Report: Dave Ziegler Withdraws From Broncos' GM Consideration to Stay With Patriots

The Broncos just lost a candidate for GM.

The Denver Broncos have spent the last couple days interviewing prospective candidates for the team's general manager opening. John Elway relinquished GM duties last Monday, moving up into an 'elevated' role as a Broncos executive. 

Meanwhile, in lockstep with CEO Joe Ellis, and with input from head coach Vic Fangio and chief communications officer Patrick Smyth, Elway put together a list of five GM candidates which included four outside considerations and one internal. 

The Broncos completed the interviews with the four outside candidates on Friday and Saturday. Then, on Sunday, news broke that Dave Ziegler, New England's assistant director of player personnel, removed his name from consideration for the Broncos GM job to stick with the Patriots. 

Sources: #Patriots assistant director of player personnel Dave Ziegler is withdrawing his name from the #Broncos GM search to remain in New England. Bill Belichick and the organization has committed to Ziegler’s future, and Ziegler has committed to NE.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 10, 2021

"Sources: Patriots assistant director of player personnel Dave Ziegler is withdrawing his name from the Broncos GM search to remain in New England. Bill Belichick and the organization has committed to Ziegler’s future, and Ziegler has committed to NE," NFL Network's Ian Rapoport tweeted Sunday afternoon. 

What happens next for the Broncos? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second and sign up for our free newsletter and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!

Ziegler reportedly contacted Ellis to thank him for the opportunity to interview and formally withdraw his name from consideration in Denver. The Broncos will meet on Sunday to discuss the next steps. 

Minnesota's George Paton, Chicago's Champ Kelly, New Orleans' Terry Fontenot, and Denver's own Brian Stark are still in the running. Paton was in the mix for Carolina's GM opening but removed himself from consideration to focus on the Broncos' opportunity. 

Fontenot has also interviewed for the Atlanta GM opening and ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Sunday morning that the Saints' homegrown personnel executive is one of three finalists for the Falcons job. 

Things are moving quickly and coalescing. The leaders in the clubhouse went from being Kelly and Fontenot to now perhaps being Kelly and Paton. 

Stay tuned. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.