The Houston Texans eliminated an important task from their off-season task list just days after the regular season ended. According CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora, Houston has an agreement in place to make New England Patriots executive Nick Caserio his next general manager. Caserio has been the personnel director for New England players since 2008 and has been with the organization since 2001, which means that this is a very seismic move in his NFL career.
Caserio’s search for the Texans dates back to 2019, when Houston tried to snatch him from Foxborough that summer after the dismissal of then GM Brian Gaine. The main connection between Caserio and the Texans is the vice president of football operations for team Jack Easterby, who has been with the Patriots for six seasons before leaving for Houston in 2019.
Although Houston may have chased him earlier, the Patriots triggered a clause in Caserio’s deal that prevented him from leaving and even threatened accusations of adulteration against the Texans for how they chased him. That was when the club backed down in an attempt to sign Caserio for a deal and simply went on to appoint head coach Bill O’Brien as GM. O’Brien has since been fired, releasing not only the role Caserio is about to take on, but also the position of coach, which he will now help to try to fill.
A noteworthy aspect of this hiring is how it could solidify Easterby’s position within the organization. According Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, Caserio was not one of the final candidates on the list that search firm Korn Ferry presented to the team.
The Texans interviewed Matt Bazirgan, Trent Kirchner, Omar Khan, Louis Riddick and were scheduled to speak with Scott Cohen, all of whom were on the final list, according to Garafolo. However, they still decide to go with Caserio. Texans CEO Cal McNair also told candidates during interviews that they would let the next GM decide Easteby’s role with the club going forward. Given the previous relationship between Easterby and Caserio, it seems that their role is safe to move forward with the reduction in hiring.
Although Caserio did not have the GM title label in New England, he was essentially the Patriots’ GM for Bill Belichick in recent years.
“Nick does a great job”, Belichick said of Caserio in January 2019. “He does a lot of different things for us. I’m sure he does more than anyone in the league in his position in terms of interacting with the team, the coaching staff, the faculty and the professional scouts. He is involved in a lot of things different and does a great job on all of them. Your job description would have multiple pages. ”
Caserio has a difficult job for him with the Texans, who have just finished a 4-12 season and are in a difficult situation, in addition to not having a choice in the first round this year. That said, he has quarterback Deshaun Watson to build, which is an important piece he will not have to look for when starting his term in Houston.
As for the Patriots, assistant director of player staff Dave Ziegler could have control over Caserio’s replacement.