Tom Brady and Nick Caserio held a conversation before kickoff Saturday night, catching up and likely reflecting on the two decades they shared working for the New England Patriots and legendary coach Bill Belichick.
The seven-time Super Bowl winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and the Texans' first-year general manager, a six-time Super Bowl victor, both have deep roots in New England.
One year after Brady left New England and won a Super Bowl, Caserio is signed to a six-year contract averaging $6 million annually as the architect of an overhauled Texans roster that he's building in his vision.
"I've known Nick for 20 years, at least, maybe 21 years and just a great person, great football mind," Brady said. "Diligent, hard working, and very detailed. So, I've really appreciated my time with Nick. He's done a great job. Happy that he got an opportunity here.
"It's great. We are all getting different opportunities as we get older. So you know, you kind of put in the work and you get different opportunities at different times and it's Nick's first opportunity to really take that kind of sole position. Happy for him and wish him the best of luck, unless he's playing against us."
The Texans' roster includes former Patriots safety Terrence Brooks, former Patriots linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, former Patriots offensive tackle Marcus Cannon and former Patriots tight end Ryan Izzo. And the Texans, previously run by former coach and general manager Bill O'Brien, has a lot of connections for Brady.
"There's a lot of guys that I know that are on this team that I root for," Brady said. "Billy and I were friends. It's just a lot of really great people that the Houston organization has."
Aaron Wilson has covered the NFL for 20 seasons, including the Texans, Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. He has previously written for The Houston Chronicle and The Baltimore Sun. He’s on Twitter: @AaronWilson_NFL and Instagram: @aaronwilson7128.
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