On Tuesday night, the Detroit Lions allegedly flew into Rams scouting college director Brad Holmes for a second interview for the vacancy of general manager. He becomes the first candidate to schedule a second interview and establish himself as a finalist for the position.
But according to Albert Breer of MMQB, he is not alone. Breer says there are at least four more candidates that Lions hope to bring in for personal follow-up: Ed Dodds, Colts Assistant General Manager, Saints VP / Assistant General Manager, Saints Professional Personnel, Terry Fontenot, VP / Assistant General Manager, Staff college of Saints Jeff Ireland and assistant GM of the Vikings, George Paton.
Dodds, the most popular of the group, just completed his interview with the team on Tuesday. He is probably a serious candidate after he stepped down from the Panthers earlier this week.
As for the duo Fontenot and Ireland of the Saints, at least Fontenot is considered a finalist for the work of the Atlanta Falcons, who reportedly narrowed their search to Fontenot, Holmes and former GM Texans Rick Smith. Ireland interviewed the Panthers last week, but no follow-up has taken place so far.
Lions will also have competition for Paton. The deputy general manager of the Vikings had a second interview with the Denver Broncos on Tuesday, while they closed the search. Detroit may have an advantage with Paton’s familiarity with Chris Spielman, considering that he works side by side with his brother, Rick, who is the Vikings’ GM.
An interesting observation about these finalists is that Lions will not be able to interview Fontenot and Ireland until the Saints are eliminated from the playoffs or until the week between Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl, whichever comes first. Paton and Dodds, however, are available to bring whenever you want.
The reason why the Lions managed to bring Holmes in for a second interview, although the Rams are still in the playoffs, was explained by Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press on Tuesday:
Quick explanation at the end of this story: Brad Holmes can personally interview Lions because he is not in the Rams’ building (lives in Atlanta). If Lions want to interview one of the saints again personally, they will have to wait until they lose https://t.co/gu4NXU7mkW
– Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) January 12, 2021
So if Lions really see Fontenot or Ireland as serious candidates, that search may take a few more weeks. Last week, team president Rod Wood said that if they had to wait for the right candidate, they would.
“We would be willing to wait if it was necessary to find the right person, yes. There is no deadline in our process. “