The New England Patriots fired Jerod Mayo from his head coaching position after last season, and some felt that there would be a major front-office shakeup across the board.

Many thought that top executive Eliot Wolf might be on his way out as well, considering the rather poor job he did at attempting to rebuild the roster last spring.

Ultimately, Wolf kept his job, and apparently, he was never really in danger of losing it to begin with.

During a recent mailbag, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported that things are actually pretty stable in the Patriots’ organization.

“I don’t think things are nearly as bad in New England as you may have been led to believe,” Breer wrote. “And I think the proof of it is in the hire of A.J. Highsmith as the team’s new pro scouting director. Highsmith is the son of Alonzo Highsmith, who is the right-hand man to EVP of player personnel Eliot Wolf. Hiring someone that close to Wolf into a vital director’s role is a good indication that Wolf’s going nowhere.”

New England has actually enjoyed a pretty good offseason this time around, at least on paper, as it thoroughly addressed its defense in free agency, added a couple of veteran wide receivers in Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins and then filled some pretty glaring needs in the NFL Draft.

Of course, the jury is still largely out, but after a brutal 2024 offseason in which the Pats were unable to land anyone of consequence in free agency and then put together a horrendous draft class (outside of Drake Maye), what Wolf has done over the last couple of months has definitely been a breath of fresh air.

We’ll see if the Patriots are able to show improvement on the field next fall.