Raiders to interview Bears exec Kelly, Patriots' Ziegler for GM

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Raiders to interview Bears' Champ Kelly, Patriots' Dave Ziegler for GM post

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 1/19/22

Two days after falling to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC wild-card round of the playoffs, the Las Vegas Raiders announced on Monday that they had fired general manager Mike Mayock. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday morning that the organization had at least a couple of interviews for the end of the week lined up for the vacancy.

The #Raiders will conduct interviews later week to fill their vacant GM job. #Patriots de facto GM Dave Ziegler, who keyed the team’s thorough rebuild through FA and the draft, will do his Friday. #Bears Assistant Director of Player Personnel Champ Kelly interviews on Thursday.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 19, 2022

Ziegler -- who joined the Patriots in 2012 as an assistant director of pro scouting -- is currently the team's director of player personnel. He spent three years in his first role, then four years as director of pro personnel and has been at his current post since 2020.

Kelly's career in the NFL began when he was hired by the Denver Broncos as a Northeast College scout in 2007. From 2008 to 2009, he served as the assistant coordinator of pro and college scouting and from 2010 to 2014, he was the team's assistant director of pro personnel.

The former Kentucky Wildcat football player became the Bears' director of pro scouting in 2015 and held that role until 2016. Kelly has been the organization's assistant director of player personnel since 2017.

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