Fooch’s update: The 49ers confirmed the start of Raye’s interview.
The #49ers are currently interviewing Colts VP of football operations Jimmy Raye III for general manager.https://t.co/zKAt4c3zxq. pic.twitter.com/cqaXDjcoPd
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) January 8, 2017
The second day of the wild card round gets going in a couple hours, but the San Francisco 49ers will remain busy in spite of being on the sidelines. Indianapolis Colts executive Jimmy Raye is meeting with the 49ers on Sunday to discuss the general manager position. Tom Pelissero first reported the interview would be this weekend, and the 49ers beat writers appear to have confirmed it was Sunday (as did Adam Schefter this morning).
Raye is the son of former 49ers offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye. The Colts website describes his current position as one in which he, “works closely with General Manager Ryan Grigson on personnel matters. In addition to assisting with the roster, salary cap and free agency process, Raye also contributes extensively with preparation for the NFL Draft, the NFL Combine and prospect visits. Dating back to 2014, he has handled the college free agent process.”
He got his start as a offensive quality control coach in Kansas City before moving on to the San Diego Chargers as a scout and later director of college scouting. He became director of player personnel with the Chargers and later was brought to Indianapolis to be the VP of Football Operations.
Josh Wilson from Stampede Blue had this to say about Raye:
A lot of what Raye does with the Colts is behind the scenes, but he's Ryan Grigson's right hand man in a lot of matters and has a role in a number of things, particularly the draft process, scouting, and undrafted free agent signings. He's a respected guy, but it's hard to know how much of the Colts' current roster failures can be attributed to him or not. Since he's very involved in the undrafted free agent process, though, it should be worth noting that the Colts have been very good at finding a handful of really interesting rookie free agents each year, and at least one of them winds up making the roster each year. Specifics of his job or what he's actually done are hard to come by, but he's Grigson's trusted right hand man and he's involved in a large number of things with the Colts. For more, Colts.com did a good feature on him this past offseason, and it included plenty of quotes from Grigson and Raye about their working relationship. Hope that helps.
Pat Holloway put together a look at pros and cons with Raye:
Why you want this guy:
Raye III has some solid progression through the ranks. He’s got a dab of coaching to start and the executive roles certainly show experience. San Diego draft picks like defensive tackle Corey Liuget had to have his fingerprints on it. In Indianapolis, he was probably in the room during the Andrew Luck contract negotiations and also probably had a hand in prying Frank Gore from the 49ers hands. Let’s also not forget the 2012 draft and the pick of T.Y. Hilton. He’s been around all facets of the business which means he can put on any hat and help out getting things done.
Why you don’t want this guy:
All the teams Jimmy Raye III worked on either were not very good, or went on a downward spiral quick. There also have been some boneheaded decisions he had to have been in the room as they went down, the trade of a 1st round pick for Trent Richardson in 2013 being one of them. This can easily be blamed on general manager Ryan Grigson, but it doesn’t bode well for JRIII to have been around for this. Also, Andrew Luck’s contract isn’t exactly helping the Colts’ free agent market right now.