point, if we’re interested in this player, we just have to move on. We can’t wait till June, July, whatever.’
“Yeah. I mean, I think number one, I have a great relationship with Howie. I’ve known him for a long time. They actually put in a permission slip for me when I was in Green Bay as a young scout, and that got blocked. But so I’ve known Howie for a long time. We have a good relationship. We talk, you know, often. He’s obviously a great resource and someone you can learn a lot from. And then as far as the deadline thing, I mean, I think, I think the only real deadlines you have are, you know, sort of maybe salary cap-related is if, you know, for instance, did we spend money in free agency that would take us out of something else? But I wouldn’t say that there’s a deadline. Again, I’m trying to improve the team.”
On how rewarding it is over the last 2 years to see this team go from being a place that it might have been difficult to convince free agents to work out to now having virtually every guy talking about the coach, culture, and quarterback:
“Yeah, I mean, it’s been tremendous. You know, I just have to thank the Krafts and have to thank Vrabel and the culture that really has been instilled here for really being responsible for that. Drake as well. You know, every free agent kind of says the same thing. Want to play for Vrabel, want to play with Drake. I mean, it’s pretty cool.”
On if they spent too much money to be involved with someone of a bigger contract like the receiver in Philadelphia:
“I’m not going to talk about a specific player that’s under contract with another team, but we’re happy with the guys that we signed, and we think we’ve improved our team.”
On if they anticipate continuing to be active in free agency:
“Like now or next year? Again, we’re still looking through everything. There’s still some quality players that are available. So if something makes sense for us or, you know, someone comes back to us and says, ‘Hey, you know, my market isn’t what I thought it would be,’ there’s always things that we’ll look at.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This transcript was done based on the available footage and is subject to typographical errors. If you spot anything, please let me know in the comments below.)
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