Dolphins Request Interview With Bills’ Frazier
The Dolphins have requested to interview Bills’ defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, according to a tweet from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. 
Frazier has been with Buffalo throughout Sean McDermott‘s five-year tenure, overseeing a Bills defensive resurgence, and would be a second-chance candidate after a four-season run as Vikings HC in the early 2010s. The 62-year-old assistant has been an NFL staffer since 1999, joining the Eagles under Andy Reid after two years with the University of Illinois.
Taking over the Vikings as an interim HC in 2010, Frazier did not enjoy a favorable quarterback situation while in that role. The Vikings used Christian Ponder as their starter for most of Frazier’s run. Frazier has called defensive plays for the Bills and has been connected to a couple of coaching searches in recent years.
Frazier interviewed twice for the Texans job that went to David Culley this year and met with the Colts following the Josh McDaniels about-face in 2018. Bills ownership has pushed for a team to hire Frazier as HC. It would be interesting to see the Dolphins once again go for a defensive play caller from a divisional rival.
Parts of this article were contributed by Sam Robinson
Za’Darius Smith Working Towards Return
Packers’ head coach Matt LaFleur announced today that Za’Darius Smith has returned to practice after 17 weeks on IR. He’s been designated to return so this practice begins the window of return before Smith must be placed back on IR. 
The Packers have been working without their Pro Bowl pass rusher for all but 18 snaps of football this year. Smith exited the team’s Week 1 matchup with a back injury that had been nagging him for most of the offseason. Smith underwent back surgery in hopes that he could make a late-season return, and he’s hoping to stand by that expectation.
Smith had seen two straight seasons of double-digit sacks since signing with the Packers as a free agent. Green Bay has been eager to see their top pass rusher paired up again with Preston Smith and an improved Rashan Gary. In his absence, Preston Smith and Gary have combined for 18.5 sacks this season.
This return is timely as the Packers have a first-round bye in the playoffs before they face off against the lowest remaining seed from Super Wild Card Weekend. This means Smith will have two weeks of practice to get back up to game speed and be ready to contribute. Green Bay will be excited to get a boost to their pass rush as they strive for their first Super Bowl appearance since winning Super Bowl XLV as a Wild Card team in the 2010-11 NFL season.
Bears Request To Interview Pats’ Eliot Wolf
The Chicago Bears have added another candidate to their list of potential replacements for former-general manager Ryan Pace. According to a tweet from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bears have requested to interview Patriots’ senior consultant Eliot Wolf for their open general manager position. 
Wolf started off as a pro personnel assistant in 2004 with the Packers, where his father, Ron Wolf, served as general manager from 1991 to 2000. In eight years with the team, Eliot worked his way into the director of pro personnel role, which he held for three years. In his last two seasons in Green Bay, he spent time in the roles of director of player personnel and director of football operations.
He left Wisconsin for the assistant general manager position in Cleveland before taking his current position as a senior consultant in New England.
Wolf has heard his name make the rounds for open general manager positions before. He first interviewed in San Francisco, after the 49ers fired Trent Baalke following the 2016 NFL season. He was also considered to follow in his father’s footsteps in Green Bay and succeed the late-Ted Thompson when he stepped down from the position following the 2017 season.
Wolf is likely hoping that he will finally get his chance to take the next step up for the bitter rivals of the team that gave him his start.
Weddle Returns To Rams For Playoff Run
The Beard is returning to the playoffs. Eric Weddle has agreed to a deal returning to the Los Angeles Rams for a playoff run. The two-time All-Pro is coming out of retirement for one more attempt at a Super Bowl ring. 
Weddle announced his retirement shortly after the 2019 NFL season and did not see any time on an NFL field last year. In his lone year on the Rams, Weddle was a team captain and defensive signal-caller.
The new comes shortly after hearing that starting safety Jordan Fuller would require ankle surgery that will hold him out for the remainder of the season. The Rams’ other starter in the defensive backfield, Taylor Rapp, is also in concussion protocol.
Weddle, despite continuing to be a leader on the defense, saw his impact change a bit in his last two years of football. The 37-year old hasn’t forced a turnover in a little over four years, but his last season on the Rams saw him finish second on the team in tackles.
Los Angeles will take whatever version of Weddle they can get as their secondary limps into the playoffs. They face their division rivals Monday night as they host the Cardinals for Super Wild Card Weekend.
Panthers Reworking Staff
Panthers head coach Matt Rhule has had some difficulties making the same immediate impact in Carolina that gained him notoriety in Waco. In two years at the helm, Rhule hasn’t succeeded in improving his team’s win total from the season before he was hired. In an attempt to make some needed improvements, the Panthers announced that they were letting go of offensive line coach Pat Meyer, defensive line coach Frank Okam, and special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn.
The team struggled on both sides of the line this year and it looks like any attempts to improve will be made by new position coaches, while the special teams unit saw four different kickers and three punters throughout the year, including the preseason.
Meyer has been with Rhule since the move to Carolina. He’s been coaching in the NFL for 8 years with stops at the Chargers, Bills, and Bears. Meyer entered the NFL with Marc Trestman, moving with the coach from the CFL to Chicago.
Okam joined Rhule at Baylor and followed the notably loyal coach to the Panthers. Rhule had brought much of his staff from Temple with him to Baylor, so it was safe to assume some of the Baylor staff would end up in Carolina, as well. Despite coaching up young draft picks like Derrick Brown, Yetur Gross-Matos, and Bravvion Roy and seeing career numbers from Brian Burns, Efe Obada, and Marquis Haynes, it seems Rhule is wanting a bit more from this position group.
Chase Blackburn was a longtime linebacker for the Giants before spending his final two years playing in Carolina. After about a year of retirement from playing, Blackburn became a special teams intern in Ron Rivera‘s staff. When Rhule came in to replace Rivera, Blackburn was one of two holdovers from the staff along with Jake Peetz, who is now the offensive coordinator at LSU.
It’s yet to be seen who will replace them, but Rhule continues to show hints of what made him successful at the college level by attempting to make the necessary changes to succeed. With young talent on both sides of the ball, Rhule may yet turn this team around.
Florida’s Kaiir Elam Declares For Draft
The son and nephew of former-NFL safeties Abram Elam and Matt Elam, respectively, Kaiir Elam is going pro. The University of Florida cornerback announced in a video posted from his Twitter account that he is forgoing his final two years of eligibility in order to take the next step.
Elam came into Gainesville as a top-100 recruit out of The Benjamin School near Palm Beach, FL. Elam wasted no time playing in all 13 games as a true freshman and earning 5 starts. From there Elam took over the starting cornerback position and became a leader on the Gators’ defense. Over his career, Elam totaled 6 interceptions and 20 pass breakups, demonstrating the ball skills that NFL teams will look for in a first round cornerback.
Elam has prototypical size and length at the position and is viewed in many circles as a potential Day One pick. Dane Brugler of the The Athletic has Elam as the fifth-best corner in the draft class and picked him to go 20th overall as the third cornerback off the board in his mock of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Elam hopes to follow in the steps of his uncle and become a first-round draft pick and then follow in the steps of his father and become an NFL starter. That journey will start in March with the NFL Scouting Combine where Elam will try to show the NFL evaluators that he’s ready for the next level of gameplay.
Detroit, OC Lynn Part Ways
In one of the less surprising moves of “Black Monday,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell confirmed in his Monday morning press conference that offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn will not remain a part of the coaching staff in Detroit. 
Coming off being fired by the Chargers last season, Lynn took the role of play caller under first-year head coach Dan Campbell. After starting the season with eight straight losses, Campbell relieved Lynn of his play calling duties. The Lions proceeded to finish 3-3 over their last six games and it became apparent that Lynn was a lame duck in his position.
Lynn’s resume isn’t terrible as he left Los Angeles boasting a winning record as a head coach. In his first two seasons leading the Chargers, they finished 2nd in the division and even nabbed a Wild Card spot in his second year, winning a playoff game before getting beat in the Divisional Round. Lynn has had success in the league as a running backs coach and has strong leadership qualities that his players respect. He should find a job in the NFL again, before long.
As for the Lions open offensive coordinator position, Campbell will need to decided whether he would like to continue calling plays himself or if he wants to hire an offensive coordinator who can run the show. We’ll see that search play out as “Black Monday” continues to create new candidates for open jobs.
Super Wild Card Weekend Set
The NFL’s first ever 18-week regular season has concluded and the playoffs are set to begin next weekend. With the final spots being decided in a Sunday Night Football thriller, we now know where everyone’s going and when they’ll be playing next.
Super Wild Card Weekend starts with the lower AFC Seeds on Saturday. We begin with the 5-Seed Las Vegas Raiders (10-7) as they head to Ohio to play the AFC North Champion 4-Seed Cincinnati Bengals (10-7) at 4:30PM ET. We follow that up with the 6-Seed New England Patriots (10-7) who head to upstate New York for their third match up of the season against the AFC East Champion 3-Seed Buffalo Bills at 8:15PM ET.
On Sunday, we see some NFC teams early to start out. Sunday kicks off with the 7-Seed Philadelphia Eagles (9-8) heading to Central Florida to face off against the NFC South Champion 2-Seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13-4) at 1:00PM ET. After that, the 6-Seed San Francisco 49ers (10-7) go into the Lone Star State to face off against the NFC East Champion 3-Seed Dallas Cowboys (12-5) at 4:30PM ET. We finish off Sunday night with the 7-Seed Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7-1) traveling into Missouri to play the AFC West Champion 2-Seed Kansas City Chiefs (12-5) at 8:15PM ET.
We’ll end our Super Wild Card Weekend on Monday Night, when the 5-Seed Arizona Cardinals (11-6) head back to SoCal for their third game of the season versus the NFC West Champion 4-Seed Los Angeles Rams (12-5) at 8:15PM ET.
Clemson CB Declares For Draft
Andrew Booth Jr. is going pro. The Clemson cornerback is ranked second in Dane Brugler’s positional rankings and The Athletic’s writer has Booth going 12th overall in his first round mock of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Booth is the consensus second best corner in the draft to LSU’s Derek Stingley. With as many as four or five cornerbacks potentially getting picked on Day 1 of the draft, Booth is almost guaranteed to hear his name called on Thursday. The only question will be: how early?
Booth arrived at Clemson as a five-star prospect from Georgia. He’s played in all 34 games for the Tigers since he’s arrived and has tallied 3 interceptions and 9 pass break ups. His biggest splash play was a fumble recovery his sophomore year against Syracuse that he returned 21 yards for a touchdown.
Booth has an intriguing combination of length, athleticism, and ball skills that has NFL franchises ready to pull the trigger. He’ll look to improve his draft stock at the Combine and Clemson’s Pro Day before he hears his name called out on that night in late April.
Raiders’ HC Search Narrowing
The Raiders’ 2021-22 NFL season hasn’t yet come to an end, but, according to the rumors circulating in the NFL, Raiders’ owner Mark Davis is already locked-in on his preferred replacement hire for head coach. Davis hasn’t conducted an official search, but Mike Florio of NBC Sports confirms what most of the league is thinking: that Davis already knows who he wants.
As of right now, the hot gossip around the league is pointing to Davis pursuing current University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh, of course, had a previous stint in the NFL, coaching the 49ers for four seasons. Harbaugh’s record as an NFL head coach stands at 44-19-1. Harbaugh went to the NFC Championship game in all of his first three seasons and even made it to the Super Bowl in his second year, only to lose to his older brother and the Ravens. Harbaugh’s fourth year saw the 49ers go 8-8 and resulted in the end of his contract.
Since his departure from the NFL, Harbaugh has been one of college football’s more eccentric coaches, leading the Wolverines to a 61-24 record since 2015 and helping Michigan to their first Big Ten Championship since 2004. The upside of Harbaugh is apparent as he has shown the ability to win at both levels.
Current interim head coach of the Raiders, Rich Bisaccia, may have something to say about that, though. Bisaccia took over after Jon Gruden’s noisy departure and has kept the ship upright, going 6-5 and keeping the Raiders alive in the playoff hunt. Things could get interesting if the team rallies under Bisaccia to make some noise in the playoffs.
According to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, Davis, who also owns the Las Vegas Aces, made a splashy hire for their head coaching position, pulling Becky Hammon away from the San Antonio Spurs. What’s interesting is that he told Bill Laimbeer, the incumbent head coach of the Aces from the previous season, that, if Hammon declined to take the position, Laimbeer would be retained. A similar offer could be in the cards for Harbaugh and Bisaccia.
The unfortunate part of this situation is that, when owners make up their mind like this before a search can be conducted, it makes a mockery of the league’s Rooney Rule. Davis will surely make sure his franchise complies with the rule, inviting ethnic-minority candidates in to interview, but interviews haven’t even begun to be planned, and the outcome already seems like a foregone conclusion.
Regardless, all signs are pointing to Jim Harbaugh becoming the next head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders with his main competition being the current interim head coach. Bisaccia looks to to make Davis’s decision a little more difficult tonight with a win against the Chargers.