Much has been made in the past few weeks about the possibility of Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson retiring or stepping down this offseason. However, much of the speculation has centered around Eliot Wolf as a possible replacement.
Even Seahawks’ GM John Schneider is a popular name, despite the fact that there is no “out clause” in his contract that would allow him to leave for the Packers if a GM vacancy existed.
However, one report on Sunday morning suggests that we have been looking at the wrong Thompson disciples as part of the succession plan, and that the team could be interested in bringing back a former team executive who does have a proven track record of success as a general manager. That name? Kansas City Chiefs GM John Dorsey.
That report comes courtesy of NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Rapoport notes that Dorsey is in the final year of his contract in Kansas City, and that he has not yet signed an extension. If Thompson decides that now is the time to step aside, Dorsey would be able to leave the Chiefs and take over the organization in which he played as a professional linebacker and began his career as a scout.
Furthermore, the report indicates that Dorsey is held in high esteem by the Packers’ executive committee. Although that committee has reported to be concerned with losing Wolf to another organization (he interviewed for the vacant 49ers GM position this week), a potential departure could be softened a bit if Dorsey were to come back into the fold.
Of course, there is no assurance that Dorsey would want to leave an organization that he has helped bring to prominence in the AFC. Still, his right hand man, Chris Ballard, was reportedly the 49ers “first choice, second choice, and third choice” for their vacant GM job before the Chiefs denied the interview. That could indicate that the Chiefs are covering their bases in the event that Dorsey does not end up staying in Kansas City.
The year before his arrival, Kansas City went 2-14; in his first year (which coincided with the hiring of Andy Reid as head coach), the Chiefs were 11-5. In fact, the Chiefs have made the playoffs three times in Dorsey’s four years, finishing with 11 or more wins in each of those seasons. They also have finished with a winning record each year and the team’s defense never finished lower than 7th in points allowed. This year, they won the AFC West with a record of 12-4 and will host a Divisional playoff game next week.
Dorsey’s Packers connections are strong, however, as he spent more than two decades with the team’s front office. was a Packers scout from 1991 to 1999, serving as Director of College Scouting for the final two years of his tenure. He then returned to that same job in 2000 after a one-year stint with Mike Holmgren in Seattle, before being named Director of Football Operations in 2012. One year later, the Chiefs hired him as GM.