The Minnesota Vikings have requested permission to interview two Philadelphia Eagles front office members for their newly vacant general manager position, according to NFL insider Adam Schefter. The Vikings fired previous GM Rick Spielman earlier this week.
Minnesota is reportedly interested in speaking with Eagles vice president of football operations Catherine Raîche and Eagles director of player personnel Brandon Brown.
Raîche joined the Eagles in 2019 as a football operations/player personnel coordinator. She was promoted to her current position last May. Her job description indicates she is “involved in all areas of football operations and player personnel, including pro and college scouting, contract management, player/staff development, and football research.” Raîche’s title is the same one that current Browns general manager Andrew Berry held in Philly before returning to Cleveland. Raîche is believed to be the highest-ranking female personnel executive in NFL history. The Vikings hiring her would only continue her ascent.
Brown is in his fifth season with the Eagles. He was previously the team’s director of pro scouting before being promoted to his current position last May. Brown still oversees the team’s pro scouting department with some crossover work into the college scouting side.
The Vikings having interest in two Eagles candidates speaks to how Philly’s front office is viewed as a strength elsewhere in the league. Jeffrey Lurie has previously lauded how Berry and Joe Douglas were hired away as general managers.
It’s at least a little funny to see the Vikings, of all teams, are interested in hiring an Eagles executive in the aftermath of Philly taking Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson. Of course, one really bad pick by the Eagles doesn’t mean their front office members are worthless. Still, just kinda funny.
It’s also interesting to think if the Vikings hiring Raîche or Brown could lead to a former Philly coach landing in Minny. Maybe Doug Pederson gets that job? He’s reportedly interviewing for it. Or perhaps Gannon returns to the Vikings? There’s been no buzz about that much happening just yet but we’ll see.
While the Eagles would certainly prefer to retain their valued front office members, there is a benefit to seeing them leave the organization. With 2020 Resolution JC-2A entering effect last year, Philly could be in line to receive two extra draft picks:
Whereas, the member clubs believe that it is appropriate to take additional steps to enhance opportunities for employment and advancement of minorities and women in key positions, including leadership roles in coaching, personnel, and football operations,
Be it Resolved, that the League Policy on Equal Employment and Workplace Diversity will be amended as follows:
The employer-club of a minority employee who has been hired by another club as its Head Coach or Primary Football Executive (General Manager) shall receive Draft choice compensation in the form of a compensatory Draft pick in the third round in each of the next two Drafts for an employee hired as either a Head Coach or Primary Football Executive, or for the next three Drafts if it has two employees hired for both positions. The reference to the hiring of employees into “both positions” could be by the same club or different clubs.
TL;DR — The Eagles could potentially get a third-round pick after all of the compensatory selections in the third round this year and another one in the 2023 NFL Draft. Here’s a glimpse at how these JC-2A picks worked out in last year’s draft (screenshot via Wikipedia):
The Bucs’ pick at No. 95 was the last normal pick of the third round before the compensatory picks took place in the blue. Then the green picks were the JC-2A selections before the fourth round started at No. 106. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Baltimore, and New Orleans will also own JC-2A picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.
And so Philly fans will be rooting for the Vikings to hire one of these Eagles executives. For both the sake of underrepresented NFL employees gaining advancement and the Birds benefiting from extra draft picks.