I have been involved with numerous job interviews and not one involved the person managing payroll.
You don't get it. She negotiates every deal with every agent for every player. The GM says he want linebacker X and discusses with Dawn the number of years he is looking for and the $ range between $A and $B that he believes a player of X's ability should be paid. She is a tough attorney. She negotiates every single clause. Knowing what they want and also knowing what they are prepared to accept. Do you really think that Ireland personally handled everything in the negotiation. No, Dawn handled the offers and counter-offers and all negotiable parts and then at the end agreement is reached.
The GM needs to understand the market. It was clear from Ireland's comments from 2 years ago that he grossly underestimated the WR free agent market when players like Pierre Garcon were available and we were the underbidder - the net effect was that Miami let Marshall go to Chicago and we missed out on all of the available top WRs and were left with a string of lesser talented WRs (although Hartline stepped up when given the opportunity).
Jacquesstrap - in short she doesn't just manage payroll, she is the tough negotiator. The Agents are probably active in trying to fuel an issue because they want her gone.