According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Las Vegas Raiders have interviewed Denver Broncos executive Kelly Kleine Van Calligan for their vacant General Manager position. She just finished up her third year with the Broncos as the executive director of football operations/special advisor to the general manager and has been in the NFL for a total of 12 years.
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If Kelly Kleine Van Calligan is hired by the Raiders, or any other NFL team this offseason, the Broncos will be awarded two third-round picks (one in 24 and another in 25) because she is a diversity candidate.
Kelly Kleine Van Calligan was hired by the Broncos in 2021 after the team hired George Paton to be their general manager. She worked with him in Minnesota and decided to bring her over to the Broncos and she has been reporting to him directly since then. Back in December, she was nominated to participate in the NFL’s Front Office Accelerator program and is viewed as an upcoming executive in the league.
If hired by the Raiders, Kelly Kleine Van Calligan would be the first female general manager in the NFL ever. Susan Tose Spencer had general manager powers for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1983 to 1985 but never officially held the title. So, this would be a historic hire if it does happen, and would be pretty cool for all parties involved.
The #Raiders interviewed #Broncos executive Kelly Kleine Van Calligan for their GM job, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 11, 2024
Outside of the historic nature of the potential hiring, the compensation part would be good for the Broncos. As we know, they have been lacking draft capital after the Russell Wilson and Sean Payton trades. Getting two third-round selections would be big, especially with the Broncos potentially needing to trade up for a quarterback in the upcoming draft. This would be a cool and historic hiring while also being beneficial for the Broncos.
So, while we should never root for the Raiders to make potentially a slam dunk hire, we should be rooting for this to happen. It would open the door for more women to get looks for these roles while also giving the Broncos some much-needed draft capital.
