49ers assistant GM will reportedly be third candidate to receive in-person interview

And then there were three.

San Francisco 49ers Assistant General Manager Adam Peters is reportedly en route to New Jersey on Wednesday. He will become the third candidate for the team’s vacant general manager job to receive a second interview.

Buffalo Bills Assistant General Manager Joe Schoen has already had his in-person interview with Giants’ ownership. Kansas City Chiefs Executive Director of Player Personnel Ryan Poles is getting his in-person interview on Wednesday.

Pat Leonard of the Daily News and Jordan Ranaan of ESPN have each tweeted that the list of finalists may expand.

Why is Peters a strong candidate for the job?

Peters joined the 49ers in 2017 as vice president of player personnel. He was promoted to assistant GM before the 2021 season.

Here is something I wrote about Peters a few days ago:

Kyle Posey of SB Nation’s Niners Nation told that it’s “widely known around these parts” that it is Peters running the 49ers highly successful drafts while GM John Lynch is more of a “talking media puppet” who functions as the face of the franchise.

“Everybody loves Peters,” Posey said. “Many are surprised he’s been around this long. He’s the one making the picks not so much Lynch.”

None of the nine GM candidates the Giants have interviewed has ever been a GM or officially been responsible for a single decision made by their current organization. Peters, largely said to run the 49ers draft room, comes the closest.

In 2017, the 49ers found All-Pro tight end George Kittle in Round 5. In 2018, they drafted linebacker Fred Warner in Round 3 after the Giants had selected Lorenzo Carter and B.J. Hill. In 2019, the 49ers grabbed Deebo Samuel with the 36th overall pick. That is the same year the Giants traded up from 37 to 30 to select DeAndre Baker. In 2020, San Francisco found wide receiver Branon Aiyuk in Round 2. In 2021, the 49ers nabbed running back Elijah Mitchell in Round 6, two picks ahead of the Giants, who took running back Gary Brightwell.