Morning Sports Update

Patriots reportedly interviewing two outside candidates for de facto GM role

Director of scouting Eliot Wolf is still seen as the favorite to land the executive position.

Carolina Panthers vice president of football administration Samir Suleiman, center, watches players warm up in December 2023.
Carolina Panthers vice president of football administration Samir Suleiman, center, watches players warm up in December 2023. AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

By Hayden Bird

3 minutes to read

The Patriots’ intention to hire a GM-like executive: The Patriots were led through the offseason to this point—including one of the more high-profile drafts in recent team history—by director of scouting Eliot Wolf.

Still, New England appears to be at least exploring the possibility that Wolf won’t automatically slide into the role of general manager (defined in the Patriots’ case as a “primary football executive,” though the job functions will essentially be the same).

According to multiple reports, the Patriots are set to interview Eagles director of scouting Brandon Hunt for the front office role.

Hunt, with 19 years of NFL scouting experience, has been with the Eagles in his role since 2022. Prior to that, he spent 12 years with the Steelers.

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The Patriots are also expected to interview Carolina Panthers director of player negotiations and salary cap manager Samir Suleiman for the position, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Suleiman’s background consists of various roles with the Jaguars, Rams, and Steelers.

Of course, New England could still hire Wolf into the role. In fact, Patriots reporter Phil Perry recently admitted that he would be “stunned” if Wolf wasn’t given the full-time job.

Trivia: Derrick White has totaled three straight games with at least 25 points while shooting at least 55% field goals. Per ESPN Stats & Info, he is now tied with another Celtic for the longest streak of achieving this feat in the team’s postseason history. Can you name the player he’s tied with?

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(Answer at the bottom.)

Hint: It happened in 1988 by a player drafted from Minnesota.

Scores and schedules:

The Celtics cruised past the Cavaliers 120-95 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Tuesday. Jaylen Brown led Boston with 32 points. Game 2 gets underway on Thursday night at TD Garden, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.

Also on Tuesday, the Red Sox lost to the Braves 4-2. Tonight, Boston’s Nick Pivetta will face former Red Sox ace Chris Sale (now with Atlanta) at 7:20 p.m.

The Bruins face the Panthers in Florida tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Game 2 of the second-round playoff series. Boston leads Florida 1-0.

More from Boston.com:

An interesting sliding doors anecdote from Eliot Wolf: The son of the longtime Packers general manager (Ron Wolf) recalled the time Green Bay almost drafted Ray Lewis in 1996.

On this day: In 2019, Chris Sale —pitching in this case for the Red Sox—pulled off an immaculate inning (three strikeouts on a minimum nine pitches) during a start against the Orioles.

Later in the game, with the score tied 1-1, Jackie Bradley Jr. added to the night’s highlights with an incredible catch to rob a home run:

The Red Sox and Orioles battled into the 12th inning until an Andrew Benintendi home run helped propel Boston to a 2-1 win.

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Daily highlight: Speaking of elite catches, East Carolina’s Ryley Johnson pulled one back from over the wall. Despite the catch, Duke won in the end 5-2.

Trivia answer: Kevin McHale

Hayden Bird

Sports Staff

Hayden Bird is a sports staff writer for Boston.com, where he has worked since 2016. He covers all things sports in New England.

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