Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff Writer 11y

Gamble to Jets? Not so fast

The Jets' search for a general manager could be moving in another direction.

The early favorite, 49ers director of player personnel Tom Gamble, will interview Tuesday with the Chargers, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Sunday night. Earlier Sunday, there were reports that Gamble had pushed back his Chargers interview, fueling speculation that a Gamble-Jets deal was on the horizon.

That isn't the case.

In the meantime, the Jets are said to be focused on another candidate. It's not clear if that person is Falcons director of player personnel Dave Caldwell, whom they interviewed Friday, or one of the two candidates slated to meet Monday with team officials -- Jets assistant GM Scott Cohen and Giants director of college scouting Marc Ross.

Caldwell reportedly is a leading candidate for the Jaguars' GM vacancy, but he could be a dark horse with the Jets. Unless there's a mystery candidate, the Jets must interview Ross to satisfy the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate.

Perhaps this latest twist is posturing on the part of the Jets -- and Gamble, for that matter.

This much is known: From the outset, the Jets were prepared to expand the search if they weren't blown away by someone in the first round of interviews. If they go that route, they could try to re-connect with Packers director of football operations John Dorsey. He was on their original interview list, but the situation turned fluid amid reports he was headed to the Chiefs.

Another possibility is Dolphins assistant GM Brian Gaine, a former Jets player and scout who comes with Bill Parcells' stamp of approval.

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