HeadtoHeadFootball -
NFL

49ers tab John Lynch for general manager job

The San Francisco 49ers have hired Hall of Fame candidate and FOX analyst John Lynch to be their new general manager, the team announced Sunday night.

Sources tell ESPN the deal is for an almost unprecedented six years.

Less than a week before he is eligible to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the former Stanford standout is returning to the Bay Area.

As the 49ers are signing Lynch to a six-year contract, the plan is to offer Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan a six-year contract, according to league sources. The 49ers’ idea always was to have the head coach and general manager jobs tied together in terms of length of contract.

Lynch spent Thursday and Friday meeting with San Francisco officials. He spent Thursday night at 49ers owner Jed York’s house, before the team flew him back to San Diego on Friday night so he could attend a family function.

Lynch accepted the job on Sunday.

Lynch has no front-office experience but has been connected to front-office jobs in the past. Some in Denver thought he could have been a candidate to replace John Elway one day, though that day never materialized.

The idea to hire Lynch was his own. He personally called Shanahan and volunteered for the job about a week ago.

Shanahan, expected to be named the Niners’ head coach after the Super Bowl, thought about Lynch, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt Lynch was a fit for the job. Lynch played for Shanahan’s father, Mike, in Denver.

The 49ers confirmed that they had interviews with nine general manager candidates after firing Trent Baalke on Jan. 1, none of which were with Lynch. They narrowed that group down to four, and it then came down to two, after Green Bay Packers executives Brian Gutekunst and Eliot Wolf removed themselves from consideration.

From there, York and executive Paraag Marathe had second interviews with Arizona Cardinals vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough and Minnesota Vikings assistant general manager George Paton over the weekend.

Throughout the process, the Niners acknowledged that they would keep an open mind, but their primary goal was to find someone who could work in lockstep with Shanahan.

“We need to make sure that the head coach and the general manager know each other, have a good understanding for each other,” York said at the beginning of the process. “It doesn’t mean that they had to have worked together in the past, but they have to have a good respect for each other and a good understanding and know that they have similar visions and philosophies on building a football team.”

ESPN’s Nick Wagoner contributed to this report.

NFL

Cousins: Chased down INT with victory in mind

ORLANDO, Fla. — Quarterback Kirk Cousins did something the Washington Redskins most certainly didn’t like in the final minutes of Sunday’s Pro Bowl.

Cousins’ fiery competitiveness came out late, when he hustled down the field after throwing an interception to Buffalo Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, who lateralled the ball to Denver Broncos corner Aqib Talib. Cousins chased down Talib and swiped down with his right, throwing arm to cause a fumble and prevent a touchdown.

Both players landed hard but were not injured.

“It’s because I want to win, man,” Cousins told ESPN after the game of why he went for the fumble.

1 Related

Cousins, a pending free agent, is set to get a big contract extension or a franchise tag worth approximately $24 million.

“I thought I had a chance to strip it, and maybe we’d recovered it,” Cousins said. “I don’t know. Something could’ve happened. You never know. You got to play it all the way through.”

The AFC won the game 20-13 in one of the most competitive Pro Bowls in recent memory. Cousins’ hustle was a good example of that, though the play surely made Washington and Cousins’ representative hold their collective breath.

Cousins said that in the moment he wasn’t thinking about preserving his health or his upcoming contract.

“No, I just wanted to make the play,” he said.

Talib said he was caught by surprise that the quarterback was hustling to catch him from behind in the Pro Bowl.

“I didn’t know,” Talib said laughing. “I saw a lineman, and when I looked this way, I saw another lineman. I thought I was going to walk in, and [Cousins] came and got me.

“I saw all the blue end zone, and I thought I was going to walk in.”

NFL

Goodell upbeat on Pro Bowl's debut in Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. — The NFL made a major change in 2017 by moving the Pro Bowl to Orlando, something commissioner Roger Goodell sees as very positive, though he isn’t ready to make the city the Pro Bowl’s permanent home. Orlando is under contract to host the event next year with a third-year option for 2019.

“We go one year at a time,” Goodell said to ESPN just prior to kickoff. “This is new for us, and we’re still not done. We have a few more hours to go. As I just said to the [Orlando] mayor [Buddy Dyer], ‘We’re really excited, the way the fans have reacted favorably and the community has really embraced it. This is a special night for us.”

The Pro Bowl format changed this year too, returning to the NFC-AFC matchup. It incorporated a new mantra: celebrating football at all levels in a weeklong event held at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports. It included the Punt, Pass and Kick National Championship, NFL Flag Championship, the North American Championship featuring high school players from USA Football and Football Canada, and the USA Football’s Women’s World Football.

The event featured the annual USA Football national conference and the Women’s Careers in Football Forum. There was also the Pro Bowl Experience put on for fans, the EA Madden Bowl and the Pro Bowl Skills Challenge.

“We want to celebrate the game,” Goodell said. “We love seeing the kids play the game. We love to see the high school coaches here. We had a women’s football team here. It’s all about the great game that we have, and we’re able to celebrate it.”

As far as the on-field product that has come under scrutiny in recent years, Goodell said it’s important to understand what the game is and isn’t — the league must keep players safe and still make it entertaining. The key to that? Having fun, he said.

“This is a different kind of a game,” Goodell said. “This isn’t a Super Bowl or a championship game. We recognize that. It’s gotta be something that reflects positively on our end. The thing that really struck me about the skills challenge was how much fun the players had. They were really enjoying it. And that’s what I said to them tonight, ‘Have fun. Enjoy it.'”

NFL

New GM Chris Ballard's pedigree is exactly what Colts need

INDIANAPOLIS — New Colts general manager Chris Ballard arrives in Indianapolis with the type of knowledge in roster building that Colts owner Jim Irsay talked about last offseason.

Irsay, knowing the financial limitations the Colts were going to face after giving out new contracts to the likes of Andrew Luck, Dwayne Allen, Anthony Castonzo and T.Y. Hilton, said they were going to have to build their roster through the draft and develop those players.

Chris Ballard has been hired as the Colts’ new GM, replacing the fired Ryan Grigson. George Gojkovich/Getty Images

Ballard is coming from Kansas City where he was the team’s director of football operations and had success picking talented players.

Ballard, who worked his way up through the scouting ranks in the NFL, spent the past four years with the Kansas City Chiefs. And during that same span, all three of their first-round picks — offensive lineman Eric Fisher, linebacker Dee Ford and cornerback Marcus Peters — have played significant roles with the franchise. The Chiefs didn’t have a first-round pick in 2016. They also selected Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce in the third round of the 2013 draft and Pro Bowl return specialist Tyreek Hill in the fifth round of the 2016 draft.

Former Chicago director of college scouting Greg Gabriel worked with Ballard with the Bears and had high praise for the Colts’ new general manager.

“I am extremely excited about Chris coming on as our general manager,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said through the team’s Twitter account. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and a ton of experience to the organization. I’m looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and going to work alongside of him.”

One of former Colts general manager Ryan Grigson’s biggest downfalls was his inability to draft well. His best draft was his first one in 2012 that featured Luck, Allan and Hilton. But things started to go downhill for him after that. The Colts didn’t have players from their 2013 draft on their active roster this past season.

Grigson traded away their 2014 first-round pick for running back Trent Richardson, who turned out to be a bust. Grigson skipped over the likes of defensive lineman Malcolm Brown and safety Landon Collins in 2015 to select receiver Phillip Dorsett, who hasn’t lived up to expectations so far. The Colts cut their third-round pick from 2015, cornerback D’Joun Smith, last season.

The Colts have to get younger on a defense that finished 30th in the NFL and had five starters who were 30 years old or older last season.

Ballard is a first-time general manager, but he has the knowledge of what it takes to build a roster. Now the Colts hope Ballard will do the same with theirs.

Page 394 of 396« First...102030393394395396