Report: Nick Caserio 'Wants Out Of New England'
BOSTON (CBS) -- On Friday, the Texans withdrew their request to interview Nick Caserio for their vacant GM job, the Patriots dropped their tampering charge, and that appeared to be the end of the offseason melodrama surrounding the Patriots front office.
Until Monday.
It was on Monday afternoon that Ben Volin of The Boston Globe wrote that "Nick Caserio wants out of New England."
"Specifically, he wants that Texans job," Volin wrote.
Caserio, who is the Patriots' director of player personnel, has a contract that obligates him to work for the Patriots through the 2019 season. It expires after the 2020 NFL Draft.
"To use football terms, the Patriots are making Caserio play out his contract before reaching free agency," Volin wrote.
As Volin noted, "If Caserio wanted to stay in New England, he would have just turned down the Texans' overtures. Instead, the Patriots had to lawyer up to enforce Caserio's contract."
Volin reported that despite there being several reasons for the job in Foxboro being more appealing, Caserio still wanted the Texans job.
Volin also reported that the Texans fired GM Brian Gaine with the intention of hiring Caserio.
Caserio, 43, has worked for the Patriots since 2001, serving in a variety of roles. That list of jobs includes personnel assistant, scout, director of pro personnel, wide receivers coach (in 2007), and director of player personnel. A quarterback in college (and a teammate of Josh McDaniels), Caserio has been seen many times throwing to receivers on the Patriots' practice field.
On Friday, after the Patriots dropped their tampering charge, owner Robert Kraft issued a statement thanking the Texans for the way they handled the matter.
"The Houston Texans and the New England Patriots have always had a great working relationship," Kraft said. "We appreciate the way Cal McNair has handled this situation."
UPDATE: Ben Volin gave an interview to a Houston radio station, during which he said that the story was his opinion and was not a report.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Volin spoke on WEEI in Boston, and he said that he now stands by his story as a report, not just an opinion.