The New England Patriots have started the process of hiring a top executive overseeing their football operations. While director of scouting Eliot Wolf is the favorite to earn the job after having final say on personnel decisions in free agency and the draft, the club is still conducting a formal search.
One reason for that appears to be the NFL’s so-called Rooney Rule. It requires organizations to hold at least two in-person interviews with external minority and/or female candidates for top-level positions such as this one.
The Patriots, however, are already in compliance with the rule, per a report by Ben Volin of the Boston Globe.