INDIANAPOLIS — A day after Mike Vrabel seemed to hint he has final say over the Patriots’ roster, executive vice president Eliot Wolf claimed it Wednesday while stressing Vrabel is involved in personnel.
“Ultimately, it’s my final say, but again, Mike said it yesterday: Mike wouldn’t have taken this job (without input),” Wolf said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “And this is something we talked about in the interview process, Mike wouldn’t have taken this job if we weren’t comfortable with each other.”
Wolf, who had personnel control last season, suggested he also won’t add players the coaching staff doesn’t want.
“I would just say, listening to coach Vrabel, there’s not a lot of GMs, or people in my position in this business, that are going to force players on a coaching staff,” Wolf added. “Certainly the best decisions are made together, and going to continue to work with Mike, and (vice president of player personnel) Ryan (Cowden) and (vice president of football operations and strategy John Streicher), and the scouting staff, (director of research) Richard Miller and everybody, to make those decisions the best we can for the team.”
On Tuesday, Vrabel did not directly answer who had personnel control.
“I wouldn’t be here and I wouldn’t have wanted to be the head coach here if I wasn’t comfortable in my impact on the roster,” Vrabel said. “We want to continue to have great conversations with the personnel staff, with me, with (Streicher), with coaching. We’re all just trying to find ways to bring the right players in here.”
Shortly after he was hired last month, Vrabel hired Cowden, a former executive he worked with in Tennessee, to the front office. Cowden is expected to be the No. 2 in the Patriots’ personnel department behind only Wolf. On Wednesday, Wolf said he’s known Cowden for virtually his entire career in the NFL.
“I’ve known Ryan for 20 years. He came up in Carolina, I came up in Green Bay. For whatever reason, a lot of the Packers scouts and the Panthers scouts share some of the same views,” he said. “I don’t know if the grading scale was exactly the same. But it’s something that’s he’s worked in before. I’ve always appreciated Ryan because he has a distinct opinion. He’s not going to waffle on anything. Like this is what it is and that’s been really rewarding to work with him so far. It’s been good.”