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“Chris has a solid reputation throughout the National Football League as a heavyweight executive and our extensive discussions with him confirmed that reputation,” Irsay said in a statement released by the team. “He’s a savvy, organized, and thorough talent evaluator, but beyond that, he’s a terrific person our community will be proud of.”

Ballard joined the Kansas City Chiefs as director of player personnel in 2013 and was later promoted to director of football operations. The Chiefs have been a balanced team that won at least nine games in each of those four seasons, and all three first-round draft picks in that span have been significant contributors. The Chiefs were the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs this season.

Ballard interviewed for general manager jobs with Tennessee and Chicago in recent years.

“I am so thankful to Mr. Irsay and his entire family for this opportunity to join the Colts organization,” Ballard said. “I appreciate everyone who has been involved in the search process. I look forward to working with [coach] Chuck [Pagano] and his staff, the personnel staff and all the outstanding Colts employees.

Ballard is set at quarterback with Andrew Luck and has talented skill position players such as receivers T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief. His first order of business will be to improve a defense that finished 30th overall in the NFL and tied for 19th in sacks with just 33.

The Colts, who will have more than $50 million in salary-cap space during free agency, are coming off back-to-back seasons in which they missed the playoffs with 8-8 records.

Irsay said Jan. 21 that Pagano will return as coach for the 2017 season.

“I am extremely excited about Chris coming in as our general manager,” Pagano said. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and a ton of experience to the organization. I’m looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and going to work alongside him.”

Ballard beat Jimmy Raye III of the Colts, Scott Fitterer and Trent Kirchner of Seattle, George Paton of Minnesota and Eliot Wolf of Green Bay for the job.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Marie Tillman posted a message on Facebook saying she was saddened by the executive order, adding that this was “not the country he dreamed of, not what he served for and not what he died for.”

Tillman left a multimillion-dollar NFL contract with the Arizona Cardinals at age 25 to join the Army, eight months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

He was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004.

Marie Tillman has carried on his name and spirit through the Pat Tillman Foundation, which provides scholarships to military personnel and their families.

Lynch spent Thursday and Friday meeting with San Francisco officials. He spent Thursday night at 49ers owner Jed York’s house, before the team flew him back to San Diego on Friday night so he could attend a family function.

Lynch accepted the job on Sunday.

Lynch has no front-office experience but has been connected to front-office jobs in the past. Some in Denver thought he could have been a candidate to replace John Elway one day, though that day never materialized.

The idea to hire Lynch was his own. He personally called Shanahan and volunteered for the job about a week ago.

Shanahan, expected to be named the Niners’ head coach after the Super Bowl, thought about Lynch, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt Lynch was a fit for the job. Lynch played for Shanahan’s father, Mike, in Denver.

The 49ers confirmed that they had interviews with nine general manager candidates after firing Trent Baalke on Jan. 1, none of which were with Lynch. They narrowed that group down to four, and it then came down to two, after Green Bay Packers executives Brian Gutekunst and Eliot Wolf removed themselves from consideration.

From there, York and executive Paraag Marathe had second interviews with Arizona Cardinals vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough and Minnesota Vikings assistant general manager George Paton over the weekend.

Throughout the process, the Niners acknowledged that they would keep an open mind, but their primary goal was to find someone who could work in lockstep with Shanahan.

“We need to make sure that the head coach and the general manager know each other, have a good understanding for each other,” York said at the beginning of the process. “It doesn’t mean that they had to have worked together in the past, but they have to have a good respect for each other and a good understanding and know that they have similar visions and philosophies on building a football team.”

ESPN’s Nick Wagoner contributed to this report.

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Cousins, a pending free agent, is set to get a big contract extension or a franchise tag worth approximately $24 million.

“I thought I had a chance to strip it, and maybe we’d recovered it,” Cousins said. “I don’t know. Something could’ve happened. You never know. You got to play it all the way through.”

The AFC won the game 20-13 in one of the most competitive Pro Bowls in recent memory. Cousins’ hustle was a good example of that, though the play surely made Washington and Cousins’ representative hold their collective breath.

Cousins said that in the moment he wasn’t thinking about preserving his health or his upcoming contract.

“No, I just wanted to make the play,” he said.

Talib said he was caught by surprise that the quarterback was hustling to catch him from behind in the Pro Bowl.

“I didn’t know,” Talib said laughing. “I saw a lineman, and when I looked this way, I saw another lineman. I thought I was going to walk in, and [Cousins] came and got me.

“I saw all the blue end zone, and I thought I was going to walk in.”