National Football League

49ers General Manager Search: Mixed Reviews of Terry McDonough Emerging

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:15 p.m. ET

Fansided, Peter Panacy/FanSided via Niner Noise

The San Francisco 49ers have seemingly narrowed their general manager search down to two candidates, George Paton and Terry McDonough. And Niners Nation is reporting McDonough doesn’t have the best reputation.

The San Francisco 49ers are currently in the stages of meeting with general manager candidates George Paton and Terry McDonough, per Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area.

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Paton, who is part of the Minnesota Vikings’ front office, may not take the Niners gig, per ESPN’s John Clayton (h/t Daniel Mano of the San Jose Mercury News). If that’s the case, McDonough would be the one remaining candidate.

And signs are pointing to him not having the best reputation within the Arizona Cardinals organization.

Jennifer Lee Chan of Niners Nation is reporting the Cardinals might be trying to rid themselves of McDonough, the team’s vice president of player personnel, this offseason.

Citing sources, she wrote:

While my personal research has turned up only positive opinions of Paton, what I am hearing from multiple sources is that McDonough is not well liked in Arizona. In fact, there were no positive reports about McDonough at all.

McDonough has been called “hard to deal with” and “not a good guy.” So much so that Arizona started a positive campaign for him over the last season just to get him out of the building.

Chan also notes how a positive spin, posted publicly, might be a way to ensure someone with such a reputation is easily removed from an organization.

Factoring in the Cardinals and 49ers both being in the NFC West also makes this a bit more interesting.

Arizona might be publicly trying to push McDonough into positive light so the Niners may bite. Privately, it appears as if the Cardinals’ feelings are vastly different.

San Francisco has a tough choice to make regarding this opening, so such news is a bit concerning.