Eliot Wolf will remain as Patriots' VP of Player Personnel, assist in head-coaching search
FOXBORO -- The New England Patriots made a big change on Sunday, firing Jerod Mayo after just one season as head coach. More changes are likely coming to the coaching staff, but not the Patriots front office.
After taking blame for the 2024 fiasco in New England, Patriots owner Robert Kraft revealed Monday that executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf will remain in that position and assist the team on its new head-coaching search. In addition to Wolf, Alonzo Highsmith will also remain as the franchise's senior personnel executive.
"We are looking for people working together and they will be staying on," Kraft said of the two executives on Monday.
We'll see if that changes once the Patriots bring in a new head coach, who may want to work with someone else. There's a chance Wolf could remain on the staff but in a different -- less powerful -- role should the team name an actual general manager after the coaching hire.
But for now, Wolf remains in charge of New England's player personnel department.
Eliot Wolf as Patriots' VP of player personnel
Wolf has been with the Patriots since 2020, but last season was his first atop the player personnel department. Wolf and Mayo were supposed to be the duo that led the Patriots into the future, but only Wolf will stick around.
Wolf was certainly a part of the team's failures in 2024, and he's been under fire for a while now for a lackluster draft (after taking Drake Maye third overall) and missing big in free agency.
The biggest criticism of Wolf is how big he missed at drafting receivers for the 2024 team. He traded the No. 34 pick to the Chargers, who drafted star receiver Ladd McConkey with the selection. A few picks later, the Patriots took Ja'Lynn Polk, whom Wolf believed was a plug-and-play guy that would come in and make an immediate impact.
Polk did not, as he struggled throughout his rookie season and finished with just 12 receptions. Wolf also drafted receiver Javon Baker in the fourth round, and he had just one reception -- which came in Week 18 -- on the season.
Wolf also failed to build even a serviceable offensive line for 2024. While he drafted a pair of linemen in Caedan Wallace (third round, 68th overall) and Layden Robinson (fourth round, 103rd overall), both struggled as rookies. Free-agent signing Chuks Okorafor was brought in to be the team's starting left tackle, but he was benched after the first quarter of Week 1 and left the team in Week 2.
But Kraft said Monday that New England's player personnel department made changes to how they'll approach the draft in the future, and he expressed optimism in the group.
"The department evolved a lot and a lot of things were changed," he said. "We changed our grading system this year. Our drafts have not been good for a while. If you want to compete long-term and be good in this league, you have to have good drats. Those rookie contracts allow you to go out and surround people."
Future unclear for Patriots coordinators
As for coaches remaining from Mayo's staff -- mainly offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington -- no decisions will be made until a new head coach is hired.
"We'll wait until we bring the head coach in. He's going to have big input on who the players are and who the coaches are," Kraft said Monday.
Chances are Mayo's assistants and coaches will not be retained when a new head coach takes over. But having to potentially pay a new staff -- along with Mayo and his staff -- will not keep the Patriots from spending on the roster in 2025.
Kraft said Patriots will spend to the salary cap
The Patriots will have over $130 million to spend this offseason, so Wolf and company should be able to make a couple of big splashes. Kraft said that having to pay for new coaches (and keep paying old coaches) will not hamper Wolf's spending on the roster.
"The answer is no. We've always had a situation where we spend to the cap. We have never told any coach of limited them to spending," said Kraft. "The only thing we've said is that if you exceed the cap, we'd like to see it level out over three years so it doesn't get way out of hand.
"Spending to the cap or above the cap – we want to win. That's our priority first," Kraft added.
