Patriots Vice President of Football Operations Eliot Wolf met with the assembled media earlier to today and addressed a variety of topics in his 16 minute media availability.

Wolf also met with the local media separately after the fact and took follow up questions as well. Here are six questions and answers that caught our attention.

On both safeties being interchangeable and his thoughts on Jaylinn Hawkins

“Yeah, the safety position, like you said, they have to be able to do everything. They have to be able to play down in the box, man cover, tackle in space, and having guys that are interchangeable just kind of opens up a lot of different things for the defense that Zak Kuhr and Terrell Williams can kind of employ. So, we’re excited about those guys. Obviously, [Jaylinn] Hawkins is a free agent and he’s earned the earned the opportunity to see what’s out there. But he’s certainly someone that we would welcome back.“

On how NIL impacts players in the draft:

“I think you can look at that in two different ways. On one hand, maybe they’re coming in a little bit more entitled, but on the other hand, they’re coming in more prepared from a business standpoint. They’ve had money. They know what it’s like. They know some financial literacy and understanding the trials and tribulations that come with that. So, I think it’s a double-edged sword. It’s like anything. You just have to be able to adjust, and every person can be different.”

On how he would describe the team’s approach to free agency:

“We’re going to explore every avenue to try to improve the team. We filled a lot of needs last year and we’re still building. We have areas that maybe we feel good about the starters, but maybe the depth is not where we want it to be. We have areas where we maybe need to add a starter. So, I think it’s going to be sort of a holistic approach, and working together with Coach Vrabel, his staff, the scouting staff, Richard Miller and Matt Groh on the on the contract side, and we’re going to try to build this thing to improve the team as best we can.”

On if he still views this as a rebuild or if the Super Bowl run has made them feel like they’re a move or two away from going back:

“Yeah, I don’t know that I’d call it a rebuild. I think we have a nice core of players, whether that’s the core of veteran players that we rely on or some of the younger, up and coming players like the rookies that were mentioned earlier. So, again, I just think every year is an opportunity. Every year is different. Every year is an opportunity in free agency and the draft to improve the roster. And it’s not just free agency in the draft. It’s trades, it’s waiver claims, it’s restricted free agency, all those things. We’re going to explore everything that we can.”

On how satisfied he is with Drake Maye’s growth from year one to year two and where he is looking for him to grow:

“I mean, satisfied is a tremendous understatement. Drake made a ton of progress in a lot of areas, not only at the start of the season, but throughout the season. I think people forget that he’s 23 years old, there’s been a lot on his shoulders, and there will continue to be with the expectation that it has being a quarterback for the New England Patriots. But I’m just really excited about him, his toughness, his competitiveness. He’s always the same guy. There’s obviously areas on the field that he’s going to improve, and he’s going to work with Coach [Josh] McDaniels and Coach [Ashton] Grant and get those things taken care of.”

On how he balances keeping Drake Maye healthy, developing players like Will Campbell and keeping continuity on the offensive line:

“I think there’s a couple of different points in there. I mean, continuity is tremendously important. We were actually fairly healthy on the offensive line this year, and I felt like those guys were able to gel and play well. And Will specifically, when he came back from that injury, I personally didn’t see the same level of lower body strength that you saw before the injury. I think the film would attest to that. He probably had three of his four worst games in the playoffs. But before that, I thought Will played really well all year. I know everyone talks about the arm length, but he has a set of skills that enable him to play with that arm length. He’s really quick out of his stance. He’s technically sound. He’s adding more and more different pass sets to his tool bag that he can use to combat different rushes. And again, he’s 22 years old and we expect some improvement out of him as well.”

On if he expects Stefon Diggs to return to the team in 2026:

I’m not going to get into any specific players today. There are certain conversations that we’re having, and we’ll see what happens with everyone.

It will be interesting to see if Mike Vrabel goes into more detail tomorrow. I thought Wolf was pretty open and honest in his assessment of Maye and Campbell. Based on his responses on the roster and what the team needs, I thought he was fairly forthright. Edge is arguably the strongest position group in this year’s draft and he echoed that sentiment.

Wolf was never going to answer any questions on Diggs. It is no secret that his impending contract is the proverbial elephant in the room.