Frontrunner Emerges For Texans GM Job
A favorite has emerged in the Texans’ GM search. Bills executive Brian Gaine is the favorite for the role, according to Peter Schrager of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
As shown on PFR’s 2018 NFL General Manager Search Tracker, Gaine appears to be up against Nick Caserio and Monti Ossenfort of the Patriots, Brian Gutekunst of the Packers, Eagles VP of player personnel Joe Douglas, Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay, and internal candidate Jimmy Raye III.
Gaine was hired away from Houston last year when he was tabbed to be the Bills’ vice president of player personnel. Gaine spent three years with the Texans and it sounds like he could be poised to return as the head honcho.
Texans Eyeing Douglas, McClay For GM Job
The Texans are showing interest in Eagles VP of player personnel Joe Douglas and Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay for their GM vacancy, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). They join Bills vice president of player personnel Brian Gaine, Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst, and Patriots director of college scouting Monti Ossenfort as candidates tied to the opening. 
[RELATED: 2018 NFL General Manager Search Tracker]
Douglas was not included in the league’s annual list of prospective GM candidates, but he has wielded considerable influence over the Eagles in his year-and-a-half with the team. This past year, top exec Howie Roseman gave Douglas more control over the draft board that he has to previous lieutenants. Owner Jeffrey Lurie also recognizes the role that Douglas has had in the team’s success.
“The hiring of Joe Douglas, I thought, was the pivotal moment of the last year,” said Lurie.
Several teams have failed to lure McClay away from the Cowboys, but this could be the year that he finally leaves the nest. He is among the Fritz Pollard Alliance’s recommended minority candidates for GM jobs this offseason.
The Texans’ next GM will reportedly have roster control over head coach Bill O’Brien. But, in an interesting twist, O’Brien will be a part of the four-man team in charge of the hiring process along with McNair, team president Jamey Rootes, and vice chairman/CEO Cal McNair.
The GM job opened up this week when Rick Smith announced that he will be taking a leave of absence to care for his wife as she battles breast cancer. Both parties left the door open to Smith returning to his role as GM at some point, but that seems unlikely if a permanent hire is made. At minimum, the plan is for Smith to remain with the organization and carry the title of Executive Vice President.
Texans vice president of football operations/assistant general manager Jimmy Raye III may also be in the mix for the job, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
2018 NFL General Manager Search Tracker
Two clubs — the Packers and Texans — are now looking for new general managers. We’ll keep track of all developments related to those two vacancies in this post. It can be found on the right-hand sidebar under “PFR Features.”
[RELATED: 2018 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker]
Listed below are the GM candidates that have been linked to Green Bay and Houston, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make general manager changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here’s the current breakdown:
Updated 2-25-18 (3:37pm CT)
Carolina Panthers
- Marty Hurney, interim general manager (Panthers): Hired
- Ryan Cowden, director of player personnel (Titans): Mentioned as candidate
- Lake Dawson, assistant director of college scouting (Bills): Interviewed on 2/2; received second interview
- Martin Mayhew, senior personnel executive (49ers): Interviewed on 2/2
- Jimmy Raye III, vice president of player personnel (Texans): Interviewed on 2/1
Green Bay Packers
- Brian Gutekunst, director of player personnel (Packers): Hired
- Russ Ball, vice president of football administration/player finance (Packers): Interviewed
- Eric DeCosta, assistant general manager (Ravens): Declined to interview
- Reggie McKenzie, general manager (Raiders): Declined to interview
- George Paton, assistant general manager (Vikings): Interview permission denied
- John Schneider, general manager (Seahawks): Interview permission denied
- Eliot Wolf, director of football operations (Packers): Interviewed on 1/4
- Doug Whaley, former general manager (Bills): Interviewed
Houston Texans
- Brian Gaine, vice president of player personnel (Bills): Hired
- Nick Caserio, director of player personnel (Patriots): Interview permission denied
- Joe Douglas, VP of player personnel (Eagles): Interview permission denied
- Brian Gutekunst, director of player personnel (Packers): Requested interview
- Will McClay, VP of player personnel (Cowboys): Declined to interview
- Monti Ossenfort, director of college scouting (Patriots): Interview permission denied
- Jimmy Raye III, vice president of football operations/assistant general manager (Texans): Interviewed on 1/8
Texans GM To Control Team Personnel, HC Bill O’Brien To Be On Search Committee
There’s new developments regarding the Texans quest to find a new general manager. The team’s owner, Bob McNair, told reporters today that the person they eventually hire will have control of personnel over current head coach Bill O’Brien, relays John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). However, McClain does note that O’Brien, along with team president Jamey Rootes, will be with McNair and Cal McNair as the four-man the team conducting the search.
“The GM is going to have full authority over personnel, and he’ll report to Cal and me,” said the Texans owner. “That’s our message to potential GMs, We know what we want. We’ll pick somebody that Cal and I like, coach O’Brien likes and Jamey likes. We pretty much agree on what we’re looking for.” (via McClain on Twitter)
While the job should be sought after by many people across the league, McNair also stated that he doesn’t want the general manager to reshape front office, although he did say that he could allow for some potential new hires given who they ultimately agree to bring into the organization.
“He may have 1 or 2 key people he’s worked with, and he might want to bring them in,” said McNair. “That’s reasonable. It’s also reasonable to ask that person to work with the people we have this year and Cal what he thinks. We’re not going to have somebody come in and clean house.” (via McClain)
This is an interesting process for the Texans ownership group because executive vice president Rick Smith‘s situation is really up-in-the-air given that he will be home with his wife who is battling cancer. McNair does seem intent on waiting a year to feel out what Smith’s situation may look like in 2019.
“We don’t know what Rick might do,” said the owner. “That’s something we’ll discuss a year from now. The only concern is to take care of his family, and we’re not going beyond that.” (via McClain)
There’s already been some GM candidates speculated, including: Nick Caserio (Patriots), Brian Gaine (Bills) and Brian Gutekunst (Packers). Although, there should be more names that will arise in the next week or two. It’s expected to be a quick process and we now know that the new hire will have primary control on the roster entering the 2018 season.
Texans Part Ways With Four Assistants
- The Texans have fired special teams coordinator Larry Izzo, assistant special teams coordinator Doug Colman, and secondary coach John Butler, while running backs coach Charles London is leaving the club of his own volition, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes. Izzo’s departure shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially since Houston’s special teams have ranked in the bottom-seven of DVOA in each of Izzo’s two seasons in charge.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/2/18
Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2018 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:
Arizona Cardinals
- WR Carlton Agudosi
- DT Peli Anau
- CB Jarell Carter
- OLB Vontarrius Dora
- CB Jonathan Moxey
- WR Rashad Ross
- DT Pasoni Tasini
- RB Darius Victor
- OL Josh Allen
- LS Drew Williams
Baltimore Ravens
Chicago Bears
- OL Travis Averill
- WR Demarcus Ayers
- DB Doran Grant
- WR Mekale McKay
- OL Will Pericak
- TE Colin Thompson
Cincinnati Bengals
Dallas Cowboys
- WR Brian Brown
- WR K.D. Cannon
- T Jarron James
- S Jameill Showers
- DT Joe Vellano
- CB Marquez White
- RB Trey Williams
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
- WR Jake Kumerow
- WR Colby Pearson
- TE Robert Tonyan
- LS Zach Triner
- WR DeAngelo Yancey
Lions To Interview Mike Vrabel, Pat Shurmur This Week
The Lions will interview Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel for their head coaching vacancy on Wednesday, according to Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link), while Detroit’s meeting with Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur will take place on Thursday, per Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
In his first year as Houston’s defensive play-caller, Vrabel — who took over for veteran coach Romeo Crennel — lead the Texans to a No. 23 ranking in DVOA. While that’s not an overly impressive finish, Houston was dealing with the loss of defensive stalwarts such as J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus, so Vrabel was forced to work with limited options. He’s also drawn interest from the Colts, who have requested to interview the 42-year-old coach.
Detroit put in a request earlier this week to interview Shurmur, and that proposal has evidently been granted by the division-rival Vikings. Because Minnesota has a first-round playoff bye, Shurmur is allowed to interview this week. Injuries to Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater, and Dalvin Cook meant Shurmur lead an offense built around Case Keenum, Latavius Murray, and Jerick McKinnon, but the Vikings still managed to finish fifth in offensive DVOA.
Vrabel and Shurmur aren’t the only candidates the Lions are interested in, as general manager Bob Quinn & Co. has interviewed incumbent defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, incumbent offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, and Packers assistant head coach Winston Moss today. Detroit has also requested permission to interview Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia.
Latest On Texans’ GM Search
The Texans’ GM search is just getting underway, but we’re already getting an idea of the names that could be in play for the job. External candidates expected to receive interest include Nick Caserio and Monti Ossenfort of the Patriots, Brian Gaine of the Bills, and Brian Gutekunst of the Packers (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). 
[RELATED: Browns Ask To Talk With Texans’ Sean Ryan]
Caserio is among this year’s top candidates for a GM position. While he rejected overtures from other teams before, a prime opportunity like the one in Houston could be the one to get him to leave New England. Some have speculated that he could wind up as a package deal with Josh McDaniels as head coach, but it sounds like Bill O’Brien will be retained by the Texans.
The Texans are on the hunt for a new GM after Rick Smith announced he would be taking a leave of absence to care for his wife, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. When Smith does return to the team, he’ll retain his Executive Vice President title, but he indicated that he will not be in charge of football decisions.
“In whatever role that is, I am going to maintain Executive Vice President title. If we hire a GM and have a guy to run the personnel, then we’ll do that,” Smith said. “So, again, it’s a fluid process, but I am absolutely intend on coming back, I will maintain that at least the Executive Vice President title and if Mr. McNair feels like he wants to hire a general manager, then he will hire a general manager and that will be just fine.“
Browns Ask To Talk With Texans’ Sean Ryan
The Browns have requested permission to speak with Texans quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan for their vacant offensive coordinator job, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Ryan has worked closely with Deshaun Watson and the Browns are looking for someone who can mold a young quarterback in the same fashion.
The Texans still have to formally grant permission to Cleveland, but Houston head coach Bill O’Brien already indicated that he will not stand in the way of Ryan interviewing (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle). Ryan offers a great deal of NFL experience, having been with the Giants for nine years before joining the Texans in 2016. He served as the receivers coach in Houston in his first year before taking on the QB coach job last year. After Watson’s tremendous (yet injury-shortened) season, Ryan could now climb the coaching ladder with an OC opportunity elsewhere.
For the last two years, Browns head coach Hue Jackson has effectively been the team’s offensive coordinator. With just one win since the start of 2016, the team is looking to jumpstart its stagnant offense.
Texans GM Taking Leave Of Absence
Following Houston’s 22-13 loss vs. the Colts, Texans general manager and executive vice president Rick Smith announced he was taking an extended leave of absence to care for his wife, Tiffany, who was diagnosed with breast cancer, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Sarah Barshop reported. 
In a statement, Smith said, “I am eternally grateful to the McNair family for their unwavering support during this trying time. This was an extremely difficult decision for me to make as I love this organization and every member of this team both on and off the field. I remain committed to our quest to bring a championship to the city of Houston, yet my family needs me now and they are my priority.”
Smith has served as Houston’s general manager since 2006, when owner Bob McNair hired him as the youngest GM in the league at the age of 36. During his tenure with the team, Smith has constructed a team that claimed four AFC South division titles in a six-year span (2011-16). In his second season on the job, Smith helped the Texans to their first non-losing season in franchise history. He has only finished below .500 four times in 12 seasons.