Ryan Grigson

Buccaneers, Vikings Announce Updates To Front Office, Scouting Departments

Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht announced a litany of promotions and new titles in the front office and scouting department this weekend, according to Greg Auman of The Athletic. Rob McCartney and Mike Biehl have both been granted the role of director of player personnel, promotions from their previous roles of director of pro scouting and director of college scouting, respectively. They’ll likely continue to focus on those areas of scouting, but with additional responsibilities added, as well.

Byron Kiefer has been promoted from senior national scout to assistant director of college scouting, Antwan Murray and Tony Hardie have both been promoted from area scouts to national scouts, and Shannon Hogue has been promoted from scouting assistant to scouting analyst. Cesar Rivera and Brian McLaughlin have both been made college scouts, after previously serving as scouting coordinator and NFS/combine scout, respectively, and Zach Smith will step into McLaughlin’s role as combine scout, a step up from his previous role of scouting assistant. Former Jaguars director of college scouting Mark Ellenz has been hired as a college scout and former football operations intern Peighton Roth has been officially brought on as a scouting coordinator.

The Vikings also announced the finishing touches to new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah‘s staff this weekend. The team added two new hires in pro scout Donovan Jackson and national scout David Williams. Chisom Opara has been promoted from national scout to assistant director of player personnel, Chris Blanco has been promoted from assistant director of pro scouting to director of pro personnel, and Taylor Brooks has been promoted from scouting associate to player personnel analyst.

There were a number of updated title announcements, as well. We knew that former Colts general manager Ryan Grigson would be joining Adofo-Mensah in Minnesota, but we now know he will be in the role of senior vice president of player personnel. Ryan Monnens and Jamaal Stephenson have gone from co-directors of player personnel to director of player personnel and senior personnel executive, respectively, Imarjaye Albury has moved from the coaching role of assistant defensive line coach to pro scout, Sean Gustus has gone from area scout to national scout, and Kaitlin Zarecki has gone from manager of player development/special assistant to the general manager to football operations manager & special assistant to the general manager & head coach.

Finally, Minnesota announced some title changes to the analytics team with director of football analytics & pro scout Scott Kuhn dropping “analytics” for the more specific “quantitative methods.” Similarly, Rex Johnson has gone from research manager to football quantitative methods manager and Chris French has gone from football analyst to football quantitative methods analyst.

Vikings Hire Ryan Grigson

The Vikings have hired Ryan Grigson for a senior personnel role, per a club announcement. Grigson, once the GM of the Colts, will work under new Minnesota GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

Grigson, 49, has been in the NFL ranks since 1999. His most recent stop came in 2020, when he served as a senior football advisor for Browns GM Andrew Berry. The two had history and a solid working relationship, but Berry brought him in for more than just familiarity.

“[Grigson] is here because I think he is very good,” Berry said at the time of the hire in 2020. “He has a very established track record as a personnel evaluator from his time in St. Louis at the time, Philly and then obviously, Indianapolis. General Manager experience, rebuilt the Colts into a winner very quickly, Executive of the Year. And that is something that is valuable to me.”

It’s a similar story this time — Adofo-Mensah and Grigson overlapped in Cleveland, where they both managed key leadership decisions. Still, Grigson is best known for his tenure as Colts GM, where he captured Executive of the Year honors in his first year at the helm. The Colts went 49-31 during Grigson’s five year run, though they failed to qualify for the playoffs in those final two years.

Browns Announce Front Office Moves

New Browns GM Andrew Berry announced a series of additions, promotions, and title changes on his player personnel staff today.

The entire list can be found here, courtesy of the team’s official website. Some of the moves, like the hiring of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as vice president of football operations and the addition of former Colts GM Ryan Grigson, have been reported previously.

Grigson, though, finally has a formal title: senior football advisor. He and Berry have a long-standing professional relationship, but Berry said his familiarity with Grigson is not the reason he was brought on board. “[Grigson] is here because I think he is very good,” Berry said. “He has a very established track record as a personnel evaluator from his time in St. Louis at the time, Philly and then obviously, Indianapolis. General Manager experience, rebuilt the Colts into a winner very quickly, Executive of the Year. And that is something that is valuable to me.”

Adofo-Mensah, who spent seven years with the 49ers, will be a part of all roster and strategy decisions and will also assist Berry with day-to-day operations (he is essentially the assistant GM). “I think [Adofo-Mensah] brings a nice blend of both an insider and an outsider perspective to football,” Berry said. “He is humble, high integrity, a continuous learner, true growth mindset and he has fantastic interpersonal and people skills … I think he is really a perfect fit to add to the mix.”

Meanwhile, former assistant director of scouting Glenn Cook, who has been with the Browns since 2016, has been promoted to vice president of player personnel. He will lead the day-to-day operations of the player personnel department, and as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, Cook will also be in charge of college and pro scouting. He will be assisted by Dan Saganey, the new director of player personnel.

Of course, there are also a number of new-age, analtyics positions. Nate Sterken will serve as the new lead data scientist, Andrew Jackson is the data architect, and Ken Kovash is the vice president of player personnel process and development. Berry has been lauded for the work he has done in his first few months on the job, and his roster looks like one that could compete for a playoff spot in 2020. Today’s moves are another step towards his putting his stamp on the organization.

Browns Add Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Ryan Grigson To Front Office

The Browns have hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their new vice president of football operations, as ESPN’s Seth Walder was among the first to report (via Twitter). Adofo-Mensah previously served as the director of football research and development with the 49ers, and as Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal writes, he will essentially serve as assistant GM to Andrew Berry.

Adofo-Mensah, a Princeton graduate, adds to the Ivy League talent in the Cleveland front office (Berry is a Harvard grad). Adofo-Mensah spent seven years in the San Francisco organization, and according to his bio, he “led the 49ers’ efforts to develop and implement advanced quantitative methods for game strategy and personnel evaluation” (h/t Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). He will presumably continue to expand his personnel resume with Cleveland.

In addition to the Adofo-Mensah hiring, the Browns have also hired Ryan Grigson on a full-time basis, per Cabot. The club brought on the former Colts GM in an advisory and consulting role back in February, and it sounded at the time as if the hire would become permanent after the draft. That has now happened, though Grigson’s formal title remains uncertain. He and Berry have a long-standing professional relationship and hold each other in high regard.

One year after being hyped virtually non-stop as a Super Bowl contender, the Browns have mostly flown under the radar this offseason. Though they made several major signings in free agency, and though Berry’s first draft was widely considered to be a successful one, Cleveland is not being talked about to nearly the same degree as it was in 2019. And that probably suits the team just fine. After shoring up the O-line and adding another weapon for Baker Mayfield in tight end Austin Hooper, the Browns may realize their potential just one season after they were supposed to. If Mayfield can return to the form he showed in his rookie campaign, things could get interesting in the AFC North.

Browns Hire Ryan Grigson

Ryan Grigson has joined the Browns and is currently serving in an advisory and consulting role with the team, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com adds that Grigson will likely be hired on a full-time basis after this year’s draft.

Grigson is best known for his tenure as the Colts’ general manager from 2012-16. He earned Executive of the Year honors following his first year at the helm, which saw Indianapolis make the playoffs after going 2-14 the year before (though much of that was due to the presence of rookie QB Andrew Luck, who was a slam-dunk choice for Grigson in his first draft with Indy). While the Colts went 49-31 during Grigson’s five years as GM, they failed to qualify for the playoffs in the final two of those years, and his draft record as a whole was spotty.

He was therefore dismissed in January 2017, and he hooked on with the Browns shortly thereafter. When GM John Dorsey came to town in 2018, he got rid of Grigson, but now Andrew Berry is the Cleveland GM, and he is bringing Grigson back. The two men are very close and hold each other in high regard, per Albert Breer of SI.com (via Twitter). Berry worked under Grigson for four years in Indianapolis, and Grigson worked under Berry with the Browns in 2017, so there is plenty of familiarity there.

Breer adds in a separate tweet that the Browns plan to structure their front office like the Eagles, with one executive heading up scouting, one heading up everything else on the football side of the operation, and both reporting to the GM. Grigson could factor into that framework, especially with his scouting background.

Grigson spent the past two seasons with the Seahawks as a senior football consultant.

AFC West Rumors: Raiders, Chiefs, Broncos

Despite previous reports to the contrary, the Raiders have not hired former Colts general manager Ryan Grigson, according to Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review Journal (Twitter link). In fact, no deal is considered imminent, as Grigson was simply one of several executives interviewed by Oakland in what Gehlken terms an “information-gathering process.” The Raiders hired former NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock earlier this month, but haven’t made any other notable additions to their front office. The 46-year-old Grigson was fired by the Colts in 2016 after a tumultuous five-year term as GM, and has since worked with the Browns and Seahawks’ front offices.

Here’s more from the AFC West:

  • Now that they’ve been eliminated from the postseason, the Chiefs have a number of offseason issues to address, as Joel Corry of CBSSports.com details. Over the Cap currently projects Kansas City to enter the new league year with roughly $36MM in available cap space, which ranks 15th in the NFL. With those funds, the Chiefs are expected to prioritize extensions for wide receiver Tyreek Hill and defensive lineman Chris Jones, each of whom will be entering their contract years in 2019. Additionally, Kansas City needs to decide on edge rusher Dee Ford: the Chiefs have the option of deploying the franchise tag, while Corry predicts a long-term contract for Ford will cost more than $17MM annually.
  • In his latest mailbag for the Denver Post, Ryan O’Halloran notes the Broncos shouldn’t have any financial restraints as they enter the 2019 free agent market (OTC has Denver with roughly $40.5MM in cap space for next year). While the hiring of new head coach Vic Fangio — a former defensive coordinator — could push the Broncos to add on the defensive side of the ball, Denver is more likely to target offensive players, per O’Halloran.
  • In a pair of pieces, Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area lays out the dire state of the Raiders‘ roster. The only positional group that doesn’t figure to see much change is Oakland’s offensive line, but much of the rest of the club — especially on defense — will likely see turnover.

Raiders To Hire Ryan Grigson

Earlier this week, we heard that the Raiders are considering former Colts GM Ryan Grigson for a front office position. Apparently, it’s already a “done deal,” according to a source who spoke with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk

Grigson spent five years as the Colts’ GM and he ultimately failed to give Andrew Luck a proper supporting cast or build up the team’s defense. He could be a very helpful sidekick to new Raiders GM Mike Mayock, however, as he leaves the broadcast booth to run a team with Jon Gruden.

It was previously reported that the 49ers were also interested in Grigson, but that’s simply not true, according to Florio’s source. It’s not clear if the 49ers engaged Grigson in conversations or if Grigson’s camp was simply looking to build leverage by leaking word of San Francisco’s supposed interest.

Grigson is best known for his time with the Colts, but he’s spent time with the Browns and Seahawks since his dismissal. His exact role in Oakland is unclear, but he figures to be heavily involved in draft scouting and player evaluation.

West Rumors: Raiders, Chargers, Broncos

The 49ers aren’t the only club with interest in former Colts general manager Ryan Grigson, as the Raiders also want to speak to the ex-Indy exec about a front office role, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Oakland is rebuilding its front office after firing general manager Reggie McKenzie and top lieutenant Joey Clinkscales. Grigson would join a front office that now includes first-time GM — and former NFL Network analyst — Mike Mayock, who was hired earlier this week. The 46-year-old Grigson was fired by the Colts in 2016 after a tumultuous five-year term as GM, and has since worked with the Browns and Seahawks’ front offices.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two West divisions:

  • Two of Sean McVay‘s top assistants will take their interviews with the Bengals on Friday. Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor and pass game coordinator/tight ends coach Shane Waldron will meet with Cincinnati ownership tomorrow, tweets Tom Pelissero of NFL.com. Nearly every candidate in which the Bengals have expressed interest thus far have come from the offensive side of the ball, with the only exception being former Broncos head coach (and ex-Cincy defensive backs coach) Vance Joseph. The Bengals were turned down by Josh McDaniels, but they’ve also asked to meet with Bucs OC Todd Monken and Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, among others. Bieniemy’s interview with the Bengals — originally scheduled for Friday — will now take place on Saturday, tweets Pelissero.
  • After being designated for return from injured reserve and participating in seven-on-seven drills at the end of December, Chargers tight end Hunter Henry took first-team snaps in practice this week, Los Angeles announced. However, Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn still declined to commit to Henry playing against the Ravens in the first round of the NFL postseason, as Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com tweets. If Henry does play, he’ll be on a “pitch count,” meaning fellow tight ends Antonio Gates and Virgil Green will still see time. Henry tore his ACL in May, but Los Angeles held out hope he’d be available if the club made it to the playoffs.
  • Rams center John Sullivan collected a $1MM bonus by being active for at least 15 games and Los Angeles ranking as a top-five scoring offense and making the playoffs, per Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Sullivan, 33, actually started all 16 games for the Rams in 2018, and has started 31 contests since joining the club last offseason. LA’s line was elite in 2018, finishing No. 1 in adjusted line yards and No. 6 in adjusted sack rate, but Sullivan graded as just the NFL’s No. 32 center, per Pro Football Focus. The Rams hold a 2019 option on Sullivan which would pay him $1.75MM in base salary in addition to a $2.5MM roster bonus.
  • Currently being run by a trust headed by team president Joe Ellis, the Broncos are in need of a permanent owner. That’s likely to eventually be Pat Bowlen‘s youngest daughter, Brittany Bowlen, tweets James Palmer of ESPN.com, who notes Brittany will join the organization “at some point.” Bowlen, 28, could potentially take over in 2021 after a new collective bargaining agreement is put into place, speculates Mike Klis of 9News.
  • 49ers left guard Laken Tomlinson suffered a torn MCL on Sunday, according to a team announcement. That’s relatively good news since the longtime starter was carted off of the field, leading to fears that he had suffered a torn ACL. Tomlinson will not need surgery, so he should be good to go for offseason activities. Tomlinson is under contract with San Francisco through 2021 thanks to the three-year, $18MM extension he signed last summer.

49ers Eyeing Grigson For Front Office Role

Since being fired by the Colts from their general manager post, Ryan Grigson has spent the past two years with two different teams. He served in both the Browns’ and Seahawks’ front offices.

The 49ers are now interested in bringing the veteran executive to the Bay Area, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (on Twitter).

While John Lynch is entering his third offseason as 49ers GM, he has former Lions GM Martin Mayhew working in the front office as well. Grigson, 46, would add a third exec with experience as a team’s top personnel man.

The Browns let Grigson go just after the 2017 season ended. He caught on with the Seahawks in June of last year, now serving in the role of senior football consultant.

Grigson ran the Colts for five years. His first draft brought Colt cornerstones Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton, but the team struggled to build a roster around Luck as the years progressed.

Seahawks Hire Ryan Grigson

Former Colts GM Ryan Grigson is back in the NFL. The Seahawks have hired him to join their front office, according to an announcement from his agent.

[RELATED: Cowboys “Holding Out Hope” Of Acquiring Earl Thomas?]

Grigson, 46, was the Colts’ GM for five years until he was fired after the 2016 season. Outside of landing Andrew LuckT.Y. Hilton, Coby Fleener, and Dwayne Allen his first draft, the rest of Grigson’s draft record was rather spotty. Meanwhile, his trade of a first-round pick for Browns draft bust Trent Richardson in 2013 probably stands as his most infamous move.

Grigson hooked on with the Browns in 2017, but he was let go by John Dorsey‘s regime. It’s not immediately clear what he’ll be doing in Seattle under GM John Schneider, but it’s likely to be scouting-focused. Officially, Grigson will serve as a consultant, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times (Twitter link) hears.