4:04pm: More names are emerging on the Vikings’ fast-growing candidate list. The Vikings want to interview Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort, Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets. Ossenfort’s name has been tossed around for GM vacancies for a bit now, dating back to his time with the Patriots.
With the Titans since 2020, Ossenfort advanced to the second round of Panthers GM interviews last year. He also has a history with the Vikings. The Minnesota-Morris alum worked as a training camp intern with the Vikes in 2001, Goessling notes.
8:59am: It was reported overnight that another three names have been added to the Vikings’ list of general manager candidates. Two of them are from the Eagles, including one who represents a piece of NFL history.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Vikings have put in a request to interview Eagles VP of football operations Catherine Raiche (Twitter link). That news is ground-breaking, as it is believed to be the first time a woman has been requested to be interviewed for a GM position. Schefter and others have noted that Susan Tose Spencer was the first female GM in NFL history, holding that title from 1983-85, but she was promoted internally to that role.
This doesn’t appear to be the first time that someone has shown interest in Raiche. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer notes in his annual GM preview that current Browns GM Andrew Berry tried to bring the 32-year-old with him when he left that same VP of football operations role to come to Cleveland. He adds that one of her former colleagues has stated “she will be the first female GM [hire]”. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo notes that Raiche was promoted to her current position last year, following successful stints in the CFL and XFL which have helped her climb the executive ladder very quickly.
Garafolo also tweets that Eagles director of player personnel Brandon Brown has had an interview requested as well. Brown started full-time in an NFL front office with the Colts in 2015, then came to Philadelphia in 2017. He has spent the past five seasons with the Eagles, and was promoted to his current role – which includes work on both the pro and college scouting levels – in 2021.
Finally, Schefter tweets that the Vikings are requesting to interview Chiefs director of player personnel Ryan Poles. He has already been named as a candidate for the Giants’ open GM position, and was also linked to the Panthers for the same job last season. Poles has been with Kansas City since 2009, where he began as a scouting assistant, and has worked his way up to being a key member of the Chiefs’ font office.
These additions brings the total number of interview requests for the Vikings’ GM position to eight.
