Six years after becoming the successor to Bill Polian as General Manager of the Colts, Ryan Grigson has entered the “bouncing around the league” stage of his career.
Last season, Grigson worked for the Browns. This season, he’ll work for the Seahawks.
Agent Buddy Baker announced on Twitter that Grigson will be working with Seattle G.M. John Schneider, in an unspecified role. Grigson is not yet listed on the page of the team’s official website that specifies the persons who hold the various jobs in football operations.
When getting the job in Indy after the 2011 season, Grigson fell into the first overall pick in the draft, with Andrew Luck the consensus No. 1 choice. But Girgson otherwise did a poor job of putting talent around Luck, using for example a first-round pick on failed pass rusher Bjeorn Werner and sending a first-round pick to Cleveland for failed running back Trent Richardson. Finally fired after the 2016 season, Grigson left a largely empty cupboard, one made weaker by the injuries suffered by Luck behind an offensive line not nearly good enough to protect him.
In addition to winning few friends with his performance, Grigson made plenty of enemies, including former Colts punter Pat McAfee, who has made no secret of his disdain for Grigson and his interpersonal style.
Grigson has since admitted to flaws regarding his (in)ability to work and play well with others.
“What I really think that I wasn’t able to ever do in that time I was there was really get to be a human at times,” Grigson said in April regarding his tenure with the Colts. “I hunkered down and just was laser focused. I probably should have pressed pause and took some time to breathe for a second and communicate better to let people in more.”
The Seahawks, a team that needs all the help it can get as it restocks a roster depleted by the departure of several key veterans, apparently see enough good in Grigson to give him another chance, even though Schneider’s former Green Bay colleague (current Browns G.M. John Dorsey), decided in roughly a month on the job that Grigson didn’t have a place in Cleveland.