2021's draft will be Ernie Adams' last with Patriots May 01, 2021 at 09:19 PM Copied! Bill Belichick, speaking with reporters after the Patriots draft had wrapped up on Saturday evening, announced that 2021 will be long-time football research director Ernie Adams' last draft with the team. Belichick stopped short of saying Adams was retiring completely but pointed out how involved Adams had been in the team's draft process over the last two decades where his loss will reverberate. "Just to kind of wrap up the day, with Ernie Adams, this is [his] last draft, and certainly he's been a huge part of the draft process with the New England Patriots, going all the way to Coach [Chuck] Fairbanks to the Giants to Cleveland, back to New England. The acquisition of a lot of great players, all the process that goes into drafting, grading players, scouting players, setting up a grading scale, trading really every single thing that is involved in that. Ernie's had that seat and that role and been a part of all those things in the Draft room.