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We’ve heard of eight men connected to the Colts’ general manager search, as Jim Irsay has requested to interview seven people (that we know of) so far for the position. It’s no guarantee that everyone will accept an interview request, but so far it seems like several of them have.
Here’s the schedule of Colts’ GM interviews that we know so far, thanks to reports from NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo:
Wednesday - Chris Ballard, Chiefs director of football operations
Wednesday - George Paton, Vikings assistant general manager
Thursday - Trent Kirchner, Seahawks co-director of player personnel
Thursday - Scott Fitterer, Seahawks co-director of player personnel
“Later this week” - Eliot Wolf, Packers director of football operations
Date unknown - Jimmy Raye III, Colts’ VP of football operations
Rapoport said that after those interviews, Irsay will interview Jimmy Raye. No exact date was given for that interview, but that’s not as big of a deal since Raye works for the Colts and will see Irsay around more often than the other guys.
Irsay is in Mobile this week for the Senior Bowl, so he’s got the chance to be around a lot of the top personnel guys and he’ll have the chance to interview a lot of them there. That works out well for him, and it will help get the GM search progressing quickly.
The big thing isn’t when exactly the interviews are taking place but that they will take place at all. It seems that everyone has accepted the interview request already besides the Ravens’ Eric DeCosta, which was a long shot in the first place but could still happen. We also don’t know if there are others that Irsay has requested, but without a doubt the fact that guys like Chris Ballard and Eliot Wolf even accepted interviews in the first place is huge for Irsay and the Colts. It means that some of the top personnel guys around the NFL and some of the most respected guys at least are willing to talk about the Colts’ job, and that’s a great sign.