Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff is bringing an old friend to Atlanta.
The team announced Wednesday that Scott Pioli has been hired to be assistant general manager. The former Kansas City Chiefs GM will report to Dimitroff and make one of the league's top front offices that much better.
"Scott is one of the most respected and adept talent evaluators in the NFL and a member of three Super Bowl championship teams," Dimitroff said in a statement released by the team. "We have worked together well in the past and been friends for more than 20 years. We have had the opportunity to experience a lot of success together, and I am very pleased that he has agreed to join our personnel team so we can work together again."
Dimitroff and Pioli cut their teeth in the NFL as low-level front-office soldiers during Bill Belichick's run with the Cleveland Browns. Pioli went on to serve as vice president of player personnel with the New England Patriots during a successful run that netted three Super Bowl wins and "Executive/Personnel Man of the Decade" honors from ESPN and the Sporting News.
His four-year stint as general manager of the Chiefs was less storied, with three losing seasons sandwiched around a playoff appearance in 2010. Pioli hired Arizona Cardinals play-caller Todd Haley as his coach and swung an expensive trade with the Patriots for quarterback Matt Cassel. Neither move panned out and Pioli was fired after a rocky 2012 campaign that saw Kansas City tumble to a franchise-worst 2-14 record.
Front-office work is all about relationships, and the strong friendship between Pioli and Dimitroff make this a solid addition by a Falcons franchise that is desperate for a return to its winning ways.
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