Arizona Cardinals hire Lions’ Dave Sears as Assistant General Manager

Reunites with Cardinals’ GM Monti Ossenfort as both were formerly Houston Texans’ scouts

The Arizona Cardinals continue to make changes to their front office as they are hiring the Detroit Lions’ director of college scouting Dave Sears as their assistant general manager under Monti Ossenfort.

Sears was the Lions’ director of college scouting since 2019 and served as an assistant in that role for two seasons prior. He reunites with Ossenfort as they were both Houston Texans scouts in the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

Any person in that position is not only responsible for doing their homework on all draft prospects but also is responsible for organizing the team’s draft board.

The Lions’ most recent draft class had rookie phenoms in the likes of defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who had 9.5 sacks and three interceptions. Third-round pick Kerby Joseph led the team with four interceptions. Sixth-round pick James Houston had eight sacks in his seven games played.

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Building the offensive line is one of Sears’ specialties, scouting successful players for the position such as Penei Sewell, Frank Ragnow, and Jonah Jackson. The best player Sears successfully scouted was wide receiver Amon Ra-St. Brown, the Lions’ 2021 fourth-round selection who led the team with 106 receptions, 1,161 receiving yards, and six touchdowns this season.

Sears served in the Lions’ player personnel department as a regional scout since 2007.

His background continues to be an extensive one as he was a Washington Commanders’ (formerly the Redskins) scout for four seasons (1997-2000). He served as a scout for the Houston Texans for seven seasons (2000-06).

Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images

One head coach candidate with ties to the Cardinals’ new assistant general manager is San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, who was the Texans’ second-round selection in the 2006 draft and a player that Sears is familiar with in his time in Houston. Ryans is scheduled to interview with the Cardinals this week.