After a two year stint as the head football coach of the New York Giants, Joe Judge is back. The Patriots announced today that they have hired Judge as an offensive assistant.

So what does this mean? It means Judge is back and that he will coach on the offensive side of the ball but his role is undetermined.

Speculation is rampant that Judge will call the offense but not have the offensive coordinator title. It is possible Bill Belichick still hires an offensive coordinator although the odds of that are certainly slimmer now that Judge is on board.

According to league sources, former offensive coordinator and Penn State and Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was interested in possibly returning but that does not appear to be the case at this point.

Judge has offensive experience. He has coached receivers before and while the bulk of his coaching experience is on special teams, he has been a head coach before and he knows the Patriots offensive system so he can certainly call the offense if need be.

It is still too early to tell what Belichick will do but as it stands, Judge might be the guy. His hiring is far from sexy and Patriots fans won’t love it but since when has Belichick ever done what the fans want anyways.

He is comfortable with Judge. He knows him, he groomed him and he trusts him. Belichick knows what he has in Judge and if he thinks he can call the plays, he will call the plays.

For now, his role remains shrouded in mystery. Which is the way Belichick likes it.