Jets Hire Two Former Pittsburgh Staffers
As Jets head coach Aaron Glenn continues to shuffle his staff in Year 2, he added a pair of former Steelers staffers freed up by expiring contracts and the departure of Mike Tomlin from Pittsburgh. He also looked at an internal candidate to fill a vacant role on his defensive staff.
On Wednesday, New York announced that Karl Dunbar would be trading out his black and yellow for green and white as the Jets’ new defensive line coach. Dunbar should be fairly familiar with the role, considering he held it from 2012-14. In addition to his two stints with the Jets, the veteran 58-year-old assistant has held DL coaching roles with college powerhouses LSU and Alabama and the Bears, Vikings, Bills, and Steelers in the NFL.
A five-year stint in Minnesota saw him build the “Williams Wall,” coaching interior defenders Kevin Williams and Pat Williams on the league’s best run defense for three straight seasons. Arriving in Pittsburgh the year after Cameron Heyward‘s first first-team All-Pro season, Dunbar’s defensive lines with the Steelers became notorious for bringing pressure as other contributors like Javon Hargrave, Stephon Tuitt, Chris Wormley, Keeanu Benton, and Derrick Harmon all scheduled frequent meetings at the quarterback over his eight-year tenure.
Joining Dunbar in the trip from Pittsburgh is tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts who, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, will be assuming the same role in New York. Roberts started his coaching career working two years at FAU as running backs coach and spending two more with the Owls coaching wide receivers. After that, apart from a single 2016 season in which he coached tight ends at Indiana’s high school powerhouse Carmel, the 60-year-old assistant has enjoyed a 22-year career as an NFL coach. Aside from a three-year stint as a running backs coach with the Chargers, his NFL career has been spent solely as a tight ends coach with stops at Jacksonville, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh.
He’s coached such veterans as Marcedes Lewis in Jacksonville, Kellen Winslow in both Cleveland and Tampa Bay, Dallas Clark, Coby Fleener, and Dwayne Allen in Indianapolis, Hunter Henry in Los Angeles, and Eric Ebron, Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, and Jonnu Smith in Pittsburgh. He’ll take over a position room that should return talented rookie Mason Taylor in 2026.
Lastly in New York, as the Jets looks to replace linebackers coach Aaron Curry, one of several departures shortly after the end of the 2025 season, Glenn has opted to interview Nathaniel Willingham for a potential promotion, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The son of storied collegiate head coach Tyrone Willingham, Nathaniel first came to the NFL as a quality control coach for the Broncos in 2019 after a four-year stint at Stanford. He joined the Jets in 2022 as a defensive assistant, was promoted to defensive backs/nickelbacks coach in 2024, and was retained as assistant linebackers coach last year. He’ll how hope to earn his way back to a position coaching role under Glenn for 2026.
Browns Retain Christian Jones In New Role
Todd Monken has been busy filling out his first NFL staff. In Cleveland, the offensive coordinator turned first-time head coach added three two new faces to his offensive staff and retained a respected coach from former head coach Kevin Stefanski‘s staff.
The familiar face sticking around is Christian Jones, who served as the Browns tight end coach in 2025. According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Jones is expected to remain on Monken’s staff in Cleveland but will work over a different group of pass catchers now as wide receivers coach. Jones came to Cleveland a year ago, leaving his previous role as assistant quarterbacks coach with the Giants.
In his first year with the Browns, he helped rookie third-round tight end Harold Fannin make an easy transition from college to the NFL. Despite several other receiving stars getting extra games in the College Football Playoffs, Fannin ended 2024 as the NCAA leader in receptions (117) and receiving yards (1,555), adding 10 touchdowns in 13 games. As a rookie competing with veteran David Njoku for targets, Fannin led the Browns in targets (107), receptions (72), receiving yards (731), and receiving touchdowns (6). Jones will now turn his attention to the team’s receiving corps, which should return its top receiving trio of Jerry Jeudy, Isaiah Bond, and Cedric Tillman.
On Thursday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that former Pittsburgh offensive assistant Matt Baker is expected to join the Browns as assistant quarterbacks coach under new QB coach Mike Bajakian. Baker, formerly an undrafted quarterback who made stops on several practice squads from 2006 to 2009, turned to coaching when his playing career came to an end. After minor roles at Ole Miss and Western Michigan, Baker took a role as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Division-III John Carroll.
He made the jump to the NFL in 2023 as a special teams assistant with the Falcons in 2023 and spent the past two season in his most recent role with the Steelers. He’ll assist Monken, Bajakian, and company in navigating the tail end of Deshaun Watson‘s contract, the development of second-year passers Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, and the potential addition of more young quarterbacks through the draft.
The other addition to the offensive staff came today as Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports that the team is expected to add Bobby Johnson as an assistant offensive line coach under new OL coach George Warhop. Johnson brings plenty of experience, having held OL coach duties at his last three stops in Buffalo, New York, and Washington. Unfortunately, he finds himself taking a step back into an assistant role after getting fired from his last two jobs. The Giants fired him after the team gave up the second-most sacks in NFL history (85) in 2023, and his first year with the Commanders saw the team give up the eighth-most sacks in the league that year.
Ravens Expected To Hire Marcus Brady To Offensive Staff
The Ravens continue to work on filling out their coaching staff under new head coach Jesse Minter. One of the newest updates comes from Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports who reports that Chargers offensive pass game coordinator Marcus Brady is expected to join Baltimore’s offensive staff. 
Brady’s road to the NFL was an intriguing one. After wrapping up his collegiate playing career at Cal State Northridge, Brady went undrafted in both the NFL and CFL in 2002 before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts. He played seven years in the CFL before immediately shifting to a coaching role in 2009. By 2012, he had become an offensive coordinator and spent six seasons as an OC in Canada. After winning the Grey Cup in 2017, Brady finally got an opportunity in the NFL.
Brady’s first NFL job came in Indianapolis under then-head coach Frank Reich. He spent a year as assistant quarterbacks coach before being named to quarterbacks coach the next year. When Nick Sirianni departed for the head coaching job in Philadelphia two years later, Brady was promoted to offensive coordinator, though Reich was calling plays. After Reich was fired midseason, Brady was let go, as well, and he rebounded quickly, landing with Sirianni as an offensive assistant for the Eagles.
Brady has frequented offensive coordinator interviews over the years. In 2024, the Chargers considered him for their OC position before hiring him to his most recent role. Last year, he interviewed for the OC jobs in New England and Tampa Bay, and the Chargers interviewed him again this year before hiring Mike McDaniel. Now expected to depart, Brady will likely hold the same offensive pass game coordinator title in Baltimore.
Looking to fill out another position on the offensive staff, the Ravens are also expected to hire Broncos pass game specialist Zack Grossi to be their tight ends coach, per Zenitz. Baltimore recently signed veteran tight end Mark Andrews to a three-year extension, meaning he will get a chance to enhance his numbers as the franchise’s all-time leader in receptions (484), receiving yards (5,952), and receiving touchdowns (56). The rest of the room is currently a bit of a mystery as Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar are both set to hit free agency. Grossi was diagnosed with cancer partway through the Broncos’ 2024 campaign and declared cancer-free eight months later.
On the defensive side of the ball, Zenitz reports that Baltimore is hiring Duke assistant coach/defensive ends coach Harland Bower to serve as their new outside linebackers coach. In 2024, the Blue Devils finished sixth in the NCAA in sacks (43) and third in tackles for loss (116). Their sack numbers dipped a bit in 2025, but they finished strong in tackles for loss once again, ranking 11th in the nation with 93. He’ll be in charge of coaching up a position group that underperformed for the Ravens in 2025. Veterans Kyle Van Noy and Dre’Mont Jones, as well as David Ojabo, are headed for free agency, but young pass rushers Tavius Robinson, Mike Green, and Adisa Isaac all return in 2026.
Lastly, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, senior defensive assistant/secondary coach Chuck Pagano will not be retained on Minter’s staff in Baltimore. The former Colts head coach came out of four years of retirement to rejoin John Harbaugh‘s staff for the 2025 campaign, but with Harbaugh now departed, he’ll take his leave now, as well.
Eagles Didn’t Offer DT Milton Williams Before Free Agency
After a strong season to close out his rookie contract in Philadelphia, Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams found himself on the outside looking in at his two talented, first-round pick teammates. With the Eagles looking ahead at the potential of needing to eventually extend both Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, Williams didn’t even receive an offer from the team that drafted him before departing in free agency, per Vic Tafur of The Athletic. 
Realizing that the Eagles were shifting their focus to the younger Georgia duo, Williams made his desires known. While most breakout players exit their contract years seeking to cash in as much as possible on their second deals, even if it means joining a losing team, Williams expressed a desire to stay in a winning situation. In his four years with the Eagles, the team made the playoffs every season, alternating conclusions between first-round losses to the Buccaneers and Super Bowl matchups with the Chiefs.
Unfortunately for Milton, the two teams that pursued him the hardest finished the 2024 season a combined 9-25. After some early interest from the 4-13 Patriots, the 5-12 Panthers looked to be pursuing an agreement with the young defensive lineman. Ultimately, the team with the lesser record won out, and New England signed Milton to the largest free agent deal of the offseason. While quarterback Sam Darnold edged Milton out in annual average value with his move to Seattle, there was no free agent deal last year that saw a higher total value than Williams’ four-year, $104MM contract with the Patriots.
It turned out, though, that Williams was, in fact, heading to another winning situation. In coming to New England, not only did Williams find himself on a team that finished with more total wins than any other team in the league (17, including playoffs), but he also found himself heading right back to the Super Bowl. As current underdogs, Williams and his teammates will have to pull off an upset in order to secure him consecutive rings, but to even have this opportunity in February is a fortunate situation to be in.
As the years roll on, the Eagles may not necessarily regret letting Williams walk without so much as an offer as they attempt to tie themselves to Carter and Davis long term. Regardless, Williams certainly benefitted from taking the opportunity to cash in on his strong contract year and unexpectedly landed in a good situation, nonetheless.
Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza Not Throwing At NFL Combine
Coming off a Heisman-winning, championship season, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has become the overwhelming favorite to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Already sitting atop most draft boards, Mendoza has chosen to pass on the opportunity to improve his stock. According to ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, Mendoza doesn’t intend to throw at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine. 
Mendoza is coming off a 2025 campaign in which he led the NCAA with 41 touchdown passes. Accompanying those scores was a 72.0 completion percentage, 3,535 passing yards, and only six interceptions. In two blowout College Football Playoff games leading to a berth in the National Championship, Mendoza dominated Alabama and Oregon, throwing eight touchdowns to only five incompletions — not interceptions, incompletions.
Coming off some of his best play on college football’s biggest stages, Mendoza sees no need to go for a big day in Indianapolis in front of coaches, scouts, and general managers. “The combine, I don’t think throwing’s going to be a priority just because it’s such a quick turnaround,” Mendoza said on a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
Mendoza had previously mentioned attending the combine, so it looks like he’ll at least be in Indianapolis to interview with any teams who think he stands a chance at falling past the first pick of the draft. While drills at the combine appear to be off the table, Mendoza told McAfee and company that he intended to help his wide receiver teammates as best he could at the Hoosiers’ pro day.
“At the combine, you’re throwing to different receivers, it’s a whole different thing,” he said. “And I want to make sure I give my guys the best chance. I want to throw at pro day with my guys, with my running backs and be there with the boys.”
Mendoza is likely referring to his top targets this year, wide receivers Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt, who are both projected to be Day 2 picks in April. While scouts likely would’ve appreciated seeing him throw with players he hasn’t spent the whole season with, his stock at the moment doesn’t seem to have anywhere to go but down. He’ll help his receivers look good to help them potentially improve their draft stock, but participating in the combine won’t do much to help his already sky-high stock.
Latest On Sale Of Seahawks Franchise
As was announced at the turn of the month, there’s a belief around the league that Jody Allen, controller of late Seahawks former owner Paul Allen‘s estate, could finally be ready to sell the franchise following Seattle’s bid for a second Lombardi Trophy. With a valuation around $6.59BB, per Sportico, and the potential to reach a sales price of $7BB or $8BB, the next question to arise: who is going to be in the running to buy the latest NFL franchise put up for sale? 
There are only so many billionaires in the world, and one of them used to live in Seattle for about 30 years. Jeff Bezos‘ name has been thrown around NFL circles for some time now, most recently finding headlines when the Commanders were up for sale. After rumors identified him as a prospective bidder for the Commanders, Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, hired an investment firm, spurring speculation that a bid on the D.C. franchise could be coming. Ultimately, a bid never came, but that didn’t stop reports that the league was lobbying for Bezos to find his way into the ranks of NFL ownership.
According to Mark Maske, writing for Bezos’ Washington Post, those with knowledge of the situation “expressed skepticism” that Bezos would be in the running to purchase the Seahawks, should they become available. Way back in 2019, shortly after Allen’s death, Patriots owner Robert Kraft had advocated for Bezos to get involved in the Seahawks’ situation as someone more “community-oriented” than other prospective buyers would be. While, with an estimated net worth of $250BB, cost would be no concern for the 62-year-old businessman, it’s thought that his connection to Seattle has diminished since his move to Miami in 2023.
Recent rumors indicate that not only has the NFL been pushing for consideration of Bezos as a potential owner, but it’s also been pushing for the Seahawks to sell sooner rather than later. Mike Sando of The Athletic pointed to the ever-rising valuations of NFL franchises as a potential driver of this pressure from the league and its owners. And, according to Andrew Beaton of The Wall Street Journal, the NFL’s frustration with the Allen estate’s timeline for the eventual sale led to the league issuing a $5MM fine to the Seahawks for “being out of compliance with ownership requirements.”
Part of the reason for the delay in the sale of the franchise came from a clause stemming from the construction of Lumen Field, stipulating that if the franchise were sold before an undisclosed date, the state of Washington would be owed a 10-percent share of the proceeds collected on the sale of the team. It’s believed that the league gave Allen’s estate some grace in order to avoid that lost revenue, but when that undisclosed date came and went without any sign of a sale in the near future, the fine was levied to send a message that the grace period had passed, as well, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson.
Beaton’s report drew some opposition shortly after being made public. Per Beat0n, Jason Hunke, a spokesman for the umbrella organization that oversees Allen’s sports assets, gave no comment on the fine, choosing to focus, instead, on the team’s upcoming Super Bowl matchup. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell came out to refute the report of the $5MM fine, per Maske, calling it “not true.” Shortly after, the league issued a statement to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, insisting that Seattle was not fined for ownership issues.
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
NFL-ESPN Deal Approved By Government Regulators
Back in August, it was announced that the NFL had come to an agreement with ESPN to sell them NFL Network and other media assets (including RedZone and NFL Fantasy) in exchange for a 10-percent equity stake in ESPN. Today, according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, government regulators approved the “billion-dollar” acquisition, and the two sides were able to close the deal late last night. 
The NFL had been looking to take advantage of the streaming capabilities ESPN has boasted for years now with apps such as ESPN Watch, ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney+ — all owned by the Disney company. ESPN also had been looking to expand past the streaming and cable bundles by providing customers with a direct-to-consumer platform that began selling in the fall for $29.99 per month, allowing viewers access to ESPN without needing to purchase a separate streaming or cable subscription. With the new deal, NFL Network will now be incorporated into the direct-to-consumer product by the start of the 2026 NFL season.
By gaining linear rights to the RedZone Channel and the RedZone brand, ESPN reportedly hopes to expand that format of broadcasting to other sports. This does pose challenges with some sports. While most NHL games are broadcast through ESPN, several are exclusive to NHL Network and TNT/HBO Max. The same is true for most NBA games, while college sports also see different conferences and teams having individual deals apart from ESPN. Additionally, aside from college football and baseball, other sports don’t dedicate single days of the week to games, making a RedZone-type service much more useful some days than others.
NFL Network will still be available in participating cable bundles; it will just now be grouped in the cadre of other ESPN offshoot networks, including ESPN2, the SEC Network, and the ACC Network. This does mean that more NFL games will be appearing on ESPN in 2026, as well. ESPN will continue to broadcast the Monday Night Football games, though they will reportedly “do away with the…doubleheaders” on Monday nights, and they will take on seven more games from NFL Network — three games that the NFL Network was already allotted then four more that were expected to be sold out to the other streamers. ESPN will also broadcast the Super Bowl for the first time next year, bringing the event back to ABC, as well, for the first time since 2006.
As was mentioned in August, this does pose a concern for the other streamers in the market for NFL games for the future. The NFL is already in 11-year deals worth over $110BB with its network and streaming partners, though Marchand notes that it has a potential opt-out clause in its contracts at the end of the decade. YouTube TV owns the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, while ABC/ESPN/Disney/NFL Network, FOX, CBS/Paramount/Nickelodeon, NBC/Peacock, Amazon, Netflix, and YouTube all have individual rights to air certain games throughout the season.
The league seems eager, though, not to wait for the end of the decade, hoping to begin renegotiating those deals starting this year. It will be interesting to see what renegotiations have to offer for the other networks, as it seems fairly obvious that the NFL will be incentivized to give more content to the network of which it now owns 10 percent. One has only to look at how the league handled those four games that were expected to be sold out for next season.
Additional controversy could stem from the reporting arm of ESPN. Per Marchand, starting in April, NFL employees will officially become a part of ESPN, meaning reporters like ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, usually competing to break stories, will now essentially be working for the same outlet. And when scandal strikes in the NFL, as it frequently does, it will be interesting to see just how critical ESPN reporters opt to be when covering the league that now owns 10 percent of their employer.
Without the NFL Network, the league will continue to own and operate its retained media businesses such as NFL Films, NFL+, NFL.com, the NFL Podcast Network, the NFL FAST Channel, and the official websites for all 32 teams. The NFL Fantasy Football application will merge with ESPN’s, and ESPN will maintain the service. Some changes may not be happening as soon as April, when the league emp0loyees will begin to get processed over to ESPN, but most are expected to be in place by the start of the next regular season.
AFC North Coaching Updates: Browns, Koetter, Ravens
New Browns head coach Todd Monken continues to build his first NFL staff, and he continues to do so by rounding up his former coworkers. Today, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that UMass offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian would be reuniting with Monken to serve as Cleveland’s new quarterbacks coach.
Bajakian worked with Monken during their tenures with the Buccaneers. Since then, Bajakian has roamed the collegiate coaching circuit working as OC/QB coach at different points with Boston College, Northwestern, Utah (interim), and the Minutemen. That litany of experience working with young, college athletes should prepare him well for the challenge he faces in developing a Browns quarterbacks room that features two rising sophomores (and, potentially, a new rookie this year).
According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, former Jets tight ends coach Jeff Blasko is expected to be making his way to Cleveland to accept the same job under Monken. He will be reuniting with both the team and the new head coach after working as the Browns assistant offensive line coach in 2019, when Monken was the team’s offensive coordinator. Additionally, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, Monken is bringing over yet another Baltimore migrant, adding former Ravens offensive assistant Ian Kolste to his staff in Cleveland in an as of yet unknown role. Kolste was considered to be a rising, young mind in the Ravens building.
Lastly, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Browns are interviewing former Ravens assistant quarterbacks coach/director of football strategy Daniel Stern for the role of associate head coach. All three hires and Stern fit the criteria of having worked with Monken in the past.
Here are a couple other coaching updates from around the AFC North:
- Pelissero also brought a report out of Cincinnati that Davis Koetter, the son of former Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter, has been hired as the Bengals‘ new assistant wide receivers coach. The younger Koetter was an analyst at South Carolina last year and had worked for two years at Texas before that.
- Finally, in Baltimore, new head coach Jesse Minter is filling out an expected vacancy in his staff. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Ravens expect Stern to be leaving for the job he’s set to interview for in Cleveland, and the team is hiring former Colts game manager Charlie Gelman to fill his place. Gelman is expected to be coming in as Baltimore’s new game management coordinator/defensive assistant.