Like every other team in the league, the Patriots visited with many players over the last few months as they gathered information for the draft.
Their visits with quarterbacks drew more attention than the time they spent with players from other positions, with some wondering if the team was looking for an heir apparent to Tom Brady not named Ryan Mallett. Director of player personnel Nick Caserio said that the meetings with Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel and others was nothing more than business as usual, though.
“I think this year is really no different,” Caserio said, via the Boston Herald. “I think what we try to do is take each position and really try to know top to bottom as thoroughly as we can, as many players at that position. Historically, we spend a lot of time this time of the year whether it’s players that we bring to the stadium, that we work out on campus. The process, I would say, is really no different this year than it is in years past.”
No one would expect Caserio to make the team’s intentions at quarterback or any other position explicit, so no one’s going to rule anything out for the Patriots. If a team really likes a player and has a chance to get them, there’s a good chance they’ll do it and then figure out the rest.