Saturday open thread: Who would you like to see be the Lions next GM?

When Sheila Ford Hamp made the decision to move on from former head coach Matt Patricia, she also included former general manager Bob Quinn as part of her post-turkey house cleaning.

With a long-term solution to be decided on this offseason at both positions, the egg vs. chicken debate takes shape in Detroit. Do the Lions decide on a general manager, and then let that hire pick their own head coach? Or does Detroit simply try and find the best candidates they can for each job?

On our weekly PODcast, Jeremy Reisman, Chris Perfett, and myself chatted about our top head coaching candidates. From a hot ticket item like Robert Saleh to *checks notes* ... Lane Kiffin (?), we all threw out some of our favorite names for the position. And of course, the biggest discussion in Detroit sports from now until the position is filled is that of the head coach, but let’s take a look at some of the best potential general manager candidates for the Detroit Lions in today’s Question of the Day...

Who would you like to see be the Lions next GM?

Here’s the thing about deciding who you’d like to see be the next GM: it’s impossible to know who and who will not be successful, so it’s more important to instead have a checklist where you’d like to see a potential candidate check off as many boxes as possible. For me, I’m looking for someone with a lot of scouting experience, especially at the top of the collegiate tree. Also, it’s a huge advantage for them to have experience working in different capacities in the front office, especially for a place like Detroit where the team president—admittedly—knows nothing about football.

Here are a few of my favorite candidates:

Terry Fontenot

For a large part of Fontenot’s tenure with the team, the Saints have been a competitive organization, consistently in the hunt for division titles and conference supremacy. What I’ve especially liked out of the Saints recently is their drafting—looking at that 2017 class in particular which included the likes of Ryan Ramczyk, Marshon Lattimore, Alvin Kamara, Marcus Williams, and Trey Hendrickson. Fontenot also comes with a ton of experience (16 seasons with the Saints) and time spent at numerous positions within the organization to diversify himself.

Ed Dodds

Likely to be the most sought after name this offseason for a general manager position, Dodds has a laundry list of accomplishments to his name as a talent evaluator. Dodds was a part of the team that drafted Russell Wilson and the Legion of Boom in Seattle, and now he finds himself in the midst of helping turn the Indianapolis Colts into one of the top teams in the AFC as their assistant general manager. A former scout, now with the experience of what it’s like to be a general manager, Dodds has an eye for talent and the operational side of the front office down which makes him an ultra appealing candidate.

Adam Peters

This is one potential hire a lot of people are connecting the dots on because his spot with the 49ers is inextricably linked to the rumors of Robert Saleh coming to Detroit as a package deal of sorts. Peters has quite the resume, cutting his teeth with the—get ready for it—New England Patriots from 2003-2008 as a scouting assistant, area scout, and a pro scout. The most impressive notches in his belt, however, come from his time spent with the Denver Broncos from 2009-2016. Starting as a regional scout and eventually working his way up to become director of college scouting, Peters was in on acquiring such talent as Von Miller, Chris Harris Jr., Derek Wolfe, Malik Jackson, and Danny Trevathan.

Your turn.