Patriots Officially Promote Eliot Wolf To Leader Of Player Personnel

FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots on Saturday named Eliot Wolf the organization’s executive vice president of player personnel.

Wolf, who was the favorite to land the job after he served as the de facto general manager during the NFL draft and offseason, will be responsible for overall direction of the personnel department, the management of the salary cap and have control of the 53-man roster, per the team’s release.

“As I have started 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,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft wrote in a statement. “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.”

The 42-year-old Wolf worked for the Green Bay Packers (2004-17) and Cleveland Browns (2018-19) before he joined the Patriots in 2020. Wolf served as New England’s director of scouting before his promotion, after joining the franchise as a scouting consultant under Bill Belichick. Belichick and the Patriots mutually part ways this offseason.

“It is an honor to accept this position with the New England Patriots,” Wolf wrote. “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.”

The Patriots reportedly completed interviews with Brandon Hunt, the Philadelphia Eagles director of scouting, and Samir Suleiman, the former Carolina Panthers director of player negotiations and salary cap manager, on Wednesday. The two interviews of external minority candidates fulfilled the Rooney Rule.

According to multiple reports, Cincinnati Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown, former Arizona Cardinals vice president of player personnel Quentin Harris and Buffalo Bills director of player personnel Terrance Gray all turned down the opportunity to interview. It likely was because they, like so many others around the league, viewed Wolf as a surefire lock for the position.