Big Cat Country
A quartet of GM candidates for Jags fans to watch out for
The delayed departure of Trent Baalke as general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars means the franchise is now looking for the next leader of their front office operations. Further complicating the hiring process is the appointment of Liam Cohen, with the timeline suggesting the new head coach wasn’t willing to work with Baalke and will have a say in who the next GM of the Jags is. Here are four potential candidates for the role:
If we join up the dots, Mike Greenberg probably makes the most sense at this early part of the hiring process. An up and coming front office executive, Greenberg has spent the past fifteen years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, originally joining the club as player personnel assistant back in 2010. After various different roles, Greenberg became assistant general manager in 2023, working closely with GM Jason Licht - a combination that has helped the Bucs to four NFC South titles in a row.
Liam Cohen may have only been in Tampa for 12 months, but that familiarity for a first-time head coach may prove invaluable. Greenberg recently interviewed for the New York Jets general manager role, but narrowly missed out to Darren Mougey. Despite the disappointment of not getting the role on the team he supported as a young boy, it does suggest that Greenberg is actively looking to take that next step.
If you’re looking for hot names in this year’s GM hiring cycle, then none come hotter than Ian Cunningham. After failing to make the grade as a rookie with the Kansas City Chiefs, Cunningham immediately went into the operations side of the game, joining the Baltimore Ravens as a personnel assistant in 2008. He spent nine years in Baltimore, four as an area scout, before being poached by the Philadelphia Eagles to be their director of college scouting in 2017.
Impressing in the City of Brotherly Love, Cunningham was promoted twice during his time with the Eagles, ultimately becoming the director of player personnel. Once again he was headhunted, this time landing the assistant general manager role with the Chicago Bears in 2022. Cunningham has spent the last three seasons working with Ryan Poles to overhaul the roster and accumulate a plethora of draft picks, resulting in the lauded 2024 class that included Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze.
Cunningham and Cohen have never crossed paths in their career. But considering Cohen’s nomadic employment history, the same will apply to most candidates the Jaguars interview. Not even forty years of age yet, Cunningham would be a young GM - perhaps the perfect pairing to work with the Jags young head coach.
Another young GM candidate, Brandon Brown is just 36 years old. Despite his relative youth, the New York Giants’ assistant general manager has been working in front offices for thirteen years, amassing experience with the Jets, Eagles and Indianapolis Colts....
