Khai Harley is the New Orleans Saints’ secret weapon. His official job title is listed as the assistant general manager and vice president of football administration, but Harley’s main role in the front office is navigating the salary cap. No one knows the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement better, and he works around the clock each year to find loopholes and clauses to exploit so the Saints can get the most bang for their buck.
And it’s put him on other teams’ radars. Harley is on track to run his own team someday, and his participation in key summits like the annual NFL Front Office and General Manager Accelerator event at league meetings in December will only help raise his profile around the NFL.
Harley was announced as one of dozens of candidates from many teams around the league who have been selected for this year’s Accelerator, which will give him opportunities to network with team owners and other executives before the next hiring cycle. The event also features seminars, mock interviews, and professional development workshops to help prepare future general managers.
Could Harley be the next man up in New Orleans? He shares the assistant general manager title with Jeff Ireland (who is also the team’s vice president of college personnel), a former general manager himself. Mickey Loomis runs the show and is the longest-tenured GM around the league, but it’s possible he could step up into an executive role in the years ahead. The Saints would be wise to hold onto Harley, but if Loomis isn’t ready to give up his seat he may go elsewhere in search of the right opportunity.
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