Eagles executive believed to be “front-runner” for Steelers general manager opening

Philly might lose the head of their scouting department.

Eagles vice president of player personnel Andy Weidl might not be staying in Philadelphia much longer.

Weidl is believed to be the “front-runner” to replace Kevin Colbert as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ general manager. At least, that’s what longtime Steelers beat writer Gerry Dulac recently indicated during a chat on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Dave: Gerry, I read of Andy Weidl’s 24 years experience in the NFL and think he would be a good replacement for Kevin Colbert.

Gerry Dulac: I’d be willing to bet he is the front-runner for the position, as of right now.

The Steelers previously announced that they officially interviewed Weidl. Here’s what we wrote at the time:

Weidl, a Pittsburgh native, has ties to the Steelers organization. He got his first NFL job with them by serving as a player personnel assistant from 1998-1999. It’s not hard to believe he’d have serious interest in replacing longtime Steelers GM Kevin Colbert, who is retiring following the 2022 NFL Draft. Weidl has no path for upward mobility in Philly with Howie Roseman firmly entrenched as the Eagles’ top executive.

Weidl is hardly the only candidate for the Steelers’ opening; Adam Schefter notes that Pittsburgh has interviewed 11 others for their GM position thus far.

Needless to say, the Steelers’ GM decision will be worth monitoring. Though not necessarily crippling, it doesn’t seem ideal for the Eagles to lose a trio of high-ranking scouting members in a relatively short time-frame.

Indeed, the Eagles were none too happy about losing directors of player personnel Ian Cunningham and Brandon Brown earlier this offseason. So much so that they co-proposed a resolution that would’ve allowed them to retain those executives until after the NFL Draft. That resolution was successfully passed at the league’s owners meetings last week.

One would think the Eagles wouldn’t be thrilled about losing Weidl as well. But there’s nothing teams can do to block candidates from taking an external promotion to a general manager position.

The timing here is kind of strange in that Weidl is tasked with having an important role in a key draft for the Eagles right before potentially heading out the door. But that just might be how it goes.

If Weidl leaves, Howie Roseman will really be tasked with restocking the Eagles’ scouting department. It’s possible we see some internal promotions (perhaps former Jacksonville Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell gets a bump?). It’s also possible the Eagles will be able to attract some external candidates.

Perhaps the Steelers will ultimately choose to go in a different direction. For now, though, it’s looking like Weidl might be their guy.