Just one day after announcing that Bill Belichick would not be returning for his 25th season as head coach of the New England Patriots, the team has officially announced that Jerod Mayo, a former Patriots linebacker and an assistant under Belichick for the last five seasons, would be taking over as head coach. Now New England needs to find its next GM.

But the search may not come to a quick completion and ESPN's Adam Schefter says the Patriots may wait until after the NFL Draft to name their next General manager, according to Andrew Callahan of The Boston Globe:

“Adam Schefter speaking on the #Patriots GM search, just now on ESPN: “They're in no rush to hire a general manager. They might even wait until after the draft to hire a general manager.” Again, don't forget Eliot Wolf in this process.”

For the last 24 years, Bill Belichick has been listed as the de facto general manager of the Patriots, a fact that makes his two-decade-long run of dominant seasons in New England even more impressive. New coach Jerod Mayo won't be handed that same responsibility.

Some names have been floated as potential replacements for the Patriots' GM job, including Dave Ziegler, Jon Robinson, Mike Borgonzi, Adam Peters, and Trey Brown.

Ziegler was with the Patriots from 2013 to 2021. He started as an assistant director of pro scouting and worked his way up to director of player personnel before being hired by the Raiders as general manager in 2022.

Robinson started as a scout in New England in 2002, and stayed with the Patriots until 2013, when he left his position as director of college scouting to become the director of player personnel in Tampa Bay. After a three-year stint in Tampa, Robinson was hired to be the general manager of the Tennessee Titans

While it may take a while, after such a major change, the Patriots want to be sure and get this hire right.