Steelers Request HC Interviews With Jesse Minter, Brian Flores, Anthony Weaver
The Steelers continue adding candidates in their search for a new head coach. They’ve requested interviews with Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Vikings D-coordinator Brian Flores and Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver, per reports from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network and Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
Looking for a replacement for Mike Tomlin, whose 19-year run with the franchise ended Tuesday, the Steelers previously sent out interview requests for Rams assistants Chris Shula and Nate Scheelhaase. Aside from Scheelhaase, all of the Steelers’ early candidates come with a defensive background. The same was true of Tomlin when the Steelers hired him in January 2007.
Minter doesn’t have any head coaching experience, but his strong work as an assistant has made him a hot commodity across the league. All nine teams with a head coaching vacancy have either requested an interview or have conducted one with the 42-year-old, who has effectively teamed with Jim Harbaugh over the past few seasons.
Minter was Harbaugh’s D-coordinator at Michigan from 2022-23. He followed Harbaugh to the Chargers after a national championship-winning campaign with the Wolverines. The Chargers’ defense has ranked near the top of the league in back-to-back seasons under Minter. The unit finished 2024 first in scoring and 11th in yards, and it ranked ninth in scoring and fifth in yards this season.
Flores, who went 24-25 as the Dolphins’ head coach from 2019-21, was on Tomlin’s staff in Pittsburgh in 2022. He served as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach that year. Flores then left to run the Vikings’ defense, a group that finished 2025 third in yards and seventh in points. Flores’ contract is now up after three successful seasons, but head coach Kevin O’Connell has made it known that retaining him is a high priority. However, the Vikings will have to fend off teams that consider Flores a head coaching candidate and others that want him as a defensive coordinator.
Weaver has already held head coaching interviews with the Cardinals, Falcons and Ravens in the past week. A former defensive lineman with the Ravens and Texans from 2002-08, Weaver has coached with those two teams and the Jets, Bills, Browns and Dolphins since 2012. He was the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator from 2024-25, but with head coach Mike McDaniel out, Weaver’s future in Miami is uncertain. Even if the 45-year-old doesn’t leave the Dolphins for a head coaching job, he could be an assistant elsewhere in 2026.
WR Adam Thielen Announces Retirement
Retirement rumors followed Adam Thielen in 2025, and the veteran wide receiver will indeed step away from the game. The 13-year vet announced his retirement Wednesday following a late-season Steelers cameo.
Suiting up with Pittsburgh after a waiver claim, Thielen was with three teams in 2025. The Panthers traded Thielen to the Vikings in August, giving the accomplished pass catcher a chance to return home to a team attempting to follow up its 14-3 campaign with another playoff berth. As that fizzled, Thielen wound up on a postseason-bound club after the Steelers claimed his contract in December.
Once Minnesota moved on, it became known Thielen would retire after the season. He played an auxiliary role in the Steelers’ loss to the Texans on Monday night, catching two passes for 25 yards. Thielen also posted a 1,000-yard season as a Panther in 2023. But he will be best remembered for his contributions in his home state.
Playing 11 seasons with the Vikings, Thielen ranks in the top five in receptions, yardage and touchdown catches with the franchise. His 55 TD grabs as a Viking trail only Cris Carter and Randy Moss in team history. For his career, Thielen caught 64 touchdown passes, adding nine with Carolina. No additional scores came with Pittsburgh, but the former UDFA did carve out a role as Aaron Rodgers searched for tertiary targets alongside D.K. Metcalf.
Starring at Division II Minnesota State, Thielen became one of the most unlikely wide receiver success stories by catching on with the Vikings after a rookie minicamp tryout. Following a 2013 redshirt year of sorts, Thielen became a key player during the Mike Zimmer seasons. After finishing with fewer than 150 receiving yards in 2014 and ’15, Thielen erupted for 967 during Sam Bradford‘s 2016 Minnesota season and sustained that momentum after that year. Thielen eclipsed 1,200 yards in 2017 and ’18, topping out with a career-high 1,373 in Kirk Cousins‘ Vikes debut, and saw his first stint with the franchise last through the 2022 season.
The Vikings gave Thielen two extensions during his initial Twin Cities tenure. Minnesota re-upped Thielen on a four-year, $19.25MM extension in 2017 — after the team had applied a second-round RFA tender. That proved to be incredibly team-friendly, and the Vikings returned to the table to give their then-Stefon Diggs complement a four-year, $64.8MM deal in 2019. The Vikings had both Thielen and Diggs on big-ticket deals in 2019, but they traded the mercurial standout to the Bills in March 2020. Minnesota then added Justin Jefferson as its lead option, but Thielen remained an essential piece in the Cousins-piloted offense.
Thielen combined for 24 TD receptions over Jefferson’s first two seasons, helping Cousins to big numbers (as the QB signed two Vikes extensions). After Kevin O’Connell‘s first season produced a 13-win showing, the Vikings released Thielen upon being unable to agree on a reworked contract. A nice market formed for the street free agent, and the Panthers ponied up $25MM over three years to give their to-be-determined No. 1 overall pick (eventually Bryce Young) a veteran to target. While Carolina missed on some investments during Scott Fitterer‘s final year as GM, Thielen totaled 1,014 receiving yards to lead the woeful 2023 Panthers edition by a wide margin.
Rebuffing trade interest in Thielen in 2024, the Panthers reworked his contract this past year but eventually relented on a trade. They sent Thielen back to Minnesota in a deal that brought a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2026 fifth to Carolina. Thielen being active for more than 10 games in 2025 triggered a condition on the Vikings’ side of the trade; that bumped the 2026 pick Minnesota received to a sixth-rounder. The Vikes also collected a 2027 seventh in the late-summer swap.
Thielen’s second Vikings stint did not offer much of consequence, as Minnesota fell out of contention during a rocky J.J. McCarthy debut season. Thielen surpassed his Minnesota 2.0 output (eight receptions) by catching 11 passes in just five Steelers regular-season games.
John Harbaugh Leaves New York Without Deal; Titans Set For Tomorrow
10:30pm: Hours after Harbaugh departed from New York with intentions of meeting with the Titans in Baltimore tomorrow morning, Paul Schwartz of The New York Post reports that “all signs point to John Harbaugh becoming the next head coach of the Giants.” No official reports from either party have indicated that Schwartz’s report is accurate, but it appears the first big domino of the head coach hiring cycle could be falling fairly soon. Hughes of SportsNet New York expects a decision to be made by the end of the weekend.
9:03pm: Former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh met with the Giants today, and despite the team’s best efforts, he went home without having signed a contract. New York doesn’t seem too discouraged, though, as the general media takeaway is that it was a very good visit, and it would’ve been a shock to see Harbaugh deviate from his established plan to meet with multiple teams. Instead, we’ll see Harbaugh do just that, as he is set to meet with the Titans tomorrow, per ESPN’s Dan Graziano. 
According to Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports, the team flew Harbaugh out to New Jersey on team co-owner Steve Tisch‘s private plane early this morning. After touching down, Harbaugh was given a tour of the facility where he spent over five hours meeting with Tisch and fellow co-owner John Mara, as well as general manager Joe Schoen and other members of the team’s front office. And it was a good thing Harbaugh had done his homework on rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, because he got to meet the 22-year-old as part of the team’s all-out pitch.
Vacchiano also mentions that the team made it clear they were willing to offer him “almost anything he wants.” As a franchise, they made the decision to make the most of their shot by “going for broke.” Their intentions were to convince Harbaugh that the Giants are the best franchise for him, with Schoen assuring him that he’s willing to cede some power for personnel decision-making over the potential head coach. Additionally, Harbaugh spent time on the phone with “several prominent Giants alumni,” including former quarterback Eli Manning and former head coach Tom Coughlin. Even Brian Daboll, who was the one that vacated the seat Harbaugh is now vying for, called Harbaugh and “raved about his experience in the organization.”
The Giants made it known that while Harbaugh’s demands have been “significant,” they “don’t seem to be too extensive.” In fact, they metaphorically pulled out the check book tonight to let him know that they are willing to meet his asking price and even shell out for a top-quality staff beneath him. Per Connor Hughes of SportsNet New York, the team made “a massive push” to try and get a deal with Harbaugh done today. The plot thickened as the evening wore on and Harbaugh’s ride home remained parked in New Jersey as the Giants blitzed Harbaugh in an attempt to land a signature before he left. Ultimately, Harbaugh’s plane did depart for Baltimore, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, as the free agent left without committing.
Harbaugh spurning the Giants’ best efforts doesn’t necessarily reflect badly on New York. As Mike Garafolo of NFL Network pointed out, Harbaugh’s insistence on meeting with multiple teams was always a part of his plan and is just the process playing out. Now Tennessee decision-makers will fly out tomorrow morning to meet Harbaugh on his turf, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The Athletic’s Ian O’Connor disclosed his understanding that New York could be the only team facility that Harbaugh intends to visit, with the remaining meetings set to happen at his home in Baltimore. O’Connor’s colleague at The Athletic, Dan Duggan, posited that it’s hard “to imagine taking a job like this without stepping foot in the building,” so New York’s ability to get him onsite may already put them at a huge advantage.
Regardless, Harbaugh will continue his process with the Titans tomorrow in Baltimore. As Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated points out, even before today, Harbaugh has been extremely thorough in vetting the current openings, and he has all the leverage at the moment that allows him to be patient. As for the Giants, they’ve been understanding of his process, and despite the fact that he left today without a contract, NFL insider Jordan Schultz claims “there’s no panic” in the building.
Steelers’ Art Rooney II Addresses Situation Post-Tomlin
In the aftermath of head coach Mike Tomlin‘s departure from Pittsburgh, Steelers owner/president Art Rooney II made some things clear from the team’s perspective. One such item made clear, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was that Tomlin was not in danger of losing his job before he stepped down. Rooney expressed that he was willing “to take another run at it” with Tomlin next season, which he had expected to discuss with the long-time head coach before his resignation. 
Despite his desire to run it back with Tomlin in 2026, Rooney asserted that he made no attempts to talk Tomlin out of his decision. “I did not,” Rooney said in response to the question, according to Mark Maske of The Washington Post. “He was pretty clear about what his intentions were…We had a great conversation, and I understand where he was.”
Mike DeFabo of The Athletic added on that part of the reason Rooney declined to push back on Tomlin’s decision was because it was, as the owner framed it to the media, a “family-driven” exit. Tomlin’s decision not to coach in the near future had already been reported, but DeFabo’s wording stated that “Tomlin does not plan on coaching again anytime soon.”
Moving forward, Rooney and general manager Omar Khan will reportedly be leading the search for Tomlin’s replacement, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. The pair ruled out a number of candidates fairly quickly as Rooney told the media that he didn’t “expect anyone on the current staff” to be a candidate to step into the open head coaching role, per DeFabo. Realistically, this would only apply to offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, and we can probably just narrow it down to Smith since he’s been rumored as a candidate in New York, requested to interview with the Cardinals, and interviewed with the Titans.
Another aspect of the future affected by Tomlin’s exit, in the eyes of Rooney, is the team’s quarterback position. After Aaron Rodgers led the team to the playoffs in his first year with the team, there was some speculation that the 42-year-old passer would be running it back as Pittsburgh’s quarterback for the 2026 season. The other option the veteran is reportedly considering is one in which he hangs up his cleats for good. As Rooney puts it (via Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated), “Aaron came here to play for Mike, so I think it’ll most likely affect his decision.”
Even if his starting quarterback departs along with his head coach, though, it doesn’t appear as if Rooney is expecting to blow things up further. He’s looking to carry on Tomlin’s moniker of “the standard is the standard” and expecting the next head coach and quarterback to pick up where Tomlin and Rodgers left off. When asked if the team could enter a “rebuild” phase, he pushed back on that notion, saying he didn’t “like that word” and that he couldn’t understand why anyone would “waste a year of your life not trying to contend,” per Pryor.
Instead, Rooney and Khan will hit the ground running to try and find Tomlin’s replacement while righting the ship in a direction that hopefully leads to the franchise’s first playoff win in 10 years.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/14/26
More teams signed players to reserve/futures deals on Wednesday:
Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Chargers
New Orleans Saints
- DE Myles Cole
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
- LS Cal Adomitis, DT Kyler Baugh, WR Cole Burgess, DE Anthony Goodlow, S Daequan Hardy, S Jack Henderson, DE K.J. Henry, RB Max Hurleman, G Steven Jones, RB Lew Nichols, WR John Rhys Plumlee, LB Julius Welschof, T Aiden Williams
San Francisco 49ers
Browns Request HC Interview With Rams DC Chris Shula
The Browns are expected to request an interview with Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula for their head coaching vacancy.
Shula, 39, has become one of the most popular candidates in this offseason’s hiring cycle. He has received interview requests from every team except the Falcons and seems to be headed for a top job in the next few years.
He has spent the last eight years under Sean McVay in Los Angeles, starting as an assistant linebackers coach and eventually rising to defensive coordinator in 2024. The Rams defense has not been statistically elite under Shula, but the unit made clear improvements from 2024 to 2025. He has also been instrumental in developing the team’s core four pass rushers: outside linebackers Byron Young and Jared Verse and defensive tackles Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske. That experience aligns with the Browns’ current roster, and a team that seems to be headed for another full reset may want an exciting young coach to lead that effort.
Shula’s time in Los Angeles has given him an up-close look at one of the league’s most popular offenses, giving him unique insight on how to stop McVay-style systems. Shula also has relationships with other McVay lieutenants, which will help him build his staff, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
In addition to working with one of the most successful modern coaches in McVay, Shula is also connected to one of the greatest coaches in league history. He is the grandson of legendary coach Don Shula, who led the Dolphins to an undefeated season in 1972. While that name will not be a deciding factor in any hiring decision, it will still be appreciated by owners and executives who crossed paths with the elder Shula during his career.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/14/26
Here’s are Wednesday’s practice squad transactions:
Houston Texans
- Signed: S Brandon Hill
- Released: T Jaylon Thomas
New England Patriots
- Signed: DE Darrell Taylor
- Released: RB Elijah Mitchell
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: S Darrick Forrest, TE Hayden Rucci
- Released: WR Javon Baker
The Patriots added an experienced pass rusher to their taxi squad today. Taylor, a second-round pick for the Seahawks in 2020, racked up 21.5 sacks in his first three seasons of NFL ball, but he didn’t see the same success in his fourth year after getting traded to the Bears. Injuries would limit him in Chicago and Houston, where he signed following the expiration of his rookie deal, as he only appeared in four games with the Texans this season. He now arrives in New England as Mike Vrabel and Co. are making a strong playoff push after a surprising one-year turnaround.
Ravens Want To Finalize Lamar Jackson Extension Before Free Agency
The Ravens are interviewing head coaching candidates to replace John Harbaugh, but they also have their eyes on the second-biggest part of their offseason: negotiating another extension with Lamar Jackson.
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said on Tuesday that he wanted to hammer out another deal with his star quarterback before the start of free agency.
“The urgency of that matters to me because we’ve got free agents and I don’t want to go into free agency with that hanging over our head,” Bisciotti said (via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley). “It’s very hard for [general manager Eric DeCosta] to build a roster when that thing is not settled.” DeCosta concurred, saying that an extension would allow the Ravens to re-sign more of their pending free agents and “potentially go after a couple of big-ticket items.”
Agreeing to a new contract with Jackson would reduce his $72.5MM cap hits in 2026 and 2027, giving the Ravens more money with which they can retool their roster and gear up for another playoff run. The Ravens are willing to restructure Jackson’s contract and add void years to spread his cap hit into the future if the two sides could not strike a deal. Notably, Bisciotti, not DeCosta, laid that option on the table.
The longtime owner also indicated that he hopes for smoother negotiations relative to Jackson’s 2023 talks and even proposed a similar structure with a higher value. In 2023, it took until the week of the draft – long after the window to secure top free agents had closed – to get Jackson to sign at the dotted line. That year, he occupied about $32MM in cap space with his franchise tag, but his 2026 cap hit would be much more restrictive to the team’s other moves. An extension could clear up as much as $40MM, but those savings will be far less useful if the players worth signing have already found new teams.
During the same press conference, Bisciotti revealed (via The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec) that some college coaches have reached out to the Ravens regarding their job openings, though the team has not scheduled interviews with any. He indicated that he would be open to interviewing one, but ultimately left that decision up to DeCosta.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/14/26
Here are today’s midweek minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Placed on IR: WR Tyrell Shavers (story)
Carolina Panthers
- Waived: S D’Anthony Bell
Houston Texans
- Reverted to season-ending IR: CB Ajani Carter
New England Patriots
- Designated for return from IR: RB Terrell Jennings
After tearing his ACL, further thinning out the Bills’ postseason wide receiving corps, Shavers has been placed on injured reserve. Buffalo has an experienced name or two on its practice squad that could end up filling in.
Carter wasn’t able to make it off IR within his 21-day practice window. He’ll revert back to IR without the ability to be activated again this season.
Dolphins Request HC Interviews With Joe Brady, Anthony Campanile
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile are officially on the list of head coaching candidates for the Dolphins. The Dolphins have requested interviews with Brady and Campanile, according to reports from Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
Brady, who’s in his second full season as the Bills’ O-coordinator, initially took the reins on an interim basis in November 2023. Then the Bills’ quarterbacks coach, Brady stepped in when Sean McDermott fired Ken Dorsey. The offense showed enough positives under Brady for the Bills to promote him to the full-time job.
After finishing second in scoring and 10th in total offense in 2024, a year in which quarterback Josh Allen won MVP honors, Brady landed on the head coaching radar last winter. The Bears, Jaguars, Jets and Saints all interviewed him before hiring other candidates.
Despite a lack of high-end receiving talent, Brady coached the Bills’ offense to fourth-place rankings in points and yards during the regular season. Allen’s strong play continued, while James Cook led the league in rushing during a 12-win campaign. Brady and the Bills then knocked off Campanile and the Jaguars in last week’s wild-card round. Buffalo will head to Denver for a divisional round meeting on Saturday.
The Dolphins join the Ravens as teams to request a meeting with the 36-year-old Brady, who was born in nearby Hollywood, Fla. While Miami is coming off a four-year run with an offensive-minded head coach in Mike McDaniel, it has mostly zeroed in on defensive candidates in this search. Brady, Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak and ex-Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski are exceptions, as PFR’s HC Search Tracker shows.
Campanile, 43, is the seventh defensive coordinator to receive an interview request from the Dolphins. After serving as an assistant in various roles at Rutgers, Boston College and Michigan from 2012-19, he got his start in the NFL as the Dolphins’ linebackers coach in 2020. Then-head coach Brian Flores brought in Campanile, who retained his position when McDaniel replaced Flores in 2022.
Campanile assisted McDaniel for two years before a one-season run as the Packers’ LBs coach and running game coordinator. Notably, new Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan was in Green Bay’s front office then.
Now coming off his first year as a coordinator, Campanile played a key role in helping the Jaguars and rookie head coach Liam Coen to a 13-4 record. While the Jaguars’ defense was among the NFL’s worst in 2024, it turned around its fortunes under Campanile. The unit ranked second in takeaways, eighth in scoring and 11th in yards in 2025. Campanile hasn’t received any other interview requests, but he’ll at least have a chance to convince Sullivan and the Dolphins he’s the right person to take over for McDaniel.