Eliot Wolf - Pro Football Rumors

Breer On GM Search, Harbaugh, Draft

December 17th, 2016 at 3:08pm CST by Zachary Links

When it comes to being a GM, is it more about who you know than what you know? In his latest column, Albert Breer of The MMQB spoke with one league official who suggested that the NFL’s career development advisory panel has something of a fraternity-vibe.

“It’s all full of nepotism. It’s a joke. And it starts with Charley Casserly,” the personnel man said.

Casserly rejected the idea that he, Ron Wolf, Bill Polian, Ernie Accorsi, John Madden, Tony Dungy and Carl Peterson are aiming to line up their friends with jobs, but he did acknowledge that connections help.

“It’s so different than it is with coaches,” Casserly said. “Coaches are so clearly defined. You know who calls the plays, you see them on TV, coordinators have press conferences. It’s just not like that in scouting. Are they pro? College? None of them are making big decisions. What you need is networking. It’s not politicking.”

Casserly was directly involved with the Jets’ coach and GM search process in 2015. Gang Green wound up hiring Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan – two former co-workers of Casserly’s.

Here’s more from Breer:

Breer identified the following executives as people who could immediately jump into a GM job somewhere: Chiefs VP of player personnel Chris Ballard, Patriots VP of player personnel Nick Caserio, Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta, Seahawks co-director of player personnel Scott Fitterer, Texans director of player personnel Brian Gaine, Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst, Seahawks co-director of player personnel Trent Kirchner, Cowboys assistant director of player personnel Will McClay, Cardinals VP of player personnel Terry McDonough, Vikings assistant GM George Paton, Falcons assistant GM Scott Pioli, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin, Packers director of football operations Eliot Wolf.
The widespread feeling in NFL circles is that Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh will be back in pro football eventually, even if it’s not happening right now. For his part, Harbaugh says that he is incredibly happy as the Wolverines’ coach.
Is Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen the next under-the-radar quarterback prospect a la Carson Wentz? It was Craig Bohl who recruited Carson Wentz to North Dakota State and he is now Allen’s coach at Wyoming. It’s hard to say whether the 6’5″, 222-pound signal caller has the same kind of talent, but his stock is rising. “He’s a big ol’ kid with a big arm, and he’s pretty athletic too,” said one AFC exec. “We gotta learn more about him, but the tools are there.” Allen, a redshirt sophomore, has plenty of time to develop.
Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck recently predicted that Central Michigan quarterback Cooper Rush will be an “incredibly high draft pick” this year. Apparently, talent evaluators do not agree. “He may get drafted late because of the [lack of] quality at the position,” said one area scout assigned to CMU. “He’s an accurate thrower with deceptive athletic ability to extend plays with his feet. Not a dynamic or explosive athlete, but good enough to avoid the rush and create at times. Average arm at best, but he’s got solid touch on intermediate and deep balls. He just lacks elite velocity.”

Extra Points: Packers, Bills, Van Noy, Lions

November 24th, 2016 at 9:03pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Unless Packers president Mark Murphy is willing to risk losing well-regarded director of player personnel Eliot Wolf, he’ll probably have to turn the football operations over to the 34-year-old in the offseason and relegate general manager Ted Thompson to an advisory role, writes Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Packers have been highly successful since hiring Thompson in 2005, having gone 112-73-1 with eight playoff appearances, but they’re currently 4-6 and Silverstein argues that Thompson’s free agency-avoiding approach has grown stale. Thompson, who has two years left on his contract, is also three decades older than the up-and-coming Wolf. Thus, if the Packers are sold on Wolf, promoting him soon would make sense.

More from around the NFL, which is capping off a quality slate of Thanksgiving games:

Bills No. 1 receiver Sammy Watkins hasn’t seen the field since Week 2 on account of a foot injury, but it appears he’ll return Sunday against Jacksonville. “As long as there’s not another setback or anything like that, I feel pretty good about him playing,” head coach Rex Ryan said Thursday (via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com). Watkins, whom the Bills designated to return from injured reserve Wednesday, will only be available on a limited basis if he does play Sunday. Nevertheless, his presence will be a welcome one for a wideout-needy Buffalo team that likely won’t have Robert Woods in its lineup because of a knee ailment.
On the heels of a 25-sack college career at BYU, the Lions selected linebacker Kyle Van Noy in the second round of the 2014 draft. Van Noy amassed just one sack in 30 games with the Lions, though, and they traded him to the Patriots last month for a late-round pick. In his Pats debut last week, Van Noy picked up 29 snaps and a sack in a win over the 49ers, and he admitted Thursday that his Detroit tenure was frustrating because the club seldom used him as a pass rusher. “Oh yeah, who wouldn’t be when you did that your whole college career and then all of a sudden you’re not allowed to, or they don’t want you to,” he told Ryan Hannable of WEEI.
There were conflicting reports on Thursday afternoon regarding the Redskins’ willingness to place the franchise tag on quarterback Kirk Cousins again in the offseason. That was before Cousins completed 41 of 53 passes for 453 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-26 loss to Dallas. Cousins is amid a late-season tear for the second straight year.
Speaking of the Cowboys, who are an NFL-best 10-1, second-round linebacker Jaylon Smith won’t make his debut this season.

North Notes: McCarthy, Abdullah, Browns

November 20th, 2016 at 10:19am CST by Rory Parks

The Packers are struggling, and head coach Mike McCarthy has predictably come under fire as a result. But Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that McCarthy is not likely to lose his job, and while there has been significant conversation about McCarthy’s relationship with Aaron Rodgers, La Canfora writes that the two men share a great deal of mutual respect and that Rodgers would not support a coaching change.

That does not mean, however, that the Packers will not shake things up elsewhere. Given the overall decline in talent on the roster, GM Ted Thompson is not immune to review, and defensive coordinator Dom Capers could also be coaching for his job over the second half of the season. Some team officials also believe that the offense has become stagnant and that the offensive coaching staff could use an overhaul. Further complicating the issue is that director of football operations Eliot Wolf, long considered to be the heir apparent to Thompson, could pursue outside options this offseason, as he remains one of the more sought-after young executives in the game and he may want to capitalize on that status in case the Packers should start to fade.

Now for some more notes from the league’s north divisions:

The Lions‘ running game could get a boost down the stretch, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Per Rapoport, Ameer Abdullah, who is currently on IR with a foot injury, will meet with Dr. Robert Anderson on Tuesday to see if he can begin practicing. There is a realistic chance that Abdullah could be active in three weeks.
The Lions are no lock to win the NFC North, but they are certainly looking like the favorites at this point in the season. However, if Detroit collapses and fails to win its first division title in 23 years, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press does not believe head coach Jim Caldwell would keep his job.
Although much has been made of the turmoil in the Browns‘ front office, cornerback Joe Haden does not believe those negative vibes have trickled down to the players themselves. Per Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network (Twitter links), Haden said that although he has been in locker rooms where the players have quit, the Browns’ current roster remains engaged. Haden believes head coach Hue Jackson is a big reason for that, as the players believe in him. Haden also says the team is generally too young to have developed the cynicism that a more veteran group might harbor.
Yesterday, we took a dive into the latest notes on the AFC North.

North Notes: Packers Execs, Browns, Lions

April 24th, 2016 at 12:53pm CST by Rory Parks

In the past year, the Packers have denied its three highest-ranking personnel executives under GM Ted Thompson the opportunity to interview with other NFL clubs, as Bob McGinn of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. Eliot Wolf was not allowed to speak with the Lions in November about their GM job, Brian Gutekunst was not permitted to interview with the Eagles in 2015 for a major front-office position or with the Titans in January 2016 for Tennessee’s director of player personnel position, and Alonzo Highsmith was denied the chance to interview with Washington last year for its director of player personnel job.

Thompson, the man responsible for denying those opportunities, has attempted to “make it up” to Wolf and Gutekunst by giving them more grandiose titles and higher salaries, even though their duties did not change much, but Highsmith has remained senior personnel executive since May 2012. Those executives have expressed a small degree of frustration, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, but by and large they enjoy working for Thompson and are part of a generally positive environment. Wolf, of course, is widely viewed as Thompson’s heir apparent, although scouts who have recently interacted with the 63-year-old GM say they cannot envision his retiring anytime soon. Thompson has three years left on his current contract.

Now for some more notes from the league’s North divisions:

In a different piece, McGinn spoke with an NFL personnel executive who said the Packers really need to focus on the defensive line in this year’s draft, particularly with the team’s first pick, No. 27 overall. Although that executive believes Green Bay can “get by” with its skill positions, he believes the Packers, after addressing their defensive line, should grab a running back, and should also fortify their offensive front.
In her latest mailbag, Mary Kat Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer says that the Browns and head coach Hue Jackson were simply not high enough on Jared Goff or Carson Wentz to justify staying put with the No. 2 overall selection, particularly when the Eagles’ presented them with a bounty of draft picks that they could not refuse. Jackson has indicated he might like another quarterback just as much or more than Goff and Wentz, and Cleveland will stockpile talent until it can justify pulling the trigger on that particular signal-caller.
Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press takes a look at five players that may be available when the Lions are on the clock with the N0. 16 overall selection. True to Birkett’s statement that Detroit is one of the biggest wildcards in this year’s draft, each of the five players Birkett lists plays a different position.
The Ravens are no strangers to picking up quarterbacks in the later rounds of the draft, having selected Keith Wenning in the 2014 draft and Tyrod Taylor in 2011, and Clifton Brown of CSNBaltimore.com thinks Baltimore could do it again this year. With Ryan Mallett‘s contract set to expire at the end of the 2016 campaign, Brown sees Kevin Hogan, Dak Prescott, and Brandon Allen as potential fits.

Packers Promote Eliot Wolf, Brian Gutekunst

March 21st, 2016 at 11:56am CST by Luke Adams

The Packers announced a pair of front office promotions today, confirming in a press release that former director of player personnel Eliot Wolf is now the team’s director-football operations. Replacing Wolf as Green Bay’s director of player personnel is Brian Gutekunst, who had previously been the club’s director of college scouting.

“We think both of them are very worthy of those promotions and it’s an indicator… for stuff that they’re already doing,” general manager Ted Thompson said, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “They’ve become leaders and have been leaders in our organization for some time now. Maybe it’s a little overdue. We thought this was a good time. We’re leading up to the draft, so everybody understands the contributions they make.”

Wolf, the son of former Packers GM Ron Wolf, has received several promotions since joining the club’s front office in 2004, and is viewed by many as a future general manager himself. Although Wolf has been cited as a potential candidate for several teams who have hired new GMs in recent years, he has always been considered highly unlikely to leave Green Bay, since he’s viewed as the possible heir apparent to Thompson.

As for Gutekunst, he has also drawn interest from outside the Packers’ organization in the past. When Chip Kelly was looking to hire a personnel executive for the Eagles in 2015, Gutekunst was considered a candidate, but ultimately didn’t interview — either he or the Packers turned down the Eagles’ request.

AFC Rumors: Dolphins, Browns

January 2nd, 2016 at 6:15pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest on a couple of AFC teams that are on the cusp of major overhauls:

Doug Marrone and Jim Schwartz were the head coach and defensive coordinator, respectively, of a 2014 Bills team that finished 9-7. They could reunite soon in the same roles for the AFC East rival Dolphins, multiple sources have told the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero (Twitter link). Marrone, who is currently an assistant in Jacksonville, was the Jets’ offensive line coach in 2002-05. Dolphins executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum was also with the Jets then, as Salguero notes (on Twitter), so Tannenbaum and Marrone are familiar with one another. Further, the Tannenbaum-led Dolphins reached out to Schwartz earlier this season when the team fired defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle.
In other important Dolphins news, they could soon name director of college scouting Chris Grier their next general manager, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. They’ll first have to fire current GM Dennis Hickey, which appears likely. If the Dolphins do ax Hickey, they’ll be able to quickly promote Grier – a minority candidate – instead of having to follow the Rooney Rule process.
Significant changes to both the Browns’ front office and coaching staff seem imminent, as the team is expected to fire general manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine. As a result, names that will be connected to the club in the coming days include Adam Gase, Tom Cable and the aforementioned Doug Marrone as head coaching candidates and Green Bay executive Eliot Wolf as a GM possibility (via ESPNCleveland.com’s Tony Grossi on Twitter). Interestingly, if the Browns hire Gase, their quarterback next season could be Peyton Manning, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Gase and Manning worked closely together in Denver from 2012-14.

North Notes: Dalton, K. Long, Wolf, Steelers

January 1st, 2016 at 4:07pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton will meet with a specialist on Monday to determine his progress since fracturing his right thumb on December 13, but according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com, Dalton doesn’t know exactly what to expect from the visit. He hasn’t ruled himself out for a potential wild card game next weekend, but he isn’t expressing much optimism, either. “It depends how it feels and what the doctor says,” Dalton said today. “It’s hard to tell exactly how it feels. It’s getting better. That’s what they’re saying.”

Let’s dive into some more notes from the NFL’s two North divisions:

Kyle Long confirmed to reporters, including Patrick Finely of the Chicago Sun-Times, that he’ll be playing tackle for the Bears next season — but he still doesn’t know if he’ll man the right or left side. The former first-round pick slid out from guard to right tackle this season, and according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), didn’t fare all that well, grading as the league’s 40th-best tackle.
Packers executive Eliot Wolf could have his “pick of jobs,” according to Neil Stratton of Inside the League (Twitter link), as both the Lions and the Browns could express interest. However, Wolf is also seen as the heir apparent to current Packers general manager Ted Thompson, so Wolf might not be too eager to jump ship just yet.
Getting a head start on possible offseason futures deals, the Steelers brought in kicker Ty Long, receiver Levi Norwood, and quarterback Phillip Sims for workouts, reports Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Browns Meet With Ex-Packers GM Ron Wolf

December 29th, 2015 at 11:47am CST by Zachary Links

The Browns met with former Packers GM Ron Wolf, as Jason Wilde of ESPN.com writes. Wolf claimed that he was not offered any type of formal consulting role with the team, but Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland (Twitter link) hears otherwise.

Cleveland enters Week 17 with a 3-12 record and it’s fair to say that the jobs of coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer could be in jeopardy. If Farmer is removed as GM, one likely candidate would be Ron Wolf’s son, Eliot Wolf who serves as the Packers’ director of player personnel. However, the elder Wolf said Monday that he will not be involved in any way if the Browns decide to replace Farmer and want to pursue Eliot.

“No, no. That’s already come up,” Wolf said, according to Wilde. “I told [owner Jimmy Haslam] that that is an entirely different situation. He’d have to do that himself. I would not be a part of it.”

Wolf, 76, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last summer in the newly created contributor category. Wolf, who took over the Packers in November 1991, is the man responsible for hiring coach Mike Holmgren and acquiring Brett Favre and Reggie White. In 2004, Wolf served as a consultant for the Browns and encouraged them to hire Holmgren as team president.

North Notes: Browns, Austin, Wolf

December 13th, 2015 at 9:43am CST by Rory Parks

Browns head coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer will not both be back with the team next season, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (article via Conor Orr of NFL.com). Pettine had hinted at some discord between the Cleveland front office and coaching staff last week, but apparently the situation is more toxic than originally believed.

According to Rapoport, the coaching staff believes the scouting department does not provide the team enough information to effectively execute the game plan, and the scouting department believes the coaching staff does not effectively utilize its personnel. Neither the front office nor the coaches, of course, are without fault. Farmer has blown two consecutive drafts, which has hamstrung Pettine’s efforts quite a bit, but Pettine has not been an especially savvy in-game strategist and has failed to establish the hard-nosed, defensive-minded mentality he promised when he was hired. If owner Jimmy Haslam chooses to keep one of the Pettine/Farmer duo, the smart money may be on Pettine, but it seems clear that at least one of those men will be out of a job at the end of the season, and perhaps both will be looking for a new position.

Let’s take a look at some more notes from the league’s north divisions:

Although Kyle Meinke of MLive.com believes Lions head coach Jim Caldwell‘s fate is sealed–no one believes he will return to Detroit next season–the futures of defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter are more uncertain. Austin, for the second season in a row, has done an excellent job leading the Lions’ defense, and although Cooter has less of a track record, he has successfully turned around an offense that crashed and burned under Joe Lombardi. If Austin does not get a head coaching position this offseason–he could even wind up as the Lions’ head coach–he is certainly a viable candidate to return as DC, and Meinke believes Cooter is deserving of an extended look as OC.
Though Austin will be a candidate for the Lions‘ head coaching position, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that current Bears OC Adam Gase will be a “top target” for the club.
Packers pro personnel director Eliot Wolf is a hot name among teams searching for a GM this offseason, but per La Canfora, it is highly unlikely Wolf will be leaving Green Bay. Wolf, who has steadily risen through the ranks of the Packers organization, is seen as the heir apparent to current GM Ted Thompson, and he would be exceedingly selective if he were to consider any position outside of Green Bay. La Canfora’s report does not come as much of a surprise, as Wolf has been a popular GM candidate for several years now.
Although Steelers tackle Mike Adams is technically in the final year of his rookie contract, he will remain under club control in 2016, according to Mark Kaboly of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Adams was placed on the PUP list before the start of training camp, he never returned to the active roster, and he was not removed from the PUP list, which means that his contract will be tolled and he will be back with Pittsburgh in 2016 at the same salary he earned in 2015 (roughly $873K). Adams could still hit the open market if the Steelers choose to cut him, of course, but given the team’s lack of depth at tackle, Kaboly does not see that as a real option.

La Canfora’s Latest: McDermott, Lions, Kroenke

November 29th, 2015 at 10:50am CST by Rory Parks

Let’s take a look at some of the latest notes and observations from CBS Sports scribe Jason La Canfora:

Both La Canfora and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com have delved into some of the most notable names who will be connected to head coaching vacancies this offseason. Rapoport mentions Bears OC Adam Gase, Patriots OC Josh McDaniels, Jaguars offensive line coach Doug Marrone, and Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable as veterans of the head coaching interview circuit who will be generating plenty of buzz this offseason. Other less familiar candidates who have also piqued the interest of teams around the league include Panthers coordinators Mike Shula (offensive) and Sean McDermott (defensive), and Bills RB coach Anthony Lynn (all Twitter links). La Canfora explores the case for McDermott in more detail, noting that Carolina’s defense under McDermott’s watch has been among the league’s best for some time, but given the Panthers’ success this season, McDermott has been getting more attention around the league. La Canfora says it would not be a surprise if McDermott met with four to six teams during wildcard weekend, which is likely to be a bye week for the Panthers. Per La Canfora, a team that hires McDermott would do well to add current Chargers head coach Mike McCoy as its offensive coordinator. McCoy is rumored to be on his way out of San Diego at the end of the year, and he and McDermott share a “mutual admiration” for each other. The addition of McCoy would also help to alleviate concern regarding McDermott’s abilities on the offensive side of the ball.
La Canfora also has a look at potential candidates for the Lions GM job, noting that the team may have difficulty courting some of its top choices given the questions concerning team ownership and the fact that new team president Ron Wood is an unknown commodity in football circles. However, the Lions’ resurgence in recent weeks, the talent on the roster, and the fact that the club has a history of “unwavering loyalty” to its front office executives could allow the team to nab a prized candidate. Those candidates include names like Seahawks pro personnel director Trent Kirchner, Packers player personnel director Eliot Wolf, Patriots director of pro scouting Bob Quinn, and Ravens assistant general manager Eric DeCosta. Of those names, Quinn may be the most likely option, considering that Wolf and DeCosta are both fairly comfortable in their roles as GM-in-waiting for their current clubs, and Kirchner will be the top candidate for a number of teams.
If Stan Kroenke‘s plan to move the Rams to Los Angeles falls though, La Canfora identifies several other options for the St. Louis owner. The league knows that if Kroenke loses out to the Chargers and Raiders in the race to LA, it would have to work actively to find other solutions for Kroenke, with London and Denver representing two such solutions. Kroenke–who remains focused on LA at the moment and has not actively considered any alternatives–has business interests in England and owns Premier League powerhouse Arsenal. Colorado, meanwhile, serves as Kroenke’s base, and his family owns the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. La Canfora’s sources indicate that Kroenke could purchase the Broncos at some point down the road–La Canfora writes that team ownership will be in flux when Pat Bowlen passes on–and sell the Rams to an investor looking to keep the team in St. Louis. However, Broncos Vice President of Public Relations Patrick Smyth took to Twitter shortly after La Canfora’s report, tweeting that the plan is to keep ownership of the Broncos in the Bowlen family.