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Longest-Tenured GMs In The NFL

May 20th, 2020 at 2:07pm CST by Zachary Links

When we ran down the longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL, we found that less than half of the league’s current coaches have been in their positions for more than three years. That’s not quite the case with general managers, but there have been plenty of changes in recent years.

A handful of general managers have gotten to take their coats off and stay for a long while. Among coaches, Bill Belichick had joined his team prior to 2003. Here, you’ll see that five GMs have been with their teams since before ’03 (Belichick, of course, is also on this list). Two of those five – Jerry Jones and Mike Brown – are outliers, since they’re team owners and serve as de facto GMs. But the Patriots, Steelers, and Saints, have all had the same general managers making their roster decisions for well over a decade.

Here’s the complete list of the NFL’s longest-tenured GMs, along with the date they took over the job:

  1. Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys): April 18, 1989[1]
  2. Mike Brown (Cincinnati Bengals): August 5, 1991[2]
  3. Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000[3]
  4. Kevin Colbert (Pittsburgh Steelers): February 18, 2000[4]
  5. Mickey Loomis (New Orleans Saints): May 14, 2002
  6. Rick Spielman (Minnesota Vikings): May 30, 2006[5]
  7. Thomas Dimitroff (Atlanta Falcons): January 13, 2008
  8. John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks): January 19, 2010[6]
  9. Howie Roseman (Philadelphia Eagles): January 29, 2010
  10. John Elway (Denver Broncos): January 5, 2011[7]
  11. Les Snead (St. Louis Rams): February 10, 2012
  12. David Caldwell (Jacksonville Jaguars): January 8, 2013
  13. Steve Keim (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2013
  14. Tom Telesco (San Diego Chargers): January 9, 2013
  15. Jason Licht (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 21, 2014
  16. Ryan Pace (Chicago Bears): January 8, 2015
  17. Chris Grier (Miami Dolphins): January 4, 2016
  18. Bob Quinn (Detroit Lions): January 8, 2016
  19. Jon Robinson (Tennessee Titans): January 14, 2016
  20. John Lynch (San Francisco 49ers): January 29, 2017
  21. Chris Ballard (Indianapolis Colts): January 30, 2017
  22. Brandon Beane (Buffalo Bills): May 9, 2017
  23. Brett Veach (Kansas City Chiefs): July 11, 2017
  24. Marty Hurney (Carolina Panthers): July 19, 2017
  25. Dave Gettleman (New York Giants): December 28, 2017
  26. Brian Gutekunst (Green Bay Packers): January 7, 2018
  27. Mike Mayock (Oakland Raiders): December 31, 2018
  28. Joe Douglas (New York Jets): June 7, 2019
  29. Eric DeCosta (Baltimore Ravens): January 7, 2019[8]
  30. Ron Rivera (Washington Redskins): January 1, 2020[9]
  31. Andrew Berry (Cleveland Browns): January 27, 2020
  32. Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 28, 2020

Footnotes:

  1. Jones has been the Cowboys’ de facto general manager since former GM Tex Schramm resigned in April 1989.
  2. Brown has been the Bengals’ de facto GM since taking over as the team’s owner in August 1991.
  3. Belichick has been the Patriots’ de facto GM since shortly after being hired as the team’s head coach in January 2000.
  4. Colbert was initially hired as the team’s director of football operations and received the newly-created general manager title in 2011.
  5. Spielman was initially hired as the team’s VP of player personnel and received the GM title in 2012.
  6. While Schneider holds the title of GM, head coach Pete Carroll has the final say on roster moves for the Seahawks.
  7. Elway was initially hired as the team’s executive VP of football operations and received the GM title in 2014.
  8. In 2018, the Ravens announced that DeCosta would replace Ozzie Newsome as GM for Ozzie Newsome after the conclusion of the season. The Ravens’ ’18 season ended with their Wild Card loss to the Chargers on 1/6/19.
  9. Technically, the Redskins do not have a GM, as of this writing. Rivera is, effectively, their GM, working in tandem with Vice President of Player Personnel Kyle Smith. Smith may receive the GM title in the near future.

Anthony Harris Signs Vikings’ Tender

May 17th, 2020 at 2:33pm CST by Zachary Links

Done deal. On Sunday, Vikings safety Anthony Harris announced that he will sign his franchise tender (Twitter link). 

“Although it has been a strange offseason, time spent in isolation with family has been refreshing and energizing. This is just one step in god’s plan for me and my family,” Harris wrote. “I will let my agents and the Vikings work towards long term certainty in Minnesota, but I am excited to be back for the 2020 season.”

Harris, 29 in June, tallied 60 tackles and eleven passes defended in 2019, plus six interceptions (tied for the NFL lead). Beyond that, the advanced metrics have positioned him as one of the league’s best safeties over the last two years. He’s now hoping to parlay that success into a major payday for the remainder of his prime seasons.

The franchise tag for safeties this year pays $11.4MM. That’s not chump change, but there are now five safeties in the league making upwards of $14MM per season. Naturally, that’s what Harris and his reps are eyeing in a new contract.

The Vikings have been keen on keeping their brightest stars. They’ve also overhauled their secondary this offseason, moving on from cornerbacks Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, and Mackensie Alexander, plus safeties Jayron Kearse and Andrew Sendejo. Still, the Vikings have rejected trade inquiries on Harris, kept him with the tag, and backed him publicly.

“I know we have some big changes in the secondary,” Spielman said earlier this year. “One of the things — not only is Anthony Harris a great football player for us, and great in the community — but by us being able to franchise Anthony, we do have the safeties pretty well set, knowing that we’re going to have a lot of young corners we’re going to have to line up and play with.”

Per the terms of the franchise tag, the two sides have until the July deadline to hammer out an extension. If no deal is reached by then, they’ll have to wait until after the 2020 season to resume talks.

Longest-Tenured Head Coaches In The NFL

May 16th, 2020 at 1:55pm CST by Zachary Links

Things move fast in today’s NFL and the old adage of “coaches are hired to be fired” has seemingly never been more true. For the most part, teams change their coaches like they change their underwear. 

A head coach can take his team to the Super Bowl, or win the Super Bowl, or win multiple Super Bowls, but they’re never immune to scrutiny. Just ask Tom Coughlin, who captured his second ring with the Giants after the 2011 season, only to receive his pink slip after the 2015 campaign.

There are also exceptions. Just look at Bill Belichick, who just wrapped up his 20th season at the helm in New England. You’ll also see a few others on this list, but, for the most part, most of today’s NFL head coaches are relatively new to their respective clubs. And, history dictates that many of them will be elsewhere when we check in on this list in 2022.

Over one-third (12) of the NFL’s head coaches have coached no more than one season with their respective teams. Meanwhile, less than half (15) have been with their current clubs for more than three years. It seems like just yesterday that the Cardinals hired Kliff Kingsbury, right? It sort of was – Kingsbury signed on with the Cardinals in January of 2019. Today, he’s practically a veteran.

Here’s the list of the current head coaches in the NFL, ordered by tenure, along with their respective start dates:

  1. Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000
  2. Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints): January 18, 2006
  3. Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers): January 27, 2007
  4. John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens): January 19, 2008
  5. Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks): January 9, 2010
  6. Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs): January 4, 2013
  7. Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 2, 2014
  8. Mike Zimmer (Minnesota Vikings): January 15, 2014
  9. Dan Quinn (Atlanta Falcons): February 2, 2015
  10. Doug Pederson (Philadelphia Eagles): January 18, 2016
  11. Sean McDermott (Buffalo Bills): January 11, 2017
  12. Doug Marrone (Jacksonville Jaguars): December 19, 2016 (interim; permanent since 2017)
  13. Anthony Lynn (Los Angeles Chargers): January 12, 2017
  14. Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams): January 12, 2017
  15. Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers): February 6, 2017
  16. Matt Nagy (Chicago Bears): January 7, 2018
  17. Matt Patricia (Detroit Lions): February 5, 2018
  18. Frank Reich (Indianapolis Colts): February 11, 2018
  19. Jon Gruden (Las Vegas Raiders): January 6, 2018
  20. Mike Vrabel (Tennessee Titans): January 20, 2018
  21. Kliff Kingsbury (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2019
  22. Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals): February 4, 2019
  23. Vic Fangio (Denver Broncos): January 10, 2019
  24. Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers): January 8, 2019
  25. Brian Flores (Miami Dolphins): February 4, 2019
  26. Adam Gase (New York Jets): January 11, 2019
  27. Bruce Arians (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 8, 2019
  28. Ron Rivera (Washington Redskins): January 1, 2020
  29. Matt Rhule (Carolina Panthers): January 7, 2020
  30. Mike McCarthy (Dallas Cowboys): January 7, 2020
  31. Joe Judge (New York Giants): January 8, 2020
  32. Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland Browns): January 13, 2020

North Notes: Griffen, Robinson, Bengals

May 6th, 2020 at 11:16am CST by Rory Parks

Everson Griffen is one of the top two pass rushers still on the market, and we heard last month that he would probably not re-sign with the Vikings. However, Minnesota did not do much to add to its pass rushing corps in the draft, with South Carolina DE D.J. Wonnum representing the most notable addition. And while GM Rick Spielman acknowledged that his team’s cap space makes it difficult to bring Griffen back, he did not rule it out.

“It is hard to say right now where everything is at and where we are at, [but] until things become more normalized I will never say never on a player,” Spielman recently said on the #PFTPM podcast (via PFT’s Mike Florio). “[Y]our roster is never set.”

Griffen has expressed an interest in joining the Seahawks, but Seattle is still open to bringing back Jadeveon Clowney. If Clowney returns to the ‘Hawks, perhaps Griffen will settle for a one-year deal on a Minnesota defense that he will not have to learn on the fly.

Now for more from the league’s north divisions:

  • Of the three OTs the Vikings added in this year’s draft, only second-rounder Ezra Cleveland profiles as an immediate threat to incumbent LT Riley Reiff. The team could again entertain the notion of kicking Reiff inside to LG, but that’s only if Cleveland proves himself ready for starting left tackle duties, which would be a tall order given the COVID-19 restrictions. So as Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune suggests, Reiff will likely stay at LT for the time being, and 2019 fourth-rounder Dru Samia will compete with Pat Elflein for the starting LG slot. The team could also target a free agent for that role, including Josh Kline, whom the Vikings released in a cost-cutting move in March.
  • Bears WR Allen Robinson said towards the end of last season that he is interested in an extension with Chicago, but the two sides do not appear to be close to a new deal, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Robinson is ticketed for free agency after the 2020 campaign, and Biggs suggests that the franchise tag could be in play if there is no extension in place by the second month of the season.
  • Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic says both A.J. Green and the Bengals have interest in getting a long-term deal done, but it’s unclear exactly how much interest. He expects that nothing will come together prior to the July 15 deadline, which means Green will have to play out the 2020 season on his franchise tender. While there’s a better chance Cincinnati comes to terms with RB Joe Mixon on a new contract, that will not happen before a decision on Green is made. The Bengals are reportedly bracing themselves for a Mixon holdout.
  • In the same piece linked above, Dehner says the Bengals are unlikely to make any free agent additions to the O-line at this point. In a separate piece, he notes that Cincinnati made a free agent splash on cornerbacks in free agency because it did not like this year’s CB draft class. The team did not take a defensive back with any of its seven selections.

Trent Williams Willing To Wait On New Deal

April 30th, 2020 at 2:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

The 49ers are now the team dealing with Trent Williams‘ hopes for a new contract. But their new left tackle said he is willing to be patient.

In addressing his contract Thursday, Williams did not indicate this is an issue the 49ers must address now. The soon-to-be 32-year-old lineman has one season — with a non-guaranteed $12.5MM base salary — remaining on a five-year deal he agreed to in 2015.

“We both agreed on we can take a wait-and-see approach,” Williams said, via the San Jose Mercury News’ Cam Inman (on Twitter). “… Obviously it’s an incentive for me to play well. Both parties are interested in something long term but I’m more than OK with just getting my feet wet and just playing it out.”

Shortly after Joe Staley‘s retirement, the 49ers traded a 2020 fifth-round pick and a 2021 third-rounder for Williams. This ended a lengthy standoff with the Redskins. The Vikings had also pursued Williams, who was believed to have scuttled a trade to Minnesota. Williams’ agent denied this, and Williams said the Vikings did not land him because they dropped out of the chase. The soon-to-be 32-year-old tackle added that his and the Vikings’ visions did not line up. The Vikings drafted Ezra Cleveland in Round 2.

“The Vikings, long term, and what I looked at long term, it didn’t sync up,” Williams said, via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. “They just really dropped out. It wasn’t me refusing to go.”

The seven-time Pro Bowler worked with Kyle Shanahan during the latter’s stay as Washington’s offensive coordinator. The familiarity with Shanahan and his offensive system led Williams to view San Francisco as a preferred destination, he added.

Vikings Sign 12 UDFAs

April 27th, 2020 at 11:46am CST by Zachary Links

On Monday, the Vikings formally signed a dozen undrafted free agents:

The Vikings gave Davis a $100K guarantee (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle), a sizable sum for UDFAs. Davis is coming off of solid back-to-back seasons with the Aggies and many expect him to hear his name called on Day 3. In 2019, he caught 54 passes for 616 yards and four touchdowns. Davis and Chisena will fight for a place on the WR depth chart, which also includes first-round pick Justin Jefferson and fifth-round choice K.J. Osborn.

Clarke, meanwhile, fetched a total guarantee of $115K (Twitter link via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press) and Aiello has $45K locked in (Twitter link via Wilson).

Dalvin Cook To Join Vikings’ Virtual OTAs

April 27th, 2020 at 8:49am CST by Zachary Links

Vikings running back Dalvin Cook will be on hand (or, rather, online) for the Vikings’ virtual offseason program, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Cook has been pushing for a new deal as he enters his walk year, but that won’t stop him from participating in the club’s voluntary OTAs. 

[RELATED: Vikings Tried, Failed To Land Trent Williams] 

This could be a sign that things are trending in the right direction between the Vikes and their starting running back. Or, it could just mean that things are, generally, in a good place between the player and the club. Typically, players seeking new contracts are skittish about offseason activities because of the injury risk involved. Obviously, there’s no risk of injury when the OTAs consist of Zoom meetings.

So far, Cook and the Vikings have been on the same page.

“I definitely love Minnesota,” the 24-year-old (25 in August) said recently. “I love everything the state has to bring. Being a kid, I was drafted (in 2017) from Miami (his hometown), so I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I actually am happy where I’m at, and I would like to be in Minnesota long term.” 

Last year, Cook ran for 1,135 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. He also added another 519 yards through the air, giving him more than 1,600 all-purpose yards on the year. Meanwhile, he’s slated to earn a base salary of just $1.33MM in 2020.

The Florida State product fell to the second round in 2017, which means that the Vikings do not have the luxury of the fifth-year option. There’s a sense of urgency on both sides here – Cook wants security and the Vikings, ideally, would like to keep Cook under control at a reasonable rate.

More On Vikings’ Failed Pursuit Of Trent Williams

April 25th, 2020 at 10:37am CST by Ben Levine

Another hour, another Trent Williams story. This time, the offensive lineman’s agent says the player never objected to a trade to the Vikings.

“On behalf of my client Trent Williams and with the permission of the Washington Redskins I sought trade opportunities for the Redskins to trade Trent,” wrote agent Vincent Taylor (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Twitter). “Once I identified the potential trade partners, I wanted to respect all teams’ rights and the process and allowed the Redskins to negotiate directly with the other teams. There has been false reporting that Trent and I objected to particular trades. I will continue to respect the Redskins’ right to negotiate a trade, and hope that the negotiations quickly lead to a trade that is in the Redskins’ interest, Trent’s interest, and the interest of the other team.”

We learned earlier today that the Redskins had been closing in on a deal with the Vikings. However, at the eleventh hour, Williams reportedly nixed the deal.

While Williams’ agent said there’s been “false reporting,” NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport said the agent’s “statement is actually false…what I reported is true.”

In fact, Rapoport provides more insight into the failed talks between Washington and Minnesota, noting that the organizations has been talking trade for some time. In fact, the Vikings had actually discussed a new contract with Williams’ agent, and the trade “should have gotten done.” Instead, the Minnesota front office found out yesterday that the offensive lineman didn’t want to join their team.

While the Vikings are out of the race (especially after taking Ezra Cleveland in the second round), it sounds like the Redskins still have some suitors. Earlier today, we heard that the 49ers and Rams could emerge as trade partners.

Trent Williams Nixed Redskins/Vikings Trade

April 25th, 2020 at 8:45am CST by Ben Levine

It sounds like the Trent Williams saga almost came to an end last night, but the offensive lineman ended up squashing the trade. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the Redskins and Vikings were close to a deal, but Williams made it clear that he didn’t want to play for Minnesota.

“At some point over the course of today, Williams made it known he would rather not go to the Minnesota Vikings,” Rapoport said (via ProFootballTalk.com’s Charean Williams). “Essentially, that ended the trade right there.”

Any hope for reconciliation was quieted towards the end of the second round. The Vikings ended up satisfying their need for a lineman by taking Boise State offensive tackle Ezra Cleveland with the No. 58 pick.

Williams denied the rumors on Saturday:

“No, that’s not true,” Williams told ESPN’s John Keim and Courtney Cronin.

Just because the Washington/Minnesota trade didn’t happen, it doesn’t necessarily mean Williams won’t be dealt. Keim reports that several teams remain interested in the lineman, including the 49ers. However, San Francisco’s interest is tied to the status of Joe Staley, who’s flirting with retirement. Keim notes that the Rams could also be a team to watch, as head coach Sean McVay previously worked with Williams in Washington.

We’ve also heard this week that a number of teams haven’t pursued the offensive lineman, including the Eagles and Buccaneers.

Williams, 31, has one year and a $12.5MM base salary remaining on his current contract. While some reports have indicated he wants to become the NFL’s highest-paid tackle with a new deal that averages something near $20MM annually, Williams’ agent has denied those claims.

Vikings Trade No. 105 To Saints

April 25th, 2020 at 8:28am CST by Ben Levine

Another late-night trade to pass along. ESPN’s Field Yates reported (via Twitter) that the Vikings and Saints made the following swap:

Saints acquire:

  • No. 105

Vikings acquire

  • No. 130
  • No. 169
  • No. 203
  • No. 244

New Orleans used the third round’s penultimate pick on Dayton tight end Adam Trautman.

Barring a trade, that could be the Saints’ final pick of the weekend; after drafting three players through the first three rounds, New Orleans is now tapped out of picks. As NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets, this could be the first time the Saints come away with three or fewer draft picks since 1999, when they traded that infamous haul for Ricky Williams.

On the flip side, after making four selections through the first three rounds, the Vikings still have 13 picks remaining. The team could certainly make a handful of trades, but Pelissero tweets that Minny is approaching history. The most picks by a team in the seven-round draft era is 14 by the 1997 Jets and 2016 Browns. The 1968 Bengals selected 17 players in the first seven rounds of the 17-round draft.

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