Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Retaining De Facto GM Eliot Wolf, Other Nuggets From Season-Ending Presser

In his season-ending press conference, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said he plans to retain de facto GM Eliot Wolf as the head of the front office in 2025, and that Wolf will be a part of the process of hiring a new head coach. 

“We are looking for people working together, and they will be staying on,” Kraft said via Tom Pelissero.

Asked about whether former Titans HC Mike Vrabel is his top choice to replace former HC Jerod Mayo, as is the current word in league rumors, Kraft dodged the question and said he needs to get to know other candidates first, per Pelissero.

Some other highlights from Kraft’s press conference: 

• Kraft took the fall for the Mayo hire not working out: “This whole situation is on me. I feel terrible for Jerod because I put him in an untenable situation.” (Ben Volin)
• Kraft elaborated on what pushed him to pull the plug after just one year: “From my point of view, we had a rough year last year – not 2024, 2023. Going through two years like that and seeing where we were this year, especially the second half, made me feel like we weren’t going in the right direction. I don’t want to go through this next year.” (Daniels)
• Buyouts for coaching contracts will not impact how much the Patriots are willing to spend in free agency, per Kraft. (Daniels)
• He added he wants to see New England start to draft better: “Our drafts have not been good for a while. And if you want to be good in this league and you want to compete, you’ve got to have good drafts.” (Zack Cox)
• That said, Kraft thinks the Patriots may have “lucked out” and “maybe have two quarterbacks” following an intriguing performance by sixth-round QB Joe Milton in Week 18 and a strong rookie season by first-round QB Drake Maye. 

Wolf, 43, is the son of former Packers GM Ron Wolf. He started as a pro personnel assistant for the Packers in 2004 and worked his way up to director of football operations in 2016.

After the Packers hired Brian Gutekunst as their GM, Wolf departed for the assistant GM job under John Dorsey in Cleveland. He then worked for the Seahawks before joining the Patriots as a consultant.

Wolf has been a popular name as a GM candidate and was last named the Patriots director of scouting back in 2022. He is now considered the de facto general manager of the team after the departure of former HC Bill Belichick.

We’ll have more on the Patriots coaching search as the news is available.