Antonio Brown To Be A Game-Time Decision?
The Steelers have been without star wideout Antonio Brown since the middle of their week 15 contest against the Patriots. While the team expected that the 29-year-old would be ready for their divisional round contest, Brown is set to be a game-time decision on Sunday, a source tells Pro Football Talk (Twitter link).
Brown has been recovering from a partially torn calf muscle, but the injury has lagged perhaps longer than Pittsburgh expected. The veteran receiver relies on quickness and sharp cuts rather than sheer strength, so this particular injury could have even more of an impact than it would on other bigger star playmakers.
The eight-year vet had produced what could have been his best statistical year during the regular season. He caught over 100 passes in 14 games and his 1,533 yards ranks third-most for a season in Brown’s career. The All-pro also reeled in nine touchdowns in 2017.
However, the Steelers wouldn’t be without weapons should Brown miss their first playoff game. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Martavis Bryant and Jesse James would be the primary receiving threats in his absence. Obviously Ben Roethlisberger would rely on star running back Le’Veon Bell even more with Brown on the sidelines.
Coaching Rumors: Browns, Raiders, Bears
Even though new Browns lead football man John Dorsey is keeping current head coach Hue Jackson, he has just gotten started in reshaping the team’s coaching staff. Apart from hiring Ken Zampese and Adam Henry as the organization’s quarterbacks and wide receivers coaches earlier this week, the team has let go of five staff members from this past season, according to Tony Grossi of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Grossi reports that the team has moved on from former QB’s coach David Lee, special teams coordinator Chris Tabor, running back coordinator Kirby Wilson, special teams assistant Shawn Mennenga and special teams quality control coach Stan Watson. Dorsey has brought a new look to the Browns front office and he’ll now remake the team’s coaching staff given this new coaching news.
Here’s more coaching news from around the league:
- Raiders new head coach Jon Gruden has brought in a number of new coaches to join his staff for the 2018 season. But there is one coach that is definitely being retained from Jack Del Rio’s previous coaching crew. Assistant wide receivers coach Nick Holz is being retained, per Adam Caplan of SiriusXM (Twitter link). While Holz is the only holdover as of now, Caplan does note that many other Del Rio staffers are currently being reviewed by the organization.
- Matt Nagy has began filling out the Bears coaching staff for next season. The team announced that they have hired former NFL receiver Mike Furrey to coach their wideout group. Furrey was recently the head coach at Limestone College and played with Nagy in the AFL back in 2002. Furrey will likely inherit a much different group of receivers than the team had in 2017.
- Cowboys running backs coach Gary Brown is expected to return to the team in 2018, sources tell Todd Archer of ESPN.com. It was previously reported that while Dallas had wanted to retain him, he had also drawn interest from the Raiders and Texans.
- While many hires are being reported, the Chargers are losing their tight ends coach John McNulty to the college ranks. McNulty will join Rutgers as their offensive coordinator for the next season, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). McNulty previously worked as an assistant coach for the Scarlet Knights from 2004-2008.
Latest On The Giants’ HC Search
The Giants have interviewed six candidates for their vacant head coach position and could start to be moving more quickly on completing their search in the next week. Of the six coaches they’ve interviewed, it appears that Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and Patriots’ coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia are the favorites to land the position, according to Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.
All three candidates have garnered interest from around football and should either the Patriots or Vikings be eliminated from the playoffs this weekend, Vacchiano thinks that the “Giants could have a new coach in place by next week”. If both teams take care of business at home in the Divisional Round, the process will likely extend another two weeks as the Giants management tries to figure out a way to get one last meeting with their top choice, whoever that may be.
Shurmur and McDaniels look like natural fits for the job as they have an offensive background and previous head coaching experience. The team has been rumored to want experience in whoever they hire and could also want someone who has the ability to get the most out of a young quarterback, should they choose to draft either Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen with the number two overall selection in April’s draft. However, Patricia clearly impressed in his initial interview enough to have the Giants move away from their original checklist.
In a wrinkle to Vacchiano’s story, there could be another sleeper candidate lurking behind the scenes, reports Tom Rock and Bob Glauber of Newsday. A source told the writers that should all three candidates land other positions with the likes of Arizona, Detroit and Indianapolis, the team has a backup plan. While no names were given for who that prospective fourth coach could be, Rock and Glauber speculated that defensive coordinators Steve Wilks and Jim Schwartz could be options as well as Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, who was passed over for the Bears head coaching gig.
New York has officially interviewed McDaniels, Patricia, Shurmur, Wilks, Steve Spagnuolo and Eric Studesville. They could also eventually interview Schwartz, even though his previously scheduled interview has been put on hold.
Bengals Hire Alex Van Pelt As QB Coach
Marvin Lewis continues to add new faces to his staff. The team has agreed to hire Alex Van Pelt to be their quarterbacks coach for next season, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Van Pelt worked most recently in the same position for the Packers, but was not retained after his contract expired this past season.
Schefter adds in the same tweet that the the Bengals have also brought on Daronte Jones to coach the secondary and Matt Raich as a defensive assistant.
We have also learned that the Bengals have decided to keep Dan Pitcher as an assistant QB coach, per Jim Owczarski of the Enquirer (Twitter link). He worked with the team’s wideouts last year. Owczarski also notes that Robert Couch is being retainted in his current role as the Bengals assistant offensive line coach.
Van Pelt is clearly the the most notable hire of this group as he’s worked in he NFL in a variety of capacities since 2006. He held his previous job in Green Bay for four seasons before the team opted to go in a different direction after they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
As the quarterbacks coach for the Packers, Van Pelt had the pleasure of working with Aaron Rodgers for many years, but will get a new challenge trying to help Bengals signal caller Andy Dalton elevate his play with the hopes of securing his first playoff victory in 2018.
Since surprisingly retaining Lewis as head coach after the regular season, the Bengals have shaken up their coaching staff by adding Teryl Austin as its new defensive coordinator and former Cowboys offensive line coach Frank Pollack to replace longtime Bengals staffer Paul Alexander.
Bears Interview Josh McDaniels, Pat Shurmur
The Bears have interviewed another pair of potential head coaches in offensive coordinators Josh McDaniels and Pat Shurmur, the team announced today. They are the third and fourth candidates that the Bears have spoken to about their vacant head coach post. They have already interviewed current defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards.
McDaniels and Shurmur are the first offensive-minded coaches that the Bears have talked to in this process. Granted they are also set to interview Eagles quarterback coach John DeFilippo and Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. DeFilippo is scheduled to meet with the Bears tomorrow with Nagy likely having his meeting next week considering the Chiefs play in their Wild Card game tomorrow. Chicago is also prepared to interview Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks some point soon.
With Mitch Trubisky entering his second-year with the team, many would expect that the Bears would have a lot of interest in pairing him with a coach that could help him grow in his sophomore campaign. However, given their current list of interviewees it seems like the team has a many different types of candidates they are interested in.
NFL Reserve/Future Contracts: 1/5/18
Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2018 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:
New Orleans Saints
- WR Paul Turner
Packers Interview Russ Ball, Brian Gutekunst
With Ted Thompson out as general manager in Green Bay, the team has finished interviewing internal candidates regarding the vacant position. After the the Packers spoke with director of football operations Eliot Wolf yesterday, they just finished up talking to VP of football administration Russ Ball and director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst this afternoon, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). Breer adds that the Packers will speak with their first external candidate for the position in former Bills GM Doug Whaley tomorrow.
This is the first time that Green Bay is looking for a new leader of the team’s football operations in 13 years. There’s been a recent report that Ball is the favorite to become the next general manager for the Packers. However, there’s been speculation that should the job go to Ball, Wolf and Gutekunst would head to different teams. Although, should one of the two get the job the other would stay in the front office.
While Whaley is the lone person from outside the organization that ownership is scheduled to meet with at the moment, the Packers did get rejected from interviewing Vikings executive George Paton and still have their eye on scheduling a meeting with long time Ravens front office member Eric Decosta. However, Decosta seems like a longshot considering his willingness to stay as the “general manager in waiting” behind Ozzie Newsome.
Kirk Cousins Wants to Wait Until March For Any Deal
Kirk Cousins has already been franchised tagged the past two seasons and appears to want to wait out his next payday too. The 29-year-old quarterback is set to become a free agent in March and recently elaborated on his desire to wait until that time in order to max out his value, reports John Keim of ESPN.com.
“I see us taking our time,” Cousins said. “You can only just go year to year for so long, but that’s why it’s first things first. Let’s get away from the season a little bit and then let’s gather some information as to what the rest of the league is looking like, who’s being hired, who’s being fired. … It’s hard to make decisions now because there are so many dominoes to fall between now and then to influence it.”
Free agency is set to begin on March 14 with Washington having the chance to franchise tag him again for a stunning $34.5MM by the March 6 deadline. That scenario seems highly unlikely given how much that salary would hamstring the rest of the roster. However, the Redskins could decide to apply the $28.8MM transition tag in order to maintain some control over his future. While the team won’t receive any compensation should Cousins agree to another team on a transition tag, it does give Washington the chance to match any offer if he does sign with another team.
It certainly seems based on his comments that Cousins would like to test the free agent waters after being agreeing to play on the franchise tags for the past two years. However, that doesn’t mean he won’t consider re-signing with the Redskins if the price is right.
“It’s been a very positive six years,” he said. “Obviously we don’t have Super Bowl rings to show for it, we don’t have playoff wins. But it’s a privilege to play here. I’ve always felt that, and I’d be foolish to say I don’t want to be here.”
Cousins is not a spring chicken as he’ll turn 30 years old over the summer. He’s in his prime right now and clearly wants to get the most out of his upcoming long-term deal. If he wishes to do that, waiting until other teams have a chance to bid on him seems like the best way to do that.
Latest On Gary Kubiak’s New Role In Denver
Despite speculation that Gary Kubiak could return to the sidelines as an offensive coordinator, the long-time coach is now set to have more power in the Broncos front office, according to Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post. General manager John Elway confirmed on Tuesday that Kubiak will be a bigger part of the team’s decision making this offseason, though he did not give his former Super Bowl winning head coach a formal title yet.
“You know, I keep getting asked that and I’m not sure what the title’s going to be,” Elway said. “I don’t even know what his title is now. I know what he’s going to be doing, so I haven’t worried about the title.”
Apart from the working title, Elway seemed to relay that Kubiak’s role would come more on the football evaluation and scouting side of the front office. He’ll reportedly be a big part in how the team will strategize their draft and free agent processes as well.
“He’s a guy who has a lot of knowledge of football — a very good evaluator, too,” Elway said. “So he’ll help us in that area.”
Kubiak was officially called a senior personnel advisor in 2017. He took the job a full six months after he stepped down as the team’s head coach. Kubiak was obviously a major part of the Broncos Super Bowl run two years ago, and it seemed like team president Joe Ellis was very excited to have him on board as a more formal part of the franchise’s decision making processes.
“I think it’s going to be fun for John and (Kubiak) and for us,” Ellis said of Kubiak’s expanded role. “He’ll add some expertise to the proceedings. I’m excited about it.”
NFL: Raiders “Complied With” Rooney Rule
We have now learned that the Raiders have hired Jon Gruden to come back to the organization that traded him. Although, prior to the decision being announced, the NFL made a statement regarding the team’s following of the Rooney Rule, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). League spokesperson Joe Lockhart stated that, “We believe the Rooney Rule was complied with. Minorities candidates were interviewed. We’ll see what decision they make.”
There had been some questioning coming from around the NFL that the Raiders were clearly violating the spirit of the rule given there all-in pursuit of their former head coach. It was reported yesterday that the team had interviewed tight ends coach Bobby Johnson for the position, but it did not seem like a legitimate interview because it was widely known that the Raiders were after the former Monday Night Football analyst.
The Rooney Rule makes it so at least one minority candidate must be interviewed for all head coach or senior football operations positions in the NFL. It was first implemented back in 2003 in order to promote diversity among NFL front offices and coaching staffs. However, it’s clearly been just a hurdle for teams to get over in multiple cases, including this one.
Clearly the Raiders did interview a minority candidate as a means to comply with the rule, and at this point the league appears to be satisfied with how the franchise conducted the search. We’ll have to wait and see if the NFL makes any changes to the rule moving forward, but this news has made clear that a team can do the bare minimum to comply without any punishment.