Washington Football Team to interview Falcons’ Nick Polk for GM job

The Washington Football Team will look to interview Nick Polk for the team’s GM job.

The Washington Football Team is getting their interview process for the GM spot underway. They’ve already met with Titans executive Ryan Cowden about the job and 49ers executive Martin Mayhew will meet with them soon as well.

Now, another name has emerged as a potential candidate for the job, and it’s not one that many fans are familiar with.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Washington has requested permission to interview Nick Polk of the Atlanta Falcons. Polk is currently Atlanta’s Director of Football Operations.

According to the Falcons’ official website, Polk played a big role in the team’s front office operations during his 11 years with the squad.

"[Polk] works closely with General Manager Thomas Dimitroff on all contract proposals, negotiations, and salary cap management. Polk also helps coordinate the Falcons compliance with the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement and labor-related issues."

From what this sounds like, Polk was more responsible for helping with free agency and salary cap management than anything else. Eric Schaffer used to coordinate those efforts in Washington, but he is now gone, so perhaps Washington will be looking at Polk to fill a similar role.

During his time with the Falcons, Polk has helped the team to sign the likes of Mohamed Sanu, Alex Mack, Dante Fowler, and Todd Gurley. The Falcons tend to focus more heavily on the draft, so a lot of Polk’s work has been signing key players like Matt Ryan, Grady Jarrett, Julio Jones, Jake Matthews, Ricardo Allen, and more to deals, so he has done a solid job keeping the Falcons’ core intact.

That could be appealing to Washington, as they’re going to be facing some tough number crunches on the defensive line. Having a cap guru like Polk who has a lot of experience retaining his own players would be a solid move.

It’s also worth noting that the Falcons made it to a Super Bowl under Polk and Thomas Dimitroff, and they probably should’ve won it. Things haven’t gone as well for the team since that time, but since 2010, they have had five, 10-win seasons, so perhaps Polk could help get Washington to that height if he can work the cap properly and work with the scouting staff that Washington already has.

We’ll soon see if Polk is a true contender for the job. Ron Rivera should be familiar with him having played against the Falcons twice a year for the last decade, so that should help his cause. Even though Polk’s not as well-known as some of the other candidates, his resume seems solid enough, so this under-the-radar interview seems sensible.