Just one day after announcing that Bill Belichick would not be returning for his 25th season as head coach in New England, the Patriots have officially announced that Jerod Mayo, a former Patriots linebacker and an assistant under Belichick for the last five seasons, would be taking over as head coach. In some respects, this was the worst-kept secret in the NFL. Even in Mayo’s last contract that he signed to stay in New England, it stated that he would be the successor to Bill Belichick whenever the Patriots and their longtime head coach parted ways. Now comes the part where there’s still a great deal of uncertainty… who will be the next general manager of the New England Patriots?

For the last 24 years, Bill Belichick has been listed as the de facto general manager of the Patriots, a nugget that makes his two-decade-long run of excellence in New England all the more impressive. Jerod Mayo won’t be getting that “de facto” title. As for who could be in the mix for the Patriots GM job, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport tweeted out a few notable names who have ties to the Patriots organization.

“As the #Patriots plot out a new direction and set out to hire a GM, a few names to consider with ties to New England: Former #Raiders GM Dave Ziegler, former #Titans GM Jon Robinson, #Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borgonzi, #49ers assistant GM Adam Peters, #Bengals exec Trey Brown.” 

A quick rundown of those names:

-Dave Ziegler was with the Patriots from 2013 to 2021. He started as an assistant director of pro scouting, and worked his way up to director of player personnel before being hired by the Raiders as general manager in 2022. Ziegler was fired on Halloween, along with head coach Josh McDaniels.

-Jon Robinson started as a scout in New England in 2002, and stayed with the Patriots until 2013, when he left his position as director of college scouting to become the director of player personnel in Tampa Bay. After a three-year stint in Tampa, Robinson was hired to be the general manager of the Tennessee Titans, a position he held onto until late-2022.

-Mike Borgonzi has no official ties to the Patriots organization, but he was born and raised in Massachusetts, and played college football at Brown. He’s spent the last fifteen years in Kansas City, one of the most stable organizations in the NFL.