NFL Insider Floats Potential Patriots GM Candidate If Bill Belichick Exits

If the New England Patriots decide to part ways with Bill Belichick after Sunday's season finale, they'll need to install both a new head coach and a new general manager.

We've discussed several potential GM candidates in recent weeks, from current Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf, to former high-ranking New England execs like Dave Ziegler, Thomas Dimitroff and Jon Robinson, to someone like San Francisco 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters, who began his career as a Patriots scout.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer floated another possible option Thursday on 98.5 The Sports Hub's "Zolak & Bertrand": Cincinnati Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown.

Like Peters, Brown got his start in New England's scouting department, serving as a scouting assistant in 2010 and an area scout from 2011-12. The 38-year-old then moved on to Philadelphia and was the director of college scouting for the 2017 Eagles team that beat the Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

Breer also reported that Brown "has a really good relationship" with Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, who is viewed as one of the front-runners to succeed Belichick as head coach if the latter exits this offseason.

"If you're looking for a guy with applicable experience who's done a ton of different things, Trey Brown would be that guy," said Breer, who noted how Bengals executives need to wear multiple hats because Cincinnati boasts the NFL's smallest scouting staff.

As of Thursday afternoon, it remained unclear whether Patriots owner Robert Kraft planned to part ways with Belichick, retain him or attempt to work out an agreement to have Belichick stay on as head coach but forfeit personnel control.

The Patriots will close out their season this Sunday against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium.