Latest On Patriots’ Leadership
When Bill Belichick and the Patriots parted ways, New England didn’t only lose a head coach, they lost a general manager, as well. That departure has left the team with a lot of questions concerning the current and future makeup of the team’s front office. One of the biggest questions with the 2024 NFL Draft on the horizon: who will be making draft day decisions? 
The easy answer points to an external or internal candidate to replace Belichick in the role of general manager. Recent reports provided by Chris Mason of MassLive seem to point in a different direction, though, indicating that the team is in no rush to hire a replacement. Whether that means the team will wait months, until after the draft, to either promote or hire someone into the general manager role, or if that means that the Patriots are confident in the current structure without a de facto general manager, it sounds like New England could be relying on current personnel to draft this April.
That current brass is composed of director of player personnel Matt Groh, director of scouting Eliot Wolf, pro scouting director Steve Cargile, college scouting director Camren Williams, and senior personnel advisor Patrick Stewart. Jeff Howe of The Athletic explained that, in a fairly fluid situation, Groh and Wolf are running the operation for now, and there’s no guarantee that anyone will end up with the title of general manager. They, along with Cargile, Williams, and Stewart, though, are expected to remain in place at least through the draft.
If the team does decide to go internal, Wolf appears to be one of the most well-positioned candidates. Before his tenure in New England, Wolf spent two years as the Browns’ assistant general manager. ESPN’s Mike Reiss claims that the past four years for Wolf have effectively served as “an extended job interview.” That being said, the possibility of an external candidate has not been ruled out. New head coach Jerod Mayo has reportedly spoken with external candidates from opposing front offices in consideration for the job.
Speaking of Mayo, there are some who have questioned the Patriots’ quick trigger finger on hiring Belichick’s coaching replacement. Some executives and coaches are reportedly surprised that New England rushed into the hire and didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to interview other candidates, even if just to gather information that could be beneficial in the future.
Mayo’s hiring doesn’t answer the questions at offensive coordinator either. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, while Bill O’Brien currently remains in place as the team’s offensive playcaller, an O’Brien departure could lead to a reunion with Josh McDaniels, fresh off his most recent attempt at being a head coach.
There are many questions in New England from the front office to the coaching staff. Will the team go internal or external to replace Belichick as a general manager? Will the Patriots hire a general manager at all? Who will join Mayo on his first coaching staff? New England has lots of questions to answer, but ownership appears to be in no rush to answer them.
Browns RB Kareem Hunt To Test Free Agency, Open To Return
The Browns were put in a terrible position when star running back Nick Chubb went down with multiple knee ligament tears only two weeks into the 2023 season, forcing the team to navigate 16 more weeks of football without him. Cleveland was fortunate that a former member of a formidable 1-2 punch with Chubb, Kareem Hunt, was available in free agency. While Hunt’s first couple of forays into free agency were not ideal situations, he will land on the market once again this offseason, this time on much better terms. 
Hunt’s first bout with free agency had come less than a year after he led the NFL in rushing yards as a rookie with the Chiefs. Hunt was unceremoniously released by Kansas City amid the release of a videotape that showed him pushing a woman to the ground and kicking her after first being physically assaulted by the woman. He was never charged with any crime but was placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt list after signing a new deal with the Browns. He ended up serving an eight-game suspension as a result of the incident.
Hunt became a restricted free agent after that first season in Cleveland, eventually signing a two-year, $13.25MM contract extension. Just before the second year of the two-year deal, Hunt requested a trade from the Browns, unhappy with his contract situation. The Browns refused to honor his request, letting him play out the 2022 season on the final year of his contract. He was not re-signed this time and spent seven months in free agency.
After Chubb went out for the season, the Browns reached out, desiring Hunt’s familiarity with the team’s offense among a relatively inexperienced running backs room. Hunt would play out a one-year deal for the remainder of the season. With that season coming to an end yesterday in the Browns’ loss to the Texans, Hunt is once again destined for free agency.
This time, though, Hunt is looking forward to testing the open market. Despite not spending camp or the preseason with the team, Hunt delivered a strong contribution in 2023, scoring more rushing touchdowns this year (9) than he had in any other season of his career.
“I’m definitely going to test free agency and see what the right option is for me or what’s best for me and my family and everything,” Hunt told Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “But, for the most part, this is always home for me. It’s Cleveland until I die, so I’m going to have a special place in my heart for them.”
While it sounds like a goodbye letter to Cleveland, Hunt made sure to clarify that he isn’t “closing (any) doors.” He emphasized that he will “always consider being in Cleveland over anything,” but for now, he’ll test the free agent market and see if another franchise decides they need him more.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/14/24
Callups and minor moves before the last day of Super Wild Card weekend:
Buffalo Bills
- Elevated: WR Andy Isabella, LB A.J. Klein
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Elevated: LB Myles Jack, S Eric Rowe
Lions TE Sam LaPorta To Play In Wild-Card Round
JANUARY 14: Per Rapoport and NFL Network colleague Tom Pelissero, LaPorta now has more than an outside shot to play in tonight’s wild-card contest against the Rams. The duo report that while LaPorta was limited in practice and will likely require a brace on his leg, he is “trending in the right direction to play.”
JANUARY 8: When speaking about the LaPorta injury on Monday, Campbell said the standout rookie has “an outside shot” to play against the Rams in the wild-card round (h/t Justin Rodgers of the Detroit News). He added that the Lions will not add a tight end during the week, so LaPorta can be expected to miss only the coming game at the most.
JANUARY 7: Sam LaPorta is putting a bow on what will go down as one of the greatest rookie seasons for a tight end of all time. He hoped to put up 35 receiving yards today in order to pass Jeremy Shockey for the third-most receiving yards for a rookie tight end in NFL history, but he ultimately fell six yards short after suffering a hyperextended knee and a bone bruise in the Lions’ season finale, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. According to his head coach, Dan Campbell, while the injury is not as bad as it could’ve been, he’s likely to miss some time. 
LaPorta has been a pivotal part of the Lions’ first playoff season in seven years. While running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs held down the running game, LaPorta paired up with wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Josh Reynolds to provide quarterback Jared Goff with a formidable receiving trio. LaPorta finished the year second on the team in receptions and receiving yards while matching St. Brown on the year with 10 receiving touchdowns.
If Campbell is accurate and LaPorta is forced to miss time in the playoffs, Detroit is going to have trouble replacing the production lost during LaPorta’s absence. Third-year tight end Brock Wright is the team’s second-leading receiving tight end, and he only has 91 yards on the year. Last year, when Wright started 10 games after the departure of T.J. Hockenson, Wright recorded only 18 receptions for 216 yards, though he did prove to be formidable in the red zone with four touchdowns.
The only other tight end to receive even a target for the Lions this season was second-year tight end James Mitchell, who caught his only two targets for 28 yards in the last two weeks. Wright and Mitchell will be asked to step up when the Rams come to town next week for Super Wildcard Weekend. The Lions also hold veteran fullback/tight end Anthony Firkser on the practice squad.
Luckily, though, it sounds like LaPorta avoided the worst-case scenario, which could’ve seen him missing time all the way into next year. Instead, the Lions will hold out hope that LaPorta will be able to make a return sometime during the playoffs, on the off chance that Detroit can win their first playoff game since 1992.
Lions Place CB Jerry Jacobs, TE James Mitchell On IR
The Lions are the only team today with transactions that aren’t just standard gameday practice squad elevations. In addition to the normal gameday transactions, Detroit also placed starting cornerback Jerry Jacobs and backup tight end James Mitchell on injured reserve before their first home playoff game in 30 years. 
Jacobs is certainly the bigger loss of the two. The third-year cornerback out of Arkansas has continued to extend his role in each year, starting 12 games on the Lions’ defense this year. In 15 games this season, Jacobs is tied for second on the team for interceptions (3) and tied for third on the team for passes defensed (8). Jacobs had started the first 12 games he had appeared in this year but was forced to take a bit of a back seat in recent weeks.
With Jacobs in a limited role the past few weeks, Kindle Vildor has been starting opposite usual starter Cameron Sutton, with big contributions coming from second-round rookie Brian Branch and Khalil Dorsey. That plan is expected to continue as Jacobs becomes officially unavailable, though Sutton and Branch are dealing with a few injury issues themselves.
Mitchell was expected to play a bigger role in the offense if starter Sam LaPorta was unable to play after last week’s injury. Luckily, LaPorta seems to have avoided disaster and currently only holds a questionable status heading into tomorrow, so there’s a good chance he will be good to go, lessening the impact of Mitchell’s absence. Brock Wright will continue performing as TE2.
After losing a cornerback and tight end to IR, the Lions promoted a cornerback and tight end from the practice squad, signing Anthony Firkser and Chase Lucas to the active roster. Firkser and Lucas will be able to provide some depth at tight end and cornerback, respectively, as injuries threaten to impact Detroit’s postseason aspirations.
Lastly, the Lions announced their standard gameday practice squad elevations for tomorrow, as well. Joining Firkser and Lucas will be defensive lineman Tyson Alualu and fullback Jason Cabinda.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/13/24
Today’s transactions and callups for the Saturday night and Sunday games:
Dallas Cowboys
- Elevated: LB Malik Jefferson, LB Buddy Johnson
Green Bay Packers
- Elevated: CB David Long
Kansas City Chiefs
- Elevated: NT Mike Pennel, CB Keith Taylor
Los Angeles Rams
- Elevated: LB Olakunle Fatukasi
Miami Dolphins
- Elevated: CB Ethan Bonner, LB Malik Reed
The three-game limit for practice squad players to be elevated under a single contract is reset in the playoffs, allowing players who weren’t able to be activated anymore by the end of the year to return in the coming weeks.
Packers starting cornerback Jaire Alexander injured his ankle this week in practice, leading to his current questionable status. Long will be elevated to provide some depth in the off chance that Alexander is unable to go versus the Cowboys.
Jaguars To Interview Wink Martindale For DC Job
After Ian Rapoport of NFL Network hinted at a connection between former Giants defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale and the Jaguars, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer has confirmed that Martindale is scheduled for a two-day interview with the team this week. Martindale will be in Duval Tuesday and Wednesday of this week to interview for the team’s open defensive coordinator position. 
The Jaguars fired defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and the rest of the team’s defensive staff after Caldwell’s first two years as a coordinator. Under Caldwell, the Jacksonville defense delivered middling results finishing 12th and 17th in points allowed and 24th and 22nd in yards allowed. This kept a top-10 2022 Jaguars offense from advancing past the divisional round of the playoffs and kept a top-14 2023 Jaguars offense from making it to the playoffs at all.
Plenty of names have been mentioned as names to interview for the position since Caldwell’s departure. The team was blocked access to interview current Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and Falcons defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen earlier this week, but Ravens secondary coach and defensive pass game coordinator Chris Hewitt, Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, Titans cornerbacks coach and defensive pass game coordinator Chris Harris, and Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel are all set to interview with the team.
Add Martindale to that list. Martindale started in the NFL as a linebackers coach, spending five years with the Raiders before taking the same job with the Broncos. Denver would promote him to defensive coordinator under Josh McDaniels, but Martindale was not retained whenever John Fox took over the following year. He joined the Ravens 2012 Super Bowl-winning squad as the linebackers coach, a role he would hold for six years before eventually replacing Dean Pees as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator.
In his first three years heading up the Ravens defense, Baltimore fielded a perennial top-five defense, often competing for the league lead in points or yards allowed. 2021 would see an anomaly in Baltimore as the team’s defense would finish 19th in points allowed and 25th in yards allowed. Whether or not the lack of success was due to injuries to key contributors like cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters and safety DeShon Elliott, Martindale and the Ravens parted ways.
A few weeks later, Martindale accepted the defensive coordinator position with the Giants. Over the past two years, New York has finished 18th and 26th in points allowed and 25th and 27th in yards allowed. Unhappy with the production of someone who used to be a top defensive coordinator in the league, the Giants and head coach Brian Daboll parted ways with Martindale. News of the separation came days after reports of a multiday standoff that saw Martindale reportedly curse out Daboll and storm out of the building.
Now Martindale will add his name to the list of potential candidates to replace Caldwell in Jacksonville. He’ll be competing with a currently much less experienced field of candidates, though the Jaguars may prefer someone with a bit less history and baggage.
Cowboys’ Dan Quinn, Ravens’ Mike Macdonald Highlight Names To Watch In Seattle
Since the Seahawks made the decision to move on from longtime head coach Pete Carroll, they have really been the only team that we haven’t heard from in terms of scheduling interviews for candidates to replace him. Current Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was mentioned as an expected candidate to replace his former boss, and today, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network provided us with a new name to look out for in Seattle. 
Quinn has been considered a head coaching candidate pretty much ever since he was fired from his head coaching gig with the Falcons in 2020. Since Quinn landed in Dallas, the Cowboys have fielded a perennial top-10 scoring defense and have improved their yards allowed each year. This year the team finished in the top five of both categories.
Last year, Quinn interviewed with the Cardinals, Broncos, Texans, and Colts to fill their head coaching openings, and even returned for second interviews in Arizona and Indianapolis before ultimately making the decision to remain in Dallas as a coordinator. The year prior saw Quinn interview with the Bears, Broncos, Dolphins, Vikings, and Giants. He conducted a second interview in Chicago and was considered a finalist for the Denver job, but he ended up once again choosing to remain with the Cowboys, even declining an interview opportunity with the Jaguars.
Quinn’s connection to Seattle, comes from two different stints with the team. After defensive line coaching jobs with the 49ers, Dolphins, and Jets, Quinn accepted that same position coaching gig with the added title of assistant head coach with the Seahawks. He held the position for two years before taking on a defensive coordinator job for the University of Florida. After two more years, Quinn made the move back to the NFL and back to Seattle as an NFL defensive coordinator.
The Seahawks reached back-to-back Super Bowls (and were one offensive play away from winning back-to-back Super Bowls) behind a defense led by Quinn that finished tops in the league in both points allowed and yards allowed. In both years, Quinn’s defense led both categories by a relatively wide margin. His success coaching the vaunted Legion of Doom led to his first head coaching opportunity in Atlanta. Despite an overall winning record of 43-42 that included a Super Bowl appearance for the Falcons, two consecutive 7-9 seasons and an 0-5 start to the 2020 season led to Quinn’s termination.
The other name mentioned by Rapoport has a bit of a different story. Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald has far less coaching experience in the NFL. Macdonald started in Baltimore as a coaching intern in 2014, moving up to defensive assistant before coaching defensive backs in 2017 and linebackers from 2018-20. John Harbaugh‘s little brother Jim stole Macdonald away for a season to serve as defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan before the elder Harbaugh called Macdonald back to the NFL for the same role in Baltimore.
In two years under Macdonald, the Ravens have finished third and first in points allowed and improved from 11th in yards allowed to sixth this year. Despite the presence of a star outside pass rusher, Macdonald’s Ravens have consistently been one of the league’s more successful teams at pressuring the quarterback thanks to unique blitzing schemes and disguises. This year, Baltimore added a league-leading 31 turnovers to the resume, as well.
Despite Quinn’s apparent seniority over Macdonald, both coordinators have received extensive interest so far as head coaching candidates. Quinn currently holds interview requests from the Panthers, Chargers, Titans, and Commanders, while Macdonald has interviewed with the Panthers and Falcons and holds requests from the Titans and Commanders, as well. Both coordinators are still in the playoffs and can only conduct virtual interviews at this time, but once the playoffs have finished, expect both coaches to act on the reported interest.
Giants To Interview Titans’ Shane Bowen For DC Job; Team Denied Meeting With Panthers’ Chris Tabor
After parting ways with defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale, the Giants have started the process of finding a replacement. In a different search, though, New York continues to stick its nose in unwelcome places as they have once again been denied access to certain interview candidates, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 
First, Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is reportedly set to interview for the Giants open defensive coordinator position, according to Turron Davenport of ESPN. Bowen is also set to interview for the same position in Jacksonville. In New York, he will be competing with Ravens defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson, who interviewed with the team earlier today.
While Bowen technically is still employed in Nashville, the firing of Mike Vrabel leaves Bowen in a precarious position, as whoever eventually replaces Vrabel may not choose to retain him in Tennessee. After five years as an assistant with the Texans and Titans, Bowen got his first coordinator job in 2021. In his first season, Bowen impressed, with Tennessee finished as the sixth-best scoring defense and finishing 12th in yards allowed. The next two seasons saw mostly middling defenses in Tennessee.
New York has also been exerting efforts to fill its special teams coordinator position after the firing of longtime coordinator Thomas McGaughey. The team was denied access by the Chargers to interview Ryan Ficken as well as being denied access to Marquice Williams by the Falcons. The Giants have now been denied thrice, as Schefter reports that the team’s attempt to interview Panthers interim head coach and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor has also been denied.
Tabor and Williams are both currently on captain-less ships after the firings of Frank Reich and Arthur Smith, respectively. Still, Panthers owner David Tepper has shown continuous support for Tabor, encouraging head coaching candidates last year to retain him on the staff. Similarly, though the Falcons have yet to name Smith’s replacement, the team seems to believe that Williams will still have a role moving forward. The Giants will have to continue searching for worthy replacements for McGaughey.
Jaguars Exploring Options For Open DC Job, Scheduling Interviews
After firing defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and the rest of the defensive staff, head coach Doug Pederson and the Jaguars have started the process of finding replacements. That became clear with a series of reports today that several defensive assistants from around the league would be interviewing for the open position. 
In a continuation of what looks like a future decimation of the Ravens‘ coaching staff this offseason, secondary coach and defensive pass game coordinator Chris Hewitt will interview for the job, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. Baltimore’s coordinators have both been garnering interest for multiple head coaching openings, and earlier today, we saw the team’s defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson interview with the Giants for their open defensive coordinator job. Even Ravens defensive line coach/associate head coach Anthony Weaver has received head coaching interest.
Hewitt has been a staple in Baltimore, coaching with the Ravens since the team’s last Super Bowl season in 2012. The Jamaica-native started off coaching as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at the college level for the Fighting Irish before spending eight seasons at Rutgers coaching running backs and cornerbacks. In 2012, Hewitt joined John Harbaugh‘s staff as a defensive backs coach. After another eight years, Hewitt was promoted to pass defense coordinator and has spent the past two seasons in his current role.
Jacksonville isn’t afraid to poach from a division-rival, scheduling an interview with Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport. While Bowen technically is still employed in Nashville, the firing of Mike Vrabel leaves Bowen in a precarious position, as whoever eventually replaces Vrabel may not choose to retain him in Tennessee. After five years as an assistant with the Texans and Titans, Bowen got his first coordinator job in 2021. In his first season, Bowen impressed, with Tennessee finished as the sixth-best scoring defense and finishing 12th in yards allowed. The next two seasons saw mostly middling defenses in Tennessee.
Also off the Titans’ coaching staff, the Jaguars will interview Tennessee’s defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach Chris Harris, according to Ben Arthur of NFL on FOX. Since entering the NFL in 2013 as a Bears defensive quality control coach, Harris went from assistant defensive backs coach for the Chargers to defensive backs coach for Washington before landing in his current role with the Titans this year. Harris also got some interest in last year’s coordinator search for the Texans.
Finally, the last candidate to receive a request to interview for the Jaguars open position was Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel. Manuel started coaching in Seattle in 2012, a few years after concluding his playing career, as an assistant special teams coach. He would climb the ladder for the Seahawks becoming a defensive assistant and an assistant secondary coach over the next two years. He took his first position coaching gig as the secondary coach for the Falcons in 2015 and was promoted to defensive coordinator two years later. When his contract in Atlanta expired, Manuel was hired as the defensive backs coach in Philadelphia for a year before taking the safeties coach position in New York. Like Harris, Manuel was a candidate for the Texans defensive coordinator job last offseason. He also interviewed for the same job with the Panthers last year, as well.
The Jaguars are certainly exploring plenty of options for who will coach the defensive side of the ball in Jacksonville next year. The team reportedly also requested an interview with Falcons defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen but were blocked access, per Jaguars beat reporter John Shipley. The Panthers also blocked an Ejiro Evero interview. There seems to be a concentrated focus on coaches with defensive back experience, which makes sense after the team gave up the seventh-most passing yards in the NFL this year.