GM update: Michael Lombardi

0

Niners president Jed York interviewed former Raiders un-GM late Tuesday night, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Earlier today, Schefter also reported York was going to reach out to Bill Parcells to talk about in-house candidate Trent Baalke, who served as a scout under Parcells back in the day.

In other words, York is looking for a new GM even as he looks for more reasons to just hand the job over to Baalke, as more and more NFL folks are assuming he will do in the end.

So, to review, here is how York's list has shaped up this week.

** Former Rams executive Tony Softli interviewed for the job Tuesday afternoon.

** Former Rams general manager Ted Sundquist will interview later this week, a team source confirmed yesterday.

** The Sacramento Bee said York has reached out to former Saints executive Rick Mueller but no interview was set up.

** And now Lombardi, who served under Raiders non-GM Bruce Allen during the Gruden years, then became the closest thing to a GM under Al Davis until he left in 2007.

And for those of you unfamiliar with The Greatness of the Raiders, no one gets the GM title because The Al is the GM. And sorry, 49ers fans, he remains under contract with the Raiders and is not on the market.

Lombardi was a 49ers scout under Bill Walsh from 1984-87. And, since Jed is buddies with Jonathan Kraft in New England, it's worth noting Lombardi was Bill Belichick's director of player personnel in Cleveland with major ties to most coaches in the Belichick tree.

If the 49ers want a GM who can make a strong coaching hire, Lombardi certainly has the connections.

Or, if they want a GM who can work with a big-name head coach, Sundquist did just that in Denver with Mike Shanahan. The Broncos had the fifth-best record (tied) in the NFL during his GM reign from 2002-07, going 58-38 with three postseason berths.

Either way, I get the feeling 49ers fans are going to burst a jugular vein if Jed goes with another novice hire, just as the team did with Scot McCloughan and Terry Donahoe before that.

Posted By: David White (Email, Twitter) | December 29 2010 at 01:01 PM