Former Senior Bowl director and Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage is expected to join the New York Jets’ personnel department under new general manager Joe Douglas, NFL Network reported Tuesday.
Per the report, Savage’s role is not yet fully defined, but an announcement “should come this week,” absent a setback. NFL Network also reports Ravens assistant director of pro personnel Chad Alexander will join the Jets as director of player personnel.
ESPN reports the Jets are hiring Indianapolis Colts vice president of player personnel Rex Hogan as assistant general manager, after Hogan served as New York’s senior director of college scouting from 2015-2017.
Savage, 54, worked with Douglas when both were with the Baltimore Ravens, Savage as director of college scouting (1996-2002) and then director of player personnel (2003-04) and Douglas as a scout (2000-2014). Alexander knows both men well, having worked for the Ravens since 1999.
Both Savage and Douglas also spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles, though they did not cross paths (Savage from 2010-12 and Douglas from 2016-19).
Savage served as the Browns’ GM from 2005-08, helping the team to its only 10-win season since 1994 when they went 10-6 in 2007.
He became the executive director of the Senior Bowl — the annual showcase of top senior college prospects in Mobile, Ala. — in 2012 and ran the event for six years before stepping down in May 2018.
The Jets previously missed out on other reported targets for Douglas’ staff. ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay pulled his name out of consideration, while the Eagles promoted Andy Weidl — to VP of player personnel, Douglas’ old job — and Ian Cunningham (to assistant director of player personnel) to prevent them from following Douglas to New York.
