Cardinals GM search: Arizona promotes Steve Keim

At his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Keim credited Graves for giving him his start in the business, but said that being an NFL general manager has been a dream of his since he was a kid. Despite interviewing with other teams about GM positions, Keim said he is a “Cardinal at heart” and wanted to stay in Arizona.

Owner Bill Bidwill said he looked at several candidates as part of his “due diligence,” but that Keim was the best person for the job. Bidwill noted the success of other NFC West teams that operate with a strong coach and GM working together and hoped to emulate the model in Arizona.

Keim replaces former general manager Rod Graves, who was with the team for 16 years. Graves was the general manager since 2007, and was fired Dec. 31, along with coach Ken Whisenhunt.

After interviewing with several other teams, Keim will be promoted from vice president of player personnel to general manager. Keim has been with the Cardinals since 1999, when he was a regional scout. He was named the vice president of player personnel in 2012.

Lending credibility to the thought that Keim would remain with Arizona are the reports that he had a hand in interviewing potential replacements for Ken Whisenhunt, who was fired as the team’s head coach following the end of the season.

Keim has been with the Cardinals’ front office for the past 14 seasons, which accounts for all of his front office work at the NFL level. If Keim gets the position, he will replace Rod Graves. Arizona’s failure to land Andy Reid as their next head coach (Reid went to Kansas City) may be a good thing for Keim, as Reid figured to have some manner of input on the general manager hire.

With McCoy calling the plays and Manning calling the signals this year, the Broncos are second in the league in scoring and fourth in total yards.