Where Does Jim Popp go From Here?

The Indianapolis Colts have finally ended all speculation in their general manager search as they hired Philadelphia Eagles director of player personnel Ryan Grigson.

With this completed, that has put an end to the discussion of Jim Popp to the Colts organization. However, moving forward what could be Popp’s long-term intentions with the Alouettes?

For him to have an interview with the Colts at this point of the CFL offseason has to ring off some alarm bells that he might be considering other future options. Maybe being the big fish in a small has pond has waned on him, and he might be looking for a new challenge.

With Popp back in the fold, where does team president Ray Lalonde stand with him? Even though Popp signed a new contract in the summer of 2010, could Lalonde offer another lucrative extension for him to potentially calm his NFL desire?

Furthermore, could this be the last overture from an NFL team for now? A lot of questions with no answers as of yet.

But could Popp now be focusing on trying to lock up Marc Trestman to stay beyond 2012? As stated many times, it is very uncharacteristic to allow a coach of Trestman’s ilk to be walking into the last year of his deal without an extension in-hand. Usually in this scenario, it signals that maybe Popp knows that this could very well be the last dance with one of the best coaches this league has ever had.

With free agency period just five weeks away, Popp has a lot of in-house issues to clear up before he can proceed. For starters, who is the first priority on the Alouettes free agent list? Could he dare try to sign another big name player and potentially have it backfire as the Dwight Anderson 2011 experiment did?

Already, the Alouettes coaching staff will have many new faces, which may take time to assimilate themselves with their fellow cohorts. Remember, there is no off season organized team activities. As stated by Trestman in the last press conference of the year, he wasn’t too sure if the CFL would approve of him having another gathering in early May of coaches, and players as he had in Florida last year.

Slowly, we’re starting to see the changing of the guard as this could be the last year of key figures in the Alouettes organization. So is Popp mentally preparing that this may be a sinking ship, and is looking to brush up his resume to send out to potential NFL suitors?

Entering these next few weeks could really determine the direction of where this team is going because of what has transpired in the last six weeks.

But where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and this could be a developing yearlong blaze for this organization if they can’t put out any of the overbearing questions that will reign for the duration of the season.

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Photo credit: The Canadian Press