Patriots Draft Rumors: Eliot Wolf Has This Goal As ‘De Facto GM’

Even if the Patriots hit a home run with their 2024 first-round pick draft pick, one player alone isn’t going to completely turn things around in New England.

This notion apparently isn’t lost on Eliot Wolf, who now is a primary shot-caller in Foxboro, Mass., with Bill Belichick out of the picture.

Wolf, the Patriots’ director of scouting who’s been with the organization since 2020, recently revealed he will have final say on how New England will use the No. 3 overall pick next month. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler currently believes Wolf will trade out of that spot in accordance with a reported objective.

“The Patriots have an obvious need at quarterback, but they have a ton of needs in general,” Brugler wrote in a mock draft column published Tuesday. “And one league source told me that de facto general manager Eliot Wolf ‘wants to stockpile draft picks.'”

In Brugler’s latest mock, he projected the Atlanta Falcons to send the Patriots the No. 8 and No. 43 picks this year, as well as a 2025 first-rounder, to jump up to No. 3. New England then used the No. 8 pick to grab Notre Dame product Joe Alt, arguably the best offensive tackle prospect in this year’s class.

Most great NFL teams are built through the draft, so loading up on picks would be a prudent move for a Patriots team that needs talent across the board. That said, Wolf and company must try to not kick the can too far down the road as they rebuild the roster.