Baalke's NFL career included a stint as a scout for the New York Jets from 1998 to 2000, and four years with the Washington Redskins, first as a National Scout and then as College Scouting Coordinator. Baalke was first hired by the 49ers in 2005 as their Western Region Scout, and three years later was promoted to Director of Player Personnel, a position largely responsible for overseeing the team's college scouting operations. Baalke was chosen to lead the 49ers in the 2010 NFL Draft, in place of Scot McCloughan, and a month later was given the title of Vice President of Player Personnel. His official promotion to General Manager came shortly after the firing of Mike Singletary as head coach of the 49ers, in anticipation of needing an official GM to lure Jim Harbaugh away from Stanford for the vacant coaching position. In January 2012, Baalke was named PFWA Executive of the Year for the 2011 season, after being credited for transforming a 6–10 team into a 13–3 team in his first season as General Manager. The next month he received a contract extension through 2016. Following a home game for the 49ers on Thanksgiving Day, 2014, in which the division-rival Seattle Seahawks defeated the 49ers 19–3, Baalke's daughter Cassie stirred up a minor scandal when she suggested in a tweet that offensive coordinatorGreg Roman be dismissed from the team. After a 2014 season filled with reports that Baalke and then-49ers coach Jim Harbaugh had been clashing, the 49ers parted ways with Harbaugh and promoted defensive line coachJim Tomsula to the head coaching position. Tomsula led the 49ers to a 5–11 record in 2015 and was fired on January 3, 2016. On January 1, 2017, Baalke and head coach Chip Kelly were both relieved of duties after the 49ers posted a 2–14 record, one of the worst conference records in their franchise history and their worst losing season since 2004. Baalke later became a Football Operations Consultant for the NFL. In this advisory role for NFL, he worked on game-related matters, player development, evaluation, and officiating video review. On February 4, 2020, he was hired as director of pro personnel of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
