The loss of Dave Ziegler will go under the radar for some fans of the New England Patriots, but it is significant. Ziegler was critical to reshaping the roster last offseason. Now, he will replace Mike Mayock as the new General Manager of the Las Vegas Raiders. All is not lost, though; Eliot Wolf is more than capable of filling his shoes.
Ziegler spent nine seasons in the scouting department, with last year being his first as director of player personnel. The Pats won three Super Bowls and five AFC championships during his time.
The league recognized why the Patriots made such a quick turnaround this season. New England’s 2021 draft class was chosen as the best in the league by Pro Football Focus, and Bill Belichick won the Executive of the Year Award. The Raiders did not waste any time requesting to speak with Ziegler. They knew he was an intricate part of the collaboration on player personnel with Belichick.
Ziegler, 44, was a standout wide receiver and special teams’ player at John Carroll University. That is where he formed a relationship with Josh McDaniels, who was his teammate. Now, they take their shared vision to Las Vegas and will try to turn that franchise around.
Eliot Wolf Is the Front-Runner to Replace Dave Ziegler
Eliot Wolf, a senior scouting consultant with the Patriots, is the front runner to replace Ziegler. Success runs in his family; he is the son of Hall of Fame General Manager Ron Wolf. During games, Wolf was often by Ziegler’s side in the press box and was part of the collaboration on player personnel. He also played a significant role in the team’s draft preparation.
In addition to handling scouting duties, Wolfe was a key consultant in pursuing free agents this season. That list includes players like Matt Judon, Hunter Henry, and Kendrick Bourne.
Even though Wolf, 39, is in his second year with the Patriots, he has lots of experience in the league. He started in 2004 in the Geen Bay Packers pro personnel department and continued to work his way up through the organization. In 2018, he joined the Cleveland Browns as an assistant GM. However, he got let go a year later. Then after a brief time with the Seattle Seahawks, he finally arrived in New England.
Belichick credits Wolf for offering a fresh perspective. In 2020, he said: “when you come from a different organization, [you] have a fairly recent background of other philosophies, other ways of doing things. Certainly, he’s been able to help me in terms of take a look at this. Here’s the way we did this. It might be something we tried, and we don’t want to do it that way, to it might be something that’s, no, I hadn’t really looked at it that way, that’s a pretty good idea. It’s good to generate new ideas like that.”
The Price of Success
If Wolf is the replacement to Ziegler, Patriot fans can feel confident that he has the prowess to replace him. Wolf’s reputation has earned him respect around the league; he was recently in consideration for a general manager position with the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. He was even brought back for second interviews; however, he has no upcoming interviews.
Having coaches and executives leave the organization is the price of success. It will not be a drain of the brain trust as long as Belichick and the Kraft family are around. They will continue to bring in sharp football minds when needed. As for the league, the road to relevancy runs through Foxboro.
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