Scot McCloughan is a free agent again

It always takes me like six tries to properly spell his name for some reason, which is important because Scot McCloughan seems to be in the news more than any other executive. Especially for one who is rarely ever an actual general manager.

But McCloughan is a free agent and able to help out any NFL teams again, including his former bosses with the Seattle Seahawks.

McCloughan’s last job was helping the Cleveland Browns during another key Cleveland Browns draft — in which this time they selected quarterback Baker Mayfield at one and cornerback Denzel Ward at four. The Browns also selected center Austin Corbett at 33, running back Nick Chubb at 35, and defensive end Chad Thomas at 67. So with five picks in the top 67, yes, McCloughan had some important work to do.

Now it appears that Cleveland — settled with their GM situation with John Dorsey — didn’t have an offer for McCloughan that could keep him in the front office. Will McCloughan stick to being an independent consultant or his seeking a permanent position once again? He may be quite sour from his last opportunity after getting fired as the Washington GM despite being there for only two (winning) seasons.

McCloughan started as a regional scout for the Green Bay Packers in 1994, then was hired by former Packers head coach Mike Holmgren to join him with the Seattle Seahawks in 2000 as director of college scouting. He took a position with the San Francisco 49ers in 2005, then was promoted to general manager there in 2008. He held that job for just two seasons, then worked for Pete Carroll as senior personnel executive from 2010-2013. Many still credit him with the successful drafts they had in 2010, 2011, and 2012 and cite his departure as the reason for the less-successful classes since.

(When the reality is that no team should ever be expected to match the greatness that was 2010-2012.)

Multiple teams have cited alcoholism as the reason for parting ways with McCloughan earlier than outsiders could have expected. This longform on ESPN in 2014 breaks him and his relationship to alcohol down better than I ever could. Certainly many fans will be asking for the Seahawks to reunite with McCloughan if they could, but he may feel that being a lone wolf is better for him at this point.

There’s little question though that multiple teams will be calling for his services at some point.