Jaguars tab Rams’ James Gladstone as new general manager
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars have hired former Los Angeles Rams personnel executive James Gladstone as the team’s new general manager, the team announced Friday.
Gladstone, who has been with the Rams for the past nine seasons, has been the team’s director of scouting strategy for the past three seasons. In that role he worked with general manager Les Snead in strategic planning and the execution of the team’s daily scouting processes. He also scouted players and worked on special projects.
“James emerged as my choice, and our choice, following a painstaking but energizing interview process that left nothing to doubt,” Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement. “Every candidate delivered, and I am grateful to them all for their preparation and time spent with us this week in Jacksonville. In the end, we found James to be a class ahead and exceptional in every regard — vision, new ideas, communication, chemistry and a keen understanding of the league and our team, to name a few of many virtues he will bring immediately to the Jaguars. It’s going to be fun watching James work with our football leadership team of [head coach] Liam Coen, [executive VP of football operations] Tony Boselli and [chief football strategy officer] Tony Khan, but most of all it will be rewarding. I am confident of that.
“This is also an occasion to thank Jaguars fans everywhere for their support and faith over the years. I know we can count on them to warmly welcome James to Duval while rallying behind our organization and team as we chart a new and promising path forward.”
Gladstone joined the Rams in 2016 as a senior assistant to Snead. He was promoted to senior assistant to the GM/player personnel coordinator in 2018 and then to the team’s director of scouting strategy in 2019.
Gladstone spent two years in that role before being named the Rams’ director of scouting in 2021. He again assumed the role of director of scouting strategy in 2022.
After taking quarterback Jared Goff first overall in 2016, the Rams went seven years without a first-round pick because Snead used them in multiple trades. One of those trades brought quarterback Matthew Stafford to Los Angeles in 2021 in return for Goff, first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, and a third-round pick in 2021.
The Rams won the Super Bowl in Stafford’s first season.
The Rams used their first-round pick in 2024 on edge rusher Jared Verse (19th overall), who went on to be the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year after leading all rookies in QB hits (18), pressures (77) and hurries (56).
Coen is familiar with Gladstone from his four seasons with the Rams, serving as the assistant receivers and assistant QB coach 2018-20 and as offensive coordinator in 2022.
Gladstone, 34, was the youngest of the five finalists the Jaguars interviewed for the GM position. He beat out San Francisco director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams (37), Green Bay VP of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan (47), Chicago assistant GM Ian Cunningham (39), and Jaguars interim GM Ethan Waugh (50).
Cleveland’s Andrew Berry is the youngest GM in NFL history, with the Browns hiring him at age 32 in 2020.
Gladstone replaces Trent Baalke, who was the Jaguars’ general manager from 2021 until Jan. 22, when he and Khan decided to mutually part ways. Khan initially retained Baalke when he fired head coach Doug Pederson on Jan. 6, saying that afternoon in a news conference that a complete organizational overhaul would be “suicide.” He also said that if any coaching candidate expressed reservations about the organizational structure or working with Baalke, he would be willing to address the topic.
That might have been what caused the split. The Jaguars lost out on Ben Johnson, the top head coaching candidate in the hiring cycle, to the Chicago Bears. That left Coen, Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator, as the front-runner, but Coen backed out of a scheduled in-person interview with the Jaguars on Jan. 22 and opted to remain with the Bucs.
After Baalke’s firing, however, Khan got Coen to agree to come to Jacksonville the next day. Baalke’s presence wasn’t the primary reason Coen had declined an in-person interview initially, but it played a role, according to multiple Jaguars sources. Coen spent the day in Jacksonville, and the two sides eventually agreed to a deal late that night.
With Gladstone now in place as the general manager, the Jaguars’ top three decision-makers — Gladstone, Coen and Tony Boselli — are all in their roles for the first time.
Marcus Spears wonders if Kellen Moore can replicate the early success Sean Payton had as coach of the New Orleans Saints. (1:02)
NEW ORLEANS — The Saints are hiring former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley as their defensive coordinator, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler.
Staley will be Saints coach Kellen Moore’s third coordinator hire this week. Sources told ESPN the Saints are expected to hire Eagles quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier to be their offensive coordinator. They offered the special teams coordinator position to Phil Galiano, who was previously the Saints assistant special teams coordinator under Darren Rizzi.
Staley and Nussmeier both have previous ties to Moore and have been considered potential targets for the vacant positions for several weeks.
Moore was the Eagles offensive coordinator last season, and he and Nussmeier helped the team win Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 9. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was named Super Bowl MVP.
Nussmeier was an assistant coach under Moore when he was the Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator from 2019-2022 and during his lone season with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2023.
Staley, 42, was the Chargers head coach from 2021-2023 and hired Moore to be his offensive coordinator in his final season. He and Chargers general manager Tom Telesco were fired on Dec. 15, 2023 after a 5-9 start to the season and a 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Staley spent the 2024 season as the San Francisco 49ers assistant head coach. Prior to his stint with the Chargers, he was the Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator in 2020. The Rams led the league in scoring defense and total defense that season, finishing 10-6 before losing in the NFC divisional round of the playoffs.
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Jaguars hire Rams scouting director James Gladstone as new general manager
The final general manager vacancy of the offseason was filled Friday when the Jacksonville Jaguars hired James Gladstone.
Almost one month to the day after Jacksonville fired former GM Trent Baalke, the team hired his replacement. Gladstone, 34, was the youngest of the five finalists for the Jaguars’ general manager and joins the team after nine years with the Los Angeles Rams.
Gladstone initially joined the Rams in 2016 as a senior assistant to general manager Les Snead but most recently served as Los Angeles’ director of scouting strategy.
The rookie general manager has experience working with the Jaguars’ new head coach Liam Coen, who served as an assistant offensive coach in Los Angeles between 2018 and 2020 and as the Rams’ offensive coordinator in 2022.
“James emerged as my choice, and our choice, following a painstaking but energizing interview process that left nothing to doubt,” Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement.
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“In the end, we found James to be a class ahead and exceptional in every regard – vision, new ideas, communication, chemistry and a keen understanding of the league and our team, to name a few of many virtues he will bring immediately to the Jaguars. It’s going to be fun watching James work with our football leadership team of Liam Coen, (executive vice president of football operations) Tony Boselli and (chief football strategy officer) Tony Khan, but most of all it will be rewarding. I am confident of that.”
Gladstone was part of a Rams front office that put together the roster that won Super Bowl 56 in 2022. One of the most significant parts of that roster construction happened in March 2021, when the Rams made the blockbuster trade for quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Gladstone’s Rams tenure also included draft classes that featured selections of wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua in the third and fourth rounds of their respective drafts in 2017 and 2023. Both players quickly rose to prominence in Los Angeles’ offense.
Now, Gladstone will work with Coen to push the Jaguars back into playoff contention after a 4-13 record in 2024. The new general manager’s biggest responsibility will be building a roster around former No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence, who will enter his fifth season in 2025 and signed a five-year, $275 million contract extension last summer.
