Getty Jerry Reese celebrating his Super Bowl win.
The Detroit Lions continue to kick start their process for hiring a new general manager, and one of the names to arise early in the process has had major success n the league.
According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the Lions are interested in hiring former New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese. Reese is likely to draw an interview from the team and is a candidate for the job. He also wants back into football after being out for the last few seasons since his departure from the Giants.
As La Canfora explains in the piece, Reese is backed very strongly by advisors to the Lions as well as the NFL league office. The Lions could once again lean on the advice of Ernie Accorsi to help them out, and he could back Reese in this situation. Detroit could be eyeballing experience this time for general manager considering they have not had anyone as accomplished as Reese running the team lately.
Reese captured Super Bowl XLII and XLVI with the team, and was instrumental at putting together the roster which managed to help the Giants contend for the better part of a decade in the NFC East. If he were to join the Lions, he would be easily the most accomplished general manager the team has employed in a long time.
There’s a long way to go, and Reese is so far the second name to surface in connection with the Detroit job along with John Dorsey.
Jerry Reese Biography
There is no doubting the impact that Reese had on the Giants. After rising through the ranks in the organization, Reese managed to become the team’s director of player personnel from 2004-2007. After that, he became the general manager where he presided over a team that took home a pair of Super Bowls in the process. Reese constructed the Giants roster that was a force in the league from 2007 right up until his eventual dismissal in 2017. Perhaps his biggest mistake with the Giants was the Ben McAdoo fiasco, but prior to that mistake, Reese successfully worked with Tom Coughlin as his head coach and made a host of key personnel moves to help steer the Giants in the right direction for years.
Reese being a top candidate only points to the fact that the Lions are very interested in a captain with experience to lead them moving forward.
Lions General Manager Search Update
Detroit has committed to change on a deep level since the firing of Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia, and are looking for a new voice in the front office to help set the tone from the top down. An experienced name could be what the Lions need the most considering the problems they have had on the field and with regard to roster construction the last handful of seasons. Early on, John Dorsey and Reese have been the two candidates with the most traction,
The Lions could easily make bold moves in the next few months, and hiring someone with Reese’s background in scouting, player development and executive works would be an interesting thing to do.
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