The Buffalo Bills are interviewing Trey Brown, the director of college scouting for the Philadelphia Eagles, for their vacant general manager position. The interview was first reported by NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
Brown, 32, played cornerback at UCLA but never made it past training camp in the NFL. After a season with the New York Sentinels of the UFL, he moved into the New England Patriots’ front office as a scouting assistant in 2010. After spending four seasons as an area scout for both the Patriots and Eagles, Brown was promoted to assistant director of college scouting in 2015 before earning the top job in 2016.
If his name sounds familiar, it’s probably due to a commercial for the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 that he stars in.
While Brown has been working with the Eagles, he has no professional connections to Bills head coach Sean McDermott. In fact, Rapoport notes in his piece that McDermott “has not yet sat in on interviews, though he’ll likely do so for the callback.” That does a lot to dispel the aura of power McDermott seemed to be creating in the front office, though it’s unlikely the Pegulas will hire a general manager with significant philsophical differences from their head coach.
As a principal college scout for the Eagles, Brown likely played a part in the team’s decision to trade up for North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz in the 2015 NFL Draft. The Eagles have largely stuck to Power 5 schools over the last two drafts, mirroring former Bills general manager Doug Whaley’s preference for big brands, but they have stepped into the small school pool with Wentz and 2017 fourth rounder Donnell Pumphrey from San Diego State.
Brown becomes the third candidate to be interviewed, after Houston Texans’ director of pro personnel Brian Gaine and Carolina Panthers associate general manager Brandon Beane. Brown, who is African American, will satisfy the Rooney Rule requirement that teams interview at least one minority candidate for general manager-level openings.
It’s not known whether there are any other imminent interviews for the position at this time. The Pegulas are also in the process of hiring a general manager for the Buffalo Sabres, although that search could be wrapping up shortly.