Klutch Sports Group has hired former Cardinals general manager Steve Keim as its new general manager, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Although Keim has not worked in the NFL since taking a leave of absence from the Cardinals late in the 2022 season, he spent 10 years as the NFC West team’s GM. The Cardinals made the playoffs just three times during Keim’s tenure, though that is a better success rate than the franchise has displayed in decades. The Cards ventured to the 2015 NFC championship game, and Keim’s regime — despite enduring a rough 2022 — acquired some cornerstone pieces that have ended up boosting the current Arizona front office.
Keim, 52, worked his way up through the Cardinals organization, starting as a regional college scout in 1999 and rising all the way to general manager in 2013. He remained in that position until January 2023, when he stepped down to focus on his health. Keim has not worked in the NFL since that Cardinals separation late in the 2022 season.
Keim finished with an 80-80-2 record as Arizona’s general manager, being atop the front office when the team traded for Carson Palmer, drafted Kyler Murray and traded for DeAndre Hopkins. Keim also oversaw the talks that produced Murray’s five-year, $230.5MM extension
The Cardinals extended Keim and then-HC Kliff Kingsbury months before they hammered out the Murray deal, but ownership reversed course after the 2022 Arizona edition unraveled and finished 4-13. Michael Bidwill bailed on Keim and Kingsbury at season’s end, not bringing back the veteran decision-maker and canning the HC who had pushed for Murray.
Klutch Sports Group is believed to be the first agency to hire a former NFL general manager to the same position within an agency. Keim will work with Klutch’s team of agents, bringing decades of NFL front office experience to the agency.
“Steve gives us a tremendous amount of depth through the lens of knowledge, experience and expertise,”’ said Klutch CEO Rich Paul. “This is a game changer for us and I imagine the industry. His entire life has been loving the game of football, and we couldn’t be happier to have him join us.”