Texans drop their pursuit of Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio; tampering probe over

Exactly one week ago, the Houston Texans parted ways with general manager Brian Gaine — and New England Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio quickly emerged as the franchise’s top target to fill the suddenly vacated spot. Houston requested an interview with Caserio, unsurprisingly, but the pursuit did not come without controversy: on Wednesday, the Patriots filed tampering charges against the Texans.

Now, it looks as if the case has been resolved. As Texans CEO Cal McNair announced in a statement released earlier today, his franchise will no longer go after Caserio:

When we started the process to interview Nick Caserio for our EVP/GM position, we consulted the League office on numerous occasions, followed the procedures outlined in the League’s rules and believed we were in full compliance. We have now been made aware of certain terms in Nick’s contract with the Patriots. Once we were made aware of these contract terms, I informed Mr. Kraft that we would stop pursuing Nick.

How exactly Caserio’s contract looks like and what parts of it dissuaded the Texans from further pursuing him as a general manager option is not known at this time, but there is one thing we know: Houston stepping down is certainly good news for the Patriots, considering Caserio’s importance to the team — from being Bill Belichick’s right-hand man and the club’s de facto general manager, to his role in game preparation and in-game procedures.

According to the Houston Chronicle’s John McClain, the Patriots are dropping their tampering charges in return to the Texans no longer targeting Caserio for their GM spot.

[UPDATE] Patriots owner Robert Kraft has also released a statement about the situation:

The Houston Texans and the New England Patriots have always had a great working relationship. We appreciate the way Cal McNair has handled this situation.