The Jacksonville Jaguars are the only team left with an opening at the GM position. Following their hiring of head coach Liam Coen, Jacksonville is still methodically going through a decently large pool of candidates. 11 GM candidates have completed virtual interviews with the Jaguars, including Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander.
It wasn't the only opening Alexander interviewed for either. The Chargers' assistant general manager also interviewed twice with the Raiders for their opening. About three weeks ago, Las Vegas decided to hire Bucs assistant GM Jon Spytek as GM.
Like the Raiders vacancy, it doesn't seem as though Alexander will be the pick for the Jaguars GM position this year. On Saturday, Jacksonville announced that they will conduct in-person interviews with five finalist candidates.
Those who made the cut for the finalist list were Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham, Rams Director of Scouting Strategy James Gladstone, Packers Vice President of Player Personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, Jaguars Interim GM Ethan Waugh, and 49ers Director/Scouting and Football Operations Josh Williams.
Chargers won't lose Chad Alexander this offseason
Losing Alexander after year one would've been disappointing for a Chargers organization that spent all of last spring and summer building out their front office. Luckily for LA, it seems he'll at least get a second year before perhaps taking more GM interviews next offseason.
There were also draft pick implications based on the Chargers keeping Alexander for at least one more year. Given Alexander's status as a minority candidate, the Chargers would receive two third-round compensatory draft picks for developing a hired GM if he did leave for a job next offseason.
However, the NFL mandates that the hired candidate must have been within the organization for two years to receive comp. So, if Alexander had been hired for the Jaguars or Raiders jobs this offseason, LA wouldn't have received extra draft capital.
In December, Alexander participated in the NFL’s front office and general manager accelerator program in Dallas. He said this about the idea of becoming another team's general manager in the future:
"If that opportunity presents itself, I'd be really fired up and honored to have that happen for sure," Alexander said. "At the end of the day though, you always want to continue to learn. Philosophically, you want to keep trying to add to your personal book of knowledge."
With a wealth of front office experience from his days in Baltimore, New York, and now LA, Alexander will likely be a name to watch in the next few offseasons as teams eventually open up general manager positions.