Packers Hire Titans OC Matt LaFleur As HC
It looks like the first head coaching search of the offseason might be coming to an end. The Packers are “zeroing in on” hiring Titans offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The team has since confirmed the hire via press release.
While nothing is official yet, Schefter writes that the Packers “have begun notifying other HC candidates that they’ve interviewed that they’re out and the team has made its choice.” Schefter then posted a follow up tweet noting that the team offered the job to LaFleur. It’s a rapid ascent for LaFleur, who last season wasn’t even calling plays. LaFleur was the Rams’ offensive coordinator for the 2017 season, but Sean McVay called the plays. He was the Falcons’ quarterbacks coach before that from 2015-2016, and learned under two of the league’s most highly regarded offensive minds in Kyle Shanahan and McVay.
He was then hired away by the Titans to become part of Mike Vrabel’s first staff, where he served as the playcaller. Despite Marcus Mariota being frequently hurt, LaFleur helped guide the team to nine wins, with Tennessee ultimately falling just short of the playoffs. LaFleur is only 39, and his hiring continues the trend of teams looking for young offensive gurus as head coaches.
Despite dealing with a nerve injury in his throwing arm that limited him for several games and knocked him out of several others, Mariota averaged the most yards per attempt of his career under LaFleur. While the offense wasn’t nearly as dynamic as the one LaFleur helped build in Los Angeles, it was a lot more creative and innovative than the one Mike Mularkey had been running in Tennessee. Aaron Rodgers had clearly grown frustrated with the offense during Mike McCarthy’s last years with the Packers, and LaFleur should at the very least provide a much needed breath of fresh air to the offense.
While the offensive side of the ball is set to undergo a total makeover, there might be some continuity on defense. The move means the team is likely to keep defensive coordinator Mike Pettine and the rest of the defensive staff in place, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN (Twitter link). Rapoport notes in a separate tweet that former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Todd Monken was the “other really strong candidate” for the Packers, but the team settled on LaFleur without conducting a second round of interviews.
Steelers Not Bringing Back RB Coach James Saxon
More changes are coming to the Steelers’ coaching staff. After they announced a few days ago they wouldn’t be bringing back linebackers coach Joey Porter, the team announced in a tweet they weren’t retaining running backs coach James Saxon. 
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is shaking up his staff after a disappointing season where Pittsburgh missed the playoffs and the team became embroiled in internal drama. While Tomlin’s job is safe, he’s clearly starting to feel a little bit of heat as things seem to be falling apart in Pittsburgh.
After going one and done in the playoffs last season, the team didn’t bring back offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Now the team is letting go multiple assistant coaches, and it’s definitely possible they aren’t done. After the announcement about Porter, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, wrote that it felt “like a warning shot” to Tomlin from ownership, and that the decision on his assistant coaches might not be his.
Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak is reportedly the early favorite for the Broncos’ head coaching job, so next year’s Steelers coaching staff could look radically different. The team is reportedly set to trade Antonio Brown, so it looks like an offseason of change for Pittsburgh.
Kliff Kingsbury Meeting With Jets
It’s been only an hour since we heard that former Texas Tech coach and current USC offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury would begin interviewing with NFL teams after USC previously denied his permission, and now he’s already taking his first meeting. 
Kingsbury is meeting with the Jets today about their head coaching vacancy, a source told Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports (Twitter link). The Jets and Cardinals have been the two teams most heavily linked to Kingsbury, and the report earlier today was that there was “strong mutual interest” between Kingsbury and the Cardinals. Now it sounds like the Jets might be hoping to steal him away before Arizona ever gets the chance.
Kingsbury was known for always running innovative and creative offenses at Texas Tech, and there’s been a lot of NFL buzz about him as the league’s offenses trend more and more toward adapting college concepts. The Jets are seemingly looking for an offensive mind to pair with Sam Darnold, so Kingsbury would certainly make sense.
New York interviewed Jim Caldwell earlier today, and has been linked to several other offensive coaches like Mike McCarthy and Jim Harbaugh. At this point Kingsbury seems like a solid bet to make the jump to the pro ranks, whether it’s as a head coach or an offensive coordinator.
Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins Declares For Draft
The 2019 draft class got a big addition today when Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins announced in a tweet he would forego his senior season and enter the draft.
We heard last month that Haskins had received a first round grade from the draft’s advisory board, and this move had been widely expected for a while now. At this point Haskins seems like a lock for the first round, and unless something goes wrong, is a heavy favorite to be the first quarterback taken this April.
Haskins went from a relative unknown to one of the biggest players in college football during his lone season as the Buckeyes’ starter. He seamlessly took over for longtime quarterback J.T. Barrett with a sensational junior season, and ended up finishing third in the Heisman voting. His path to being the top signal caller selected in the draft got a lot easier a couple of weeks ago when Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert, long thought to be the class’ top quarterback, announced he would return to school next year.
While Haskins is “probably top-ranked QB of this year’s NFL draft class”, the “early assessment is that he’s not necessarily a plug and play”, meaning he could use some time developing on an NFL bench, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Twitter link). For the first time in a while, not a ton of teams picking at the very top of the draft will be in the market for a quarterback, with top picking teams like the Cardinals, 49ers, Jets, and Raiders already having young quarterbacks, so a surprise team could end up trading up and taking Haskins.
Kliff Kingsbury To Interview For NFL Jobs
After a week of drama, Kliff Kingsbury will begin interviewing for NFL jobs after all, according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports (Twitter link). 
Adam Schefter of ESPN confirmed Glazer’s report in a tweet, adding that Kingsbury is “square in the HC mix.” Glazer’s initial tweet indicated that Kingsbury had resigned as USC’s offensive coordinator in order to be able to interview, while Schefter’s only states that “USC initially blocked him from doing so.” Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweeted that a USC official told him Kingsbury is still employed there, so it seems like he hasn’t resigned at this point.
We first heard last week that the Jets and Cardinals were interested in interviewing Kingsbury, but then word came that USC’s athletic director was blocking him from interviewing. There was a report a couple of days ago that he could resign in order to pursue NFL opportunities, and that report stated his contract with USC had a “very low buyout” and that Kingsbury would “undoubtedly find work at least as an offensive coordinator” in the NFL.
There’s a “growing perception in league circles” that the Cardinals “are seriously considering Kingsbury for their position”, according to Albert Breer of SI.com (Twitter link). Sources also told Schefter that there was “strong mutual interest” between Kingsbury and the Cardinals prior to the athletic director blocking things. With that hurdle out of the way, Kingsbury will now presumably interview for Arizona’s job as well as the one in New York.
While Kingsbury’s tenure at Texas Tech was never particularly successful in terms of wins and losses, he always had one of the most innovative and dynamic offenses in the country, and is a highly respected offensive mind. It’s been reported for a while now that NFL teams were looking to pick his brain, and he did develop Patrick Mahomes with the Red Raiders. He’s been linked recently to the Patriots’ offensive coordinator job if Josh McDaniels were to leave to take a head coaching gig, and Tom Brady sung his praises on the radio earlier today, according to Zack Cox of NESN.com.
Cowboys WR Allen Hurns Dislocates Ankle, Expected To Make Full Recovery
Sunday, 9:53am: Hurns suffered a dislocated ankle, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who adds that Hurns has already had surgery on the ankle (Twitter link). It was a horrible injury to watch, but Schefter says that Hurns should be ready to return to football in August if there are no complications.
Saturday, 7:52pm: Just minutes into the Cowboys’ wild card playoff game, receiver Allen Hurns went down with a devastating injury, and had to be carted off. 
It’s unclear what the exact injury is at this point, but something in Hurns’ leg clearly broke as his leg was bent back at a terrible angle. Hurns’ season is definitely done no matter how deep of a playoff run Dallas ends up making. It’s particularly bad news for the Cowboys’ passing game, as fellow receiver Cole Beasley also aggravated a lower leg injury in the first quarter.
It’s terrible news for Hurns, as the offseason acquisition was already having a rough year. Signed to a two-year $12MM deal this past March, Hurns was never able to establish himself in the offense. He initially looked like he might be the team’s number one receiver after Dez Bryant was cut, but ended up catching just 20 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns.
The Miami product spent the first four years of his career with the Jaguars, and had a breakout year in 2015. That season, he caught 64 passes for 1,031 yards and ten touchdowns. Many expect Beasley to depart in free agency this offseason, so Hurns should be back with the team next year in a depth role behind Amari Cooper.
Extra Points: Ravens, Cowboys, Rams, Bills, Falcons
We’ve been hearing mixed things about John Harbaugh for a while now. The Ravens announced they hope to keep the coach longterm with an extension, but rumors have continued to swirl that Harbaugh isn’t willing to commit to Baltimore and that he may want to explore his options elsewhere. Numerous teams have been reported to be interested in trading for the coach, including the Broncos and Dolphins.
We have a new update on Harbaugh today, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports the Ravens have “yet to have any dialogue” with Harbaugh about a new contract. La Canfora writes that the “situation is being watched closely” by other front offices, and that several teams still have hopes of trading for him after the year. If the Ravens have a quick playoff exit, it could increase the chances that the two sides part ways this offseason. It’ll be one of the biggest stories to monitor the next few weeks, and we should know a lot more after the team’s game against the Chargers tomorrow.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Cowboys have a bunch of young players they’ll need to pay soon, and Ezekiel Elliott would like to be first in line. The third year running back has one more year left on his deal after this season plus his 2020 fifth-year team option, but he’d like to be extended this offseason, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). While Rapsheet notes that it “makes sense given his workload”, it’s unclear at what price the team values him. We heard back in November that the team might not be in any rush to extend Elliott, so it will be very interesting to see what the team does here.
- By gaining more than 1,200 rushing yards, Todd Gurley got a $1MM bonus this season, Rapoport tweets. It brings the total value of Gurley’s extension with the Rams to four years and $58.5MM. Gurley got off to a red hot start to the year and was on pace to break the single season touchdowns record for a while, and while he cooled off a little bit during the second half of the season, he still had another dominant year. He’s been dealing with some knee soreness recently, but should be a full go for the Rams’ playoff run.
- We also got details on Matt Barkley‘s recent extension with the Bills, that Mike Rodak of ESPN tweeted out. Barkley’s two year deal will pay him $1.25MM in 2019 and $1.5MM in 2020. Interestingly, Rodak notes that the team gave Barkley a $600K signing bonus. Getting that large of an amount of guaranteed money would suggest he has a significant leg up on Derek Anderson in the race to be Josh Allen‘s backup next year. Buffalo signed Anderson to a one year deal earlier this week. The deal also includes active roster and playing time bonuses for Barkley, who showed very well in his one spot start this season.
- Locking defensive tackle Grady Jarrett up longterm is a priority for the Falcons this offseason, according to GM Thomas Dimitroff, per Darin Gantt of ProFootballTalk.com. “We would like to have Grady back for many years to come”, Dimitroff said. Jarrett was one of the few bright spots on a Falcons defense that regressed mightily this season, and he received elite grades from Pro Football Focus. Jarrett, a fifth round pick in 2015, is set to be a free agent this offseason and should be in for a huge payday.
Coaching Updates: Arians, Bucs, Cardinals, Bowles, Eberflus, Browns, Munchak, Broncos
Ever since Bruce Arians stepped away from his job with the Cardinals, his name has been buzzed about as a potential head coaching candidate. He sat out the 2018 season while calling games for CBS, but appears set to return to the sidelines. He’s been publicly lobbying for the Browns’ job for a while now, but has seemingly now set his sights on the Buccaneers’ job. Because Arians retired with time still left on his contract with Arizona, the consensus was that whatever team would want to hire Arians would need to give some compensation to the Cardinals, but that’s apparently not the case, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.
Florio notes in a tweet that the Cardinals would’ve needed to exercise their option on Arians in order to have a claim on him, which they didn’t do. As such, Florio writes in his article that the Buccaneers didn’t even bother to notify the Cardinals they were interviewing him. As of now, Arians seems like a strong favorite to be Jameis Winston‘s next coach.
Here’s more from the coaching carousel:
- We’ve heard that former Jets coach Todd Bowles will be in high demand as a defensive coordinator and possibly even head coach, and he might be even more sought after than anyone realized. Multiple head coaching candidates in this cycle are telling people they’ll try to get Bowles to be their defensive coordinator, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (Twitter link). It’s unclear exactly what teams might be in the mix, although there have been rumors he could reunite with Arians wherever he lands. Bowles was Arians’ defensive coordinator in Arizona for two seasons before being hired by the Jets.
- We heard on Black Monday that the Browns were hoping to interview Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus for their vacancy, and now the interview has been scheduled. Eberflus will meet with Cleveland’s team tomorrow, the day after his team’s playoff win over the Texans, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN (Twitter link). Eberflus has done a great job running Indy’s young defense this year, and has been a hot name in this cycle.
- Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak has “strong interest” in the Broncos’ opening, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN. Schefter notes that Munchak has “professional and personal ties to Denver” and that he shares an agent with Broncos GM John Elway. Munchak, who turned down a head coaching job last year according to Schefter, was the Titans’ head coach for three years before being fired and landing in Pittsburgh. Schefter writes that Munchak has been very reluctant to leave “because of his feelings for the Steelers”, but it sounds like the Broncos will be able to pull him away if they want to.
Kliff Kingsbury Could Resign From USC To Pursue NFL Opportunities
We first heard a few days ago that the Jets and Cardinals were interested in interviewing former Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury for their head coaching vacancies. Kingsbury was hired to be the offensive coordinator at USC shortly after the college season ended, and we heard earlier today that USC was denying the NFL teams permission to talk to him.
Now we have more details, and a possible scenario for Kingsbury to circumvent his current employer. It’s specifically USC athletic director Lynn Swann who is blocking any potential interviews, and Kingsbury may resign in response, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Multiple sources told Florio that Kingsbury’s contract with USC has a “very low buyout”, so he might “simply resign his position as Trojans offensive coordinator and move on.”
If he does decide to quit and pursue NFL opportunities, Florio thinks he’ll “undoubtedly find work at least as an offensive coordinator”, and if that’s true it makes plenty of sense why he’d want to leave. Both the Jets and Cardinals are likely looking for offensive coaches to pair with Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, and Kingsbury would be a young outside the box hire.
While Kingsbury’s reign at Texas Tech was never particularly successful in terms of wins and losses, he always had one of the most innovative and dynamic offenses in the country, and is a highly respected offensive mind. It’s been reported for a while now that NFL teams were looking to pick his brain, and he was linked to the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator job before Dallas’ staff saved their jobs with a strong finish.
Coaching Rumors: Gase, Broncos, Dolphins, Arians, Buccaneers, Jets, Cardinals
Adam Gase might’ve been the most surprising firing of Black Monday, and he likely won’t be out of a job too long. Gase has “heard from the majority of teams with an HC opening” within hours of being let go by the Dolphins, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link), who notes that Gase will begin taking head coaching interviews this week. While Gase has been linked to numerous jobs, including the Browns’ opening, don’t expect a reunion in Denver. Although he was the Broncos’ offensive coordinator during their peak with Peyton Manning, GM John Elway said at his press conference today Gase isn’t a candidate “at this time”, according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Gase got the Dolphins job because of his work with the Broncos, but there have long been rumors of bad blood between him and Elway. Elway reportedly told interested teams he didn’t think Gase was ready to be a head coach years ago, and Gase ran up the score on the Bronocs as revenge last year, kicking an onside kick while up 24 points late in the game. While it won’t be in Denver, at this point it would be a surprise if Gase isn’t a head coach somewhere next season.
Here’s more on the coaching carousel:
- Speaking of Gase, the Dolphins will be undergoing a complete rebuild as they look for his replacement. They shook up their front office earlier today and are likely to move on from Ryan Tannehill this offseason. As for their next coach, Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald “would be shocked” if Dan Campbell doesn’t get an interview (Twitter link). Campbell, the Saints’ assistant head coach, has already been requested by the Browns and is expected to be a hot candidate. He was the Dolphins’ interim coach in 2015 after they fired Joe Philbin four games into the season. Miami has also put in a request to interview Patriots defensive coordinator Brian Flores, according to Schefter (Twitter link), adding to a long list of teams looking to talk to Flores.
- While former Cardinals coach Bruce Arians has repeatedly said the only job he would come out of retirement for would be the Browns’, he might be having a change of heart. The legendary offensive coach told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link), that he knows Buccaneers GM Jason Licht, and “would listen” if the Bucs came calling. Tampa is almost certainly looking for an offensive coach to revitalize Jameis Winston‘s career, and Arians would be a very intriguing option.
- The Jets have made their first two interview requests as they look to replace Todd Bowles. The team is looking to talk to Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link), and also wants an interview with Buccaneers offensive coordinator Todd Monken, according to Rapoport (Twitter link). Rapsheet also tweets the team requested an interview with Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, but Campbell denied the request. Finally, Rapoport notes in a fourth tweet that the Jets are one of two new teams interested in former Lions coach Jim Caldwell, along with the Browns. All of these requests are in line with the thinking that the Jets are interested in bringing in an offensive coach to work with Sam Darnold.
- The Jets aren’t the only team interested in Bieniemy, as Terez Paylor of Yahoo Sports tweets that the Buccaneers and Dolphins have reached out as well. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network added in a tweet that the Cardinals have also requested an interview, bringing the number of teams interested in Bieniemy to four. Given the success that members of the Andy Reid coaching tree has had in recent years, it’s not surprising he’s a sought after name.
- Speaking of the Cardinals, the team has requested Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor, Rapoport tweets. The Cardinals are in desperate need of an offensive coach who can help Josh Rosen after Rosen’s woeful rookie campaign, and Taylor is very highly thought of in some circles. Rapoport notes the team has “been doing work on him”, so this seems like more than just a courtesy interview.