Candidate for the Colts

Montreal Alouettes' general manager Jim Popp has long been considered one of the best football minds in the Canadian Football League at his position. Well, now the National Football League has taken notice.

The website ProFootballTalk.com is reporting the Indianapolis Colts have seven candidates for the team's vacant GM job and one of them is Popp. The website noted Colts owner Jim Irsay disclosed on Twitter on Friday night that Popp is in the running.

"Look at this man's accomplishments!" Irsay wrote. "Does he deserve NFL shot or not a good fit in NFL??"

He added: "Twitter world says Popp just might have right stuff! Holy sh--e!"

Popp has been the Als' GM since 1996 and the team has had only two losing seasons. It has won the Grey Cup three times in that interval, and has played in the championship game eight times since 2000. Popp also has the titles of Als' Vice-President, Director of Football Operations, and Director of Player Personnel.

The Colts tapped into Canada for its previous football boss, Bill Polian, who won Grey Cups with Montreal and Winnipeg. He later had success in Buffalo, Carolina and then Indianapolis. He was recently dismissed as Vice Chairman, along with his son, Chris, who was the team's VP of Football Operations and GM.

The Indianapolis Star listed the other six candidates as: Atlanta Falcons director of player personnel Les Snead; Falcons director of college scouting David Caldwell; Philadelphia Eagles director of player personnel Ryan Grigson; New York Giants director of college scouting Marc Ross; Dallas Cowboys assistant director of scouting Tom Ciskowski; and Colts director of player personnel Tom Telesco.

Whoever is hired will be faced with the task of deciding what to do with the team's Future Hall of Fame quarterback, Peyton Manning, who missed all of the 2011 season with neck surgery, and/or choosing the first overall pick in the 2012 National Football League draft. The selection will almost certainly be Stanford University QB Andrew Luck.

The Colts are expected to deal Manning, whose services will be in demand, and select Luck first overall.

There were suggestions Irsay dismissed the Polians so he could decide what to do with Manning without their interference. The Colts' drafting of Manning first overall in 1998 played a role in the team's resurgence, leading up to its Super Bowl win in 2007. Manning has an NFL record four Most Valuable Player Awards.

Perry Lefko keeps you connected to all the news in the CFL on sportsnet.ca. He is also a regular contributor on other sports, including the UFC.