JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars are expected to hire Trent Baalke as the team’s new general manager, a league source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The two sides have not yet finalized a deal, but that’s expected to happen by week’s end, the source said.
The news was first reported by NFL Network.
Baalke has been with the team since last February, when he was hired as the team’s director of player personnel, and has been serving as the interim GM since owner Shad Khan fired Dave Caldwell on Nov. 29. Khan hired Urban Meyer to be the head coach last week and wanted to get his input before deciding on a GM.
Baalke spent six seasons as the 49ers general manager and hired head coaches Jim Harbaugh, Jim Tomsula, and Chip Kelly before being fired along with Kelly after the 2016 season. San Francisco went 51-44 and made three consecutive appearances in the NFC Championship game during his tenure. Baalke spent the past two seasons working with the NFL as football operations consultant.
Baalke took became San Francisco’s GM in 2011, hired Harbaugh away from Stanford, and the 49ers went 13-3 and reached the first of the three NFC title games. That earned Baalke NFL Executive of the Year honors by Pro Football Weekly and the Pro Football Writers of America.
Baalke also drafted quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who led the 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII after the 2013 season, as well as cornerback Eric Reid, running back Carlos Hyde, cornerback Jimmie Ward, defensive tackle Arik Armstead, defensive back Jaquiski Tartt, and defensive end DeForest Buckner. Ward, Armstead, Tartt and Buckner all started in last year’s Super Bowl.