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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have trouble hiring Chris Ballard as their general manager with Lovie Smith having final say, according to
Based on what I'm hearing, it's unlikely #Bucs will be able to hire #Chiefs personnel man Chris Ballard since Lovie Smith has final say.
— Jason Cole (@JasonPhilCole) January 8, 2014
When we interviewed Greg Gabriel about Chris Ballard, the latter sounded like a qualified general manager candidate. A qualified general manager candidate may have some reservations about tying his future as a front office executive to a position where he doesn't get to call the shots, no matter how well he knows his boss. After all, executives generally don't get second chances in the NFL.
If Ballard is out of the running, the Buccaneers will look elsewhere. Lionel Vital will reportedly interview for the position, while Morocco Brown, Rich McKay, Jerry Angelo and Tim Ruskell have also been mentioned as potential candidates. The latter three seem to have fallen off the radar, however.