The tug-of-war that the Patriots and Texans engaged in over the past week or so ended with Houston in the mud and New England holding the prize, director of player personnel Nick Caserio. There are a number of theories as to why the Texans agreed to stop their pursuit of Caserio, but we learned on Friday that Caserio may have language in his contract with the Patriots that specifically forbids him from interviewing with any other team.
Indeed, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com believes that theory makes the most sense, and when Caserio signed his last extension with the Pats, Reiss says New England may have asked Caserio to not pursue any other openings in exchange for longer-term security and increased salary. Of course, the NFL’s anti-tampering clause could have superseded such a contractual provision if Houston elected to challenge it, but the Texans opted to avoid battle with one of the league’s most powerful owners, Robert Kraft. Speculatively, Caserio could have filed a grievance of some sort, but even if he were justified in so doing, he may have felt it was better for a GM hopeful like him to not go that route.
But Reiss says that Caserio does appear motivated to move on when contractual obstacles no longer prevent him from doing so, and we now know that Caserio’s contract expires after the 2020 draft. If Houston is dead set on Caserio, the club could wait for him and may not fill their GM vacancy in the interim, though that would seem to be a very risky strategy. But the Texans are not the only team who believe Caserio has what it takes to be a GM, and Caserio himself knows it.
As Reiss reports, Caserio is represented by influential agent Bob LaMonte, which came as a surprise to Reiss, who believed that Caserio represented himself. That suggests that Caserio is prepared to accept his big promotion when it comes, so New England will likewise need to be prepared to replace him.
As for the short-term relationship between Caserio and New England, Reiss believes the exec will be able to take any resentment he might be feeling towards the Pats out of the equation and smoothly transition back to his regular responsibilities. The fact that he could be running his own ship in 2020 will certainly help take the sting out of his missed opportunity with Houston.
Hopefully, he feels a lot of resentment and will make some questionable moves for the Patriots between now and the time his contract expires.
Hilarious comment! Just can’t stop laughing! Aw, man, you should be a comedian. Quit whatever job you have and start doing stand up NOW.
Guy is a super troll
Madman TX is an idiot! Don’t you think another Super Bowl ring would have more teams calling him for their GM spot ? If he makes questionable moves for the patriots and doesn’t win because of them, some teams may pull back
The Hoodie is making all final decisions anyway.
Exactly. Belichick makes the final decision on all these trades and signings. Caserio won’t be able to sabotage the Patriots on his way out. And Belichick would be sure to fire Caserio should Belichick ever catch wind that a sabotage is coming.
I can’t imagine signing a contract that would prohibit pursuing other opportunities in this business. Or have a buy out clause or something to that effect. Casserio must have been paid a lot of money to sign that contract. Makes me think the Patriots will move him into the GM role after BB retires.
It’s a good question. Is the Caserio / McDaniels partnership going to replace the Brady / Belichick partnership.
How does the NFL allow contracts like this? I guess staff contracts don’t matter, but they have no problem instituting a Rooney rule.
Great point, other than the fact that those 2 things have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
turning one’s back on the hooded one never ends well – next time get a better lawyer
A dozen updates on this has convinced me they really need to shorten the time between the draft and the start of pre-season games.