NFL insiders can get things wrong from time to time.
Jay Glazer reported there was no way Chip Kelly was getting fired after one season — whoops. Jason La Canfora reported in December the York family was discussing stripping Jed of his powers — that obviously didn’t happen. Ian Rapoport reported in December Colin Kaepernick will void his contract and still could be the starting quarterback in 2017.
The point is, rumors swirl in the NFL, and it’s hard to sort out the facts.
Now that we’ve prefaced all of that, it’s worth noting La Canfora floated out Mark Dominik as a potential name who could land in the 49ers front office.
Lot of scuttlebutt among personnel guys at the Senior Bowl that ex-Tampa GM Mark Dominik could end up with the 49ers
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 25, 2017
Before becoming an ESPN analyst, Dominik was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers director of scouting from 1997-2008, before taking over as GM from 2009-2013. Some of his moves included drafting quarterback Josh Freeman and helping hire head coach Greg Schiano. Dominik did also select stars Gerald McCoy, Lavonte David and Doug Martin after taking over the job.
Interestingly, Dominik is down in Mobile for the Senior Bowl, and joined Cleveland radio station 92.3 The Fan, where he discussed Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers, amongst other topics.
“Kyle was with me back in Tampa Bay in 2005. Kyle and I became friends then,” Dominik said. “And certainly, have appreciated what he’s been able to do in Atlanta with a lot of talent. Let’s be honest, they’ve done a great job of building that football team. They finished it off by ceiling the line.
“I expect him to have success. Because I think in San Francisco, where he’s going, I think there’s an understanding of where that franchise is from a talent perspective.”
This could be another leverage play from Shanahan. Maybe he’s not entirely comfortable with having one of Jed York’s buddies, Tom Gamble, so closely involved in football matters. Dominik could serve in an assistant general manager role — or further, if Shanahan doesn’t vibe with George Paton or Terry McDonough this weekend, Dominik could be the fall back option.
In this ongoing hiring saga, we’ve got another name to add to the list. And as we speculate alongside the national media, the dots are there to connect between Shanahan and Dominik.