Tag: Monti Ossenfort

Monti Ossenfort: ‘Budda Baker represents everything that we want’ on team

Ossenfort is a big fan of Baker, his play and his mentality.

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker already is a fan favorite. He apparently is already a favorite of new general manager Monti Ossenfort.

In Ossenfort’s introductory press conference, he established what type of player he wants to build the Cardinals with. He spoke of not tolerating ego and players putting the team ahead of individual goals.

He has a player in mind as the model.

That would be Baker.

“Budda Baker represents everything that we want this organization to be and I am excited to be on a team with him,” Ossenfort said.

He got to say hello to Budda and recall a story he remembered when he was waiting before his interview and saw a photo of Baker on the wall.

“I distinctly remembered I was with the Patriots at the time and Budda came in (before the 2017 draft),” he recalled. “We interviewed Budda at the combine for our 20-minute interview. After the end of that 20-minute interview, I think I was ready to run through a brick wall for Budda Baker and I just relayed that story to him.”

Baker’s toughness and selflessness were evidenced this past season. He played on a high ankle sprain and did not come out of his last game despite fracturing his shoulder.

On “Hard Knocks,” we saw how much he means to the team.

Ossenfort will be looking for more Budda Bakers as he attempts to bring the Cardinals back to being a contender.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

New Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort won’t tolerate ego on team

The new Arizona GM wants a team-first mentality.

The Arizona Cardinals introduced new general manager Monti Ossenfort on Tuesday to commence a new era in Cardinals football. He is their first external general manager here since Buddy Ryan was hired as GM and head coach in 1993.

Ossenfort said a number of things but one thing was very clear about how he wants to run things in the organization when it comes to building a team.

“Ego will not be tolerated in this organization,” Ossenfort said. “We are going to look for focused, driven people that are willing to put the team first at every step of the way.”

He wants to do more than assemble talent. He wants to build a team by looking for “the right type of players.”

Was this a dig at quarterback Kyler Murray, who has been accused of being selfish?

Considering Murray’s desire to win, maybe it wasn’t.

Ossenfort explained his idea of no ego like this.

“There’s one goal here — it’s to win,” he said. “There’s no putting personal interests in front of the team. I was told once the definition of mental toughness is putting the team in front of something that maybe would’ve been better personally for me. That to me is the type of players that we’re looking for.”

The Cardinals will have a lot of evaluating to do with many unrestricted free agents and with the draft coming up.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Questions that need answering with new GM Monti Ossenfort

Now that the Cardinals have a new GM, what is next?

The Arizona Cardinals announced that former Tennessee Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort was hired to be the team’s new general manager, replacing Steve Keim, who stepped down after the season.

He comes with the necessary qualifications but there are a lot of unknowns.

Here are some questions that now come with his hiring.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

This former Patriots exec rocked the boat on first day of new job with Cardinals

Monti Ossenfort has people talking after this comment.

Arizona Cardinals newly-hired general manager Monti Ossenfort, the former longtime New England Patriots director of college scouting, came in like a wrecking ball in his introductory press conference on Tuesday. 

And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The Cardinals could use a kick in the pants following the firing of head coach Kliff Kingsbury. A year after a postseason meltdown in the wild card round against the Los Angeles Rams, the Cardinals failed to make the playoffs altogether and finished dead last with a 4-13 record in the NFC West division this season.

There’s hope now that Ossenfort can step in and make the immediate changes necessary to help get the team back on track.

There have been talks of Cardinals All-Pro wideout DeAndre Hopkins potentially being on the trade block.

With the Patriots possibly in the market for an elite upgrade at receiver, their connection with Ossenfort might end up being a big deal this offseason.

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Cardinals hire Titans’ Monti Ossenfort as next GM

The Cardinals have hired now-former Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort as their new GM.

The Arizona Cardinals have already made their decision about who will be the next general manager of the franchise and it is none other than now-former Tennessee Titans director of player personnel, Monti Ossenfort.

The Cardinals made the announcement on Monday afternoon. Ossenfort was also in the running for the Titans’ general manager job, which means there’s a better chance Tennessee’s new GM will come from outside the organization. Vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden is still in the running.

Interestingly enough, the Titans and Cardinals have been interested in each other’s executives, as Tennessee interviewed Cardinals vice president of player personnel Quentin Harris for their vacancy.

With Ossenfort officially out of the running, the Titans’ general manager search is down to five known candidates.

They are Cowden, Harris, Chicago Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham, San Francisco 49ers director of pro personnel Ran Carthon and Cleveland Browns assistant GM Glenn Cook — at least for now.

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POLL: What do you think of Monti Ossenfort as Cardinals’ new GM?

Vote in the poll and give your thoughts!

The Arizona Cardinals have found their new general manager. They are hiring Tennessee Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort.

Ossenfort has been with the Titans since 2020 but his background is with the New England Patriots, where he worked from 2003-2019 and was part of several championship teams as he started as a scout and eventually was the director of college scouting.

He is the first external general manager hiring the Cardinals have made since Buddy Ryan in 1993.

But what do you think of Ossenfort? Vote in the poll and leave your thoughts in the comment section below the article.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Cardinals hire a new GM, which may take some of their shine off for Sean Payton

The Cardinals have hired a new general manager, which may take some of the shine off their job opportunity for Sean Payton:

This might be big. The Arizona Cardinals are hiring a new general manager, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who reports former Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots personnel executive Monti Ossenfort will be their new GM. That’s significant for the New Orleans Saints because Ossenfort has no ties to Sean Payton, who Cardinals ownership is in the process of recruiting for their open head coach position.

And the Cardinals never so much as met with Payton’s presumed preferences for the job — Saints personnel executives like Jeff Ireland and Khai Harley, and their former scouting director Ryan Pace. New Orleans won’t allow Payton to bring Ireland or Harley with him as lateral moves, so it seems they won’t have an inroad to Arizona with Ossenfort taking over.

Does that take the Cardinals out of the running? Not at all. They were the only team out of the four to have requested permission to interview Payton without a general manager under contract, so now the playing-field has been leveled with Denver, Houston, and Carolina. Payton has spoken reportedly about the critical relationship he values with a front office and ownership group, so Arizona won’t have an edge when it comes to bringing in someone Payton has worked with before.

Things just got a little more intriguing. Payton doesn’t have a working history with Ossenfort but that shouldn’t deter him from taking the Cardinals job. We’ll see how things develop this week as Payton begins his formal interviews with each of the teams entering his sweepstakes.

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Cardinals to hire Monti Ossenfort as new GM

The Cardinals make an external hire for general manager for just the second time since moving to Arizona.

The Arizona Cardinals have apparently found their new general manager, and he will come from outside the organization. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, the Cardinals plan to hire Tennessee Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort to replace Steve Keim as general manager.

Ossenfort has been director of player personnel for Tennesse since 2020 but, before that, he worked his way up the ranks with the New England Patriots.

He started as an intern with the Minnesota Vikings in 2001 and then the Houston Texans in 2002. From 2003-2019, he worked his way up with the New England Patriots from being a scout to being the director of college scouting.

This is the first external general manager hiring for the Cardinals since Buddy Ryan was hired as GM and head coach in 1993 and only the second time since before the team moved from St. Louis to Arizona.

Ossenfort’s first task will be to work with owner Michael Bidwill to hire a new head coach.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Cardinals interviewing Titans’ Monti Ossenfort for GM job

Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort is a candidate for the Cardinals’ GM job.

Tennessee Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort is once again a candidate for general manager jobs, with his own team being one of the interested parties.

However, the Arizona Cardinals are also throwing their hat in the ring, as per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Ossenfort is interviewing for the Cardinals’ general manager job on Friday.

Here’s more on Ossenfort, per the Titans’ official website:

Monti Ossenfort is in his 21st season in the NFL and his third as the Titans’ director of player personnel in 2022. Ossenfort joined the Titans after 15 seasons with the New England Patriots, where he served as the club’s director of college scouting (2014-19), assistant director of college scouting (2011-13), national scout (2008-2010), area scout (2006-07), and personnel assistant (2003). He won four Super Bowls while with the Patriots. Ossenfort spent three seasons with the Houston Texans as a college scout (2005), pro and college scouting assistant (2004), and as a pro personnel intern (2002). His first NFL experience came as a training camp intern for the Minnesota Vikings in 2001.

As the Cardinals take a look at a member of the Titans, Tennessee will look at a member of Arizona, as the team is set to interview Cardinals vice president of player personnel, Quentin Harris, on Saturday.

Check out our tracker below for all of the latest updates on the Titans’ general manager search.

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Titans interviewing Ryan Cowden, Monti Ossenfort on Thursday

The Titans are taking a look at two of their own on Thursday for their vacant general manager job.

The Tennessee Titans are interested in plenty of candidates for their general manager position from outside of the organization, but the team will be taking a look at two of its own on Thursday.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Titans are interviewing interim GM and vice president of player personnel, Ryan Cowden, and director of player personnel, Monti Ossenfort, for their open GM role Thursday.

Here’s more on Cowden and Ossenfort, per the Titans’ official website.

Ossenfort:

Monti Ossenfort is in his 21st season in the NFL and his third as the Titans’ director of player personnel in 2022. Ossenfort joined the Titans after 15 seasons with the New England Patriots, where he served as the club’s director of college scouting (2014-19), assistant director of college scouting (2011-13), national scout (2008-2010), area scout (2006-07), and personnel assistant (2003). He won four Super Bowls while with the Patriots. Ossenfort spent three seasons with the Houston Texans as a college scout (2005), pro and college scouting assistant (2004), and as a pro personnel intern (2002). His first NFL experience came as a training camp intern for the Minnesota Vikings in 2001.

Cowden:

Ryan Cowden is in his 23rd NFL season and his seventh with the Titans. In 2018, he was promoted to Vice President of Player Personnel. He originally joined the franchise in 2016, as the Director of Player Personnel.

Cowden oversees all areas of the scouting department, both college and pro, including advance scouting, free agency preparation, and evaluation of players in the NFL and all other professional leagues. In addition, he assists with college scouting and preparation for the NFL Draft.

The Titans’ first reported interview with an outside candidate will come on Saturday, with the team expected to talk to Chicago Bears assistant general manager, Ian Cunningham. Read more on that here.

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