Eliot Wolf. Green Bay Press Gazette-USA TODAY Sports

A front-runner appears to have emerged for the Patriots GM position

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 2/7/24

Though the New England Patriots haven’t named a successor for Bill Belichick as the team’s general manager, it appears a front-runner is emerging.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday that director of scouting Eliot Wolf “will be in charge of the personnel department, with control of the 53-man roster working closely with Jerod Mayo.”

Director of player personnel Matt Groh will oversee college scouting, per Rapoport, likely meaning Wolf will assume more of a GM role although he may not explicitly be given the title.

Robert Kraft on if he will hire a GM:

“We wanna see what we have in house, look what's out there in the marketplace, and then do what we think is right… Any decision we make at this time will be to give support to Jerod and put the organization in the best place to win games.” pic.twitter.com/1QlCbhXCpG
— Casey Baker (@_CaseyBaker) January 17, 2024

New England also added former Miami Hurricanes general manager of football operations Alonzo Highsmith to its personnel department on Wednesday, though his title was not announced.

Highsmith spent the last two seasons with the Hurricanes after several years in the NFL as a senior personnel executive the Green Bay Packers (2012-17), vice president of player personnel with the Cleveland Browns (2018-19) and personnel executive with the Seattle Seahawks (2020-22).

Belichick, who served as New England’s de facto GM during his 24-year run with the team, previously had final say over the Pats’ roster. The last time the Patriots had an official GM who didn’t also serve as the head coach was Bobby Grier, who held the role from 1997-99.

In fact, two of New England’s last three GMs have also had dual-roles as head coach.

Aside from Belichick (.720 win percentage), the winningest GM in Patriots franchise history is Chuck Fairbanks, who had a 41-31 record (.569 win percentage) from 1974-78.

Of the 14 GMs in team history, only two aside from Belichick have lasted longer than five seasons — Pat Sullivan (1983-90) and Mike Holovak (1961-68).

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