Eliot Wolf remembers Packers' missed chance with Ray Lewis almost 30 years ago

Last week, Eliot Wolf had his first draft as a de facto general manager, as he selected quarterback Drake Maye for the New England Patriots. But he has obvious ties to the Green Bay Packers, where he worked from 2004 to 2017 — and where he grew up, as Ron Wolf's son.

On Adam Schefter's podcast, Eliot Wolf told an incredible story about his time in draft rooms. In 1996, right before Ron Wolf won his only Super Bowl title for the Packers, the team was ready to take linebacker Ray Lewis. However, the Baltimore Ravens took him one pick before, and the Packers ended up with offensive tackle John Michels with the 27th overall pick — he played only three seasons in Green Bay.

"There was some disappointment, because they actually had Ray on the phone," Eliot Wolf recalled. "They were talking to Ray. And Baltimore still on the clock. They thought Ray was one of the best players in the draft. I mean, there were games where Ray had, like, 20 tackles. I know it's easy to say it now, he's one of the best linebackers of all time, first ballot Hall of Famer. He was kind of seen as an undersized middle linebacker back in the day. He wasn't what we know of Ray Lewis now. So, Baltimore obviously had a good one."

Ron Wolf was the Packers' general manager from 1991 to 2000. Before that, he had won two Super Bowl titles as a scout for the Raiders. With the Packers, even without Ray Lewis, they won the title in the 1996 season.

Eliot Wolf was born in Oakland, but grew up in Green Bay. He started working for the Packers in 2004 as a pro personnel assistant, then was promoted to assistant director of pro personnel, assistant director of player personnel, director of pro personnel, director of player personnel, and director of football operations.

In 2018, after the Packers moved Ted Thompson to an advisory role, the Packers interviewed Eliot Wolf for their general manager position. However, the team decided to hire Brian Gutekunst, which led Wolf to move on. Since then, he was an assistant general manager for the Cleveland Browns for two years, and has worked for the Patriots since 2020 — first as a consultant, then promoted to director of scouting.

After the Patriots parted ways with Bill Belichick, Wolf has been a de facto general manager — and now he's a candidate to get the full-time GM job.