Two more requests have been received for an interview with the Raiders GM. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, the Raiders are interested in meeting with Bengals senior personnel manager Trey Brown and Bills director of player personnel Terrance Gray.
The addition of Brown is interesting because of the history of the Raiders’ young executive team. The team met with Brown in 2019 and again in 2022. Gray had never applied for a job at GM before. Those two AFC recruits are on the Raiders’ interview short list, along with 49ers GM Adam Peters and Colts GM Ed Dodds. Dodds was with Brown at a meeting with Mark Davis and Co. There was a meeting with Dave Ziegler during the 2022 search.
When the Raiders met with Brown in 2019, he was the Eagles’ director of scouting. Brown, 38, joined the service when he was 31. He began his career as an NFL scout with the Patriots in 2010. Between gigs with the Eagles and Bengals, Brown held front office positions in two minor leagues and worked with the American Football Association and the second iteration of the XFL.
The Bengals promoted Brown to his current position in 2022. Gray has 20 years of experience as an NFL official, having worked for the Chiefs and Vikings before, most recently, with the Bills. Gray spent 11 years in Minnesota and rose through the scouting ranks under Rick Spielman.
Brandon Beane hired Gray in 2017 while he was GM in Buffalo. He is the manager of the 2022 team. The Bills lost assistant GM Joe Schoen to the Giants that year. Given Buffalo’s success while Beane has been around, Gray will likely be a notable name on the GM interview circuit. The Bengals saw their playoff comeback derailed by an injury to Joe Burrow, but Brown led the team to two AFC Championship games during his time in Cincinnati.
All four candidates have been cleared for interviews, but the Raiders will meet with interim GM Champ Kelly, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo reports. Davis said the team may hire a general manager rather than a head coach, but that is not a set strategy. Other teams are also expected to show interest in Kelly.
Thepopular manager has made some progress in the final weeks of his caretaker role and reports in December suggested he was more likely to stay than Antonio Pearce. As of now, there are no candidates like Jim Harbaugh on the GM interview list in Las Vegas, so Kelly may not have the competition that Pierce will face down the road.
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