George Paton Turns Down Bears, Jets
Despite receiving interest from both the Bears and Jets for their open general manager positions, Vikings assistant GM George Paton has turned down the opportunity to interview with either team, according to Dan Pompei of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). It appears Paton will remain in the Minnesota front office for the 2015 season.
Paton “has been a hot commodity and is getting hotter,” according to Pompei (Twitter link), who adds that the Vikings executive is well-respected around the league, and has played a large part in restocking the club’s roster. The Jets also expressed interest in Paton during their last GM search, but he turned them down at that time as well.
With Paton out of the mix, the Jets are set to interview Texans director of college scouting Mike Maccagnan, Browns personnel executive Bill Kuharich, Eagles director of pro personnel Rick Mueller, and Seahawks director of pro personnel Trent Kirchner. Current Jets senior director of football administration Rod Graves, who is running the team’s football operations during the GM hunt, will also interview for the position today, per Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
As for the Bears, Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard, Giants VP of player evaluation Marc Ross, Titans VP of player personnel Lake Dawson, and Ravens director of pro personnel Vince Newsome have all been cited as potential candidates for their GM job. Both Chicago and New York have also expressed interest in Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta, though it remains to be seen whether he’ll be willing to discuss the possibility of leaving Baltimore.
Jets Notes: GM, Coach, Revis, Paton
After firing general manager John Idzik and head coach Rex Ryan early this morning, Jets owner Woody Johnson spoke to reporters at a press conference in New York, and touched upon a number of topics of note. Let’s check in on the highlights, via Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com and Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, with all links going to Twitter….
- According to Johnson, the team’s next GM will have more of a scouting and personnel background than Idzik did.
- Ideally, the Jets will first hire a general manager and then address the head coaching opening, but that order is subject to change, said Johnson.
- Johnson admitted that he made a mistake by forcing Ryan on Idzik when he hired the GM. The comment suggests that the two men didn’t exactly make for an ideal match, with Idzik occasionally struggling to add players who fit Ryan’s system.
- The Jets owner indicated today that if he thought he could’ve signed cornerback Darrelle Revis for the contract he agreed to with the Patriots, he would’ve done so. However, previous experiences with Revis’ agents gave him the impression that signing the standout corner wouldn’t be possible. Johnson added that he’d “love” for Revis to return to the Jets.
- The team has already reached out to everyone on its list of general manager candidates, per Johnson. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), one candidate to hear from the Jets is Vikings assistant GM George Paton, who drew interest from New York during the club’s last GM hunt as well.
Jets Notes: Idzik, Wolf, Casserly, Wilkerson
The Jets have an 8 A.M. meeting scheduled for tomorrow, reports Brian Costello of the New York Post (via Twitter). Any changes the team plans on making should be announced by that time.
Here is a look at some of those potential changes and the fallout that will come from them:
- While John Idzik seems like a very good bet to be fired now that the Jets’ season is over, he has left his successor in a position to succeed, writes Seth Walder of the New York Daily News. The next general manager will take over a team that will be flushed with cap space, and the job could actually be an attractive situation for a potential candidate.
- Former Packers’ general manager Ron Wolf will be joining Charlie Casserly on the Jets’ staff as a consultant, confirms Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter). Wolf and Casserly will assist Woody Johnson in the search for the next general manager and head coach.
- Casserly could be interested in Vikings’ George Paton as a candidate for the general manager job, writes Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (via Twitter).
- One of the first orders of business for the Jets’ next general manager will be to begin negotiations with Muhammad Wilkerson on a long-term contract, writes Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (via Twitter). La Canfora says it would be unlikely that he plays out his fifth-year option.
Jets Notes: Idzik, Ryan, GM Candidates
The 3-12 Jets will take on the Dolphins later today, and it’s probably the last contest general manager John Idzik and head coach Rex Ryan will enjoy under the employ of Gang Green. According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter link), owner Woody Johnson is expected to “hit the reset button,” and start the search for the duo’s replacements tomorrow. Ryan could be fired tonight, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who says Ryan is so sure he’s being axed that he’s been joking about it with colleagues. Here’s more from New York.
- While Idzik was regarded as more of a financial whiz when he was hired, the Jets are expected to find a more personnel-driven general manager this time around, says Rapoport (link via his NFL.com colleague Connor Orr). Before Idzik was selected, New York sought football men like Dave Caldwell (who took the Jaguars job instead), but most were leery of the Jets’ difficult cap situation. The problem during this hiring cycle, says Rapoport, might NY’s lack of a quarterback — one GM candidate has reportedly “expressed some nervousness” about Geno Smith and the lack of talent at the position.
- Rapoport also tosses out (via Twitter) some names to look for when the Jets do begin their GM search. George Paton (Vikings), Ryan Pace (Saints), Trent Kirchner (Seahawks), Will McClay (Cowboys) are all candidates to be interviewed by New York, although Brian Costello notes (Twitter link) that the Jets were interested in Paton during their last GM hiring, but Paton turned them down.
- Mehta adds (via Twitter) yet another potential general manger candidate: Chris Ballard of the Chiefs. However, insiders feel that Ballard would prefer join the Bears in the event that position is opened.
- As Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes, the new Jets GM will have a top-six draft pick and more than $40MM in cap space to work with, meaning that the job could be viewed as attractive through the right lens. However, the new hire will have a lot of work to do in order to reshape a roster that lacks impact talent, and Cimini provides a to-do list that includes finding a franchise quarterback, making a decision on Percy Harvin, and adding cornerback depth.