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The Kansas City Chiefs likely won't be losing any coaches on Black Monday, the day after the NFL season ends and named for those coaches who are getting fired. But they could be losing an executive to a GM job somewhere else.
It's been reported by a number of outlets that Kansas City Chiefs' director of player personnel Chris Ballard will be a candidate for a general manager job somewhere. He was reportedly called by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year but decided not to interview for the job. This year, his name is coming up again.
I don't know where he'll land, if he goes anywhere, but the Chicago Bears and New York Jets are two teams that some believe will have GM openings.
Via Pro Football Talk:
At a time when even long-time team president Ted Phillips couldn't escape the scuttlebutt of a potential termination, the current thinking is that Phillips won't be fired - and that his Hail Mary pass will consist of bringing back Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard as the team's new General Manager.
Via NY Daily News:
Intriguing GM possibility for the Jets: Chiefs executive Chris Ballard. Feeling is Bears might be his top choice though. #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) December 28, 2014
And, as Matt Conner shared last week, ESPN recently wrote this:
He'll be a hot commodity. Ballard is bright and personable, with a background in scouting and coaching. He spent 12 years in the Chicago Bears' organization before joining the Chiefs' front office in 2013.
It's a good sign when other teams around the league want your guys because it says you're doing something right. I can't really say much about Ballard because he hasn't been here all that long and he's not regularly out in the media. So I'd be guessing telling you whether he was great / horrible at his job (he's probably not horrible).
Once Ballard is gone, the Chiefs will have to replace him and surely they're already thinking about that. Would it be a surprise if Chiefs GM John Dorsey reunited with Reggie McKenzie?