Two members of the current Chiefs front office have been identified as strong general manager candidates in 2024.
It’s natural for the lesser teams of the National Football League to poach leaders away from the more successful teams in the league, whether to man the sidelines as new coaches or to work in the organization’s front office to help build a stronger roster. Either way, given their position as the most successful team of the last several seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs are used to losing leaders.
Andy Reid’s coaching tree continues to grow at a steady pace with each passing year or two, and now the Chiefs are also starting to populate front offices around the league with the hiring of former exec Ryan Poles in Chicago. Along with Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard, the Chiefs have lost a couple of figures to general manager roles in the NFL.
In a new column up The 33rd Team, two current Chiefs executives have been identified among seven personnel men who are strong 2024 GM candidates: Mike Borgonzi and Brandt Tilis.
Both Borgonzi and Tilis have interviewed for general manager openings in the past (or have been placed on these kinds of lists before), so their inclusion here is hardly surprising. That said, it’s notable that the Chiefs have two of seven persons listed here with 32 teams in the NFL.
Borgonzi makes a ton of sense after serving with the Chiefs for the last 15 years in various scouting and personnel roles in that span. This will be his third season as the team’s assistant GM giving him an incredible body of work to bring to any interview. As for Tilis, he’s the team’s cap manager and was interviewed by Carolina for the job that ultimately went to Scott Fitterer.
While it hurts the Chiefs to lose experienced leadership, the NFL does a decent job of repaying the team via draft assets. Losing Poles to the Bears, for example, yielded consecutive third-round picks in 2022-23. It will be intriguing to see if either Borgonzi or Tilis earn the attention predicted next winter.