Arizona Cardinals weren’t as high on in-house candidates for GM
By Jim Koch
Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill sought help from the outside rather than promote Adrian Wilson and Quentin Harris.
Just a couple of weeks ago, fans of the Arizona Cardinals were being told that a pair of in-house executives were strong contenders for the team’s general manager position. After all, Adrian Wilson and Quentin Harris had been sharing those job duties since last month when Steve Keim stepped away from the Cards for medical reasons.
Any chance that Wilson and Harris had of being the permanent replacement for Keim went out the window last week when Arizona owner Michael Bidwill handed the gig to Monti Ossenfort. The Minnesota native had been working in NFL front offices since 2001, and had most recently spent three years as the director of player personnel for the Tennessee Titans.
Ossenfort is now in control of the roster, but it appears that the 44-year-old wasn’t even the franchise’s first choice. According to a report, Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham was offered the Cardinals’ GM position but turned it down. In essence, Ossenfort got the job by default.
Bidwill’s interest in Cunningham, and then Ossenfort, shows how determined he was to supply the Redbirds’ front office with some help from the outside. The other possibility is that the 58-year-old simply didn’t believe that either Wilson or Harris were viable replacement options for Keim.
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Lending to that theory even more is the fact that the Cards went outside of the organization once again when they hired an assistant GM for Ossenfort. David Sears, a former director of college scouting for the Detroit Lions, has been brought aboard to assist Ossenfort in the personnel department. With those two additions, is there any future for Wilson and Harris in the Arizona desert?
Harris started out as a scout when he joined the Cardinals back in 2008, and has gradually worked his way up the corporate ladder. In February of 2021, the 45-year-old was named vice president of player personnel under Keim.
Wilson, a five-time Pro Bowl safety with the Cards, parlayed that brilliant playing career into a gig as a regional scout for the squad in 2015. The 43-year-old has been the club’s vice president for the last two years.
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Based on what has transpired in the past week or so, it would not be surprising to see Arizona’s management team undergo even more of a shakeup. It remains to be seen whether there’s a place for Wilson and Harris in the organization’s new infrastructure.
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