4 General Manager candidates for the Atlanta Falcons

Ed Dodds – Indianapolis Colts Assistant General Manager

Ed Dodds is currently the number two to Chris Ballard in Indianapolis and is developing a reputation as one of the top talent evaluators in the NFL.

He spent a decade with the Seattle Seahawks, helping to construct one of the most talented teams in the league. When he eventually left for the Colts, he did so with a Super Bowl ring and some impressive postseason victories.

It’s unclear who the brain was behind the picks of Russell Wilson, Earl Thomas, Bobby Wagner, Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, and others but it’s likely that Dodds played a part in it in his role as a scout. Soon after joining the Colts, they began to put together one of the more talented rosters in the NFL, headlined by Quenton Nelson and Darius Leonard.

Dodds was given permission to interview for the GM job with the Cleveland Browns in January but turned the opportunity down, opting to stay with Chris Ballard, with whom he has a longstanding relationship.

That could mean that he’s not interested in leaving the Colts or it could be that the prospect of joining a Browns franchise often ranked among the most dysfunctional in the league just wasn’t enough of a pull for him.