Patriots Ex Denies Texans Rumor: ‘I’m Staying!’ Insists GM Nick Caserio
It was a weird story from the start.
And now it’s a non-story.
General manager Nick Caserio's future with the Houston Texans was brought into question when NFL insider Michael Lombardi - a former New England Patriots staffer who often offers reports from a perspective that suggests he remains plugged in with Coach Bill Belichick - relayed the possibility Caserio could depart from the Texans following the 2023 NFL Draft.
The pseudo-controversy forced the GM to discuss his status at the Texans pre-NFL Draft media session on Monday in Houston.
"Quite frankly, I'm almost embarrassed I have to (address this)" Caserio said. "I feel sort of like Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.’ I'm not leaving. There's never really been any substantive discussions of the sort.”
Caserio’s challenges upon moving from New England to Houston before the 2021 season started with former star quarterback Deshaun Watson wanting out.
The Texans have won a combined seven games in Caserio's first two seasons. And Houston's unpleasant performances led to three coaching hires with David Culley (2021) and Lovie Smith (2022).
In February, Caserio made his third coaching hire with DeMeco Ryans.
"It’s been awesome working with Nick," Ryans said. "We’ve hit the ground running and Nick is awesome to work with. Nick is a very knowledgeable guy and I’m happy to be a part of a team that has a GM in place who has so much experience.
"I’m excited to work with Nick. It’s been a very smooth transition, a smooth process.”
And now Caserio's stay with the Texans will apparently continue … with Houston hoping for some “smoothness” that’s been rare there in recent seasons.
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