Polian's professional career began as a personnel assistant for the Sacramento Gold Miners in 1993.[3] The following year he followed his father and joined the Carolina Panthers, an expansion team, as an assistant and scout.[1][2] After his father left the Panthers for the Indianapolis Colts in 1998, he followed him and became their director of pro scouting.[2] After serving several other executive roles with the team, such as assistant director and vice president of football operations,[1] he was promoted to general manager in 2009.[3] Following a 2–14 season in 2011, both he and his father were dismissed from the team.[4] He was a part of the 2006 Colts team that won Super Bowl XLI.
He then worked for the Atlanta Falcons in 2012, scouting players from the Pac-12 Conference,[1] prior to joining the Jacksonville Jaguars as their director of pro personnel in 2013.[5][6] He served that role until being dismissed following the 2019 season.[7] He spent the 2020 season out of football and before joining the Washington Football Team as their director of pro personnel in 2021.[8] In 2024, Polian was hired by the Cleveland Browns as an advisor to general manager Andrew Berry.[9]