Cardinals hire ex-Patriots scout Monti Ossenfort as GM; head coach decision comes next

The Arizona Cardinals have hired Monti Ossenfort as their new general manager. The Cardinals announced the decision on Monday.

Ossenfort joins the Cardinals after three seasons as the director of player personnel for the Tennessee Titans. Prior to joining the titans in 2020, Ossenfort served multiple roles in the scouting department for the New England Patriots from 2006-19 and a single season in 2003. The Patriots won four Super Bowls while Ossenfort was on staff.

Ossenfort has 21 years of experience working in NFL scouting and player personnel. He replaces Steve Keim, who resigned last week alongside the dismissal of head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Keim spent 10 seasons as Arizona's general manager. He oversaw the Kingsbury era that saw the Cardinals make a single playoff appearance in four seasons with Kyler Murray at quarterback.

The Cardinals regressed to 4-13 this season following a playoff appearance that ended with a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round. They signed Murray to a $230 million contract extension last offseason.

"It was critically-important for us to find the right person to lead us as general manager and there is no doubt in my mind that we have that in Monti Ossenfort,"Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said in a statement.