Patriots’ director of player personnel targeted by Texans
Nick Caserio, who has been with the Patriots and Bill Belichick since 2001, is reportedly being headhunted by the Texans to be their new GM.
The Houston Texans, Detroit Lions, and Tennessee Titans seem to be stuck in a three-team race with one another to become the next New England Patriots.
Detroit has ex-New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia at head coach, as well as a bunch of former Patriots players on the current roster such as Danny Amendola, Trey Flowers, and Justin Coleman.
Tennessee has ex-Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel at head coach, as well a bunch of former Patriots players of their own on their roster, like Dion Lewis, Malcolm Butler, and Logan Ryan.
Houston doesn’t necessarily have any players on their roster with New England ties, but the same thing can’t be said for their coaches: skipper Bill O’Brien used to be Bill Belichick’s offensive coordinator in Foxborough, defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel used to have the same position under Belichick with the Patriots, and Wes Welker was an offensive coaching assistant for the Texans these past two seasons after a storied career as a wide receiver with the Pats (he now coaches the wideouts in San Francisco).
If the McNair family and Bill O’Brien get their way, they could soon be adding yet another brilliant New England mind to the Texans family down south. The team has reportedly identified Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio to be their new general manager – if Houston can successfully pry him away from Boston, that is.
Caserio has occupied a variety of roles as both coach and executive over his illustrious 18-year career in New England. Often considered to be Belichick’s right-hand man, his departure from Gillette Stadium would not be an easy pill to swallow.
That said, it might be difficult for the Patriots to retain him.
While there are league rules and restrictions in place that would seemingly protect the Pats from losing Caserio to another team, it remains to be seen whether Belichick and/or team owner Robert Kraft would be willing to put their foot down and block Caserio’s path to what is undeniably a better job elsewhere.
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Traditionally, Belichick has allowed his assistants and pupils to interview elsewhere when opportunities have presented themselves. It will be interesting to see if he does the same with Caserio, if he attempts to persuade the savvy executive to stay in New England, or if he goes on the offensive against the Texans by levying tampering charges or filing an official complaint with the NFL.