Of the five teams hunting for new head coaches, two have an even more daunting task ahead of them, as the Bears and Jets are also on the lookout for new general managers to head their football operations departments. The Jets have tasked two consultants, Charley Casserly and Ron Wolf, with identifying potential candidates, while the Bears hired former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi as an advisor for their search.
Heading into today, we’d heard Seahawks director of pro personnel Trent Kirchner and Vikings assistant GM George Paton linked to the Jets’ opening, while things had been relatively quiet on the Bears’ front so far. More rumors and rumblings on both positions are starting to surface though, so let’s round up the latest updates:
- The Jets intend to interview their current senior director of football administration Rod Graves for their GM opening, a source tells Brian Costello of the New York Post (Twitter link). Mehta, confirming the report, tweets that it’s a “courtesy” on the Jets’ part.
- Costello adds (via Twitter) that the Jets have also asked the Browns permission to interview personnel executive Bill Kuharich.
Earlier updates:
- The Jets are interested in interviewing Texans director of college scouting Mike Maccagnan for their GM vacancy, tweets Brian Costello of the New York Post. A source confirms to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter link) that the Jets have indeed asked Houston for permission to speak to Maccagnan.
- Mehta also reports (via Twitter) that the Jets have requested permission to interview Eagles director of pro personnel Rick Mueller. Mueller has previously worked for the Jaguars and Saints as well.
- The Jets are expected to make a strong push for Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). However, as Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links) points out, DeCosta is contractually designated as Baltimore’s GM-in-waiting behind Ozzie Newsome — he’s a strong GM candidate for rival clubs, but is in a good situation with the Ravens and is “highly valued” by the organization. For now, the Jets have asked for permission to interview him, tweets Mehta.
- Four interview targets have emerged for the Bears‘ general manager opening, according to Rapoport, who lists the following candidate (via Twitter): Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard, Giants VP of player evaluation Marc Ross, Titans VP of player personnel Lake Dawson, and Ravens director of pro personnel Vince Newsome.