Detroit Lions Top GM Candidates

Others I ruled out

Eric DeCosta: The current Assistant GM for the Baltimore Ravens, he’s been a hot candidate for several jobs over the years. DeCosta himself has shunned many of those opportunities, and he is widely speculated to be the GM-in-waiting for the Ravens whenever his mentor Ozzie Newsome decides to hand over the reins.

Louis Riddick: A bright ESPN analyst and former NFL player, he brings a definite “I’m smarter than you” swagger in his media assignments. He is widely respected by league insiders. But the last time the Lions tried this course, right down to the same glaring lack of management experience and blunt-force delivery, they wound up with Matt Millen.

Eliot Wolf: Just 33, the son of legendary roster builder Ron Wolf has worked in various capacities in the Packers front office for most of his adult life. Wolf is widely considered a rising star, but various talking heads on both Sirius NFL Radio and the NFL Network have indicated he is all but guaranteed the Green Bay gig when Ted Thompson eventually moves on. It’s very hard to see him throw away that potential to join the Packers’ downtrodden division rival.

Brian Xanders: He survived the Great Purge of 2015, but Xanders features all the negatives of Sheldon White without as much experience or upside. He succeeded Sundquist as Broncos GM but was fired after a year. Xanders is quite obviously the media leak to some NFL “insiders” and Mrs. Ford has to know this.