Where does Josh McDaniels stand with Raiders? Curran offers insight

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Could New England Patriots director of player personnel Dave Ziegler become the Las Vegas Raiders' new general manager and take offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels with him?

We've heard a few different answers to that question over the last few days. Over the weekend, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported the Raiders were "preparing to make a run" at McDaniels to fill their head coach vacancy after Ziegler interviewed for the GM job Friday.

On Wednesday, however, The Athletic's Vic Tafur reported that McDaniels is "not the favorite for the Raiders job anymore" and that Ziegler is "losing thunder" in the team's GM search.

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So, are Ziegler and McDaniels legitimate candidates in Las Vegas or not? Our Tom E. Curran shared some of his own reporting Wednesday night on NBC Sports Boston's Early Edition, noting that Ziegler "has not been ruled out as a candidate" and that McDaniels still is a possibility, as well.

"Josh McDaniels has not interviewed, (and) the Raiders have not requested permission to speak to him," Curran said, as seen in the video above.

"I think that McDaniels probably would be interested in speaking to the Raiders -- that's my understanding -- but until that happens, I don't think that they could necessarily be called front-runners, nor be eliminated as being front-runners. They're certainly not out of the conversation."

Curran did agree that McDaniels' interest in Las Vegas could hinge on whether Ziegler lands the GM job. McDaniels and Ziegler were college football teammates at John Carroll University and have spent the past nine seasons together in New England.

"What will be interesting to see is whether or not that slip gets put in, whether or not McDaniels takes that interview," Curran said. "But I think it is interesting to bear in mind that Dave Ziegler is somebody who Josh McDaniels would like to work with, and the Raiders might have some appeal for Josh McDaniels."

The Raiders have interest in as many as eight GM candidates, per Tafur, and could look to wrap up their search "in the next four to five days." So, the situation in Las Vegas is still worth monitoring closely.

Check out Curran's full comments in the video above.

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