Are George Paton, Terry McDonough top choices for 49ers GM?

As recently as last Tuesday, Brian Gutekunst was considered the favorite for the position of general manager for the San Francisco 49ers. When Gutekunst decided to avoid the 49ers and stay with the Packers, just as his colleague Eliot Wolf chose to do before him, many wondered if the 49ers front office erred by prioritizing their head coach, Kyle Shanahan, before locking in a GM.

Whether Jed over-corrected from his Harbaugh mistake by shifting the power to the head coach from the GM in this current situation remains to be seen, but the team still needs to hire a solid GM and one who will be willing to work with a coach who will be given significant say over the draft and personnel.

So who could fill this role? Mike Silver of NFL.com reports:

Paton is the Vikings assistant GM, coordinating scouting and personnel functions. Prior to his 10 seasons with Minnesota, he spent 6 seasons with the Miami Dolphins, 4 as director of pro personnel, and he started out in the pro and college football scouting departments of the Chicago Bears, following a career as a defensive back at UCLA.

Terry McDonough is VP of player personnel with the Arizona Cardinals, overseeing the college and pro scouting departments as well as assisting with player contract negotiations. He has been involved in scouting in the NFL for 25 years, spending the previous 10 seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars as director of player personnel and having started his career as the 49ers in 1989 as an intern.

While it’s concerning that the 49ers first top candidates withdrew from consideration, Terry McDonough has long been considered a strong candidate for general manager with his extensive experience in scouting and having helped find talent from small schools such as RB David Johnson, DT Rodney Gunter and WR John Brown from Northern Iowa, Delaware St and Pittsburg St, respectively.

McDonough appears to be the stronger candidate on paper, which is why it might not be surprising that he is not the top candidate, as the less experienced Paton might be more amenable to ceding power over personnel to Shanahan or even Tom Gamble. If George Paton does become the 49ers next GM, is it a sign of Jed trying to create the Millennial preferred structure in the workplace: flat corporate structure that minimizes hierarchy, with the front office being a place where he, Paraag, the GM and head coach all make decisions together?

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