Patriots point finger of blame at Texans
New England responds to pursuit of Caserio by filing tampering charges with NFL office
The New England Patriots have declared all-out war against the Texans and their attempt to hire Nick Caserio as their new general manager.
On Wednesday, the Patriots filed tampering charges against the Texans, claiming they contacted Caserio illegally about leaving his position as New England’s director of player personnel and replacing Brian Gaine as general manager.
The Texans and the NFL office had no comment on New England’s charging the Texans with violating the anti-tampering rule.
The league policy states: “Any interference by a member club with the employer-employee relationship of another club or any attempt by a club to impermissibly induce a person to seek employment with that club or with the NFL is impermissible.”
The NFL will begin an investigation by collecting information from both teams. For instance, the league will ask the Texans to turn over electronic and telephone records and make available any employees the investigators want to interview.
The Patriots could be accusing Texans executive vice president of team development Jack Easterby of recruiting Caserio at New England’s recent Super Bowl ring ceremony at owner Robert Kraft’s house.
Easterby spent the last six years working for the Patriots
and is close friends with Caserio, as is Texans coach Bill O’Brien. It makes sense they would be chatting at the team’s celebration, and the league will have to find evidence Easterby violated the anti-tampering policy.
The Texans could be cleared of tampering, but if the league finds they’ve violated the policy, the team could lose draft picks and face fines.
The Patriots could ask for draft-choice compensation — a first-round pick, for instance. They already may have and were turned down by the Texans.
The league could rule that Caserio is allowed to interview with the Texans if he is determined not be a “high-level employee” with the Patriots. The Texans are willing to give him, in writing, full authority over personnel. In New England, Bill Belichick has final say on personnel decisions.
The Patriots are no strangers to NFL investigations. From SpyGate to DeflateGate, they’ve been penalized in the past by the league.
In 2000, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue ruled the Patriots had to give up a first-round draft pick for contacting Belichick when he was still employed by the New York Jets.
Texans chairman Cal McNair fired Gaine on Friday afternoon, and the team made a formal request with the Patriots and the NFL office a few hours later to interview Caserio.
Kraft and Belichick are making every effort to keep Caserio. He’s Belichick’s right-hand man and has become invaluable to the Patriots in personnel and coaching. He has played a key role behind the scenes in helping New England win six Super Bowls under Belichick.
Before the Texans hired Gaine in January 2018, they attempted to interview Caserio. The Patriots declined their request because they were in the playoffs. When a team is still playing, it can decline any request to interview an employee.
The league’s investigation could take time. If it drags out and the Texans are eventually unable to get Caserio, they could decide to keep the current management team in place.
O’Brien (personnel), senior vice president of administration Chris Olsen (contracts, salary cap) and president Jamey Rootes (administrative) would answer to McNair.
Next year, the Texans could start over and take their time in the search for the fourth general manager in team history.