Dave Ziegler discusses transition with Patriots following Nick Caserio departure
Out of all the changes in the past year for the New England Patriots, the departure of Nick Caserio is one of the most crucial.
Caserio was the team’s director of player personnel and he spent two decades putting together units that accumulated six Super Bowl wins in nine appearances. He was Bill Belichick’s right-hand man and his institutional knowledge is invaluable. Now, Caserio’s with the Houston Texans and Dave Ziegler has to step up in likely the most difficult offseason since Tom Brady was drafted.
Ziegler has spent the last eight seasons with the Patriots and most recently in the assistant director of player personnel role. He interviewed with the Denver Broncos for the general manager job this offseason, but Belichick was able to convince him to stay.
“It’s been fun, and it’s been challenging,” Ziegler said in an interview posted by the Patriots. “It’s been a new level of having to be ultra-organized, prioritize tasks and be involved on just a greater scope with more people in the organization, which has been fun. Luckily for me, the support here within the scouting department from people like Brian Smith and Steve Cargile, Eliot Wolf — I could keep naming people, but we have so many good people here that offer support, that have experience, that it’s made the transition pretty seamless.
“And it’s exciting. A new challenge, more involvement, being able to lead more people and hopefully have a greater impact is something that we all strive for in our careers. So it’s an exciting opportunity and something I’m ready to keep grinding away at.”
The Patriots have the fourth-most cap space and they have a ton of work to get the roster back into playoff contention.
“I think having cap space gives you flexibility,” Ziegler said. “There aren’t a whole lot of teams at this point that maybe have a lot of cap space, so I think having that flexibility, it just opens up options for you. And I think that at the same time, there’s still a responsibility to spend those dollars wisely.”
First priority for the Patriots is the quarterback situation, which seems to be a complete mystery at the moment.
