HOF QB Sonny Jurgensen Passes Away
Hall of Fame quarterback Sonny Jurgensen passed away Friday at the age of 91, his family announced.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our husband, father, and grandfather, Sonny Jurgensen,” Jurgensen’s family stated. “We are enormously proud of his amazing life and accomplishments on the field, marked not only by a golden arm, but also a fearless spirit and intellect that earned him a place among the greats in Canton.”
A former Duke Blue Devil whom the Eagles chose in the fourth round of the 1957 draft, Jurgensen evolved into one of the greatest signal-callers in the history of the sport. After serving as a backup over his first four seasons, including to fellow Hall of Famer Norm Van Brocklin during Philadelphia’s championship-winning campaign in 1960, Jurgensen became a full-time starter in 1961.
In his first year leading the Eagles’ offense, Jurgensen broke through with league highs in completions (235), yards (3,723) and touchdown passes (32). He earned his first of four All-Pro selections and his first of five Pro Bowl nods that season.
Jurgensen again led the league in passing in 1962, but the Eagles spiraled to a 3-10-1 record after going 10-4 the previous year. The team posted another dismal record of 2-10-2 in 1963, including a 1-6-1 mark in Jurgensen’s starts, and traded him to Washington for quarterback Norm Snead and defensive back Claude Crabb in the ensuing offseason.
The move to Washington rejuvenated Jurgensen, who played his last 11 seasons with the team formerly known as the Redskins. He spent his first seven seasons in Washington as a starter. Jurgensen went to four Pro Bowls and led the league in passing three times during that span. He wound down his career as Billy Kilmer‘s backup from 1971-74 before retiring at the age of 40.
Jurgensen, who became a member of Washington’s Ring of Fame, ranks second in franchise history to Joe Theismann in completions, attempts, yards and touchdown passes. With 31 TD passes in 1961, he continues to hold the single-season franchise record 65 years later. The team retired his No. 9 in 2022.
“Sonny Jurgensen is, and always will be, one of the defining legends of Washington football,” Commanders owner Josh Harris said. “He was a brilliant leader, Hall of Fame quarterback, and had one of the best arms the game has ever seen. … Our hearts and prayers are with Sonny’s family, friends, and everyone who loved him.”
Also a member of the Eagles’ Hall of Fame, Jurgensen sits fifth on their all-time TD passes list. Despite playing during the pre-1978 “Dead Ball” era, Jurgensen ranks 26th all-time in TD tosses (255) and 51st in yards (32,224). He led all “Dead Ball” era QBs in passer rating (82.62). Jurgensen is a member of the 1960s All-Decade Team who earned enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. He enjoyed a 38-year career as a broadcaster after he hung up his cleats.
Bills Hire DL Coach Terrance Jamison
The Bills are set to hire Illinois co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Terrance Jamison as their DL coach, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Jamison will replace Marcus West, who joined the Buccaneers in the same role last week.
Like new Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, Jamison played college football at Wisconsin. Their careers with the Badgers didn’t overlap, but they were on the Illinois coaching staff together in 2023. Leonhard left after one season to join the Broncos’ staff.
An assistant at a handful of colleges since 2008, Jamison coached Bengals star pass rusher and soon-to-be free agent Trey Hendrickson at Florida Atlantic from 2014-16.
More recently, Jamison spent the past half-decade at Illinois. The 38-year-old helped develop defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton, now with the Commanders, into a 2024 second-round pick. Jamison also assisted with edge rusher Gabe Jacas‘ 11-sack effort in 2025. After earning first-team All-Big Ten honors, Jacas could come off the board sometime in the first few rounds of April’s draft.
Now heading to Buffalo for his first job in the pros, Jamison will work on a staff that will likely implement a 3-4 base defense in 2026. The Bills ran a four-man front under former head coach Sean McDermott and ex-defensive coordinator Bobby Babich.
Jamison stands to inherit linemen Greg Rousseau, Ed Oliver, Deone Walker and T.J. Sanders, though it’s not yet clear if Leonhard regards all of those players as fits for his scheme. Meanwhile, after combining for upward of 1,400 snaps in 2025, Joey Bosa, A.J. Epenesa and DaQuan Jones are scheduled to reach the open market in March. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see all three walk in free agency.
Elsewhere on the Bills’ staff, rookie head coach Joe Brady will retain several of McDermott’s former assistants, per Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic. Kelly Skipper (running backs), Rob Boras (tight ends), Austin Gund (assistant offensive line), DJ Mangas (quality control/assistant wide receivers coach), Mark Lubick (passing game specialist/game management) and Kyle Shurmur (offensive quality control) will return in 2026. Brady, the Bills’ offensive coordinator before they promoted him to replace McDermott, is already familiar with all of those coaches.
Eagles RT Lane Johnson, LG Landon Dickerson Could Retire
After longtime offensive line coach/run game coordinator Jeff Stoutland stepped down earlier this week, the Eagles may be facing even bigger changes up front. Right tackle Lane Johnson and left guard Landon Dickerson could retire, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer said on his Uncovering the Birds podcast. Mike Garafolo of NFL Network hears similarly in regards to Dickerson.
Johnson, who signed an extension through 2027 less than a year ago, expressed confidence that he’d play out the contract. While McLane expects that to happen, Johnson is now contemplating his future in the wake of an injury-limited season. A Lisfranc sprain kept the 35-year-old stalwart out of the Eagles’ last seven regular-season games and their wild-card round loss to the 49ers.
At 27, it’s far more surprising that Dickerson may have played his last down. Dickerson inked an extension through 2028 two years ago. However, it’s clear that injuries have taken their toll on the five-year veteran.
Dating back to his college days at Florida State and Alabama, Dickerson has undergone 13 surgeries, including a right meniscus operation last August. Dickerson managed to make it back for Week 1, though an ankle injury later shelved him for two games.
When healthy enough to play, both Johnson and Dickerson have been full-time starters throughout their careers. Johnson has started in all 168 appearances since the Eagles chose the ex-Oklahoma Sooner fourth in the 2013 draft. He’s now a six-time Pro Bowler, a five-time All-Pro (three second-team selections, two first-team nods) and a two-time Super Bowl champion. Johnson, whom Pro Football Focus ranked 19th out of 86 qualifying tackles in 2025, is still capable of playing at a high level.
The same is true of Dickerson, PFF’s 28th-rated guard among 80 qualifiers this past season. Since the Eagles drafted him in the second round in 2021, Dickerson has started in 77 of 78 appearances and earned three Pro Bowl trips.
Like Johnson, he was an integral part of a line that helped lead the Eagles to their most recent Super Bowl title in 2024. They also played major roles in running back Saquon Barkley‘s 2,000-yard campaign, the ninth in league history.
With free agency a little over a month away and the draft coming up in April, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is surely hoping for answers on the futures of Johnson and Dickerson sooner than later. That’s especially true with reserve linemen Fred Johnson and Brett Toth slated to hit the open market.
Thanks to Lane Johnson’s injury, Fred Johnson made eight starts in 2025. Fred Johnson said last month he’d like to re-sign with the Eagles, but he also considers himself as a starting-caliber player. If the 28-year-old sees a clearer path to playing time elsewhere, he could exit Philadelphia next month.
It may be easier to retain Toth, who has only made six starts in his five-year career. He picked up a career-high four this past season while logging 199 snaps at left guard and 164 at center. Re-signing Toth would at least give the Eagles more depth along the interior, where they could lose Dickerson.
Even if both Johnson and Dickerson hold off on retiring, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Roseman focus on replenishing the offensive line in the draft. Roseman hasn’t picked an O-lineman in the third round or higher since he chose right guard Tyler Steen in Round 3 (65th overall) in 2023. Steen is now fresh off his first season as a full-time starter. Steen, left tackle Jordan Mailata and center Cam Jurgens are locked in as starters heading into 2026, but there are now serious questions surrounding the other two spots.
Jets Hire Frank Reich As OC
After the Jets parted ways with offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand last week, Frank Reich quickly became the favorite to replace him. The Jets will indeed hire Reich as their offensive coordinator, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
The 64-year-old Reich, who conducted his second interview with the Jets on Tuesday, beat out fellow veteran coaches Greg Roman and Darrell Bevell for the job. He’ll now return to the NFL after serving as the interim head coach at Stanford in 2025.
An NFL quarterback from 1985-1998, Reich spent the ’96 season with the Jets. Former defensive back and current Jets head coach Aaron Glenn was Reich’s teammate in New York. Thirty years later, Glenn is bringing in Reich to boost an offense that finished 29th in both points and yards this past season.
“Frank has a rare combination of experience, creativity, and calm under pressure,” Glenn said in a team-issued statement. “He’s lived this game from every angle — as a quarterback in this league and as a coach who’s led offenses at the highest level. He is unique in his ability to see the game for what it is right now and adapt when appropriate. Frank understands offense and how to utilize the strengths of players. I am looking forward to how he will help this team have success.”
Reich, who began his coaching career as an intern with the Colts in 2006, later worked as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator from 2014-15 and the Eagles’ OC between 2016-17. After winning a Super Bowl with backup QB Nick Foles in his last year in Philadelphia, Reich returned to Indianapolis in 2018 as its head coach.
In four-plus years with the Colts, Reich combined for a 40-33-1 record and two playoff berths despite instability under center. Andrew Luck was the Colts’ starter in Reich’s first year, but after his out-of-nowhere retirement in August 2019, Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers and Carson Wentz each held the role in the ensuing three seasons. There was more upheaval at the position in 2022, when Matt Ryan succeeded Wentz. The Ryan-led Colts got off to 3-5-1 start that year, leading to Reich’s ouster.
Reich immediately received a second chance as Carolina’s head coach in 2023, former No. 1 pick Bryce Young‘s rookie year, but it was a disastrous stint. With the Panthers off to a 1-10 start, they pulled the plug on Reich. He spent 2024 out of football before reuniting with Luck, Stanford’s general manager, for a year.
In his return to the pros, Reich will once again enter into a less-than-ideal QB situation. The Jets, who easily finished last in passing in 2025, don’t have an in-house answer at the position. They could re-sign journeyman Tyrod Taylor, but he’s better off in a backup role.
While Justin Fields inked a two-year deal with $30MM in guarantees last March, the Jets are likely to release him after a rough season in which Glenn benched him for Taylor. Brady Cook made four starts as an undrafted rookie, but he didn’t look like any kind of solution during that stretch.
With the league’s fourth-most spending space (around $83.57MM, per Over the Cap), a pair of first-round picks and four selections in the top 44, the Jets are in position to upgrade at QB this offseason. That would help Reich’s cause, as would re-signing soon-to-be free agent running back Breece Hall. As of now, though, there’s little high-end offensive talent on hand outside of wide receiver Garrett Wilson, tight end Mason Taylor, and tackles Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou.
Glenn made it known during his OC search that he wanted Engstrand’s replacement to work as the “head coach of the offense.” With the experienced Reich now running the unit, Glenn will take on a bigger role on the defensive side in 2026. Glenn, who hired first-time D-coordinator Brian Duker last week, will call the defensive plays next season.
AFC Staff Notes: Texans, Titans, Ravens
Here’s a look at the latest coaching staff updates from the AFC:
- The Texans recently moved on from tight ends coach Jake Moreland, assistant linebackers coach Ben Bolling, and offensive assistants Patrick Reilly and Mike Snyder, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 (links: 1, 2). They subsequently brought in James Ferentz as their tight ends coach and Alex Ward (not to be confused with the Raiders’ long snapper) as an offensive assistant. An NFL offensive lineman from 2014-23, Ferentz spent his first two years with the Texans. He immediately became the Giants’ assistant offensive line coach after his playing career ended. After two seasons in New York, he’s moving back to Houston to work with tight ends. Dalton Schultz, the Texans’ top TE, finished with a career-high 82 catches in 2025.
- The Titans have hired Cade Knox as their offensive assistant/game management, Paul Kuharsky reports. The Harvard alumnus held a similar position from 2022-25 with the Giants under head coach Brian Daboll, who’s now the Titans’ offensive coordinator. Knox will replace Rob Riederer in Tennesee and assist with timeouts and challenges.
- Nebraska hired Miles Taylor as its safety coach last month, but he’s already leaving for a promotion. The Ravens are hiring Taylor, per Sean Callahan of On3. He’ll serve as their assistant defensive backs coach, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic adds. Taylor spent 2025 as a coaching fellow with the Chargers. New Ravens head coach Jesse Minter was the Chargers’ defensive coordinator then. A few weeks after the Chargers’ season ended, Taylor and Minter are reuniting in Baltimore.
- The Chiefs recently requested an interview with Raiders running backs coach Deland McCullough, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. McCullough, who’s coming off his first year with the Raiders, previously coached Chiefs running backs from 2018-20 under offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. While Bieniemy left the organization in 2023, he became Kansas City’s OC again last month. That could open the door for McCullough’s return.
- The Jaguars interviewed Bills assistant offensive line coach Austin Gund for their run game coordinator opening, per Jordan Schultz. The Jags went on to hire Brian Piccuci instead, leaving Gund’s future up in the air. Gund has assisted along the Bills’ offensive line since 2023, but O-line coach Aaron Kromer retired after the season. The Bills replaced Kromer with Pat Meyer, and it’s now unclear if Gund will return in 2026.
Giants Hire Dawn Aponte As Senior VP
Dawn Aponte is leaving the league office for an executive position with the Giants, according to Jordan Raanan and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Aponte will serve as the Giants’ senior vice president in football operations.
This ends a nine-year run with the league for Aponte, a Staten Island native who had been the NFL’s chief administrator of football operations since 2017. Working with a team isn’t anything new for Aponte, however. Since beginning as an accountant in 1994, Aponte has garnered significant experience with the Jets, Browns and Dolphins.
In her seven years before joining the league office, Aponte held three different titles in Miami, including executive VP of football administration for five seasons. Joe Schoen, now the Giants’ general manager, was a Dolphins employee during Aponte’s entire tenure with the organization.
In 2024, eight years after leaving the Dolphins, Aponte interviewed for the Chargers’ GM job. Then seeking a replacement for the fired Tom Telesco, the Chargers went on to hire Joe Hortiz. The Jets also interviewed Aponte for their GM opening before hiring Darren Mougey last year, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post reports.
Aponte will now take on an important role in New York in replacing Kevin Abrams, whom the Giants let go last month after almost three decades with the franchise. Abrams’ ouster came shortly after the Giants hired head coach John Harbaugh, who has worked to reshape the organization early in his tenure.
Like Abrams, Aponte is known as a skilled contract negotiator. Aponte, who has a degree from New York Law School, will deal with matters related to contracts and the salary cap as a member of the Giants’ front office.
NFC Staff Notes: Cowboys, Pack, Rams
After interviewing Chidera Uzo-Diribe on Tuesday, the Cowboys are expected to hire the former Georgia assistant as their outside linebackers coach, according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports. As PFR’s Nikhil Mehta noted earlier this week, Uzo-Diribe helped develop OLBs Nolan Smith, Mykel Williams and Jalon Walker into first-round picks during his time on Kirby Smart‘s coaching staff. He’ll now play a key role under new Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker.
Marcus Dixon will join Uzo-Diribe and Parker in Dallas as the team’s defensive line coach, Todd Archer of ESPN reports. A Cowboys D-lineman from 2008-10, Dixon began his coaching career as a Rams assistant in 2021. He spent 2022-23 leading the D-line in Denver alongside Parker, then the Broncos’ defensive backs coach. Dixon held the same position with the Vikings over the past two seasons. The Vikings allowed Dixon’s contract to expire after the season, and they’ve since found a replacement in Ryan Nielsen.
Stephen Bravo-Brown, previously the Browns’ assistant receivers coach, is also on his way to Dallas, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. It’s unclear which role Bravo-Brown will take with the Cowboys after he wore multiple hats over six years in Cleveland. Before working with receivers last season, Bravo-Brown spent time as a defensive quality control coach and a special teams assistant.
Here are more staff updates from the NFC:
- Longtime 49ers assistant defensive backs/safeties coach Daniel Bullocks is joining the Packers’ staff in an unspecified role, Zenitz relays. Bullocks, a defensive back with the Lions from 2006-09, spent nine seasons in San Francisco and coached the team’s safeties over the past seven years. Jimmie Ward, Jaquiski Tartt, Talanoa Hufanga, Tashaun Gipson, Ji’Ayir Brown and Malik Mustapha are among 49ers safeties who enjoyed success under Bullocks.
- After hiring Bubba Ventrone as their special teams coordinator, the Rams have brought in Kyle Hoke as an assistant, per Wilson. A college coach for 13 years, Hoke jumped to the NFL for the first time last season and worked in Cleveland under Ventrone. Now in Los Angeles, the two will attempt to turn around a special teams unit that helped lead to the Rams’ downfall in 2025. ST gaffes were an all-too-frequent occurrence for the Rams during the regular season, and they reared their head in the playoffs with Xavier Smith fumbling a punt in an NFC title game loss to the Seahawks.
Browns HC Todd Monken To Call Offensive Plays; Latest On DC Jim Schwartz
After a successful three-year run as the Ravens’ offensive coordinator, Todd Monken became the Browns’ head coach last week. During his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Monken announced he’ll continue to call offensive plays in his new job (via Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com).
Monken, now in his second stint in Cleveland, first worked there as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2019. However, head coach Freddie Kitchens called the plays then.
With Kitchens on his way out after a one-and-done season, Monken took the offensive coordinator position at Georgia in 2020 and went on to win two national championships in three years with the Bulldogs.
Monken returned to the NFL with the Ravens in 2023 and proceeded to lead top-tier offenses in back-to-back years. Quarterback Lamar Jackson won the MVP in Monken’s first season at the helm. Jackson nearly pulled off the feat again in 2024, when the Ravens finished first in yardage and third in scoring. Meanwhile, with 1,921 rushing yards that year, running back Derrick Henry fell just short of becoming the first player to reach 2,000 in two different seasons.
The Ravens dropped to 11th in points and 16th in total offense in Monken’s final year at the controls, though an injury-plagued season for Jackson was the main culprit. He missed four games and was seldom at full strength in his 13 appearances.
Jackson and Henry are elite talents, which is something the Browns’ offense is sorely lacking. There’s no clear in-house answer at quarterback, where Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Deshaun Watson may compete for the starting job over the summer. Tight end Harold Fannin, who enjoyed a standout rookie year as a third-round pick, may be the Browns’ best offensive weapon. That honor belonged to wide receiver Jerry Jeudy a year ago, but his production plummeted this past season.
On the ground, second-round rookie running back Quinshon Judkins racked up 827 yards and seven TDs in 14 games in 2025. Judkins averaged just 3.6 yards per carry before fracturing his fibula and dislocating his ankle in Week 16. Those injuries shouldn’t affect the former Ohio State star in 2026, though, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s more efficient under Monken and new offensive coordinator Travis Switzer. Before joining Monken’s staff last week, Switzer impressed under him as the Ravens’ run game coordinator from 2024-25.
In order to maximize their skill players’ potential, the Browns will need to sufficiently address myriad questions along their offensive line this offseason. Pro Football Focus ranked the unit as the second-worst O-line in the league in 2025, and now a handful of Browns blockers are a little over a month from reaching free agency.
Guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller, who have put together quality careers, don’t have contracts. Tackles Jack Conklin and Cam Robinson and center Ethan Pocic are also scheduled to hit the open market in March. Having suffered an early December Achilles tear, Pocic will be a free agent at an inopportune time.
Monken and Switzer will attempt to turn around an offense that was one of the league’s worst in 2025. Fortunately for then, there’s less work to do on the other side of the ball.
Led by coordinator Jim Schwartz, the Browns’ defense was a clear bright spot. The group ranked fourth in total defense and 14th in scoring, and all-world pass rusher Myles Garrett set the single-season sack record with 23.
A couple weeks after the early January firing of head coach Kevin Stefanski, Schwartz joined Monken and Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase as finalists for the role. Schwartz now wants out of Cleveland after the team passed on him in favor of Monken.
Schwartz still has two years left on his contract, though he may end up elsewhere in 2026 if his relationship with the Browns is beyond repair. Regardless, Monken revealed that the Browns will continue with the same defensive system.
“We’re not planning to change the (defensive) system,” he declared (via Zac Jackson of The Athletic). “We’re built for the system the (players are) in currently. I’m not gonna get into staffing (today) because it’s not the time to get into that, but (the players) can rest assured we’re going to keep the same system.”
Monken said he has “a lot of respect for Jim Schwartz, as I would hope he has for me,” but declined to comment on Schwartz’s status. With Monken working to assemble his staff, an answer regarding Schwartz’s future could come sooner than later.
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 fourth stint as an NFL QBs coach for the 41-year-old Hardegree, whose initial experience came with Ryan Tannehill and Jay Cutler in Miami from 2016-18. Cutler came out of retirement in 2017 to fill in after Tannehill suffered a torn ACL. It proved to be the last season for Cutler, who completed 62% of passes with 19 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and an 80.8 rating in 14 games.
Hardegree later 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.