49ers assistant general manager Adam Peters is a popular name among teams searching for a new general manager. That’s been the case for the last couple seasons, but Peters has always landed back with San Francisco. It appears that may be the case again this year.
Both the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals requested permission to interview Peters about their GM vacancies, but NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Wednesday reported Peters declined to interview with both clubs.
There could be several reasons he turned down a potential promotion with another club. Rapoport’s report indicated Peters turned down the other clubs to focus on the 49ers as they begin their postseason run.
It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if there’s an internal promotion coming soon for Peters, who was elevated from vice president of player personnel to assistant GM last year. It’s worth noting GM John Lynch was pursued by Amazon for Thursday Night Football broadcasts this offseason. In the event that Lynch returns to the booth, the 49ers would likely elevate Peters to the top role.
For Peters the motivation to wait would be his familiarity with the 49ers’ organization. He’s been with the team since Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan arrived in San Francisco, and there’s an infrastructure in place that Peters knows. His first shot as a GM wouldn’t come with a team going through some semblance of a rebuild.
The pursuit of Peters won’t stop any time soon, and the perfect job may open up that entices him to exit the Bay Area. It appears neither the Titans nor the Cardinals jobs fit that bill.
