Nick Caserio interviewed for the jobs of GM Panthers and Texans today, but he traveled to Houston for the Texans meeting. And the longtime Patriots executive may be ready to make a big leap.
Texans are expected to hire Caserio as their next general manager, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (on twitter) While nothing is finalized, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports notes (on twitter) the chances that Caserio will be back in New England next season can be classified as “almost nil”. Caserio’s Houston interview produced a “real promise”, report Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (via Twitter)
This change is about to happen, with Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero from NFL.com tweeting the Texans really focused on Caserio. His departure will leave Dave Ziegler Like Bill Belichicklieutenant-chief, although the Broncos – who gave Ziegler his NFL debut – requested an interview with GM. The Pats lost Monti Ossenfort for the Titans last year.
Caserio, of course, has a long history with the Texans. The team wanted to hire him in 2019, but his unusual contract with the Patriots forbade such a move. However, it reappeared on the Texans’ radar after Bill O’Brienburning at the beginning of the season. Caserio worked with Texans’ current executive vice president Jack Easterby in New England and remains close to the former Patriots official. Easterby is believed to have a lot of influence over the direction that Texans go with this location.
Now 45, Caserio has been with the Patriots for 20. After Scott Pioli went to Kansas City in 2009, Caserio assumed a key role as Belichick’s right-hand man. He has been with the team in each of the six Super Bowl titles. The Patriots and Caserio reached another extension agreement in February 2020.
If Caserio gets this job, he will be in an interesting situation. O’Brien’s brief term as GM involved some loud and criticized deals, and one of them – the Laremy Tunsil deal – leaves Texans without their choices in the first or second round. Miami holds Houston’s third overall choice. Revitalizing that list would be a great achievement, but Texans hiring an executive they have been chasing for years would also be a big step.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.