New England Patriots: Personnel departures are an opportunity
The New England Patriots are losing one and maybe more personnel executives to other teams this offseason providing a huge opportunity to move ahead.
The New England Patriots are a team in flux. The old era of prosperity and success is over. It ended when No. 12 departed for the newly-minted playoff team Tampa Bay.
But that notwithstanding, this team was going to restructure in any event when Tom Brady retires (If he ever actually does.). Who knows, he may play until he’s 50. However long, it was a mistake to let him leave.
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But the future of our New England Patriots’ team is the issue that now confronts ownership, coaches, football personnel management, and football players. The whole shebang is now and well should be up for reevaluation and reconstruction. The 2020 NFL left the old Patriot Way in the dustbin of the AFC East looking up at the previously hapless Dolphins and Bills.
Major mistakes have been made by this club and they have to be rectified. Mike Reiss of ESPN has postulated that Bill Belichick is the man to lead this future-orientation. On December 30, 2020, he wrote about questions related to the Patriots 2020 season,
"One of the most significant: Why is the roster he assembled with director of player personnel Nick Caserio — which was embarrassed in a 38-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday night — so short on talent?A combination of shaky drafting, free-agent misses, COVID-19 opt-outs, salary-cap restrictions and the departure of quarterback Tom Brady has contributed to the current snapshot, putting Belichick, 68, on the spot to fix it.He remains the right person to lead the turnaround, simply because one disappointing season amid a pandemic doesn’t erase 20 prior years of unprecedented excellence."
Reiss is among the best of the best of New England football writers. His acknowledgment of the deficiencies in New England’s personnel efforts is a revelation.
Yet, the thinking that the then-current operation could rectify the situation didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Since then, it’s clear that circumstance is occasioning changes in that self-same personnel structure. Nick Caserio, the personnel director is reportedly leaving for Houston and in addition, it’s been reported that Dave Ziegler, assistant director of player personnel may be a candidate for the General Manager’s position in Denver.
There is seemingly wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth among the New England fandom and writerdom about these departures. Neither the personnel operation’s drafting nor free agency has been much to brag about in recent years. Especially in their drafting.
Whoever is in charge of the aggregation of potential draftees and the ultimate decisions, it ain’t working. This change in personnel is an opportunity for New England to do better and should be looked at as such, not as a calamity. Not at all.
Whether Belichick is the man to oversee this change as suggested by Reiss is another question entirely. He’s likely going to be in charge at least for another season or two. There are people out there like Louis Riddick who could bring in new perspectives and talent as the team’s General Manager if really given the opportunity to exercise that authority.
Unfortunately, it’s likely a person from inside the operation will be elevated to Caserio’s position. He’d be more likely to accommodate himself to the direction of Belichick’s personnel policies.
But the opportunity for a shift in these policies has been presented to the organization with the departure of Caserio and the possible departure of Ziegler. Yet, the ultimate personnel authority will remain with Belichick for as long as he’s with the Patriots.
They say a leopard can’t change his spots but perhaps Belichick’s handling of the Brady situation and the subsequent dismal 2020 season will lead him to do just that. He has a clear opportunity to change his personnel direction, bring in new people, and give some talented individuals a chance to excel, even if it is under his overall tutelage.
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It’s unlikely to happen of course, but Patriots fans can hope. We’ll see. Another New England Patriots’ offseason has begun. It’s going to be interesting and illuminating. Change is always possible, even in New England. Just look at the weather.