Packers’ Eliot Wolf To Meet With Colts
Add Eliot Wolf to the list of names who will take the Colts up on their offer to interview for the vacant GM job. The 34-year-old Packers executive will meet with the Colts later this week to discuss his credentials for the position, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
The pursuit of the Colts’ top front-office position is clearing up, with Chiefs player personnel director Chris Ballard also agreeing to meet with Jim Irsay about the job. Ballard and Wolf join internal candidate Jimmy Raye III, Seahawks co-player personnel director Scott Fitterer and Vikings assistant GM George Paton as those who have accepted Indianapolis’ interview requests.
The 34-year-old Wolf recently signed a contract extension to stay in Green Bay, which helped influence him to bow out of the 49ers’ GM race despite being tabbed as a finalist. However, it appears as though the young executive may hold this latest opportunity in higher regard.
If hired, Wolf would not have the opportunity this year of selecting a new head coach with the Colts since Irsay reaffirmed his commitment to Chuck Pagano. But the 49ers’ GM candidates don’t appear to have that luxury either, with Kyle Shanahan having input as to which GM the team hires. And the winner of the race to replace Ryan Grigson in Indy will have a franchise quarterback to build around in Andrew Luck.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/24/17
Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2017 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:
Cincinnati Bengals
Green Bay Packers
Tennessee Titans
Colts Request Interview With Eliot Wolf
The Packers awarded director of football operations Eliot Wolf a new contract to stay in Green Bay last week, but that apparently isn’t going to stop general manager-needy teams from courting him. The Colts, who are continuing to compile candidates in their search to replace the fired Ryan Grigson, have requested an interview with Wolf, according to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora (Twitter link).
Wolf, 34, is the fifth known candidate with whom the Colts at least hope to meet. Along with Wolf, the Colts have thus far requested to speak with the Seahawks’ co-directors of player personnel — Trent Kirchner and Scott Fitterer — and will interview Vikings assistant GM George Paton. Indianapolis also has an in-house option, vice president of football operations Jimmy Raye III, who could be the favorite to land the role.
Every serious candidate who has emerged for the Colts has also been under consideration for the 49ers’ still-vacant GM position this month. The only member of the group who’s still in the running is Paton. Wolf would have joined Paton as a finalist and gone through a second interview with the Niners this week had he not withdrawn from the race. While their job wasn’t able to entice him to leave Green Bay, perhaps he’ll entertain the notion of heading to Indianapolis and inheriting a franchise quarterback in Andrew Luck.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/23/17
Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2017 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:
Green Bay Packers
- C Jacob Flores
- OLB Reggie Gilbert
- WR Antwan Goodley
- LB Derrick Mathews
- G Lucas Patrick
- DT Brian Price
- S Jermaine Whitehead
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Packers Notes: Lang, Cook, Shields
T.J. Lang will be a sought-after guard if he makes it to the free agent market, joining the likes of Kevin Zeitler, Ronald Leary and Larry Warford among a talented contingent of interior blockers. But the six-year Packers starter wants to wrap up his prime years in Green Bay.
“I think everybody in this locker room knows that this is where I want to play,” Lang said, via Ryan Wood of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It’s been eight years now. I don’t want to go anywhere. I’ve been saying that since the beginning. I love this team; I love Green Bay; I love everything about being a Packer.”
Already having two tackles signed long-term, Ted Thompson did not make a Lang extension a priority this season. Nothing emerged about the sides discussing a deal. Lang, who will undergo hip surgery for an injury that’s bothered him all year (per Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com), won’t turn 30 until September. He made his first Pro Bowl this season, but Thompson cut three-time Pro Bowler Josh Sitton last year. The Packers have depth at tackle with Bryan Bulaga, David Bakhtiari and second-rounder Jason Spriggs, but the build-from-within team doesn’t have a surefire replacement lined up at guard. Center J.C. Tretter also stands to be a UFA come March.
Here’s more coming out of Green Bay after the franchise’s second NFC championship loss in three seasons.
- Count Jared Cook as another Packer who wants to come back.Aaron Rodgers agrees with that sentiment. “Jared Cook, I think, needs to be near the top of the priority list, the way he played this year,” the All-Pro quarterback said, via Wood. Cook represented one of Thompson’s rare forays into free agency, and with the backing of the league’s most gifted quarterback — and the team finally having a viable weapon at tight end — a reunion makes sense. Wood reports a source informed him in December a Cook return was likely. An underwhelming raw talent with the Titans and Rams, Cook caught 18 passes for 229 yards and two TDs in his first playoff run. He and Martellus Bennett are the top tight end options on the current market.
- Rodgers appeared to be stumping for more talent to be added this offseason, Thompson’s free agency-phobic tendencies notwithstanding. “We need to reload,” he said, via Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “I don’t think we need to rebuild; we need to reload. We got a lot of players who are young. … We just need to reload a little bit this offseason.” Green Bay’s core receivers are all under contract for 2017, with only Cook as a UFA. The Packers re-signed Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb in recent years and could do the same with Cook. Rodgers added that keeping the offensive line together was a “big part of our success.” Of the Packers’ starting line, only Lang is a free agent.
- Sam Shields does not want to retire despite suffering two concussions in a nine-month stretch, but Jason Wilde of the Wisconsin State Journal notes the Packers are likely to move on from their previous No. 1 corner. Shields stands to carry a $12.125MM cap number in 2017, his age-30 season and the last on his contract, and the Packers would save $9MM by cutting him. The team did not receive much consistency at cornerback this season due to rampant injuries, but Green Bay did draft corners in the first and second round of the 2015 draft and land promising UDFA Ladarius Gunter. So, Shields returning at that price is almost certainly a non-starter, and he might have to find another employer on a short-term deal.
Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams Will Play Sunday
The Packers could be near full strength on Sunday as they face the Falcons in the NFC Championship Game, as wide receivers Jordy Nelson (ribs), Davante Adams (ankle), and Geronimo Allison (hamstring), as well as safety Morgan Burnett (thigh), are expected to be available to play, according to Tim Silverstein and Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
[RELATED: Trent Baalke Could Join Packers Front Office]
Green Bay will need all its weapons in order to compete with a high-powered Atlanta offense in a playoff contest where the over/under is north of 60 points. With Nelson sidelined last week against the Cowboys, the Packers were able to lean on tight end Jared Cook — and the magic of Aaron Rodgers — as they won their eighth straight game. Adams and Allison were both available for that game, however, and attempting to defeat the Falcons without three of their top four receivers would have been difficult.
The Packers did make a move to improve their wide receiver depth, promoting pass-catcher Max McCaffrey from the practice squad to the active roster earlier today. Other receivers on Green Bay’s depth chart include Randall Cobb, Jeff Janis, and Trevor Davis, all of whom could be asked to take on a larger than average role if Nelson, Adams, or Allison aren’t at full speed on Sunday.
Burnett’s presence is also important as the Packers try to slow down Atlanta’s No. 1-ranked DVOA offense. In 15 games this season, Burnett has racked up two interceptions and nine passes defensed while ranking as the league’s No. 14 safety, per Pro Football Focus.
Packers Place J.C. Tretter On IR
The Packers won’t be seeing a J.C. Tretter comeback if they advance to Super Bowl LI. Green Bay placed the center on IR a day before its NFC title tilt in Atlanta, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
Tretter has not played since the Packers’ seventh game of the season, when he suffered a knee injury. The team kept him on the roster in hopes of a possible return but will now promote rookie wideout Max McCaffrey to its 53-man roster. Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams and Geronimo Allison are considered game-time decisions due to injuries on Sunday.
A third-year center, Tretter started in all seven games he played this season and suffered the knee injury during the Packers’ last trip to Atlanta. At first, this was believed to be fairly minor, but it ended up costing Tretter most of his third season. Mike McCarthy revealed this week Tretter would not have been an option in the Packers-Falcons rematch after undergoing surgery earlier this week. Fellow third-year man Corey Linsley came off the PUP list in November and resumed his role as the team’s starting center, one he’s held for the past three seasons.
The son of Ed McCaffrey and older brother of Christian, Max McCaffrey has not played in a game yet this season. He caught on with the Packers’ practice squad late in the regular season.
Brian Gutekunst Withdraws From 49ers’ GM Search
Another Packers executive won’t be finishing out the GM interview process with the 49ers. The Packers will retain player personnel director Brian Gutekunst after he withdrew his name from the San Francisco GM search, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
One of the finalists for the NFL’s lone vacant GM job, Gutekunst instead signed a new deal to stay in Green Bay, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
The Packers reached an agreement earlier this week to retain director of football operations Eliot Wolf, so the 49ers’ effort to pry one of Ted Thompson‘s top staffers won’t come to fruition. The Packers execs’ decisions to stay in Green Bay come after Seahawks co-director of player personnel Trent Kirchner announced he was withdrawing from the pursuit.
This could leave Vikings assistant GM George Paton in the driver’s seat for the job as the one known finalist still in the running. He’s set to meet with the 49ers next week. Although the team is keeping an eye on Cardinals’ vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com reports, Paton is expected to meet with 49ers brass — and possibly leading HC candidate Kyle Shanahan — on Tuesday. Michael Silver of NFL.com also tabs Paton (Twitter link) as the favorite to become the 49ers’ next GM and win what’s become a complex race not unlike what’s transpired in the derby to become their next coach.
Another name to monitor, per Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, is Jaguars director of player personnel Chris Polian. The son of Hall of Famer Bill Polian did not meet with with the 49ers this month as the organization conducted a thorough search featuring nine interviews.
Trent Baalke Could Join Packers Front Office
Former 49ers general manager Trent Baalke could land with the Packers in a front office role, according to Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, who adds that “speculation” has tied Baalke to Green Bay given his friendship with Packers GM Ted Thompson.
[RELATED: 2017 NFL GM Search Tracker]
Green Bay’s front office could soon be the site of upheaval, as Brian Gutekunst, the club’s director of college scouting, will take a second interview for the 49ers GM job (ironically, to replace Baalke), and is thought to be the leading contender for the position. Thomspon has also been rumored to be nearing retirement, and Chiefs general manager John Dorsey and Packers director of football operations Eliot Wolf have each been mentioned as candidates to replace him. Earlier today, Wolf signed a new contract to remain in Green Bay, removing himself from San Francisco’s search.
Baalke, meanwhile, has been linked to another club this winter, as a December report indicated that he could join the Broncos in some capacity after departing the Niners. Having enjoyed a working relationship with Denver GM John Elway as the Broncos and 49ers conducted recent joint practices, Baalke could make for a natural fit in the Denver front office.
Eliot Wolf Staying With Packers
Packers director of football operations Eliot Wolf has accepted a new contract in Green Bay and withdrawn from the 49ers’ search for a general manager, reports Tom Pelissero of USA Today. He’s the second candidate this week to bow out of San Francisco’s hunt for a GM, joining Seahawks co-director of player personnel Trent Kirchner. One of Wolf’s colleagues in Green Bay, director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst, and Vikings assistant GM George Paton are continuing to vie for the 49er job and will conduct second interviews with the team next week.