Patriots Mailbag: Who Could Replace Bill Belichick As GM In 2024?

Rumors are swirling about Bill Belichick’s impending exit. The Kansas City Chiefs are coming to town this Sunday. The 3-10 New England Patriots have four more games before they can officially put their miserable 2023 season behind them.

Sounds like a perfect time for a new Patriots mailbag. Let’s get right to your questions:

@Ronyag_
Who are some likely internal and external GM candidates?
The debate over who should replace Bill Belichick as head coach naturally receives the most attention, but that’s only half of his job. The Patriots also would need to hire a general manager if they do, in fact, move on from Belichick this offseason.

Who could be in the mix for that job? As far as internal candidates go, director of scouting Eliot Wolf is an interesting one. He’s in his fourth season with the Patriots and also held high-ranking positions with two other franchises (Packers and Browns), giving him a different perspective than those who only have worked under Belichick.

There also are several former Patriots personnel men who currently are front office free agents. Among those: Dave Ziegler, who spent nine seasons with the Patriots before joining Josh McDaniels for an ugly 1 1/2-year stint with the Las Vegas Raiders. Fellow former GMs Thomas Dimitroff (Atlanta Falcons), Jon Robinson (Tennessee Titans) and Bob Quinn (Detroit Lions) also cut their teeth in Foxboro, Mass.

One intriguing name Patriots fans might not know is Adam Peters. He’s currently the assistant GM in San Francisco, which boasts arguably the NFL’s most talented roster, and had a hand in building the 2015 Denver Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50. But before that, Peters spent six seasons as a Patriots scout (2003-08) during a span in which they won two Super Bowls and played in another.

One report indicated Robert Kraft would love to bring Nick Caserio back as GM, but it seems foolish for the Houston Texans to let Caserio go after their first respectable season in years.

If Kraft is open to hiring someone with no prior Patriots ties, that obviously would expand the pool of potential candidates considerably. Picking the correct person to rebuild the Patriots’ roster will be just as important as finding the right head coach, if not more so.

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@FrogmansWorld
I feel like Belichick given his age might be willing to say “ ok I’m getting older. Hard to be HC and do some GM work” cause if he goes someplace else they most likely have a GM esp a win now team. So you think he will do that and hire a GM?
I bet that would be Kraft’s preferred path forward. Belichick still is a very good coach and game-planner. The Patriots’ biggest problems in recent years have stemmed from his poor and misguided personnel decisions — involving both players and assistant coaches.

But I just cannot see Belichick accepting what would amount to a demotion, never mind volunteering for one. He’s had final say on roster/lineup decisions ever since he arrived in 2000. It’s tough to imagine him being willing to cook dinner with someone else’s groceries, to borrow a line from his mentor, Bill Parcells.

@kpick38
Zack, of all the Patriots pending free agents who are the ones they should resign?
I did a more thorough review of all 15 of the Patriots’ impending unrestricted free agents on Thursday, but the ones I’d prioritize re-signing are:

OL Mike Onwenu (as a right tackle)
S Kyle Dugger
TE Hunter Henry
LB Anfernee Jennings

I think Kendrick Bourne is worth keeping, too, especially if his season-ending ACL tear results in a softer market for the productive wideout. But I easily could see him fitting in well as the second or third option on a contending team.

@NEPatriot_USA
Jones here or gone next year? (Mac)
Maybe a new regime believes it can fix Mac Jones. Or views him as a half-decent placeholder while a young, highly drafted quarterback gets up to speed. But my guess would be “gone.” Both sides need a fresh start.

Trading Jones, who has one year remaining on his rookie contract, would clear $2.8 million in salary cap space while leaving behind $2.2 million in dead money. Straight-up cutting him, which seems unlikely, would carry a $5 million dead-money charge with no cap relief.

@AskSurry
Is this the last season with Slater and Andrews? If so, are we looking to draft a center? Schooler up to replace Slate?
He hasn’t confirmed it, but I imagine this will be Matthew Slater’s final season. If so, then yes, the Patriots have a clear successor in Brenden Schooler. The uber-athletic second-year pro is a weapon in kick and punt coverage, though he needs to play with more discipline than he has in the second half of this season (four penalties in the last seven games).

As for David Andrews, he’s given no indication that he’s planning to retire. He turns 32 in July and is signed through 2024. The Patriots did begin planning for the future at the center position last offseason, however, drafting Jake Andrews with their first Day 3 pick (fourth round, 107th overall).

The elder Andrews hasn’t missed a snap this season, so his rookie understudy’s only game action thus far came on field goals and extra points. It’s hard to say, then, whether Jake Andrews would be ready to start next season if David departed.

David Andrews recently had some interesting comments about how he’s helped Jake learn the nuances of playing their position in the NFL. You can check those out here.

@Larry_A_G
If they find a way to win a couple more games, what’s worst case scenario for their draft pick position?
If the Patriots surprise everyone and sweep their final four games, they’d finish with a 7-10 record. In that scenario, their draft pick could fall as low as the mid-teens, depending on how the rest of the league fares.

There currently is one one-win team (the Carolina Panthers, who traded their first-rounder to the Chicago Bears), two three-win teams (the Patriots and Arizona Cardinals), one four-win team (the Washington Commanders), six five-win teams and seven seven-win teams.

Right now, the Patriots have a bit of separation from the NFL’s peloton of mediocrity. They’d need to go at least 2-2 down the stretch to have any chance of winding up with a pick outside the top four. Odds are the Bears (via Carolina) will land the top spot, with New England, Arizona and Washington jockeying for the next three.

The Patriots (.525) have a sizable strength-of-schedule advantage over the Cardinals (.557), so they’d likely earn the higher selection if both teams finished with identical records. It’s closer between them and the Commanders (.529), who are one game up in the standings at 4-9. Head-to-head results do not matter for draft positioning, so Washington’s Week 9 win at Gillette Stadium won’t have any impact here.

If the season ended Friday, the Patriots would pick second overall. But any sort of late-season run could cause them to slide down the draft board, out of reach of elite prospects like USC quarterback Caleb Williams, North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye and Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.

There’s still plenty at stake here for New England.