Texans Working To Extend Bill O’Brien
Having already found their next general manager in Brian Gaine today, the Texans are now shifting their focus to their coaching staff. Houston is working on an extension for head coach Bill O’Brien, whose contract was set to expire after the 2018 campaign, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (Twitter link).
O’Brien had reportedly been involved in something of a power struggle with former GM Rick Smith, who was forced to take a leave of absence earlier this year when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now with something like full autonomy throughout the Houston organization, O’Brien was a member of the search committee that interviewed Gaine, who is reported to have a close relationship with the Texans head coach.
The 48-year-old O’Brien has been relatively successful during his four-year tenure in Houston, as he finished 9-7 in each season from 2014-16 and earned two postseason appearances during that time. Last year, the Texans managed only a 4-12 record, but the club almost certainly would have fared better had rookie sensation Deshaun Watson not torn his ACL in early November.
Texans To Hire Brian Gaine As GM
The Texans are expected to make Bills vice president of player personnel Brian Gaine their next general manager, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Gaine, who interviewed for the Houston position on Tuesday, had been considered the favorite for the job. He’ll make his return to the Texans — with whom he previously served as director of player personnel — after a single season in Buffalo. Gaine has drawn GM interest around the league in the past, and he’s interviewed for positions in Philadelphia, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago over the past several seasons.
While Gaine was the frontrunner to become Texans general manager, Houston did have a lengthy list of initial candidates. However, the Texans were declined permission to interview the Patriots’ Nick Caserio and Monti Ossenfort and the Eagles’ Joe Douglas, while the Packers’ Brian Gutekunst and the Cowboys’ Will McClay declined to interview. Texans assistant GM Jimmy Rye III was the only candidate other than Gaine to actually interview.
Gaine will be strapped to add talent via the draft in his first season as Texans GM, as Houston has already traded away both its first- and second-round picks. However, the Texans could make hay during the free agent period, as the club ranks sixth in 2018 cap space with roughly $56MM available.
As PFR’s 2018 GM Tracker indicates, both of the general manager vacancies in the NFL have now been filled: Gaine in Houston, and Gutekunst in Green Bay.
Cowboys’ McClay Turns Down Texans Interview
Another Texans GM candidate bites the dust. On Wednesday morning, Cowboys exec Will McClay confirmed that he has turned down an opportunity to interview for the Texans’ GM vacancy (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Todd Archer).
The Cowboys did right by McClay and granted him permission to speak with Houston. However, he is choosing to remain with Dallas as the leader of the personnel department. McClay has held the position since 2014 and built a reputation as one of the league’s best scouting talents.
So far, the Texans have been denied permission to interview the Eagles’ Joe Douglas and Nick Caserio and Monti Ossenfort of the Patriots. They were hoping to sit down with Brian Gutekunst, but the Packers took him off of the board by giving him their own GM job.
For a full rundown of Houston’s GM search (and a recap of Green Bay’s), check out PFR’s 2018 General Manger Search Tracker.
Texans To Interview Jimmy Raye III, Brian Gaine For GM Post
Mentioned as a possible candidate for the Texans’ GM job, Jimmy Raye III will have a chance to state his case for a promotion.
The Texans are interviewing Raye on Monday for the vacant GM job, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets. Raye currently works as the franchise’s assistant GM and vice president of football operations.
Houston also scheduled a meeting with former exec Brian Gaine, who is now with the Bills. The Texans will meet with Gaine on Tuesday, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports (on Twitter).
The Bills’ current VP of player personnel is viewed as the favorite to take over for Rick Smith while he’s on a leave of absence. McClain also views Gaine as the favorite but notes Raye saw his responsibilities increase because Smith was spending additional time caring for his ailing wife (Twitter links).
Raye has worked in his current role for less than a year. Houston hired Raye in May to replace Gaine, who moved to Buffalo upon Brandon Beane becoming the Bills’ GM. Raye interviewed to become the Colts’ GM and operated as Indianapolis’ interim GM in between Ryan Grigson and Chris Ballard‘s tenures while also meeting with 49ers brass about San Francisco’s 2017 GM vacancy. Raye worked with the Colts for four years and spent 17 with the Chargers.
Gaine has interviewed for several GM jobs in over the past few years, doing so most recently with the Bills in May. He spent three seasons with the Texans and carries 19 years of NFL experience.
Latest On Texans, Cowboys Exec Will McClay
Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay says he has permission to speak with the Texans regarding their vacant general manager position, but he has yet to be contacted by Houston, as Todd Archer of ESPN.com writes. John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) reported earlier today that McClay had declined to interview with the Texans. Houston requested permission to interview McClay earlier this morning.
As PFR’s 2018 General Manger Search Tracker indicates, the Texans’ list of potential candidates is quickly winnowing, as they’ve been denied permission to interview the Eagles’ Joe Douglas and the Patriots’ Nick Caserio and Monti Ossenfort. Brian Gutekunst, meanwhile, was expected to interview in Houston but was promoted to become Green Bay’s GM earlier today.
While internal candidate Jimmy Raye III has also been mentioned as an option for the Texans, the clear favorite for the position is Bills vice president of player personnel Brian Gaine. Peter Schrager of NFL.com reported last week that Gaine — who previously spent three years in Houston — was the frontrunner for the vacancy, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) reiterated today that Gaine should be expected to return to the Texans.
Packers To Hire Brian Gutekunst As GM
The Packers are promoting their director of player personnel, Brian Gutekunst, to general manager, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that it will be a five-year deal for Gutekunst.
Gutekunst is highly respected in scouting circles, and Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com writes that Gutekunst is the most well-rounded scout in Green Bay’s personnel department. Demovsky adds that Gutekunst dazzled Packers’ brass in his recent interview with the club.
Green Bay elected to hire Gutekunst, who has a strong personnel background, as opposed to fellow internal candidate Russ Ball, who is more of a salary cap guru (despite the fact that Ball was seen as the frontrunner throughout much of this process). In addition to Ball, the team also interviewed director of football operations Eliot Wolf, who for years was seen as the heir apparent to longtime GM Ted Thompson. Thompson, of course, stepped down to a different role within the organization at the beginning of the month, thereby triggering the team’s search for a replacement. It will be interesting to see what will become of Wolf and Ball now.
The Packers also expressed interest in Vikings assistant GM George Paton — though Minnesota denied Green Bay’s request to interview Paton — Seahawks GM John Schneider, and Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta. But in Gutekunst, they get an executive who was been with the club for 19 years — he started his Packers tenure as a collegiate scout — and who appears ready for his chance to run a franchise. Indeed, he had an excellent interview with the 49ers last offseason and nearly became San Francisco’s GM.
As Ed Werder tweets, an internal hiring like this one may be good news for Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, whose long-term future with the team could be bolstered with Gutekunst’s promotion.
Gutekunst was scheduled to interview with the Texans for Houston’s GM job today. Per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter), Gutekunst did travel to Houston yesterday and had dinner with Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, but Green Bay never gave him the chance to interview with with the Texans.
The Texans, meanwhile, are likely to hire Bills VP of player personnel Brian Gaine as their next GM, according to multiple sources.
Texans Request Interview With Will McClay
The Texans are continuing to search for a new GM, and they have requested an interview with Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay, as Albert Breer of The MMQB tweets. Just two days ago, we learned that Houston was eyeing McClay and Eagles VP of player personnel Joe Douglas, though the Eagles have denied the Texans’ request to interview Douglas.
[RELATED: 2018 NFL General Manager Search Tracker]
It could be equally difficult to pry McClay from Dallas, as Breer notes. McClay is highly respected around the league, and he is among the Fritz Pollard Alliance’s recommended minority candidates for GM jobs this offseason.
Earlier today, it was reported that the Patriots denied the Texans’ request to interview Patriots executive Nick Caserio and Monti Ossenfort. However, it was also reported that, despite that denial, Houston could still interview Caserio and Ossenfort once the Patriots’ season ends, and since Dallas’ season is already over, the Cowboys may not be able to block the Texans’ request to meet with McClay. They could, though, give McClay a raise in order to keep him around.
Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News recently wrote that he does not expect McClay to depart for a GM position just yet, as he has a great deal of say with the Cowboys, enjoys working with other members of the team’s front office, and is determined to bring another Super Bowl to Dallas.
Patriots Deny Texans’ Request To Interview Nick Caserio, Monti Ossenfort
In their efforts to fill their GM vacancy, the Texans asked to interview top Patriots executives Nick Caserio (director of player personnel) and Monti Ossenfort (director of college scouting). However, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports, New England denied that request.
But, Schefter goes on to say that the Patriots’ refusal does not necessarily bring the matter to a close. The ESPN scribe writes that Caserio and Ossenfort still might be able to interview for the Texans job after the Patriots’ season ends, thanks to the league’s newly-relaxed rules that govern hiring executives from other clubs. In past years, teams could block their executives from interviewing elsewhere by saying that the individual had final say on the 53-man roster. Now, the league’s anti-tampering policy provides that final authority regarding the composition of the 53-man roster will not prevent someone from accepting a position with another team.
Interestingly, the Patriots did permit Caserio to interview with the 49ers for their GM job last offseason, and as Ben Volin of the Boston Globe observes (Twitter link), they allowed him to interview with the division-rival Dolphins two seasons ago, so their refusal represents a notable change in procedure. But given that New England is about to lose defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to head coaching positions with other teams, perhaps the Pats are simply trying to maintain some degree of continuity.
If Houston is willing to wait, they could still get a crack at Caserio and Ossenfort. In the meantime, the Texans are looking at Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst and Bills vice president of player personnel Brian Gaine.
Eagles Deny Texans Permission To Interview Joe Douglas
The Eagles denied the Texans permission to interview their VP of player personnel Joe Douglas, according to Albert Breer of The MMQB (on Twitter). As shown in PFR’s GM Search Tracker, Douglas was one of seven execs tied to the job.
[RELATED: PFR’S 2018 GM Search Tracker]
Unless Howie Roseman surprises everyone by retiring, there’s no plausible way that Douglas can ascend to the Eagles’ top job. However, the Eagles could keep Douglas happy with some combination of a pay bump, a shiny new title, and maybe a tacit promise to be the heir apparent to Roseman, whenever that day comes.
Douglas joined the Eagles in 2016 and he’s already impressed ownership with his acumen. This past year, Roseman granted Douglas additional control over the team’s draft board.
Bills exec Brian Gaine is said to be the favorite for the job in Houston. Packers exec Brian Gutekunst, an exceptionally qualified candidate, will interview with the team on Sunday.
Texans To Interview Packers’ Brian Gutekunst
Brian Gutekunst interviewed about the Packers’ sudden GM vacancy earlier this week, and he’ll make a trip outside of Green Bay to meet about another opening soon.
The Texans will interview Gutekunst on Sunday in Houston, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets.
Houston has already scheduled an interview with Bills exec Brian Gaine, who is viewed as the early favorite, but Gutekunst — currently the Packers’ player personnel director — has been a popular target over the past two offseasons. He was also mentioned as a Texans candidate once Rick Smith’s leave of absence opened this position to outsiders.
Gutekunst may also be fighting an uphill battle in Green Bay, with Russ Ball viewed by some as the favorite to succeed Ted Thompson. This occurring could certainly prompt Gutekunst to look elsewhere for a job, and the Texans are going to evaluate him this weekend.
The Packers exec interviewed with the 49ers and Bills last year for their GM openings. He withdrew from consideration for the San Francisco job.