Who’s on the list of Arizona Cardinals general manager candidates after moving on from both coach Kliff Kingsbury and GM Steve Keim?
Michael Bidwill was OK eating tens of millions in owed salary to Kingsbury (and, depending on the terms of his contract, perhaps also Keim) for the betterment of the franchise. Last spring, both coach and GM signed contract extensions through 2027. Now it’s back to square one for a franchise that hasn’t won a championship since 1947.
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Bidwill, through his PR department, confirmed the moves the morning after his Cardinals finished the 2022 season on a seven-game losing streak. Keim had been on indefinite medical leave for the past several weeks.
“We have announced that head coach Kliff Kingsbury has been relieved of his duties,” the Cardinals said. “In addition, General Manager Steve Keim has decided to step away from his position in order to focus on his health. The team wishes them well and thanks both of them for their contributions.”
Keim, 50, had been the Cardinals’ general manager since 2013. Arizona went 80-80-2 during that stretch, making the playoffs three times, including in 2015 when the team reached the NFC Championship Game.
He leaves a roster in need of a major reboot. The Cardinals ranked 29th in offensive efficiency (4.8 yards per play) and 31st in points allowed (26.4) in 2022. Plus, there’s uncertainty about when franchise quarterback Kyler Murray will be available after tearing his ACL last month.
Here are six names to watch as Bidwill assembles a list of candidates to take over that mess.
Internal Candidates Quentin Harris, Adrian Wilson
Quentin Harris, the Cardinals’ vice president of player personnel, and their vice president of pro personnel, Adrian Wilson, shared GM duties for the last month of the season when Keim went on leave.
If those names sound familiar, they should. Both played in the Cardinals’ defensive backfield before transitioning into the front office after their careers came to an end.
Harris has the more impressive résumé. He’s worked in the Cardinals’ personnel department for 15 seasons, most recently as Keim’s top lieutenant. He should be familiar to anyone with an opening, having participated in the league’s inaugural NFL Coach and Front Office Accelerator program.
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The conference provided underrepresented prospects with direct networking opportunities in an effort to increase their exposure for this very time of year.
Wilson, a former All-Pro, has worked in the Cardinals’ personnel department since 2015, and in his current role since 2021.
Wilson, according to his official bio, “supervises the pro scouting staff and oversees all pro player evaluation, the advance scouting process, free agency and the daily monitoring of player transactional movement in all professional leagues. Wilson also assists with college scouting, including evaluations for all juniors and cross-checking top draft prospects.”
Mike Borgonzi, Assistant General Manager, Kansas City Chiefs
Want to know why the Chiefs are one win away from their fifth straight conference championship game appearance?
Yes, it’s largely because of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. But that’s an incomplete answer. It’s also because the Chiefs continue to build a high-level roster around their two organizational pillars.
Mike Borgonzi, as Brett Veach’s right-hand man, has had a big role in that. As assistant GM, Borgonzi directs Kansas City’s college and professional scouting operations and helps Veach with the club’s roster management and player acquisition.
His draft track record is excellent — and a stark contrast to the many misses experienced by the Cardinals during the Keim era.
Ran Carthon, Director of Player Personnel, San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers are the NFC’s version of the Chiefs — without the recent Lombardi Trophy.
They’ve built arguably the best top-to-bottom roster in the entire league, and have stormed into the postseason on a 10-game winning streak despite losing two starting quarterbacks in the course of the season.
But the Niners have shown an uncanny ability of replacing good players with more good players, and Ran Carthon — who the 49ers say is responsible for evaluating the top college prospects and assists in the construction of the pro free agency board and evaluations — is a big reason why.
Carthon interviewed for the openings in Chicago, New York (Giants), and Pittsburgh last year. It’s only a matter of time until he gets a top job.
Alec Halaby, Assistant General Manager, Philadelphia Eagles
Alec Halaby might be the latest 30-something brainiac to get a shot at running a franchise.
You know what the Harvard grad is about when you learn he was a presenter at the prestigious MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. He appeared on a panel entitled “Moving The Chains: Advancing Football Analytics” with the late Mike Leach and ESPN’s Brian Burke and Mina Kimes.
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Halaby has spent 15 seasons with the Eagles, serving as the team’s vice president of football operations and strategy before Howie Roseman promoted him to assistant GM last year.
“During his tenure with the Eagles, Halaby has focused on player evaluation, roster management, and resource allocation, with a particular emphasis on integrating traditional and analytical methods in decision-making,” his bio reads.
Champ Kelly, Assistant General Manager, Las Vegas Raiders
This is a familiar name to anyone who follows GM hiring news. Champ Kelly’s been a candidate for basically half the jobs of the last few years, meeting with the Panthers and Broncos in 2021 and the Bears and Raiders in 2022.
Las Vegas was so impressed with Kelly that they hired him as an assistant to Dave Ziegler last winter. If Kelly gets the job, he will have taken an unconventional path.
He was a player, coach, and general manager of the same indoor football team — all before the age of 30.