HEADLINES

Adam Peters

Chargers Request Seven GM Interviews

January 9th, 2024 at 8:09pm CST by Sam Robinson

8:09pm: The Chargers also put in a request to interview another Bears exec. Co-director of player personnel Jeff King will meet with the Bolts, ESPN.com’s Lindsey Thiry tweets.

The former Panthers and Cardinals tight end has been with the Bears since 2015, being with the team throughout the Ryan Pace regime. Poles moved King, 40, to his current post in 2022. This will be King’s first GM interview; he met with the Panthers about their assistant GM job in 2021.

5:58pm: Add Ian Cunningham to this list. The Bears’ assistant GM also received an interview request from the Chargers, Rapoport tweets. Cunningham joined Brown as an Eagles staffer who became an assistant GM in 2022, becoming Ryan Poles‘ right-hand man. Set to to have an important say in Chicago’s decision on Justin Fields, Cunningham also turned down the Arizona GM job last year.

2:43pm: The Chargers will make a belated push out of the starting blocks on their general manager search. Seeking to fill the role Tom Telesco held for 11 years, the AFC West team has sent out five GM interview requests thus far.

Former Dolphins GM-turned-Saints assistant GM Jeff Ireland is among them, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Also included here is Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay, according to the Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins. 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters, Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown and Bills VP of player personnel Terrance Gray also received Bolts interview requests, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer and NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero.

This marks Ireland’s first entrance onto this year’s GM carousel. An Ireland-Sean Payton reunion has been rumored, but after rumblings of embattled Broncos GM George Paton being on the chopping block, it is looking like the Payton-Paton setup will remain in place. This would hinder an Ireland Denver move. Ireland worked with Payton for seven years in New Orleans, helping revive the franchise after a mid-2010s lull.

Given considerable credit for a Saints impact 2017 draft class that included Marshon Lattimore, Alvin Kamara, Ryan Ramczyk and Trey Hendrickson, Ireland has been the Saints’ college scouting director since his arrival in 2015. Ireland, 53, is still better known for his Dolphins years. He spent six years as Miami’s GM, but after the team (during Matt Cassel‘s QB1 year in New England) won the 2008 AFC East title, no more playoff appearances commenced. Still, Ireland brings more experience to the table than most on this year’s GM market. He has also interviewed for a few jobs — the Panthers, Lions and Bears — from 2021-22.

Although Jerry and Stephen Jones still make the final calls, McClay has been indispensable for the Cowboys over the past several years. Dallas has continually hit on first-round picks, with fourth-rounder Dak Prescott quickly becoming the franchise’s centerpiece player. McClay, 57, has been with the Cowboys since 2003 and has not been a regular during GM hiring periods. His most recent connection to a GM job came when he turned down a Texans interview request in 2018; it will be interesting to see if McClay agrees to the Chargers meeting.

Peters has received requests from the Commanders and Raiders. It would not be surprising to see every team request a meeting with the 49ers’ assistant GM, given the success the team has achieved during the Kyle Shanahan–John Lynch years. Gray is on the Raiders’ list as well, with Brown — following his second year as the Giants’ assistant GM — on the Panthers’ radar.

Raiders Request GM Interviews With Ed Dodds, Adam Peters

January 8th, 2024 at 1:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ed Dodds is believed to have impressed the Raiders during his 2022 interview for their general manager post. Two years later, the Colts executive could have another chance.

The Raiders requested another meeting with Dodds, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Additionally, Las Vegas wants to meet with San Francisco assistant GM Adam Peters, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter.

Given his role in the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan-era run, Peters has been expected to be a hot commodity for a bit. Dodds’ inclusion here, however, is interesting. Mark Davis was impressed with Dodds during his previous meeting with the Colts’ assistant GM, but he went with a Patriot Way duo. After bailing on the Dave Ziegler–Josh McDaniels pairing midway through its second season in charge, Davis is reassessing once again.

These interview requests come as the league has learned of the team’s interest in Jim Harbaugh. Considering Harbaugh’s past and polarizing reputation among front offices, the Raiders could be set for a complicated search. Michigan’s natural interest in retaining the top-tier college HC will undoubtedly lead to the former 49ers leader setting both a high salary price and seeking to have a significant say in personnel matters. Both the Raiders and Chargers have shown steady interest in Harbaugh, who is believed to be intrigued by both jobs.

Dodds has been on Chris Ballard‘s Colts staff for the past seven years. While the Colts struggled for a while to pick up the pieces post-Andrew Luck, they built what has been regarded at points as a high-end talent stable around their evolving cast of QBs. Dodds has been a central figure in Indianapolis and has been part of GM interview cycles previously. In addition to the Raiders’ 2022 interest, Dodds turned down a Bears interview request that year. He interviewed with the Steelers in 2022 and Panthers in 2021.

Like Dodds, Peters has been with his current team since 2017. The 49ers brought him over after an eight-year stay in Denver. Peters also turned down the chance to interview for the Cardinals and Titans’ GM jobs last year. He has been mentioned as a John Lynch heir apparent in San Francisco, but after Lynch turned down Amazon in 2022, it is not known if the Hall of Fame safety-turned-exec is eyeing an exit anytime soon. Peters, whom the 49ers elevated to assistant GM in 2021, collected a Super Bowl ring for his Broncos work. In Denver throughout Peyton Manning‘s stay, Peters did join the Broncos during McDaniels’ short stint. That is certainly relevant due to the Raiders showing interest, but Peters has proven successful for a long time since the Broncos fired McDaniels.

Peters is also set to interview with the Commanders, who present an interesting opportunity due to the team’s league-leading cap-space figure and new ownership being in place. Both the Raiders and Commanders have been connected to being interested in hiring a football ops president-level staffer, which would seemingly reduce the GM’s power. That will be something to monitor, as Davis confirmed recently he is interested in such a position. Interim GM Champ Kelly is also on the radar to stay, so it would be quite surprising if the two-year Raiders staffer did not receive an interview. Kelly, however, is also expected to draw outside interest.

Commanders Send Out Five GM Interview Requests

January 8th, 2024 at 1:25pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Commanders have not yet dismissed Martin Mayhew from his GM post, but that has been expected. Owner Josh Harris will take the unusual step of sending out GM interview requests despite the incumbent still residing on staff.

Not long after firing Ron Rivera, Washington’s new ownership sent out five GM interview requests Monday. The team will attempt to meet with Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham and Browns assistant GM Glenn Cook, according to the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala. 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters also received a request, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports, adding Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borgonzi also garnered one. Eagles assistant GM Alec Halaby did as well, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero.

Many staffers listed have been connected to GM vacancies in the past, and have had their names floated as ones to watch in the 2024 hiring cycle. As such, it comes as no surprise that the Commanders will involve them in their transition to a new organizational structure. Former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers as well as former Vikings GM Rick Spielman are in place as advisors for the search process concerning Washington’s’ next head coach and president of football operations.

Cunningham has been a top GM candidate in recent years. He joined the Eagles’ staff after a lengthy tenure with the Ravens before taking his current Bears posting under Ryan Poles last offseason. Cunningham spoke with the Titans about their vacancy in 2023, and he turned down the Cardinals position. He will no doubt be a leading candidate for teams in need of a new GM this year as well.

Like Cunningham, Peters is considered a name to watch. The 2023 campaign marks his third in his current role with San Francisco, as he spent the previous four seasons as the 49ers’ vice president of player personnel. That came after a lengthy stint with the Broncos, making him an experienced option on the GM market. A personal connection could also be in play with respect to the Commanders’ vacancy.

Peters and Myers have a long history with one another, as noted by Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. That could explain (to an extent) the latter’s inclusion on Harris’ hand-picked search committee to replace Rivera and, eventually, Mayhew. Likely to be significantly in demand this offseason, Peters will be able to afford to be choosey when electing to remain in the Bay Area or depart for a GM opening. He will interview with Washington this week, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.

The Commanders could be an attractive vacancy given Harris’ presence as owner, the team’s signficant cap space heading into free agency and the No. 2 selection in this year’s draft. A rebuild will be required, and the lack of a head coach certainly leaves the franchise with a degree of uncertainty, though. When speaking to the media on Monday, Harris said he intends to have a new head of football operations in place before a HC. The timeline along which a GM will be brought in will be worth watching closely.

Sam Robinson contributed to this post.

Exec Rumors: Caserio, Peters, Aponte

January 7th, 2024 at 12:45pm CST by Rory Parks

With Bill Belichick perhaps coaching his last game for the Patriots today, the club could have head coach and general manager vacancies in relatively short order (Belichick, of course, has operated as New England’s de facto GM throughout his tenure). Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post hears that Texans GM Nick Caserio, whose 20-year stint in the Pats’ personnel department earned him the Houston gig, would be open to a return to Foxborough, but Dianna Russini of The Athletic (subscription required) says Caserio does not want to leave the Texans.

Russini points out that Caserio, who squeezed an excellent return from the Browns in the 2022 Deshaun Watson trade and who appears to have hit a home run in drafting quarterback C.J. Stroud and hiring head coach DeMeco Ryans last year, has laid the groundwork for sustained success in Houston and wants to see it through. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine Caserio leaving a young and talented HC-QB pairing for the uncertainty that would await him in New England.

Here are a few more rumors relating to league executives:

  • 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters is once again expected to be a hot name in the upcoming hiring cycle, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com writes in a subscribers-only piece. Peters turned down GM interview requests from the Cardinals and Titans last year, and it has been rumored for some time that he is the heir apparent to current San Francisco GM John Lynch. Per Fowler, it remains possible that the Niners will simply promote Peters to general manager now that Lynch has been given the additional title of president of football operations.
  • Like Peters, Falcons assistant GM Kyle Smith has been viewed as a future general manager, and as Albert Breer of SI.com notes, Atlanta GM Terry Fontenot promoted Smith to his current role this year partly to dissuade rival clubs from trying to poach him (a team can block an assistant GM from interviewing for anything other than a GM job). While the Falcons have yet to find a long-term answer at quarterback since Fontenot and Smith joined the team, they have injected a great deal of talent into the rest of the roster, and Smith appears poised to generate serious GM interest.
  • We recently heard that the Commanders may wish to add a president of football operations to oversee both their head coach and general manager, and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post reports that Dawn Aponte‘s name has come up in connection with that role. Aponte, who presently works as the league’s chief administrator of football operations, was mentioned as a potential candidate for the Giants’ GM job in 2022, though she was not interviewed for that post. Aponte has, however, served in high-ranking executive positions for the Jets, Browns, and Dolphins.
  • In another subscribers-only piece, Fowler and Dan Graziano of ESPN.com compiled a list of other top candidates for GM jobs, a list that includes Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham, Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz, and Browns assistant GM Catherine Raiche. Cunningham was offered the Cardinals’ GM job last year but turned it down, while Hortiz and Raiche have both taken GM interviews in recent years.

2023 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

January 17th, 2023 at 4:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

So far this offseason, only two NFL presented general manager vacancies. The Cardinals and Titans have now each made their choices. If other teams decide to make GM changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here is the current breakdown:

Updated 1-17-23 (4:27pm CT)

Arizona Cardinals

Tennessee Titans

Adam Peters Declines Titans, Cardinals GM Interviews

January 11th, 2023 at 6:07pm CST by Ben Levine

It sounds like Adam Peters will be staying in San Francisco. The 49ers assistant general manager has declined GM interviews with the Titans and Cardinals, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). While Peters “has great respect for those organizations, his focus is on supporting the 49ers during their playoff run,” per Rapoport.

Peters spent eight years in Denver before joining San Francisco in 2017. After starting as vice president of player personnel, the Bay Area native was promoted to assistant GM in 2021, with the 49ers collecting 23 regular season wins during his two years in the role. According to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter), Peters has widely been viewed as the successor to general manager John Lynch.

Still, that sentiment hasn’t stopped teams from pursuing Peters. After being loosely connected to GM vacancies for a few years, the executive made it to the second round of interviews with the Panthers in 2021 (prompting his promotion to 49ers assistant GM) and the Giants in 2022. Peters has clearly been turning into a hot name on the GM circuit, and with two requests this offseason, it was only a matter of time until he got the gig. However, he appears to be more content to stay in San Francisco, where he could eventually become GM.

Steve Keim permanently stepped away from the Cardinals due to health-related reasons, leading to a vacancy in Arizona’s front office. Meanwhile, the Titans made the surprising move to fire GM Jon Robinson in early December.

Titans Begin General Manager Search; Eight Execs On Radar

January 9th, 2023 at 4:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

Weeks after their surprising ouster of longtime GM Jon Robinson, the Titans are attempting to line up a host of candidates as potential replacements. Tennessee has sent out eight interview summons — both to in-house and external candidates — for its top front office post.

Appearing on the radar for recent jobs outside the Titans organization, Robinson staffers Ryan Cowden and Monti Ossenfort will be considered for the position. The team will speak with its interim GM (Cowden) and director of player personnel (Ossenfort) soon, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).

The Titans have also identified six outside candidates as well, with Rapoport adding the Browns and Bears’ assistant GMs — Glenn Cook and Ian Cunningham, respectively — are on Tennessee’s list. Both made the jump to the second-in-command tier in 2022, with the Browns promoting Cook and the Bears hiring Cunningham from Howie Roseman‘s staff — amid a run on Eagles execs — to pair with Ryan Poles.

With Cowden being named Robinson’s interim replacement and having the chance to pair with Mike Vrabel in overseeing the Titans’ roster, it would seem he has a leg up on Ossenfort. As such, it will be interesting to see if Ossenfort is with the team next season. But the Titans do want to see what the former Patriots exec brings to the table. The Titans hired Ossenfort from the Pats in 2020. Cowden came to Tennessee along with Robinson in 2016, trekking to Nashville after 16 years with Carolina. Both Cowden and Ossenfort have interviewed for other teams’ GM roles. Ossenfort was a Bears finalist last year, while Cowden met twice for the Steelers job.

49ers execs Adam Peters and Ran Carthon are also on the Titans’ list, while Rapoport adds (Twitter links) the team wants to interview Cardinals exec Quentin Harris. Bills senior director of pro personnel Malik Boyd is also on the Titans’ candidate list, Rapoport tweets. Considering the vaults the Bills and 49ers have made, both division champions will run the risk of losing front office talent. Harris, Arizona’s VP of player personnel, has been with the Cardinals for 15 years and is a candidate to become their next GM. The Cards also have Ossenfort, Peters, Carthon and Cunningham on their radar.

The 49ers lost one of their staffers, Martin Mayhew, in 2021, while the Bills lost longtime Brandon Beane right-hand man Joe Schoen last year. Schoen’s Giants success could benefit Boyd, a longtime Cardinals staffer who has been with the Bills since Beane’s arrival in 2017. The 49ers added Peters, John Lynch‘s assistant GM, from the Broncos that same year. Peters interviewed twice for the Giants job that went to Schoen last year and met twice with the Panthers in 2021. An NFL exec since 2008 who has been the 49ers’ pro personnel director since 2017, Carthon has also been on the GM interview circuit previously as well. He met with both the Giants and Steelers last year.

“We’ve been working on it for at least four weeks now,” Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk asaid of the GM search. “I’d like to have a GM as soon as possible, but we’re not going to rush the process just to get someone in as quickly as possible. The way we have it planned right now is we have two rounds, and we’re going to see where these interviews take us.”

The Titans fired Robinson midway through his seventh season, doing so despite signing him to an extension less than a year ago. Adams Strunk denied the A.J. Brown trade (and two-touchdown game against his former team) prompted the move, indicating she disapproved of Robinson’s roster construction. The Titans’ recent run of injuries factored in as well. The about-face makes this search more interesting, as does Vrabel’s entrenched presence within the organization.

Cardinals Request GM Interviews With Ian Cunningham, Ran Carthon, Adam Peters, Monti Ossenfort

January 9th, 2023 at 3:51pm CST by Adam La Rose

It was announced not long after the Kliff Kingsbury firing that the Cardinals would also be in need of a new general manager. Steve Keim has permanently stepped away from the team due to health-related reasons, meaning Arizona joins Tennessee as the only NFL clubs currently in need of a new leader in their front office.

Keim took an indefinite leave of absence in December, and it was reported days later that he and the team were expected to part ways. With that move now having been made official, the franchise is currently operating with vice president of player personnel Quentin Harris and vice president of pro personnel Adrian Wilson filing in on an interim basis.

Each of them has already been interviewed for the full-time position, though, owner Michael Bidwill said on Monday. He added that his preference would be to have a new GM in place prior to the team’s next head coaching hire, but that the opposite order would also not be an issue (Twitter link via team reporter Darren Urban). External candidates have begun to emerge alongside Harris and Wilson.

One of those is Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham, who has had received a formal interview request from the Cardinals, per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones (on Twitter). He has also drawn the attention of the Titans in the early goings of their GM search, a testament to his continued rise through the ranks of various NFL front office positions during his career.

Cunningham began with the Ravens in 2013 as a scout, translating his time there into a move to Philadelphia in 2017. Over the course of his time with the Eagles, he worked his way up to the title of player personnel director. Most recently, he was hired by the Bears last January in another promotion, this time to assistant general manager.

In addition to Cunningham, the Cardinals wish to meet with Ran Carthon and Adam Peters, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. Those two hold the titles of director of pro personnel and AGM, respectively, with the 49ers. Like Cunningham, they too have caught the eye of the Titans for their general manager vacancy. Carthon, 41, has served in his current role since 2017 after spending time in the front office with the Falcons and Rams.

Monti Ossenfort is also on the Cardinals’ radar, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Ossenfort, a longtime Patriots exec who has been with the Titans since 2020, saw the team elevate Ryan Cowden to its interim GM post in the wake of Jon Robinson‘s firing. Interviewing for GM roles in the past, Ossenfort serves as Tennessee’s director of player personnel. Given the Cowden development and the Titans’ changing of the guard, it will be interesting to see if Ossenfort remains on staff ahead of the 2023 season.

Peters, meanwhile, has been an NFL executive for two decades, beginning with the Patriots and later, the Broncos. He joined the 49ers in 2017, working his way up from VP of player personnel to the assistant GM title last year. He was a finalist for the Giants’ GM job last winter, which ultimately went to Joe Schoen.

Seeking their first GM in a decade, the Cardinals will have plenty of options to consider before making a hire. On the head coach side of the situation, quarterback Kyler Murray will be involved in the search for Kingsbury’s successor (Twitter link via Johnny Venerable of the PHNX Cardinals Podcast). That could add a interesting element to Arizona’s offseason, one which will be busy in light of today’s events.

NFL Staff Notes: Bears, Jaguars, 49ers, Raiders

May 21st, 2022 at 9:48pm CST by Ely Allen

New Bears general manager Ryan Poles announced several promotions and additions to the team’s scouting and football administration departments this week.

Breck Ackley has been promoted from area scout to assistant director of college scouting. Former pro scout Chris White is now assistant director of pro scouting. Former national scouts Sam Summerville and Francis Saint Paul have added “senior” to the their titles. Ashton Washington made a large leap going from a scouting assistant to player personnel coordinator. Fellow former scouting assistant Charles Love has been made a pro scout. In terms of area scouts, John Syty will now cover the Southwest area, Brendan Rehor will cover the Southeast area, Tom Bradway comes from the Raiders to cover the Northeast area, and former long-time Texans scout Ryan Cavanaugh comes from Ohio State to cover the Midwest area. Finally, Ryan Weese joins the staff from Montana State as a scouting assistant.

Mike Santarelli has been promoted from director of football systems to executive director of football technology. Former salary cap/pro scouting analyst James Cosh has been promoted to manager of football administration/pro scout.

Here are a few other staff hires from around the NFL:

  • According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, former 49ers vice president Ethan Waugh has been hired by Jacksonville in the role of assistant general manager, rejoining Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, whom he worked with from 2005-16. With Waugh out of the picture, San Francisco’s player personnel hierarchy is much clearer with assistant general manager Adam Peters and director of player personnel Ran Carthon directly under general manager John Lynch.
  • The Raiders have made an addition to their football analytics department, according to ESPN’s Seth Walder, hiring Brad Goldsberry away from Chicago to serve as director of football systems.

2022 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

May 18th, 2022 at 5:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

Along with the head coaches being fired, a few NFL teams are looking for new general managers. Listed below are the GM candidates that have been linked to each of the teams with vacancies, along with their current status.

If and when other teams decide to make GM changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here is the current breakdown:

Updated 5-24-22 (9:03pm CT)

Chicago Bears

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

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