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Monti Ossenfort

Eagles, Cardinals Settle Jonathan Gannon Tampering Investigation

By | at April 27, 2023 6:54 pm

The Eagles and Cardinals have settled a tampering investigation involving the hiring of Jonathan Gannon, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). The former Eagles defensive coordinator was hired to be the Cardinals head coach earlier this offseason.

As part of the settlement, Philadelphia will receive the No. 66 pick in the draft. The Cardinals will receive pick No. 94 and a 2024 fifth-round pick.

The two teams released a statement regarding the settlement (via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Twitter):

“The Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles have agreed on the settlement of an issue concerning an instance of impermissible contact by Arizona during its head coaching search this past January.

“The Cardinals self-reported to the National Football League that General Manager Monti Ossenfort had a phone conversation with then-Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon in the days following the NFC Championship Game, a period during which contact is not permitted under the League’s Anti-Tampering Policy.

“To resolve the matter between the two clubs, the Cardinals and Eagles have agreed to swap third round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft and the Cardinals receive Philadelphia’s fifth-round selection in 2024.”

The NFL has very specific guidelines when it comes to interviews for coaches who are still in the playoff hunt. There’s a brief period at the beginning of the playoffs where the Cardinals could have approached Gannon, and they also wouldn’t have faced consequences had they first talked with the former defensive coordinator following Philly’s Super Bowl loss.

A league source told Josina Anderson that the Cardinals were not initially truthful about their pursuit of Gannon, presumably resulting in an investigation (Twitter link). Ultimately, the Eagles managed to move up about 30 picks in the third round of the draft. Based on the popular trade chart, this means the two organizations basically equated Gannon’s value to a fourth-round pick.

4 comments Arizona Cardinals Philadelphia Eagles

Cardinals Remain In Discussions With S Budda Baker

By | at April 21, 2023 8:46 pm

The Cardinals’ goal of re-tooling one of the league’s thinnest rosters met an obstacle last week when Budda Baker requested a trade. More details have recently come out regarding the veteran safety’s thought process on asking to be moved (or given a sizeable raise) and the team’s handling of the situation.

Baker let the team know in February that he was eyeing either a new contract making him the league’s highest-paid safety of a trade sending him out of Arizona. The 27-year-old has spent his entire six-year career with the Cardinals, collecting five Pro Bowl nods and a pair of All-Pro honors. 2022 marked another highly productive campaign for him despite the team’s overall struggles defensively.

Finances are at the heart of Baker’s trade request; two years remain on his deal, an extension signed in 2020 which has salaries of $13.1MM and $14.2MM in 2023 and ’24. Another factor which is driving his desire to be moved concerns the sidelines. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer notes that the former second-rounder was “wary” of heading into the 2023 season with a new coaching staff in place. The Cardinals replaced Kliff Kingsbury with Jonathon Gannon, who has installed a new staff of coordinators and position coaches.

As Breer adds, Baker had a different head coach in each of his first three seasons in the league. With the Cardinals likely headed for a rebuild under Gannon and new general manager Monti Ossenfort, being moved to a contending team would have obvious appeal. Negotiations for a re-worked deal allowing him to continue in the desert appear to be ongoing, however.

“We have had a lot of conversations with Budda and his representation, a lot of productive conversations,” Ossenfort said Friday, via team reporter Darren Urban. “Those continue to happen. I’d say the conversations that I’ve had with Budda, I want those to remain between Budda and I… I think I’ve been clear how I feel about Budda as a person and as a player, and nothing about that has changed.”

Ossenfort’s praise of Baker makes clear his intention of trying to find a path to nullify the need for a trade to take place. If talks prove fruitless, though, a strong market would likely emerge for the latter given his production. As Arizona weighs its options with the third overall pick in next week’s draft, how they proceed with Baker will remain a storyline to watch.

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Latest On Cardinals, DeAndre Hopkins

By | at March 4, 2023 7:49 pm

MARCH 4: In an update which comes as little surprise, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport notes that teams have been calling the Cardinals to gauge the availability of Hopkins (video link). He adds that no decision has been made by Ossenfort and the Arizona front office as of yet, but the situation could change in the days leading up to free agency.

MARCH 3: The Cardinals have a new coaching staff, general manager and the potential to add a franchise player in the draft with the third overall pick. One of their top storylines for the offseason concerns an in-house player, however.

Wideout DeAndre Hopkins has become the subject of trade speculation recently, especially after it was learned that his no-trade clause is no longer in effect. That clause was voided as a result of the six-game PED suspension Hopkins served at the start of the 2022 campaign, one which again saw his game action limited. The 30-year-old does not have any guaranteed money remaining on his deal.

That could make him a trade candidate, especially if the Cardinals look to rebuild in the coming years under head coach Jonathan Gannon and GM Monti Ossenfort. Hopkins showed that he is still productive when healthy, posting 717 yards and three touchdowns in only nine games in 2022. However, a trade would result in $8.1MM in cap savings this season, and just under $15MM in 2024.

“I had a great talk with D-Hop a couple weeks ago,” Ossenfort said, via team reporter Darren Urban. “I explained to him what my philosophy was. It was a great conversation. D-Hop has been a great player in this league for a long time. I’m excited to work with him. I think any roster decisions like that, we are in the very early stages right now.”

The three-time All Pro has played three seasons in Arizona, the first of which was the only one in which he was available for a full campaign. Hopkins earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2020 after recording his sixth career 1,000-plus yard season, but has been limited to 106 catches, 1,289 yards and 11 scores since then. Those numbers are certainly noteworthy, but they still fall short of expectations given the substantial extension he signed upon being traded from Houston. His deal carries cap hits of $30.75MM and $26.2MM in the next two years.

Between that financial burden, along with Hopkins’ missed games, trade value could be relatively underwhelming from the Cardinals’ perspective. Veteran reporter Mike Jurecki predicts (via Twitter) that Arizona would not be able to land a first-round pick in a deal, with a second-rounder coupled with a Day 3 selection being more likely. Part of the reason an acquiring team could wind up spending a top selection, on the other hand, is the underwhelming nature of this year’s free agent class at the position, and the relative lack of impact wideouts in the 2023 draft class compared to recent years.

Ossenfort’s remarks demonstrate that no decision has been made with respect to keeping or moving on from Hopkins. The Cardinals currently have just under $14MM in cap space, but the team faces a number of challenges in improving a roster which went 4-13 last season. Hopkins’ future will no doubt have an impact on their offseason either way.

11 comments Arizona Cardinals

Cardinals Request DC Interviews With Dave Borgonzi, DeMarcus Covington

By | at February 17, 2023 9:04 am

After Jonathan Gannon informed Vance Joseph he was free to explore other opportunities, the Cardinals are moving on their defensive coordinator search. Two interview requests went out Friday morning.

The NFC West team requested DC meetings with Bears linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi and Patriots defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter links). Borgonzi is scheduled to interview for the job Saturday.

[RELATED: Cardinals Send Out OC Interview Requests]

Borgonzi followed Matt Eberflus to Chicago, having spent four seasons as Indianapolis’ linebackers coach. Gannon was on that Frank Reich-led Indy staff from 2018-20. Covington, who is just 33, has been the Patriots’ D-line coach since 2020 and has worked in New England since 2017. That tenure overlapped with new Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort, and Rapoport adds the two have been friends for a bit. These are the first two interview requests the Cards have sent out regarding their DC position.

Covington has steadily climbed the ladder in New England, moving from an assistant position to outside linebackers coach to D-line coach since 2017. The Pats hired the young assistant out of the college ranks; he spent the 2016 season as Eastern Illinois’ co-defensive coordinator. This is Covington’s first DC interview opportunity, and Ossenfort’s presence stands to give the six-year Pats staffer a decent chance of receiving another title bump.

Borgonzi oversaw the first four seasons of Shaquille Leonard‘s career. Three of those produced first-team All-Pro honors for the star linebacker, and Bobby Okereke‘s production also reflects well on Borgonzi. The Bears traded Roquan Smith midway through Borgonzi’s first Chicago season, continuing a teardown that gave its defensive staffers less talent to manage. The Bears ranked last in scoring defense in 2022, but Borgonzi will receive an opportunity to state his case for an elevation. Borgonzi has been in the NFL since joining the Cowboys’ staff in 2011.

1 comment Arizona Cardinals Chicago Bears New England Patriots

Eagles Attempting To Keep Jonathan Gannon, Eyed Vic Fangio As Potential Replacement

By | at February 13, 2023 8:50 pm

Following the Eagles’ narrow loss in Super Bowl LVII, Jonathan Gannon stayed in Arizona for his Cardinals interview. The second-year defensive coordinator has gained steam for the Arizona HC gig to the point he looks to be the favorite.

Gannon has been on the Cardinals’ radar for a bit, and the Eagles are at least making a pitch to keep him. The NFC champions have attempted to convince Gannon to stay on as their DC, Albert Breer of SI.com notes. Gannon was a Texans finalist last year, but the Cardinals have been the only team to seriously consider him this year.

Although the Cardinals’ search appeared to have dwindled to Lou Anarumo and Mike Kafka entering Super Bowl LVII, Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano adds rumblings persisted about their interest in interviewing Gannon and Eagles OC Shane Steichen for a while. Gannon and new Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort, per Vacchiano, have been friends for a bit, despite never working together. Steichen is on track to become the next Colts head coach.

The Eagles had used Vic Fangio as a defensive consultant throughout the season, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane (on Twitter), and the accomplished defensive coach had planned to stay on through Super Bowl LVII all along. This arrangement kept his Dolphins gig from becoming official for a bit. Signed to a three-year deal worth more than $4.5MM per season, Fangio is now believed to be the NFL’s highest-paid defensive coordinator. He would have likely been the top option to replace Gannon, Breer adds, but several teams showed interest before the Philly DC vacancy became likely. The 49ers also appeared to have Fangio as their top option, but the Dolphins’ offer won out.

Should Gannon end up being the Cardinals’ next HC, Vacchiano notes Eagles passing-game coordinator Dennard Wilson would make for a natural replacement candidate. Wilson, 40, has been an NFL DBs coach since 2015, serving in that capacity with the Rams, Jets and Eagles. He interviewed for the Browns’ DC job earlier this year, seeing it go to ex-Eagles DC Jim Schwartz.

Steichen and Gannon both leaving would make the Eagles the first team to see both their coordinators land HC jobs since the 2013 Bengals, who lost Jay Gruden and Mike Zimmer. The Cardinals have been at this HC search for a while, and their job might end up being the last one filled. The team saw Brian Flores — a reported finalist — bow out of the race, and higher-profile target Sean Payton chose the Broncos. Dan Quinn also withdrew from multiple searches, while DeMeco Ryans cancelled his Cardinals and Colts interviews. Frank Reich landed in Carolina. It is not known how far Reich was going to advance in Arizona’s search, but this process has dragged into a sixth week now.

11 comments Arizona Cardinals Philadelphia Eagles

2023 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

By | at January 17, 2023 4:35 pm

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

2 comments Arizona Cardinals Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Chicago Bears Cleveland Browns New York Giants PFR Originals San Francisco 49ers Tennessee Titans

Cardinals Hire Monti Ossenfort As GM

By | at January 16, 2023 10:21 pm

Not long after confirming that Steve Keim would no longer be involved in the organization, the Cardinals have found his replacement. Arizona is hiring Monti Ossenfort as their new general manager, reports Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). The move has been confirmed by a team announcement.

Ossenfort has two decades of experience in NFL front offices, including his most recent stint as the Titans’ director of player personnel. His work over that span made him a highly regarded candidate for GM openings either in Tennessee or elsewhere over several years, and he is now set to take over Arizona’s front office.

Ossenfort has a long background in scouting dating back to his time with the Patriots. He had an extended stay in New England beginning in 2006, and had worked his way up to the role of college scouting director by the time he moved on to the Titans. When the latter organization made the surprising move of firing Jon Robinson, he quickly became a name to watch with respect to potential successors, along with interim GM Ryan Cowden.

Indeed, both Ossenfort and Cowden were among the early interviewees for the full-time position in Nashville. For a time, that vacancy was the only one in the league, but Keim’s midseason leave of absence led to widespread speculation that Arizona would be in need of a new GM this offseason as well. In the immediate aftermath of head coach Kliff Kingsbury‘s firing, it was announced that Keim would also not be in the desert in 2023.

The Cardinals interviewed Ossenfort after meeting with a pair of internal candidates for the position, but owner Michael Bidwill will now turn outside the organization to lead its next chapter. Former Giants GM Jerry Reese was also in consideration for the job, but Ossenfort will now be tasked with leading an NFL front office for the first time in his career.

His first major task, of course, will be finding a successor to Kingsbury. Bidwill had made it clear that his preference was to find a GM before a new bench boss, so he and Ossenfort can turn their attention towards the HC search process. That will entail input from a number of high-profile players on the team, including quarterback Kyler Murray. Finding a candidate who feels well-suited to meshing with the dual-threat’s skillset will be pivotal, given the organization’s commitment to him this past summer.

“It was critically important for us to find the right person to lead us as general manager and there is no doubt in my mind that we have that in Monti Ossenfort,” Bidwill said in a statement. “He possesses every attribute of a successful GM – passion, leadership, intelligence, work ethic – and his extensive experience has clearly prepared him for this role. We could not be more thrilled to have Monti and his family joining the Cardinals.”

The Cardinals finished well below expectations in 2022, and currently hold the No. 3 pick in the upcoming draft. Long before that event begins, however, the team will need to address a number of roster decisions in free agency, while implementing significant changes both in the front office and on the sidelines. The first step in the process has now taken place.

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Titans Begin General Manager Search; Eight Execs On Radar

By | at January 9, 2023 4:32 pm

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.

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

By | at January 9, 2023 3:51 pm

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.

5 comments Arizona Cardinals Chicago Bears San Francisco 49ers Tennessee Titans

2022 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

By | at May 18, 2022 5:03 pm

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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