The Cardinals decided to go outside the building when choosing new general manager Monti Ossenfort‘s assistant general manager, hiring Lions director of college scouting Dave Sears, as reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network Saturday morning.
The move will be a reunion for Ossenfort and Sears who worked together for the Texans as college scouts.
Sears left Houston for Detroit in 2007 and has been with the Lions ever since working his way up from regional scout to his current role, which he’s held since 2019.
Sears has been integral in the team’s draft process, serving as the intermediary between area scouts and the decision-makers of the draft.
Sears will become the No. 2 behind Ossenfort, who was hired as the Cardinals’ general manager earlier this week.
The move to bring Ossenfort and Sears in from outside the building is an interesting one considering the Cardinals had two capable candidates for both positions in vice president of pro personnel Adrian Wilson and vice president of player personnel Quentin Harris, who served together filling the interim duties of general manager during Steve Keim‘s leave of absence.
Both Wilson and Harris interviewed for the open general manager position, and both are more than qualified for the assistant role.
If the franchise is adamant on bring in new blood to the front office, it may be spelling the end for Wilson and Harris’s time in Arizona.
The team had also interviewed Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, who reportedly turned down the job after receiving an offer, according to Jay Glazer of FOX NFL Sunday.
The Cardinals are now set moving forward with Ossenfort and Sears leading in the front office.
They currently also still have Wilson and Harris in their current positions creating a strong group of top executives in the player personnel office.
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