Steelers Close To Hiring Brian Angelichio As OC?
FEBRUARY 3: The Steelers and Angelichio met on Tuesday, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and it seems to have gone well. The two sides are “close to agreeing on a deal” that would make him the team’s offensive coordinator, per Kaboly.
FEBRUARY 2: The Steelers are considering yet another former Mike McCarthy assistant for a job on his new staff in Pittsburgh.
Brian Angelichio, the Vikings’ passing game coordinator/tight ends coach, is expected to interview for the Steelers’ offensive coordinator vacancy in the coming days, per Mark Kaboly of The Pat McAfee Show. He previously served as the Packers’ tight ends coach from 2016 to 2018, working closely with both McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers.
Angelichio, 53, began his coaching career in 1995 and spent the next 16 years working for several college programs. He found his specialty as a tight ends coach at the University of Pittsburgh in 2006. After five years with the Panthers and a one-season stint at Rutgers, Angelichio moved to the NFL as the Buccaneers’ tight ends coach. He held the same position in Cleveland (2014-2015), Green Bay (2016-2018), Washington (2019), and Carolina (2020-2021) before joining Kevin O’Connell‘s staff in Minnesota.
The Vikings’ passing game has been one of the league’s best during Angelichio’s tenure. The team ranked no worse than sixth in passing yards and fifth in touchdowns from 2022 to 2024, though the move to J.J. McCarthy in 2025 dropped them to 29th in both categories. Angelichio has worked closely with T.J. Hockenson, who earned a Pro Bowl after being acquired by Minnesota at the 2022 trade deadline and followed it up with career-highs in receptions and receiving yards in 2023.
Angelichio is considered a “strong contender,” for the job, per Kaboly, who even suggests he could be hired by the end of the week. He has not drawn interest as a potential offensive coordinator since 2023, when he interviewed with the Ravens and the Cowboys. But he now finds himself on – maybe even atop – the Steelers’ list of candidates for the job.
Mike LaFleur Will Call Cardinals’ Offense; Wink Martindale Among DC Candidates
The Cardinals were the second-to-last team to hire a new head coach this cycle, putting them behind the ball in the search for their coordinators.
With an offensive-minded head coach in Mike LaFleur, Arizona’s defensive coordinator hire will be crucial. LaFleur will call plays for the offense, per team reporter Darren Urban, but he will need to find someone he trusts to take up those duties on defense. The first-time head coach may also be looking to add some experience to his staff.
Former Ravens and Giants defensive coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale could fit the bill. He is a “name to watch” in the Cardinals’ search for a defensive play-caller, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Martindale, 62, just finished a two-year stint as Michigan’s defensive coordinator. The Wolverines were not as dominant as they were under their last two defensive coordinators, Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter, but they still ranked 19th and 29th in points in 2024 and 2025, respectively. But in Martindale’s previous three seasons as a DC – two with the Giants and his last year with the Ravens – his unit ranked no better than 17th in points allowed and 25th in total defense. However, in Martindale’s first three years as Baltimore’s DC, the Ravens boasted a top-three scoring defense.
Martindale’s blitz-heavy scheme could benefit a Cardinals defense that registered just 30 sacks in 2025, tied for the third-fewest in the NFL. He would also bring four decades of experience on the defensive side of the ball and connections to plenty of assistant coaches around the league who can fill out his staff.
Pending Free Agent LB Devin Lloyd Prefers To Re-Sign With Jaguars
The NFL’s fifth-year option formula continues to do interior offensive linemen and off-ball linebackers a disservice by grouping them with their higher-paid depth chart neighbors — offensive tackles and outside linebackers. As a result, the Jaguars declined linebacker Devin Lloyd‘s fifth-year option just over nine months ago, and he’s now set to hit free agency. 
According to Kevin Patra of NFL.com, if Lloyd got his preference, he would be returning to Jacksonville on a new contract for the 2026 season. Unfortunately for him, though, it takes two to tango, and the latest reports out of Duval indicate that the team is not likely to match the offers Lloyd is expected to get on the free agent market. Those rumors should ring bittersweet for the 27-year-old who recently wrapped up a career-year just in time to cash in on it.
Lloyd has had a very impressive start to his career. As a rookie still learning the ropes, Lloyd finished third on his team with 115 total tackles and tied for the team-lead with three interceptions. Despite, the gaudy numbers, Lloyd struggled in coverage early and missed too many tackles for a first-round pick. In Year 2, he started living up more to his draft stock, making big strides in coverage and finishing second on the team with 127 total tackles.
Last year, Lloyd’s coverage took a step back, but he turned a corner in his tackling, drastically cutting down his number of missed tackles and leading the Jaguars in 2024 with 113 total. He showed a new element of disruption, too, logging two sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss after seeing zero sacks and only two tackles for loss in his first two years of play combined. This year, he put it all together. Though he only logged 81 tackles (still good for third on the team), Lloyd became a playmaker elsewhere, picking off five passes (and returning one 99 yards for a touchdown) and logging 1.5 sacks, six tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, and seven passes defensed. As a result, Lloyd was named a second-team All-Pro linebacker and a Pro Bowler.
It seems clear that Lloyd is on track for a big payday this offseason. Currently, the highest-paid players at the position are Fred Warner ($21MM per year) and Roquan Smith ($20MM). Lloyd may not land all the way up with those first-team All-Pro backers, but he may fall somewhere in the range of Tremaine Edmunds ($18MM), Zack Baun ($17MM), Jamien Sherwood ($15MM), and Patrick Queen ($13.67MM). Most of those deals are for three years, though a couple are four or five, so you might expect Lloyd to be rewarded with a three-year, $48MM deal or perhaps a four-year, $60MM contract if the team prefers length over value.
As much as Lloyd may want this offer to come from Duval, it seems the Jaguars aren’t expected to open up their pocketbook to him. It’s not all bad news for Lloyd, though, who could end up being consoled by a shiny new deal elsewhere.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 2/3/26
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/3/26
Tuesday’s minor moves…
Seattle Seahawks
- Activated from IR: LB Chazz Surratt
- Placed on IR: OT Amari Kight
With the Seahawks gearing up for a Super Bowl LX showdown with the Patriots, Surratt may return from an eight-game absence on Sunday. An ankle injury has held the 28-year-old out since Week 13. Surratt only totaled seven defensive snaps in 11 regular-season games, but despite missing six contests, he ranked sixth among Seahawks in special teams snaps (181).
An undrafted rookie from UCF, Kight appeared in four regular-season games and took 17 snaps in place of an injured Charles Cross in the Seahawks’ 41-6 blowout of the 49ers in the divisional round. Kight suffered a knee injury in that game, though, and now his season is officially over.
Bills To Hire Bo Hardegree As QBs Coach
After two years as the Titans’ quarterbacks coach, Bo Hardegree is taking the same position with the Bills, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports.
Hardegree will replace Ronald Curry, the Bills’ QBs coach from 2024-25. New Bills head coach Joe Brady, who took over for the fired Sean McDermott last week, was the team’s offensive coordinator during that span.
Despite Brady’s familiarity with Curry (the two were also together on New Orleans’ staff from 2017-18), he’ll bring in an outsider to coach superstar Josh Allen and the rest of the Bills’ quarterback room in 2026.
This will be the third stint as an NFL QBs coach for the 41-year-old Hardegree, who first held the job with the Raiders from 2022-23. He led Derek Carr, Aidan O’Connell and Jimmy Garoppolo to uninspiring results in two years in Las Vegas.
After the Raiders fired head coach Josh McDaniels midway through 2023, Hardegree finished the season as the Raiders’ interim offensive coordinator. The Raiders promoted interim head coach Antonio Pierce to the full-time job after the season, but he didn’t retain Hardegree.
With Brian Callahan grabbing the reins as the Titans’ head coach in 2024, he tabbed Hardegree to guide young passer Will Levis. While Levis was only a year removed from going 33rd in the draft, any hope he’d break through as the Titans’ solution under center went out the window that season.
Desperate for an answer at the game’s most important position, the Titans used the top pick in last year’s draft on former Miami QB Cam Ward. With little help around him, Ward predictably struggled as a rookie. Hardegree spent most of the season as the Titans’ play-caller after Callahan handed off those duties in late September. The Titans fired Callahan in mid-October, though, and they went on to rank 30th in total offense and 31st in scoring during a three-win campaign.
Hardegree should have a far easier time in Buffalo, where he’ll coach a 2024 MVP winner who is a finalist for the award again this season. The dual-threat Allen piled up 39 touchdowns (25 passing, 14 rushing), ranked top five in the league in completion percentage (fourth), yards per attempt (fifth) and passer rating (fifth), and led his position with 579 rushing yards in 2025.
Buccaneers To Hire Chandler Whitmer As Quarterbacks Coach
After winning a national championship as Indiana’s co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2025, Chandler Whitmer is heading to the NFL. Whitmer has agreed to become the Buccaneers’ QBs coach, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
Fresh off a perfect season at Indiana, where he helped quarterback Fernando Mendoza to a Heisman Trophy, Whitmer received multiple NFL offers, per Pelissero. A late-January report connected the 34-year-old to the Raiders, who will likely use the No. 1 pick in April’s draft on Mendoza. Instead, though, Whitmer will work with Buccaneers starter Baker Mayfield in 2026.
Whitmer, a former college QB at Illinois, Butler Community College and UConn, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2019. He went on to hold the same position at Clemson in 2020 before jumping to the pros as a quality control coach with the Chargers.
After three seasons on former Chargers head coach Brandon Staley‘s staff, Whitmer worked as a pass game specialist with the Falcons in 2024. Zac Robinson, who became the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator last month, was in charge of the Falcons’ offense then. Whitmer is now the latest ex-Falcons staffer to reunite with Robinson in Tampa Bay, joining senior offensive assistant Ken Zampese and passing game coordinator T.J. Yates.
Although Mayfield enjoyed the best three-year stretch of his career under previous quarterbacks coach Thad Lewis, the Bucs moved on after the signal-caller’s numbers declined this past season. Mayfield posted career highs in completion percentage (71.4), yards (4,500), touchdowns (41) and passer rating (106.8) over 17 games in 2024. The 30-year-old logged perfect attendance again in 2025, but he completed a far less impressive 63.2% of throws for 3,693 yards, 26 TDs and a 90.6 rating.
AFC North Staff Notes: Steelers, Ravens
Here’s the latest coaching news from a pair of AFC North cities:
- The Steelers are adding IUP offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. to their staff in an unspecified role, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The move reunites Cignetti and new Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy, who worked together in New Orleans from 2000-01 and again in Green Bay in 2018. Then in his 13th year as the Packers’ head coach, McCarthy hired Cignetti as the team’s quarterbacks coach. McCarthy didn’t survive the season, though, as the Packers fired him after a 4-7-1 start. Cignetti has since coached at the college level, including a run as Pitt’s offensive coordinator/QBs coach from 2022-23, but will now return to the pros.
- Ramon Chinyoung Sr. will serve as the Steelers’ running backs coach in 2026, the team announced. It’s another familiar addition for McCarthy, who has now hired Chinyoung twice. As the Cowboys’ head coach in 2023, McCarthy brought in Chinyoung as the team’s assistant offensive line coach/quality control. McCarthy lost his job in Dallas after 2024, but Chinyoung stayed on Brian Schottenheimer‘s staff this past season. Chinyoung is set to work with Steelers running back Jaylen Warren in his new gig, while fellow RB Kenneth Gainwell is slated to reach free agency after totaling 1,023 yards (537 rushing, 486 receiving), 73 catches and five touchdowns in 2025.
- Eddie Faulkner, who preceded Chinyoung as Pittsburgh’s running backs coach, is expected to take the same position with the rival Ravens, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. During his seven-year tenure in Pittsburgh, Faulkner oversaw career years from the Warren-Gainwell tandem in 2025 and four straight 1,000-yard seasons from Najee Harris from 2021-24. He’ll now coach the Ravens’ Derrick Henry-led backfield in Baltimore.
- Elsewhere on the Baltimore staff, the Ravens are finalizing a deal with P.J. Volker to work as a defensive assistant, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. Volker, coming off a three-year stretch as Navy’s defensive coordinator, is “extremely close” with new Ravens head coach Jesse Minter, Zrebiec notes. The two were teammates at Mount St. Joseph and later coached together at Indiana State and Georgia State.
Bears Request OC Interview With Connor Senger; Troy Walters Declines Interview
Now in the market for an offensive coordinator to replace the departed Declan Doyle, the Bears have requested an interview with Cardinals passing game coordinator Connor Senger, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. The Bears also requested an interview with Bengals wide receivers coach Troy Walters, but he declined, according to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.
It’s unclear why Walters turned down the Bears, but it may have something to do with the fact that their offensive coordinator doesn’t call plays. Head coach Ben Johnson handles those duties. The allure of calling plays led the 29-year-old Doyle to exit Chicago for Baltimore last week.
Senger, 30, is coming off his fourth season in Arizona and first in his current role, but his future is uncertain in the wake of a head coaching change. New head coach Mike LaFleur, who’s taking over for Jonathan Gannon, may elect to go in another direction.
Even if LaFleur wants to keep Senger, it’s possible he’ll take a different job elsewhere. Before the Bears showed interest in Senger, the Bills and Packers requested to interview him for their open quarterbacks coach positions.
A former Wisconsin and Wisconsin-Oshkosh QB, Senger began in the NFL as a coaching fellow in 2022 and has steadily risen through the ranks. He was an offensive quality control coach in 2023 and an assistant QBs coach in 2024.
Under Senger’s guidance this past season, the Cardinals finished seventh in the league in passing despite backup signal-caller Jacoby Brissett starting for the injured Kyler Murray in 12 of 17 games. Their QBs combined for 29 touchdowns against 11 interceptions and ranked a respectable 13th in traditional passer rating (92.5).
While Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. didn’t progress as hoped in his second season, third-year wideout Michael Wilson broke through during a 78-catch, 1,006-yard, seven-touchdown campaign. Meanwhile, with 126 grabs, 1,239 yards and 11 scores, Trey McBride was the most prolific tight end in the game. Only superstar Rams receiver Puka Nacua (129) amassed more catches than McBride.
In heading to Chicago for a promotion, Senger would join a reigning division champion that boasted a top-10 offense in 2025. Unlike the Cardinals, the Bears are set at quarterback with Caleb Williams. They also have an enviable group of weapons consisting of running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, receivers Rome Odunze, Luther Burden and D.J. Moore, and tight ends Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet.
Ravens To Add Joe Lombardi To Staff
Joe Lombardi was fired one week ago in a move which ended his tenure with the Broncos. That paved the way for in-demand quarterbacks coach Davis Webb to be promoted as Denver’s new offensive coordinator. 
Lombardi has not needed to wait long to line up a new opportunity, however. The Ravens are hiring him as a senior offensive assistant, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic reports. This will allow for a reunion between Lombardi and new Baltimore OC Declan Doyle.
The pair worked together under Sean Payton in both New Orleans and Denver. In both cases, offensive coordinator gigs elsewhere in the NFL came about based on their work with Payton. Lombardi has been an OC with the Lions and Chargers during his career; both of those jobs were preceded by stints as the Saints’ quarterbacks coach. The 54-year-old reunited with Payton for 2023 and remained Denver’s offensive coordinator for three years.
Doyle’s first OC opportunity came about during last year’s hiring cycle. He was a member of Ben Johnson‘s Bears staff, but that role did not include play-calling responsibilities. The opportunity to call plays for the first time in his career was a key factor in Doyle, 29, deciding to leave Chicago and come to Baltimore. There is of course risk in having an inexperienced offensive coordinator paired with a rookie head coach in the form of Jesse Minter. Having Lombardi in place as a veteran presence on staff could be prove to be beneficial.
The Ravens posted strong offensive numbers during Todd Monken‘s first two years as the team’s offensive coordinator. Baltimore experienced a regression in 2025, a season in which quarterback Lamar Jackson spent much of the time sidelined through injury or playing through a series of nagging ailments. The Ravens will obviously look for better luck on the health front moving forward, but improved efficiency in the passing game in particular would go a long way in allowing for a return to the playoffs in 2026.
For Lombardi, a strong showing during his third stint partnering with Doyle would help his future coordinator stock. Minter, meanwhile, will continue the process of building his initial Baltimore staff with a number of key hires already taken care of.