GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Eliot Wolf will be an NFL general manager somewhere, and probably soon.

The Green Bay Packers' director of football operations has been a sought-after candidate for several years even though he won’t turn 35 until March, so it’s no surprise that the San Francisco 49ers are going to interview him -- and Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst -- for their vacant GM job later this week, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday night.

According to most NFL insiders, Wolf, the son of former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, is more than ready to run a personnel department despite his relatively young age. Eliot Wolf wrote his first player scouting report at age 14; he put a first-round grade on Chad Scott, who, of course, went on to become a first-round pick in 1997.

Will Eliot Wolf succeed Ted Thompson in Green Bay or take a job somewhere else? AP Photo/Mike Roemer

In Green Bay, the younger Wolf has been promoted up the chain, most recently last spring to his current position, in an effort to keep him in the organization. He could follow former Packers personnel executives John Schneider (now Seahawks GM), Reggie McKenzie (Raiders GM) and John Dorsey (Chiefs GM) and leave to run other teams, but current Packers GM Ted Thompson, who will turn 64 in two weeks, could be closer to retirement -- or at least stepping aside for a reduced role.

Thompson is under contract through the 2018 season (and likely through the 2019 draft; most scouting department contracts expire after the draft).

Here’s what we know about the Packers’ general manager succession plan:

There is a plan in place. President and CEO Mark Murphy told ESPN.com as much 11 months ago at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

Murphy has a good feel for how much longer Thompson will work.

Here’s what we don’t know:

Is Wolf the eventual successor? There are other possible in-house candidates, such as Brian Gutekunst, senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith and perhaps vice president of football administration/director of player finance Russ Ball.

Is Wolf willing to wait out Thompson, however long that is?

If Wolf is the eventual successor, has anyone told him as much?

If the answer to the first two unknowns is yes, then the last point is probably the key one in retaining him. If Wolf knows he’s the GM-in-waiting and is OK with the wait, then there’s no reason to fret over whether he’ll leave for, say, the 49ers.