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Updated: January 12, 2008, 5:48 PM ET
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Tapping into the wealth of talent in the New England personnel department, the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday evening reached an agreement with Patriots director of college scouting Thomas Dimitroff to be the team's new general manager.
Falcons officials on Saturday informed the five other candidates for the position of their decision. Details of Dimitroff's contract, which is not yet signed, were not available.
A New England team official confirmed for ESPN.com before Saturday night's divisional-round playoff game against Jacksonville that Dimitroff has accepted the job. He will face a daunting task in rebuilding a threadbare roster and in helping to make viable again a franchise that this season drifted into irrelevance on the Atlanta sports scene.
Dimitroff is expected to have considerable input into the Falcons' next head coach and sources said he has already offered some analysis to team officials in that regard. With the general manager spot now filled, the Falcons could move relatively quickly to name a head coach to succeed Bobby Petrino, who resigned with three games remaining in his first NFL season.
An 18-year veteran in the league, Dimitroff has been with the Patriots for six years. He joined the franchise in 2002 as a national scout and then was named director of college scouting a year later.
Before joining the Pats' personnel department, Dimitroff worked nine seasons in the scouting departments of the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns.
He also worked in the CFL and the World League.
Dimitroff replaces Rich McKay, who served as president and general manager but had the latter title removed by owner Arthur Blank three weeks ago. McKay has remained with the Falcons as team president and recently signed a two-year contract extension through 2010.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer with ESPN.com. Chris Mortensen is an NFL reporter for ESPN.
Comment
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Tapping into the wealth of talent in the New England personnel department, the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday evening reached an agreement with Patriots director of college scouting Thomas Dimitroff to be the team's new general manager.
Falcons officials on Saturday informed the five other candidates for the position of their decision. Details of Dimitroff's contract, which is not yet signed, were not available.
A New England team official confirmed for ESPN.com before Saturday night's divisional-round playoff game against Jacksonville that Dimitroff has accepted the job. He will face a daunting task in rebuilding a threadbare roster and in helping to make viable again a franchise that this season drifted into irrelevance on the Atlanta sports scene.
Dimitroff is expected to have considerable input into the Falcons' next head coach and sources said he has already offered some analysis to team officials in that regard. With the general manager spot now filled, the Falcons could move relatively quickly to name a head coach to succeed Bobby Petrino, who resigned with three games remaining in his first NFL season.
An 18-year veteran in the league, Dimitroff has been with the Patriots for six years. He joined the franchise in 2002 as a national scout and then was named director of college scouting a year later.
Before joining the Pats' personnel department, Dimitroff worked nine seasons in the scouting departments of the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns.
He also worked in the CFL and the World League.
Dimitroff replaces Rich McKay, who served as president and general manager but had the latter title removed by owner Arthur Blank three weeks ago. McKay has remained with the Falcons as team president and recently signed a two-year contract extension through 2010.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer with ESPN.com. Chris Mortensen is an NFL reporter for ESPN.
