If your hoping the next GM is Scott Pioli (which I am) then root for either the Dolphins to win, or the Patriots to lose so the Patriots are out of the playoffs and the Chiefs can get their hands on Pioli quicker.

The Dolphins will probably win with how the Jets are playing right now.

Polian never officially interviewed with Atlanta. The talk about not having full control was one of the many things that came out about Arthur Blank and his interview process, including that he supposedly wanted the candidates to take IQ tests during the interview. Blank also involved 9 or 10 other front office people in the interviews, which people thought was crazy because if any of those guys wanted the GM job for themselves they would likely try to sabotage the other candidates.

The rumors of not having control might have been part of why Polian pulled out, but he never officially sat down to hear it from Blanks mouth.

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I'm not sure where you guys are getting your info on Polian, but this recent article says Irsay, the Colts owner, didn't give permission to Atlanta and two other teams to interview him for the GM job. It looks pretty clear that he's going to takeover control of the Colts once his dad steps down.

http://www.ibj.com/html/detail_page.asp?content=14243

Interesting read, but I think what happened is that Irsay convinced Polian not to interview by promising him the GM position.

Here's a quote from last year:

"NFL Network's Adam Schefter reports Falcons owner Arthur Blank's interview request was turned down by Colts assistant GM Chris Polian. "

It doesnt actually say he didnt give permission. And it wouldnt say that because Irsay has no say over it. As mentioned before, teams cannot prevent their employees from interviewing for higher level jobs. In fact, Polian did interview for at least one of those jobs that was mentioned, the one with San Francisco. He just didnt take it.

What the article says is that Irsay swatted away the attempts by other teams to lure Polian, which could be taken several ways. And since it cant mean that he didnt allow permission, it likely means he did various things to keep Polian with the Colts (raise, promotion, so on).

what do front office guys have to do with playoff games?

You're wrong on this. If they are under contract the club can deny permission. They changed the rules this year at the owner's meetings.