The Colts are in need of a new GM after the team fired Vice Chairman Bill Polian and his son Chris, the team's General Manager, on Monday.
This is an different twist on the familiar "who is leaving Montreal" off-season storyline. Normally, it is either Anthony Calvillo retiring or Marc Trestman taking an NCAA or NFL job, but very rarely does Popp's name surface when talking about Montreal departures (he was brought up as a possible candidate in Washington a couple of seasons ago).
Popp's loss could really hurt an Alouette team that is about to head into a transition period. They are coming off their worst season since 2007, and the team has a lot of questions to answer. How many more years does Anthony Calvillo have left in him? What will Marc Trestmen do when his contract expires at the end of the season? Will Jamel Richardson sign an extension or test the free agent waters? Throw Popp potentially leaving into the mix and Montreal will have another big question to answer.
Popp leaving would reverberate around the league as well, especially in the East Division. Montreal is penciled in every season for a playoff appearance, but one has to wonder how well they would do without the man that put those 16-straight playoff teams together. With all the moves that have been made by teams in the East Division teams so far this off-season, the Als losing Popp could be the biggest development for any team.
Popp moving to Indianapolis is probably unlikely, but if he was to leave, an already news-filled off-season would get that much more interesting.
I can't see the Colts signing him as GM if for no other reason then there are a number of worthy candidates who are more connected with the NFL infrastructure than Popp. That being said, I do think he would be a good candidate and Trestman would be a great coach for a team like the Colts embarking on rebuilding with Andrew Luck.
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