George Paton Getting Second Interview For 49ers GM Job

It looks like the Minnesota Vikings might be one step closer to losing Rick Spielman’s right-hand man.

According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, Vikings’ Assistant (to the) General Manager George Paton is one of three people that will be getting a second interview for the vacant General Manager position with the San Francisco 49ers. The other two are both currently members of the Green Bay Packers’ front office, Brian Gutenkunst and Eliot Wolf.

Paton has been with the Vikings since 2007, as the team’s official website says that he’s just completed his tenth season with the Vikings. He worked with Rick Spielman in both Miami and Chicago prior to working with him in Minnesota.

Paton has turned down overtures from numerous teams over the years, but accepted an interview with the Niners. The situation in San Francisco looks pretty bad from the perspective of an outsider, but I guess Paton sees something that he likes there that compelled him to at least explore the opportunity to undertake their massive rebuilding project.

It doesn’t sound like whoever the Niners hire for their General Manager will be hiring the coach, as rumors are swirling that they have already zeroed in on Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan for that job. The Niners can’t do anything formal until the Falcons’ season is finished. . .which, hopefully, won’t happen until early February.

We’ll have to keep an eye on this one to see if the Vikings’ lose a member of their front office.