:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68670243/1230414240.0.jpg)
With all the news in the air about the Atlanta Falcons on the verge of hiring New Orleans Saints executive Terry Fontenot, it’s easy to forget about the staff already in place.
One name, Nick Polk, has been running the football operations side of things for 11 years. NFL’s Ian Rapoport reported on Thursday he’s getting a look for the Washington Football Team general manager vacancy.
The Washington Football Team has requested permission to interview #Falcons Director of Football Operations Nick Polk for their open GM job, sources say. Polk is a respected member of the front office and he’s spent nearly two decades in Atlanta.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 14, 2021
With a new regime incoming, it’s not surprising to see guys like Polk be curious in new roles around the league. A GM opening, of course, is a big promotion, and it sounds like Polk has earned his chance to lead the front office of an NFL team.
The Athletic’s Jeff Schultz noted that Polk had become more involved in personnel decisions in recent years and that he’s got a background doing salary cap work, handling negotiations and cap management for the team throughout Thomas Dimitroff’s front office tenure.
We’re all in Fontenot Mode here at The Falcoholic, but it sounds like Polk taking any type of role elsewhere would be a loss for the organization, given his long experience. Fans who aren’t happy with the state of the salary cap will surely be eager to see him go, but remember that Polk likely did not determine who was giving the money, only the best possible deal for the team. Fontenot will no doubt be interested in bringing in some of his own guys for roles, so if Polk indeed lands the GM job with WFT, then we’d expect that’d be one role the new Falcons GM would fill soon with free agency not all that far away.
WFT is also looking at execs from the Titans (Ryan Cowden), 49ers (Martin Mayhew) and Chargers (JoJo Wooden) along with Polk, according to reports.
If it’s Polk’s time to take on a bigger role with an NFL team, we’re happy to see him reach that point in his career. We’ll see if Fontenot elects to push hard to keep other team executives, like director of college scouting Anthony Robinson, who have been part of the team’s success (when they’ve enjoyed it) over the past decade.