The Patriots formally filed tampering charges against the Texans earlier Wednesday, accusing Houston of illegally pursuing director of player personnel Nick Caserio for its general manager vacancy. Here’s what we’ve learned about Caserio and the Texans since:
- The league will look into evidence that Texans vice president of player development Jack Easterby spoke with Caserio about the GM role at the Patriots’ Super Bowl ring ceremony last Thursday, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link). Easterby, who serves as something of a “character coach,” held a similar title in New England until 2019. The ex-pastor has already earned a large amount of responsibility in Houston, was reportedly an offseason target for several clubs before landing with the Texans, as Michael Lombardi noted on a recent episode of his GM Shuffle podcast.
- Texans head coach Bill O’Brien says neither he nor Easterby has spoken with Caserio about the open general manager position, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “I would say that the answer to that is no relative to contact about anything having to do with the Houston Texans,” O’Brien said. “No.”
- Houston is willing to give Caserio a contract which gives him full control of its 53-man roster, reports John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. However, the Texans and Patriots are likely arguing over whether Caserio is considered a “high level employee,” a designation that would mean New England isn’t required to allow Caserio to depart, even for a perceived promotion, as Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes.
- The Patriots could eventually ask the Texans for draft pick compensation in exchange for Caserio, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link). Indeed, Bill Belichick‘s endgame could simply be pressuring Houston into trading a draft selection for Caserio, as Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com speculates (Twitter link).
Throw Bellicheat a 7th rounder then and tell him where he can cram it. Or give him some free Texans hoodies.
Yeah he can cram it into another Super Bowl trophy
Ouch!
The Patriots are like a husband who cheated on his wife 20 * and sees her dancing with another man and goes crazy and files for divorce
Lmao! I love it.
Funny how Wild Bill is the master of walking that fine line and gray area yet pitches a fit when somebody else beats them at their own game.
The Patriots didn’t become a huge success by being stupid. Everyone from the owner to the waterboy is expendable and you stay on top by acknowledging this and having contingency plans in place. You always have talented people in the pipeline to replace those you know are going to eventually leave to pursue challenges elsewhere. This isn’t New England’s first trip around the block as far as losing quality people goes so they know how to play the game well and will manage to survive.
Well said. They are poached every year. And each year the media will say that’s a big loss they can’t fill. Well guess what they continue to do so. I am sure Bill will try to maximize what he will get in return. It’s called being smart.
And every year the poachees are mediocre…..
6th round draft pick and he’s yours.