Eliot Wolf Takes Shots At Bill Belichick

By Steve Atkinson 

Patriots de-facto general manager Eliot Wolf spoke out at the scouting combine in Indianapolis and the shots at Belichick on how he did things couldn’t have been more perfect. Belichick’s drafting over the years was dreadful and especially not listening to his scouts. It was reported that Belichick would not listen to his scouts who worked all off-season to prepare for the draft. Instead, Belichick would listen to his friends like Michael Lombardi, Nick Saban, or other college  friends that he knew.  Some Patriots scouts left because they felt they weren’t heard. Today Wolf has made it clear that the Scouts will have a say.

“We changed the grading system,” he said. “It’s a little bit more similar to what we did in Green Bay. The previous Patriots system was more ‘this is what the role is’ and this is kind of value-based. So, it makes it a lot easier for scouts to rate guys and put them in a stack of ‘this guys is the best,’ ‘this guy is the worst’ and everything in between falls into place. Rather than more nuanced approaches. I just think it accounts value better and it makes it easier for the scouts

No more Patriot Way it’s now the Packer Way. Oh man the Patriots fans won’t like this one. If you think about it though the Packers have done a better job at drafting than the Patriots have over the years. The Patriots just had Brady who covered for the holes that were exposed after 2019. Green Bay went from Farve, to Aaron Rodgers, then Jordan Love. The Patriots went from Brady, to Cam Newton, then Mac Jones and decided it was a great idea to put Patricia and Judge to coach offense. That won’t be happening anymore.

Wolf is going to make sure the Patriots moving forward have less of a hard ass approach. Belichick thought he was king and he was right all the time. Wolf today said everything will be collaborative but ultimately he will make the draft pick at three.

 Certainly there’s more of an open — less hard-ass type — vibe in the building that we can move forward with

So what is the Packer Way here is Wolf’s answer.

The Packer Way, to me, is just sort of a draft and develop, extend your core performers from within,” he said, “and it’s about honesty, respect and treating people the right way.” Wolf added: “I still believe — this is great to be able to work with Jerod — this is a people business. It’s about developing people. The culture is created from the people in your building. Whether that’s scouts, coaches, players, support staff. I think that’s tremendously important as you try to build a culture that you want.”

The Packers way is honesty, respect, and treating people the right way. Is that the Patriot way without Brady? Nope, the Patriot way was Brady period then a jumbled mess without him because Belichick’s ego was so strong he thought he was always right.

No more grunt, stone face, non answer Patriots. Eliot Wolf provided a breath of fresh air when it came to the culture and what they plan on doing. The old outdated way is gone. The new fresh era starts now.