Arizona Cardinals name Tennessee Titans’ Monti Ossenfort new GM

The Arizona Cardinals named Tennessee Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort their new GM on Monday.

“It was critically-important for us to find the right person to lead us as general manager and there is no doubt in my mind that we have that in Monti Ossenfort,” Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said in a press release. “He possesses every attribute of a successful GM – passion, leadership, intelligence, work ethic – and his extensive experience has clearly prepared him for this role. We could not be more thrilled to have Monti and his family joining the Cardinals.”

The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero first reported the news.

Ossenfort has 21 years of experience in the NFL and is coming off his third season with the Titans in that role.

Before his time in Tennessee, Ossenfort spent 15 seasons with the New England Patriots as the director of college scouting from 2014-19, assistant director of college scouting from 2011-13, a national scout from 2008-10, area scout from 2006-07 and personnel assistant in 2003. During that span, the Patriots won four Super Bowl titles.

He also spent three seasons with the Houston Texans as a college scout (2005), pro and college scouting assistant (2004) and pro personnel intern (2002).

Ossenfort replaces Steve Keim, who resigned from his position on Jan. 9 after spending a decade as the Cardinals’ general manager.

He is an external hire after Bidwill confirmed the team was interviewing those types of candidates while also considering members of the organization like vice president of player personnel Quentin Harris and vice president of pro personnel Adrian Wilson. They both served as co-interim GMs after Keim took a health-related absence away form the team in mid-December.

Other candidates the Cardinals interviewed included Baltimore Ravens director of personnel Joe Hortiz,  Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham and former New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese.

It is an important couple of weeks ahead for Ossenfort, who will lead the charge in replacing fired head coach Kliff Kingsbury and begin building a draft board for a team that holds the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Ossenfort’s hiring on Monday comes a day prior to Jan. 17, the date teams can begin having in-person interviews with head coaching candidates.

The Cardinals have already received permission to interview former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton and requested an interview with San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans and Pittsburgh Steelers senior defensive assistant Brian Flores. Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is also expected to get an interview.

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