Mueller has been around professional football for four decades. Born and raised in St. Maries, he played quarterback for the Lumberjacks and then at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore. As a senior in 1982 at Linfield, he led his team to the NAIA Division II national championship and was named MVP of the title game.
A year later, Mueller began his pro football front office career as an assistant in pro personnel with the Seattle Seahawks. In 1990, he was promoted to pro personnel director, and then in 1995, he became the team’s vice president of football operations.
In 2000, Mueller became the general manager of football operations for the New Orleans Saints. In his first year, the team qualified for the playoffs and won its first-ever playoff game. As a result, he was named the Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year.
During 2002-05, Mueller was an NFL analyst for ESPN before the Miami Dolphins made him their general manager. In 2008, he began a 10-year career as the senior executive for football operations for the San Diego Chargers.
In 2018, Mueller was hired by the Salt Lake Stallions of the new Alliance of American Football. After the AAF folded, he joined another fledgling league in the XFL, becoming the Houston Roughnecks' director of pro personnel in 2019, and later with the Seattle Dragons in 2022. In January this year, it was announced the Sea Dragons would not be a part of the UFL Merger.
Mueller and his wife, Lori, have a daughter, Riley.