Bedard: Dave Ziegler, Josh McDaniels fly west to Las Vegas Raiders - what's that mean for Patriots?

The Las Vegas Raiders today announced that Patriots director of player personnel Dave Ziegler will be their next general manager, succeeding Mike Mayock.

Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is expected to be named the Raiders' head coach very soon.

Both Ziegler and McDaniels eyed a potential power structure this offseason but we're sure it was going to happen. Once the Raiders cleared the decks by letting Mayock go, they immediately became of interest to both Ziegler and McDaniels. After about a week of researching the Raiders, McDaniels was open to the Raiders.

After dinner Friday night, much was riding on Saturday's visit with the Raiders' brass to see if they would be all in on embracing the vision that Ziegler and McDaniels have for a franchise. Evidently, all the sides liked what they heard.

Now the big questions: what do the departures mean for the Patriots, and who could fill the voids?

Let's deal with McDaniels first.

Despite what many think, the departure of McDaniels is a huge blow. He became the first assistant to basically head up his side of the team — an illustration of how much Bill Belichick respected McDaniels' abilities as a coach. 

"I don’t think he really has any weaknesses as a coach," Belichick said of McDaniels this season. "He understands what every player on the field is doing on offense and defense. He has a great vision for how to utilize the skills of the players on his side of the ball and how to try to attack the weaknesses, whether it be personnel weaknesses or schematic weaknesses or how to try to force the opponent into a situation that he’s able to take advantage of.

"... Josh is creative. He’s a very forward thinker. He’s got great poise during the game. He never gets rattled, never loses track of the situation. He’s always a play or two ahead."

Belichick was not just blowing smoke. In conversations with other teams about McDaniels, Belichick often compared him to Nick Saban to illustrate his football mind.

"It’s kind of like Saban when we were in Cleveland," Belichick said, as seen in the video above. "Nick knew what every player on the field was doing. He knew what the guard keys were. He knew what the running back was keying. He knew what the nose guard was doing. He knew what everybody on the field was doing.

"Josh is kind of the same way. He knows what all 11 guys are doing on offense, what their keys are, what their adjustments are and all that. And he knows defensively how the guy is taught to play certain blocks or routes or reads and how to attack them."

Charlie Weis and Bill O'Brien never had the responsibilities that McDaniels did in his second stint with the Patriots. He was basically HC Offense, which allowed Belichick to tend to the defense and special teams more, especially during games. And McDaniels helped develop Tom Brady, Matt Cassel, Jimmy Garoppolo, Jacoby Brissett, Cam Newton and Mac Jones. All of them, a vast majority of the time, played winning football for McDaniels.

As for McDaniels' possible replacement, the overwhelming favorite is for O'Brien to return to his previous job after his Texans tenure and one year as Alabama's OC. O'Brien has interviewed for other jobs but a return home would be great for all involved. He can essentially pick up exactly where McDaniels left off, and he has a previous relationship with Jones, who helped teach O'Brien Alabama's playbook after being hired. As opposed to previous years when McDaniels contemplated leaving and the Patriots not having many options that didn't involve Belichick needing to help heavily on offense, this is the best setup for the Patriots. It would be an upset if it doesn't happen. O'Brien would also give the Patriots an in-house Belichick successor.

Other candidates are tight ends coach Nick Caley, receivers coach Mick Lombardi, and former Patriots assistants George Godsey and Chad O'Shea. Godsey was O'Brien's OC in Houston for a time and shared those duties with the Dolphins last season. They are changing coaches. O'Shea is the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator for the Browns. Jerry Schuplinski, another former assistant, was the QB coach for Joe Judge with the Giants.

As for the Patriots' front office, that could be a role where Matt Patricia slides in for more responsibility. He was involved in decisions with Belichick, Ziegler and Eliot Wolf last season. Patricia is believed to have one more year left on his Lions deal, which could keep him "officially" on the sidelines again this season.

Wolf, who held top executive roles with the Packers and Browns, would be the favorite to succeed Ziegler officially as the director of personnel. College scouting director Matt Groh has risen in the ranks internally, as has pro scouting coordinator Steve Cargile.

Former Patriots executives who could be available: Scott Pioli, Bob Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff — all former general managers. A return by Pioli would be welcomed by many around the team, but it's not known whether he wants to return to the grind from his home on Nantucket.