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Don Warren

NFL Staff Notes: Eagles, Warren, Bears, Chiefs

June 4th, 2022 at 8:40pm CST by Ely Allen

This weekend, the Eagles announced several title changes and new hires in their personnel and operations departments. Philadelphia lost six staffers this offseason.

Some of the Eagles’ corresponding moves we haven’t yet covered are as follows. Former-senior director of football transactions Bryce Johnston was promoted to vice president of football transactions and strategic planning. Former-assistant of analytics James Gilman was promoted to director of football analytics. Former-senior pro scout Jeff Scott was promoted to director of football operations. Former-football analytics coordinator Jon Liu was promoted to assistant director of football analytics. Former assistant strength and conditioning coach Patrick McDowell moved departments to become the player development assistant/scout. Pro scout Ameena Soliman was promoted to director of personnel operations/pro scout. Former-college scout (Northeast area) Matt Holland was promoted to senior college/pro scout.

The following are new hires announced by the Eagles that we haven’t covered. In operations, Zach Drapkin was hired as a quantitative analyst. In scouting, Jarrod Kilburn was hired as a college/pro scout.

Here are a few other staff notes from around the NFL, starting with the freshly-named Commanders:

  • According to Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post, legendary tight end and current-senior pro scout Don Warren will retire this week. Warren won three Super Bowls during his 14 seasons as a player in Washington. 13 years after his retirement from playing, Warren returned to Washington as a scout. After five years in that role, Warren joined the Panthers as a scout, where he stayed for ten years. Warren returned to Washington for the final two years of his career in 2020.
  • The Bears have hired the Chiefs’ senior data scientist, Krithi Chandrakasan, away from Kansas City to assume the role of director of football analytics in Chicago. To fill Chandrakasan’s now-vacant role, the Chiefs hired Marc Richards in the role of football research analyst, all according to ESPN’s Seth Walder. Walder adds that Richards was a part of the winning team in the 2021 Big Data Bowl. The Big Data Bowl is an annual analytics competition for college students and professionals in the league. The contest challenges participants to spur innovations in the ever-evolving world of NFL advanced analytics.

NFC Notes: Barrett, Gregory, Washington

July 14th, 2020 at 6:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Buccaneers look to be one of the many teams set to carry a franchise tag number on their payroll this season. Shaquil Barrett and the Bucs were believed to be far apart on terms over the weekend, and the breakout pass rusher expects to play this season on the tag.

“I would love to get a deal done. I know they would love to get a deal done. But just the situation of the world right now is making it hard to get a deal done,” Barrett said during an NFL Network appearance (via NFL.com). “So if we get one done, I’m going to be happy. But if not, I’m still happy to be down here for another year and potentially to get a deal done in the future once we do figure out how the season’s going to go and how next year possibly will be.

“I still have some hope for it, but I’m more optimistic for the one-year to get done over a long-term deal.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has clouded the NFL financial picture. Although some teams have come to extension agreements, most franchises have held off. Of the 15 players who received the franchise tag this year, only one (Chris Jones) has reached an extension agreement. With Barrett upping his single-season sack career high from 5.5 to a Bucs-record 19.5, he profiled as a possible “prove it” player. It looks like the sides will huddle up again after the season.

Here is the latest from the NFC:

  • After firing multiple front office execs last week, Washington added some staffers. The team will hire Eric Stokes as its director of pro scouting, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Washington is also adding longtime scout Don Warren to be its assistant director of pro personnel, Joe Person of The Athletic tweets. Both will come to Washington after years with Carolina, following Ron Rivera in that regard. For Warren, this will be a reunion. He won three Super Bowls with Washington as a tight end and previously served as a scout with the franchise from 2005-09.
  • The Cowboys refuse to give up on Randy Gregory. Despite the Cowboys losing hope he will be reinstated in time for this season, they would like to have the suspended defensive end back in a non-playing capacity for the time being, Todd Archer of ESPN.com notes. Gregory has been suspended four times since entering the league. He has not played since the 2018 season.
  • The Saints should be expected to sign a tackle at some point before the season, Katherine Terrell of The Athletic writes (subscription required). New Orleans has entrenched starters Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk and added ex-Ravens starter/swingman James Hurst this offseason. But the Saints have been proponents of O-line fortification, so it would not be especially surprising to see them further bolster the group. That said, Hurst and interior lineman Nick Easton qualify as solid backups.
  • Perhaps following the Saints’ lead, the Cardinals had former CFL quarterback Chris Streveler sit in on their special teams meetings during the virtual offseason period, Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com notes. While the Cardinals communicated to the Grey Cup-winning quarterback he will not change positions upon moving south, a Taysom Hill-type role may be how Streveler makes the team. Brett Hundley and former UDFA Drew Anderson are the other QBs on Arizona’s roster.