NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero have reported that the Los Angeles Chargers have formally requested permission from the New Orleans Saints to interview Jeff Ireland, the vice president and assistant general manager of college personnel, for their vacant general manager position.
Ireland has transformed the Saints' draft process by drafting star players in Alvin Kamara, Marshon Lattimore, Michael Thomas, Ryan Ramczyk, and Chris Olave since he arrived in 2015. He was also the former general manager for the Miami Dolphins.
On Monday, New Orleans also received a request from the Carolina Panthers to interview the team's vice president of football operations and assistant general manager, Khai Harley.
Should Harley and Ireland get extended an offer to take over as general managers, Mickey Loomis will lose two critical assets to the New Orleans Saints front office.
Harley is known as the financial wizard who has been able to eliminate and restructure football contracts for the team to wipe millions of dollars off the salary cap. New Orleans will face the challenging task of finding a replacement for Harley.
Former Saints assistant general manager Terry Fontenot is the current general manager of the Atlanta Falcons. Last year, the Falcons were denied the opportunity to interview Khai Harley for a front-office position.
The Saints must improve the offensive line, receiving corps, defensive backfield, edge rushers, and linebacker talent via the draft and in free agency. First, tackling the financials will be daunting for Harley and his team.
Michael Parenton would be a prime candidate to take over for Ireland. He is in his third season as the director of pro personnel and has been with the scouting department for 12 years.
Eventually, New Orleans would address the situation if Harley and Ireland were to leave, but with over $70M in cap space that must come off the books, losing Harley would hurt the front office.
Equally significant would to be without Ireland as college scouts are visiting all-star college bowls and Pro Days ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.
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