Getty The Giants are eyeing five-time Pro Bowler Adrian Wilson as a potential candidate for their general manager vacancy.
With Dave Gettleman out as general manager, the New York Giants quickly put in requests to interview Buffalo Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen, Kansas City Chiefs executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles and Tennessee Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort and vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden.
In addition to these four candidates, the Giants have also requested permission to speak with Arizona Cardinals vice president of pro player personnel Adrian Wilson for their GM vacancy, per Peter Schrager of FOX and NFL Network.
For those that are unfamiliar, Wilson was a three-time All-Pro safety and five-time Pro Bowler for the Cardinals from 2001 to 2012. Wilson also played for the New England Patriots in 2013 when Giants head coach Joe Judge was on staff. After retiring from the NFL following the 2014 season, Wilson went back to Arizona to become a scout for the organization that drafted him.
Wilson, 42, has since risen through the ranks in the Cardinals’ front office, getting promoted to director of pro scouting in 2019 and then VP of pro personnel last season.
Wilson was the fifth name to emerge as a possible candidate in the Giants’ GM search. And although the Giants typically lean towards hiring individuals with previous ties to the organization, the current list features five external targets, which indicates that they are looking to go outside the box to finally turn things around.
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The List Continues to Grow
Make it seven. Along with Wilson, Schrager later reported two additional names to join the Giants’ now long list of potential GM candidates.
According to Schrager, the Giants have requested to speak with a pair of executives in the San Francisco 49ers‘ front office, assistant GM Adam Peters and Director of player personnel Ran Carthon.
Two more names for Giants GM search…
The Giants have sought permission to interview:
—San Francisco 49ers Assistant GM Adam Peters
—San Francisco 49ers Director of Player Personnel Ran Carthon
Peters was promoted to assistant GM to John Lynch prior to the 2021 season. He joined the 49ers in 2017, where he served as their vice president of player personnel in his first four seasons with the team. In addition to his work with the 49ers, Peters spent eight seasons with the Denver Broncos in a number of roles in their scouting department (director of college scouting, assistant director of college scouting, national scout, regional scout).
As for Carthon, he retired from playing in the NFL after the 2006 season and began his front office career as a scout for the Atlanta Falcons in 2008. Carthon then became the Rams‘ director of player personnel (2012 to 2016), before getting hired by the 49ers as their director of pro personnel in 2017.
Carthon is the son of former Giants two-time Super Bowl Champion fullback Maurice Carthon and is well regarded by legendary head coach Bill Parcells, per Bob Glauber of Newsday.
Abrams Not in the Mix
Despite an initial report that Giants assistant GM Kevin Abrams was expected to interview for their GM vacancy, it turns out that he is not in the running after all.
Although Abrams was rumored as a potential successor to Gettleman, he is not a candidate for the role this time around, per Art Stapleton of The Bergen Record.
Abrams, 51, interviewed for the Giants’ GM job back in 2017 after Jerry Reese was fired during the season. The longtime executive joined the Giants in 1999 as a salary cap analyst, before getting promoted to assistant GM in 2002.
Abrams has held this role in the organization, and also added the title of vice president of football operations in 2018 as well.
However, it appears as though the Giants will be headed in a different direction after compiling an NFL-worst 22-58 record since the start of the 2017 season.