Patriots receive multiple rejections for GM interviews, with Eliot Wolf expected to get the job

BOSTON -- On Monday, reports indicated that the Patriots were conducting a GM search, though Eliot Wolf -- who's run the team's personnel department this offseason after the departure of Bill Belichick -- is widely expected to get the formal title.

As a result, a number of candidates who have been requested to interview for the position have turned down the Patriots' interview requests.

Tom Pelissero reported that Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown declined the opportunity to interview with New England.

And Jonathan Jones reported that former Cardinals executive Quentin Harris also declined the Patriots' request.

The chief issue at play appears to be the Rooney Rule. The NFL requires teams to interview two external minority candidates for open head coach and GM positions before making a hire or promotion. Those must be in-person interviews. (The Patriots received permission from the NFL to include a succession clause in Jerod Mayo's contract that would allow him to become the team's head coach without the team interviewing outside candidates.)

And with reports suggesting that the job essentially already belongs to Wolf, qualified candidates appear unwilling to go through the process of interviewing for a job that doesn't actually appear to be vacant. It's an issue that's popped up several times in recent years, most notably through Brian Flores' lawsuit against the NFL and three of its teams, and it is one that in that case may lack a simple solution.