Patriots Reporter Refutes Rumor About Ownership’s Power Desire

Patriots fans who read the recent revelatory ESPN column by Seth Wickersham and Wright Thompson might have been spooked by a certain nugget.

While the bulk of the story focused on past events of New England’s dynastic run, there was a very noteworthy note about potential developments in the Patriots’ future. According to the ESPN scribes, “word leaked around the office that if (Bill) Belichick were gone in 2024, football operations would be split between (Kraft Group senior vice president of business affairs Robyn) Glaser and Jonathan Kraft.”

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That would be a head-scratching approach, as neither Kraft nor Glaser have a legitimate background in football ops. But according to NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran, one of the most plugged-in Patriots reporters, that’s not how New England plans to move forward in wake of Belichick’s exit.

“I couldn’t imagine this being any further from Jonathan Kraft’s dream job: running the organization in a football sense,” Curran said Monday on “Arbella Early Edition,” as transcribed by NBCSB. “He does not want to have football operations responsibility, contrary to what was seen in Seth Wickersham’s piece.

“He wants to see results, but I do think — and this is to the Krafts’ advantage in a way that it wasn’t for the Joneses (Jerry and Stephen) — they found out what they don’t know, and they know what they don’t know, as opposed to guys like the Joneses, who took over and immediately big-footed the entire organization in terms of, ‘We’re gonna be involved in this stuff.'”

So, who will run football ops in Foxboro, Mass. going forward? Curran’s NBCSB colleague, Phil Perry, reported the Patriots are not expected to bring in a new manager and instead will give “prominent roles” to current executives Matt Groh and Eliot Wolf. Groh and Wolf are projected to spearhead New England’s efforts in both the draft and free agency.

That said, new head coach Jerod Mayo reportedly has spoken to external GM candidates, so maybe a front office shakeup isn’t totally off the table.