The San Francisco 49ers became the only team without a general manager on Sunday afternoon, when the Indianapolis Colts announced their hiring of former Kansas City Chiefs director of football operations Chris Ballard as their new GM.
The Colts interviewed six candidates before deciding to hire Ballard, who spent his last four seasons with Chiefs. Ballard was reportedly the 49ers top choice to fill their GM vacancy initially, but were blocked by the Chiefs from conducting an interview. The Bears and Titans also showed interest in Ballard this offseason.
Considering Ballard was not blocked from interviewing with the Colts, it would seem that he had little interest in interviewing for Jed York. The differences in personnel — the Colts have a franchise QB in Andrew Luck and the 49ers do not — may have played a part in his decision making.
Something to consider, however: Ballard did not know the Colts’ GM job would be open when he declined / was barred from interviewing with San Francisco.
The 49ers are reportedly down to their final three GM candidates, and are expected to make a hire as soon as the middle of next week according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea. The 49ers interviewed both Vikings assistant GM George Paton and Cardinals VP of player personnel Terry McDonough, with presumptive head coach Kyle Shanahan in attendance this weekend. There have also been reports that ESPN’s Mark Dominik could be considered if Shanahan, who worked with Dominik in Tampa Bay, is more comfortable with him as the GM. As it stands, Paton is considered the frontrunner for the job.
The 49ers cannot officially hire Shanahan until after the Super Bowl next Sunday.