The Patriots are getting offensive.
After all these years of playing defense, the Super Bowl champs are flipping the tables and accusing another team of cheating.
The Patriots have filed tampering charges against the Texans as Houston tries to hire away Bill Belichick’s right-hand man, ESPN reported Wednesday. The Texans reportedly requested permission to interview Nick Caserio, the Patriots’ director of player personnel, for their open general manager position, but the NFL will now look into whether they failed to follow proper protocol.
The Texans have plenty of familiarity with Caserio, with head coach Bill O’Brien and vice president of team development Jack Easterby both Patriots disciples. Easterby, the Patriots’ former team chaplain and character coach, was recently at New England’s Super Bowl ring ceremony, according to ESPN.
Per NFL policy, tampering is “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.”
The Patriots shut the Texans down when they made the same request to speak with Caserio last year — before the Texans hired Brian Gaine, only to fire him last week — but Belichick is going a different route this time around to protect a valued member of his staff.
Caserio is involved in scouting, roster construction and coaching. The 43-year-old has been with the organization since 2001 and in his current title since 2008. The Patriots could have made it easier to fend off the Texans by promoting Caserio to general manager, the role that Belichick basically already holds.
“He contributes in a lot of different ways and I’m glad I have him,” Belichick said in a 2014 radio interview. “I need him.”
It’s not the first time Belichick has filed tampering charges. He did so against the Jets for owner Woody Johnson’s comments about Darrelle Revis in 2015 when the cornerback was still under contract with the Patriots. The Jets were later fined $100,000.
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