Vikings To Name Andrew Healy, Trent Kirchner Assistant GMs
The Vikings announced a number of front office updates yesterday as new general manager Nolan Teasley began to shape the group around him. In some of those updates, Minnesota parted ways with quite a few personnel staffers, chief among them being former assistant general manager Demitrius Washington. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the team is expected to name his replacement(s) soon.
Per Pelissero, Andrew Healy and Trent Kirchner are expected to be named assistant general managers sometime over the next few days. Pelissero’s NFL Network colleague Ian Rapoport added that Healy “will serve as the team’s secondary football executive,” and Kirchner, who “is widely regarded as one of the NFL’s top talent evaluators,” will be another “top lieutenant” for Teasley. Additionally, Ryan Grigson — who also served as an assistant GM next to Washington under former GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah — will be retained in Minnesota but will serve in a new capacity.
Healy’s entire NFL career has come in Cleveland, where he started as a senior strategist, player personnel in 2016 before getting promoted to vice president, strategy three years later. Before finding his way to the NFL, Healy spent quite a bit of time in academia. After earning Bachelors in Applied Mathematics and Political Science at Yale, Healy spent six years earning his PhD in Economics at MIT. Following his time as a student, Healy worked six years as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Loyola Marymount University and held an Associate Professor of Economics position for four more years before being named Professor of Economics. He held that role for a year before joining the Browns.
Kirchner is following Teasley in the move from Seattle to Minneapolis. Kirchner started his tenure with the Seahawks before Teasley did. A Minnesota-native, Kirchner first found his way to the NFL as an intern for the Seahawks in 2000. After a season as college scouting coordinator for Washington, Kirchner spent eight seasons as a pro scout for the Panthers before returning to Seattle in 2010 as assistant director of player personnel. He earned a series of promotions in his time with the Seahawks, starting with an elevation to pro personnel director in 2013. He was named co-director of player personnel in 2015 then vice president of player personnel in 2019. After last year, Kirchner has now helped build two Super Bowl-winning rosters after winning his first ring in Carolina.
After a short playing career as an offensive tackle, Grigson tried his hand at coaching before turning to scouting in 1998. His first NFL role came the next year as a national scout with the Rams. Grigson joined the Eagles in 2004 and worked his way up the ladder in Philadelphia until being named general manager of the Colts in 2012. In between his final year as GM in 2016 and his first year with the Vikings in 2022, Grigson worked in the same front office as Healy in Cleveland in 2017 then again from 2020-21, working the two vacant years between Browns stints as a senior football consultant in Seattle with Teasley and Kirchner. Grigson won’t retain his title, but with experience working with staffers across the top of the personnel department, he should fair well under new leadership.
Vikings GM Nolan Teasley To Control 53-Man Roster
Vikings ownership signed off on a two-pronged front office setup, and with Kevin O’Connell sticking around after the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah firing, the fifth-year head coach will be expected to carry considerable influence as well.
Minnesota hired Seattle exec Nolan Teasley as GM but retained longtime front office presence Rob Brzezinski, who had been serving as interim GM since Adofo-Mensah’s late-January firing. Brzezinski is in place as executive VP of football operations, and while that is a lofty title, he will still check in below Teasley regarding organizational power.
Brzezinski will report to Teasley, Vikings owner Mark Wilf said (via ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert). Teasley will also control the Vikings’ 53-man roster. However, Wilf confirmed both O’Connell and Teasley will report to ownership.
“He’s the general manager of the organization. He has final say on the roster, of the 53, but in the end, he’s going to lean heavily … on our head coach, obviously, and people like Rob Brzezinski in the building that have deep experience and skill sets that are complementary,” Wilf said of Teasley.
“… That’s the structure. That’s the way it is. [But] if it comes to structure, we’ve got a problem. The end result is making sure leaders collaborate, work together.”
With O’Connell and Teasley each reporting to ownership, Brzezinski profiles as more high-ranking lieutenant after the team’s decision not to hire him as its full-time GM. Brzezinski joined Teasley and three other assistant GMs — Terrance Gray (Bills), Reed Burckhardt (Broncos) and John McKay (Rams) — in receiving second interviews for the gig. McKay had worked with O’Connell previously in Los Angeles, while Burckhardt and Gray each spent more than a decade with the Vikings prior to joining their current teams. Teasley had no ties to the Vikes, but the team ensured some level of continuity by retaining Brzezinski — a Minnesota staffer since 1999.
O’Connell was “very involved” with the Vikings’ decision to hire Teasley, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said during a Pat McAfee Show appearance. We heard in April this would be the case, and O’Connell will certainly have a major voice in personnel decisions moving forward.
With Teasley in place atop the Vikes’ front office hierarchy, the Seahawks will receive two third-round picks due to the new hire’s status as a minority candidate. This comes after the NFL did not award the Bears two third-rounders for minority staffer Ian Cunningham‘s departure for the Falcons’ GM job. The league ruled Matt Ryan‘s presence as the top Atlanta football-side exec did not warrant the Bears receiving compensation, as Cunningham has effectively been deemed second-in-command with the Falcons.
Teasley, 42, comes over after 13 years with the Seahawks. He joined their front office ahead of the team’s Super Bowl XLVIII-winning season and bookended his Pacific Northwest stay by being John Schneider‘s top lieutenant when the 2025 Seahawks steamrolled to the Super Bowl LX title.
O’Connell’s influence expanded during his first four years at the helm, Seifert adds, noting the former NFL Coach of the Year is not expected to see his roster-building role scaled back after the Teasley hire. Ownership has certainly empowered the head coach in having him report to ownership. Several coaches have this power, though not all do. Wilf said in January the decision to fire Adofo-Mensah — who is now a 49ers exec — was 100% ownership-driven, attempting to absolve O’Connell there. He is far from the first HC to have influence in a GM hire, and the Vikings will hope a collaborative approach will help them turn the corner.
Vikings Hire Nolan Teasley As GM; Rob Brzezinski Staying On As EVP
The Vikings have landed on their next general manager. Seahawks assistant GM Nolan Teasley will be taking over the front office in Minnesota, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The news is now official.
Teasley is coming off Seattle’s Super Bowl victory, its second during his tenure. He first joined the Seahawks in 2013 as a scouting intern shortly before they won their first Lombardi Trophy. Now, 13 years later, he is headed for the GM job in Minnesota, where the Vikings are hoping he can bring two-time Super Bowl-winning GM John Schneider‘s roster-building expertise and put them on a championship path of their own.
Because Teasley is a minority candidate, the Seahawks will receive two third-round picks as compensation for his exit, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports.
A few weeks after the end of a disappointing 9-8 season, the Vikings fired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in late January. The team opted against launching an immediate search and decided to wait until after the draft. Executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski, who has worked for the Vikings since 1999, took over for Adofo-Mensah on an interim basis.
Brzezinski guided the Vikings through the most important parts of the offseason and emerged as a candidate for the full-time GM job. He joined Teasley and three outside assistant GMs — Reed Burckhardt (Broncos), Terrance Gray (Bills), John McKay (Rams) — as finalists for the position. They all received second interviews. As Kevin Seifert of ESPN notes, Brzezinski was the only contender without a scouting background — something ownership (Zygi and Mark Wilf) valued in this search.
Like Brzezinski, each of Burckhardt, Gray and McKay entered the process with notable Vikings ties. Before joining the Broncos’ front office in 2022, Burckhardt was a 13-year Vikings employee who worked in various scouting and personnel roles. Gray was a Vikings scout from 2006-16. While McKay has no past experience in Minnesota, he has worked with head coach Kevin O’Connell. He was part of the Rams’ front office when O’Connell was their offensive coordinator from 2020-21.
Teasley will now be the one teaming with O’Connell, though Brzezinski is not leaving the organization (keeping in line with what Seifert predicted shortly before today’s news). Brzezinski will remain the Vikings’ EVP of football operations, Jones reports. He has served as a contract negotiator and salary cap analyst in that role.
Rumblings about the Vikings going with a two-pronged front office setup surfaced before this hire, and the team allowing Brzezinski to lead its draft effort proved telling. The interim GM working alongside an outside hire will certainly be an interesting setup, but the Vikings considering Buckhardt and Gray pointed to interest in having some familiarity atop their front office.
The Panthers and Lions have similar setups, with Brandt Tilis and Mike Disner working closely with GMs Dan Morgan and Brad Holmes. Though, Brzezinski’s stint as interim GM and having run a draft for the team does separate this instance from the other NFC teams’ plans. The Seahawks have now lost their offensive coordinator (Klint Kubiak) and AGM from the Super Bowl LX-winning team.
While Kubiak’s exit will generate more attention, it is unsurprising to see a Schneider right-hand man be hired. The Schneider-era Seahawks winning Super Bowls with two entirely different nuclei brought a historic NFL achievement, and the 17th-year GM will need a new second-in-command as a result.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
Vikings Complete Second Interviews With Five GM Candidates
MAY 28: Minnesota has completed its second round of GM interviews, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis tweets. Those wrapped Thursday afternoon. A decision should be expected by early June at the latest, Lewis adds.
MAY 20: The Vikings are making progress in their search for a general manager. The team has requested in-person, second-round interviews with interim GM Rob Brzezinski and four assistant GMs from other teams, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports. The list includes Reed Burckhardt (Broncos), Terrance Gray (Bills), John McKay (Rams) and Nolan Teasley (Seahawks).
The Vikings have been without a full-time GM since they fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in late January, which occurred three weeks after the end of a disappointing 9-8 season. Brzezinski, who has been with the Vikings in various roles dating back to 1999, has since guided them through the heart of the offseason. As the Vikings’ executive vice president of football operations since 2014, Brzezinski is a serious candidate for a full-time promotion. Perhaps Brzezinski’s familiarity with Vikings ownership and head coach Kevin O’Connell will tip the scale in his favor.
With help from search firm TurnKeyZRG, the Vikings began looking for Adofo-Mensah’s replacement after last month’s draft. In addition to the names mentioned above, they requested initial interviews with Lions assistant GM Ray Agnew, Dolphins AGM Kyle Smith, Titans AGM Dave Ziegler, 49ers AGM R.J. Gillen and Chargers AGM Chad Alexander. After Alexander withdrew from the race on his own last week, it appears the Vikings have now crossed off Agnew, Smith, Ziegler and Gillen as possibilities.
As for the contenders still competing with Brzezinski, a couple have notable Vikings connections. Before becoming the Broncos’ director of player personnel in 2022, Burckhardt worked in various scouting and personnel roles with the Vikings for 13 years. Gray, who has been with the Bills since 2017, was a college scout for the Vikings from 2006-16.
While McKay and Teasley do not carry past Vikings experience, both are important members of two of the NFL’s best front offices. McKay, now in his 10th year with the Rams, has worked with the Super Bowl-winning tandem of GM Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay. He is also familiar with O’Connell, who was the Rams’ offensive coordinator from 2020-21. Teasley has served under Seahawks GM John Schneider, a two-time Super Bowl champion, since 2013.
Chad Alexander, John McKay, Dave Ziegler, Others Receive Vikings GM Interview Requests
2:38pm: It is certainly possible more candidates emerge, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling notes Gray and the five candidates to emerge today represent the full list of external options in the Vikings’ search.
12:59pm: The Vikings’ mid-offseason GM interview search is forming. After Bills assistant GM Terrance Gray received the first known request Wednesday, the Vikes have sent out a host of interview slips.
Minnesota is focusing on the assistant GM level; five more execs with that title join Gray among the NFC North franchise’s list of hopeful meetings. A second-chance candidate — a rarity in the modern NFL — is on Minnesota’s list, with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero noting the team sent Titans assistant GM Dave Ziegler a request.
Rams assistant GM John McKay, 49ers AGM R.J. Gillen, Chargers AGM Chad Alexander and Seahawks AGM Nolan Teasley also received interview slips from the Vikings, according to Pelissero, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones and ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Alexander, Gillen and McKay have been part of GM interview processes before; this is a first for Teasley. Gray joins this quintet among candidates, with the Vikes’ current top front office decisionmaker — interim GM Rob Brzezinski — likely to receive an interview as well.
Ziegler teamed with Josh McDaniels with the Raiders, but Mark Davis short-circuited this regime’s plans by firing both less than two years in. Ziegler, who established himself as a GM candidate by working with the Patriots and Broncos, landed as the Titans’ assistant GM in January 2025. Considering Ziegler’s abrupt Las Vegas ouster and the Titans’ 2025 performance, it is a bit surprising the Vikings are interested.
That said, Ziegler did work closely with Bill Belichick and now-Texans GM Nick Caserio in New England, which won three Super Bowls during Ziegler’s time in the front office. This is Ziegler’s first interview request since his Vegas dismissal. After both Tom Telesco and Trent Baalke received pink slips in 2025, the NFL does not have any second-chance GMs in place presently.
Gillen and McKay each interviewed for the Dolphins’ GM post this year. That marked the first such meetings for both NFC West execs. Gillen climbed to the AGM level in San Francisco in 2025, coming up through the scouting ranks to become the team’s player personnel director in 2023. Gillen has been with the 49ers since before John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan’s arrivals, being hired during Trent Baalke‘s GM tenure.
McKay joined the Rams a year before Sean McVay, joining Les Snead‘s front office as a scouting assistant. The McVay-era Rams have certainly represented a launching pad for HC and GM candidates. Ex-Ram staffers Brad Holmes (Lions) and James Gladstone (Jaguars) are currently in GM roles.
Alexander has more interview experience than his California AGM counterparts. The Chargers exec joined Gillen and McKay in the Dolphins’ search and competed with Gladstone for the Jags’ gig last year. The Raiders also brought in Alexander for a meeting in 2025. Alexander has been with the Chargers since shortly after Joe Hortiz‘s 2024 GM hire, coming over from the Jets.
Teasley’s name may be the most interesting here, seeing as the Seahawks won Super Bowl LX. Teasley climbed to the AGM level in 2023 but has been with the Seahawks under John Schneider since 2013. Schneider having won Super Bowls 12 years apart, with two completely different rosters, sets him apart in NFL history. Considering how impressive the Seahawks’ post-Russell Wilson retooling effort has been, it is unsurprising Teasley is on the GM radar. If the Vikings do not end up hiring him, the longtime Seattle staffer figures to be a prime candidate for roles come winter 2027.
The Vikings fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in late January and went through the draft with Brzezinski in place in the interim. The team held off on conducting a search until after the draft. With that point having arrived on the NFL calendar, Minnesota’s next FO boss figures to emerge this month.
NFL Staff Rumors: Raiders, Jets, 49ers
Based on several reports in recent days, we’ve been pushing the assumption that part-owner Tom Brady has immense influence in the Raiders‘ operations, namely the ongoing searches for a new head coach and general manager. This sentiment was all but confirmed in an article today by Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. One of Bonsignore’s sources with knowledge of the situation told him that “this is Tom’s show now” and that majority owner Mark Davis wants Brady to have a “huge” voice in the team’s operations.
Brady’s influence does appear to have its limits, though. According to Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed of The Athletic, many in the NFL pinned new Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel as Brady’s top option to coach in Las Vegas. Vrabel wasn’t one of the team’s scheduled interviews, though, as those became known to the media. Apparently, Davis was “not interested in another go-round with ‘Patriots Way’ after the failure of Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler two years ago.”
Brady’s voice will otherwise still be heavily considered in the search for a new head coach and general manager. Buccaneers assistant general manager John Spytek has already been identified as a potential candidate, aided by Brady’s connection to his former team. While Tafur and Reed don’t mention any actual rumored interest, they list Commanders assistant general manager Lance Newmark, Lions assistant general manager Ray Agnew, Lions director of scouting Dwayne Joseph, Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi, and Seahawks assistant general manager Nolan Teasley as names to watch for based on their potential compatibility with different head coaching candidates.
Here are a few other staff rumors from around the NFL:
- The Jets were another contender for Vrabel’s services, and they reportedly were extremely interested in bringing him in. In a Q&A with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Breer stated his belief that New York would’ve allowed Vrabel to choose his own general manager had he signed with them, especially considering their main plan is to find the best guy (head coach or general manager) and build around them to achieve alignment throughout the coaching and front office staffs. Ultimately, Breer believes the reputation of team owner Woody Johnson likely dissuaded Vrabel away from the Jets.
- Staying in New York and with Breer’s peer at Sports Illustrated, Patrick McAvoy, we got a report that SportsNet New York insider Connor Hughes is under the opinion that Rex Ryan “is completely out” of the head coaching race for the Jets. Hughes was quoted on WFAN telling Rami Lavi that “that is not gonna happen with the Jets.”
- Following the departure of special teams coordinator Brian Schneider, the 49ers have begun the process of replacing him. To wit, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the team has completed an interview with Lions assistant special teams coach Jett Modkins. Modkins has spent the last four seasons in Detroit under coordinator Dave Fipp, who is widely considered one of the best in the game.
NFC West Notes: Cardinals, Draft, Purdy, 49ers, Ebukam, Clark, Seahawks, Staff
The Cardinals have fared well when picking in the top five over the past two decades, landing the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Patrick Peterson and Kyler Murray. The team’s second-half swoon last season led to a rebuild, giving a new regime the No. 3 overall pick. Similar to the Bears, the Cards are prepared to move down. GM Monti Ossenfort made that clear, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link). The team gave Murray a landmark extension last summer, and although Year 1 of that deal did not go well, he remains Arizona’s franchise quarterback. As such, the team will be prepared to move down to accommodate a QB-seeking team (or one eyeing the top non-passer available) that was unable to land Chicago’s pick. Such a move would bolster a roster that enters free agency with several holes.
Here is the latest from the NFC West:
- Ossenfort also said the Cardinals have been in talks with free agents-to-be Zach Allen and Byron Murphy. The first-year GM indicated the Cardinals “would love” to keep both players, though he noted the obvious financial caveat (via AZCardinals.com’s Darren Urban) that could lead each out of town. Both were drafted to play in Vance Joseph‘s system in 2019, and each will be among the top free agents at their respective positions. If Murphy and Allen leave, cornerback and defensive line would become areas of dire need in Arizona. The Cards did not put much around Murphy since Peterson’s 2021 exit, and Allen following J.J. Watt off the roster would obviously put the onus on the NFC West squad adding reinforcements up front.
- Brock Purdy‘s postponed elbow surgery will take place Friday, Matt Barrows of The Athletic tweets. The breakthrough 49ers quarterback was initially scheduled to undergo the UCL repair Feb. 22, but swelling led to a delay. The seventh-round pick who would be on track to retain his starting role is expected to face a six-month recovery timetable, which would run up against Week 1. This creates more QB uncertainty in San Francisco, though Trey Lance is on track to participate in OTAs. The plan remains for Purdy to have a less invasive elbow procedure, but he acknowledged Tommy John surgery — elbow reconstruction — could take place. The latter route would threaten to hijack Purdy’s 2023 season.
- The 49ers discussed trading for Frank Clark before the veteran defensive end agreed to a Chiefs restructure in 2022, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle notes. Clark is now available, having been a Chiefs cap casualty this week. The former Seahawks draftee’s 13.5 playoff sacks are the third-most in NFL history, but he never topped eight during a regular season with the Chiefs. The 49ers could consider Clark opposite Nick Bosa, with Samson Ebukam being viewed (via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com) as likely to price himself out of San Francisco. Ebukam, 27, recorded 9.5 sacks in his two-year 49ers run. He could command an eight-figure-per-year deal, per Fowler, as this edge rusher market is fairly light. Even ahead of his age-30 season, Clark may not come much cheaper.
- Azeez Al-Shaair figures to join Ebukam on the way out of the Bay Area, Barrows adds. The 49ers have already given Fred Warner a top-market contract, and they reached a midlevel agreement to retain ascending sidekick Dre Greenlaw last year. Al-Shaair will join a crowded off-ball linebacker market next week.
- The Seahawks went through with some front office promotions recently. Nolan Teasley has moved into the role of assistant GM, while Matt Berry will become the team’s senior director of player personnel. Teasley has been with the team since 2013, moving up from the scouting level. Berry has been working with the Seahawks longer than GM John Schneider, having started with the team in 2008. Additionally, Willie Schneider will step into Beasley’s former role of pro personnel director. Aaron Hineline will replace Berry as director of college scouting.
- The Seahawks’ recent Phil Haynes deal will be a one-year, $4MM pact, Brady Henderson of ESPN.com tweets. The prospective guard starter will receive a fully guaranteed $1.3MM base salary and a $2.2MM signing bonus.
West Rumors: Taylor, Carrie, Broncos, Hawks
The trade that will send Jamar Taylor to his third NFL team will come with an adjusted contract. Taylor will make less for the Cardinals this year than he was supposed with the Browns, with Kent Somers of AZCentral.com reporting (on Twitter) the veteran cornerback will earn $3.5MM in base salary — down from $4.25MM. The additional $750K will be pushed onto the Cards’ 2019 balance sheet. The Cardinals and Browns have been discussing a Taylor deal since the draft, Mike Jurecki of ArizonaSports.com tweets, adding that the Bashaud Breeland avenue is likely closed after this trade. Taylor is under contract for two more seasons. Finding a capable Patrick Peterson counterpart has been a problem in Arizona for a while, and Taylor will have a decent chance to earn that No. 2 job. Now-well-traveled Bene Benwikere, former Jets corner Marcus Williams and one-time third-round pick Brandon Williams represent the top competition.
Here’s the latest from the West divisions, keeping with the subject of cornerbacks who have worn Browns colors recently.
- Taylor and T.J. Carrie were Browns teammates for a little more than two months, and Cleveland has now traded both of its 2017 starting corners as John Dorsey enters his first full season as Browns GM. Carrie will factor in prominently in the Browns’ 2018 secondary, but Jon Gruden would have preferred the Raiders retain Carrie, per Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area. It’s unclear how much the Raiders were willing to offer their 2017 slot corner, but Gruden and some members of his new staff did meet with Carrie just prior to free agency. And the Bay Area native wanted to stay. However, Bair mentions money guided him to northeast Ohio. It’s unlikely the Raiders’ offer was especially close to the Browns’ four-year, $31MM proposal.
- It appears the Broncos are going to try Menelik Watson at guard. After the former Raiders tackle struggled mightily before his latest injury, allowing a career-worst 7.5 sacks despite playing in just seven Broncos games last season, the team’s putting him in competition with as-of-now starter Connor McGovern for its right guard job, Mike Klis of 9News notes. A sixth-year player, Watson is a career tackle. Denver, which has entered the past five seasons with five different right tackle starters, traded for Jared Veldheer to replace Watson on the edge. McGovern himself is a notable inclusion into the lineup, since Max Garcia has started at guard for two seasons. McGovern worked his way into Denver’s starting mix after being an injury replacement for Ronald Leary late last season.
- After the Seahawks lost pro personnel director Dan Morgan to the Bills, they will replace him with Nolan Teasley. A former running back at Division II Central Washington, Teasley began his career as a scouting intern in 2013 but rose to the position of assistant pro personnel director in 2017.
- By giving Patrick Mahomes a top-flight arsenal to work with as he begins his run as the Chiefs‘ starting quarterback, Andy Reid is taking a better approach to developing his most recent prized passing prospect compared to his work with Donovan McNabb, Geoff Mosher of The Score writes. McNabb was not given many notable pass-catchers early in his career, but Mahomes has plenty. With the $16MM-AAV Sammy Watkins deal representing a notable Chiefs about-face regarding their No. 2 wideout position, the franchise now has a quartet of weapons — Watkins, Travis Kelce, Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill — that rivals any it’s ever assembled. While the Chiefs’ defense may have some work to do after the Marcus Peters trade, Mahomes has far more to work with offensively than Alex Smith did when he arrived in Kansas City five years ago.