John Harbaugh’s Role Won’t Change With New GM
It was rumored that Ravens head coach John Harbaugh wanted to have final say on personnel decisions with the team moving from Ozzie Newsome to Eric DeCosta as general manager in 2019. The coach dispelled those rumors, however, ESPN’s Jamison Hensley tweets. 
“It works the same way, except now Eric is in the seat. Eric is the decision-maker, and he’ll be the guy making that final call, and he’ll also be the guy that will be building from the ground up.”
It took a few days to announce Harbaugh’s new contract, leading some to think the team’s longtime head coach was searching for more of a say in the team’s front office. However, he is not starting from scratch with DeCosta. The two have been in the organization since Harbaugh arrived, with DeCosta even beginning his tenure with the team in 1996. Though he won’t have “final say,” Harbaugh harped on the organization’s excellent communication.
“This is an organization that works together. We cross paths and we talk everything out – football, scouting, medical, weight strength and conditioning, everything you can think of. To me, it doesn’t matter who has what say over what. It’s never been about that here.”
Earlier in the week, Harbaugh signed a four-year extension that will keep him in Baltimore through the 2019 campaign. Before putting ink to paper, the longtime coach had one year remaining on his deal.
Saints TE Josh Hill Sustains Concussion
In the first quarter of the NFC Championship game, Saints tight end Josh Hill sustained a concussion. He is out for the remainder of the game, Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times tweets. 
It’s a big loss for the Saints, who are already without starting tight end Ben Watson, who is dealing with appendicitis. Should they pull out the win, the team could be down its top two tight ends for the Super Bowl in two weeks, depending on how both recover from their ailments.
Hill played a large role early in the game for the Saints, pulling in one reception for 24 yards on the Saints’ first-half touchdown drive. He also sustained the injury on the play.
New Orleans didn’t skip a beat following the injury, as recently signed tight end Garrett Griffin capped the drive with his first career reception — a 5-yard touchdown. Without Hill and Watson, rookie tight end Dan Arnold will also see more action.
The sixth-year tight end tied his career high with 16 receptions during the regular season. The reception on the injury marked his fourth grab of this postseason.
Carson Wentz Expected Healthy For Offseason Program
For the second consecutive season, an injury kept Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz out of the postseason in 2018. Unlike last season, however, the team’s franchise signal-caller is expected to be ready for the team’s offseason program in 2019, ESPN’s Adam Schefter writes. 
A stress fracture in his back sidelined the third-year quarterback for the final five games of the season. The Eagles once again rallied behind Nick Foles, however, made it to the playoffs and downed the NFC North champion Bears in the Wild Card round.
Though he will be healthy enough to take the field for the program in April, it remains to be seen if the Eagles want to run him back out there.
Schefter notes that some in the organization believe his back injury is related to the knee issues he had in 2017. There is no definitive proof to those theories, however.
With Foles expected to be starting in a new locale in 2019, the Eagles will not have the luxury of having arguably the league’s best backup should Wentz sustain another major injury in 2019.
Wentz looked the part of franchise quarterback when he was healthy in 2018. He finished the campaign with 3,074 yards and 21 touchdowns with a 69.6 completion percentage in 11 games.
Eric Berry Likely To Need Offseason Surgery
Though he is slated to return to the field for today’s AFC Championship matchup with the Patriots, Chiefs safety Eric Berry is likely headed for offseason surgery on his heel, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets. 
Sidelined by the injury for the majority of the season, the three-time First Team All-Pro selection has been limited to just two games this season and hasn’t played since a Week 16 tilt vs. the Seahawks. He will give it a go today, however, hoping to fight through the pain to deliver Kansas City to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1969 season.
Earlier in the season, Berry was diagnosed with a Haglund’s deformity in the achilles. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo gave a synopsis of the issue in late September:
“He’s got what’s called a Haglund’s deformity in that Achilles,” Garafolo said. “That’s a bone spur that basically digs into the Achilles. Shaun O’ Hara, our colleague at NFL Network, he had it. I spoke to him this week. He said it is extremely painful. He actually used a more colorful word that I won’t use here.”
Should he undergo the surgery, a timetable for his recovery will be available at a later date.
Colts’ Ryan Grant, Tyquan Lewis Out Vs. Chiefs
Snow might be on the field when the Colts take on the Chiefs in Kansas City on Saturday. Indianapolis’ Ryan Grant and Tyquan Lewis, however, will not. The two players have been ruled out for the AFC Divisional Round matchup, Andrew Walker of the team’s website writes. 
Both players missed the Colts’ Wild Card matchup with Houston, during which Indy cruised to a 21-7 victory. Grant has been sidelined with a nagging toe injury, and Lewis suffered a knee injury in the team’s Week 17 contest vs. Tennessee.
An offseason signing from Washington, Grant is a solid slot receiver who surely would’ve seen plenty of action in an expected high-scoring affair vs. Kansas City. In 14 games with Indy in 2018, Grant has tallied 35 receptions.
A second-round selection out of Ohio State, Lewis has carved out a sizable role on the Colts defensive line down the stretch. Making his debut in Week 10, the defensive end made six starts in the team’s final eight games and delivered two sacks.
Needing to put up points against the high-flying Chiefs and get pressure on Patrick Mahomes, the pair of injuries could play a big role in the Saturday tilt.
Stanford RB Bryce Love Tore ACL In Final Game
Though it was not reported at the time, Stanford running back and NFL draft hopeful Bryce Love tore his ACL during his final regular season game, Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel writes. 
Thamel reports the star back underwent surgery to repair the injury on Dec. 18 with Dr. James Andrews and is expected to make a full recovery. He will be at the NFL Draft Combine in February, but will obviously be extremely limited. He is also too early in the rehab process to have a return date set.
“I’m very grateful to Dr. Andrews and his team for making the surgery a seamless process,” Love said in a statement to Yahoo Sports. “Obviously, there’s no such thing as an ideal injury, but I’m on the path to recovery, and my goal remains the same — getting drafted by an NFL team and being the ultimate professional. I’ll be back better than I’ve ever been.”
Love burst on the scene as a junior, taking over for the departed Christian McCaffrey in Stanford’s backfield and rushing for 2,118 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2017. The breakout season helped him finish second in the Heisman Trophy balloting, behind only Baker Mayfield. His senior campaign was not as impressive, however, as Love logged just 739 yards on 166 carries in 10 games.
According to WalterFootball.com, Love is tabbed as the No. 5 running back prospect in the upcoming draft, with a projected draft spot coming in Round 2 or 3. That is likely to take a plunge following the news of the serious knee injury.
Latest On Antonio Brown, Steelers
On Friday, Antonio Brown, through his rep, declined to comment on prospective trade talks. However, the receiver is reportedly open to either being traded or returning to the Steelers in 2019, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tweets. 
According to Fowler, the perennial Pro Bowl pick is “open/eager” to prove he can thrive in any offense, but is fine with returning to Pittsburgh “if things shake out that way.” This comes a day after Steelers president Art Rooney II said it would be “hard to envision” Brown with the team next season.
This has all spiraled out of control fast since Brown’s blowup leading up to Week 17, which led head coach Mike Tomlin to bench him for a pivotal game against Cincinnati. Shortly thereafter, it was reported the star receiver was requesting a trade.
Thanks to the $19MM signing bonus he received in his four-year, $68MM extension and the $12.96MM restructuring bonus he later secured, cutting or trading Brown would result in a $21.12MM cap charge in 2019.
While it could be difficult to deal the wideout financially, the Steelers seem willing to explore trading Brown. Despite the hefty price tag, Brown is sure to find suitors looking to get its hands on the most consistent receiver from the last five years.
Bears Hire Chuck Pagano As DC
After interviewing with team brass earlier on Friday, Chuck Pagano was hired as the Bears’ new defensive coordinator, the team announced [Twitter link]. 
The former Colts head coach and Ravens defensive coordinator returns to the sideline after a year-long hiatus in 2018. He will replace Vic Fangio, who left for Denver to take the Broncos’ head coaching position. Pagano finds himself in an ideal spot, as he inherits a defensive unit that ranked first in points allowed and in takeaways in 2018.
In addition to the Bears, Pagano received interest from the Browns, Cardinals and Jets for their defensive coordinator vacancy. He was also interviewed for head coach with the Packers and Broncos.
Pagano, 58, seemed like a wise choice for his experience running the same 3-4 defense that brought the Bears success a year ago, and his history with some of the league’s top defensive units, including the Ravens in 2011.
After serving as defensive coordinator in Baltimore for a year, Pagano assumed the head coaching role in Indianapolis. In six seasons on the job, he led the Colts to three 11-win seasons and another pair of 8-8 campaigns before going 4-12 without starting quarterback Andrew Luck in 2017.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/11/19
Here are today’s minor moves:
Los Angeles Chargers
- Waived: RB Troymaine Pope
Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL:
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: K Sam Ficken
AFC Coaching Notes: Bengals, Browns, Broncos
When the Rams’ postseason run comes to a close, the Bengals are expected to offer quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor their head coaching position. With the expected move, Cincinnati cleaned house on Friday, dismissing the previous staff of Marvin Lewis, including offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, ESPN’s Katherine Terrell writes. Among the other assistants let go include running backs coach Kyle Caskey and tight ends coach Jonathan Hayes.
This move, of course, is not unexpected. Most head coaches will bring in their own guys and Taylor — or whoever ends up with the job — is no exception.
A longtime NFL assistant, Lazor began his tenure with the Falcons as an offensive quality control coach in 2003 before moving to the Redskins as an offensive assistant in 2004. After a handful of other jobs, including a stint in the college ranks with Virginia, Lazor landed the offensive coordinator role with the Dolphins in 2014. After serving there two seasons, he joined the Bengals as quarterbacks coach in 2016 and was promoted to offensive coordinator the following season. In two seasons running the show in Cincinnati, Lazor ranked in the bottom 10 in yards and bottom half in points both seasons.
Here’s more from the AFC’s coaching carousel:
- Sticking in the AFC North, Browns new head coach Freddie Kitchens cleaned house after getting the job. Once person he didn’t let go, however, was Ryan Lindley, who will serve as his quarterbacks coach next season, AZCardinals.com’s Mike Jurecki tweets. Lindley, who played in the NFL from 2012-15 as a quarterback, served as the Browns running backs coach in 2018.
- Also with the Browns, the team added former Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer as its special teams coordinator, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero [Twitter link]. Priefer filled the same role in Minnesota from 2011-18, but declined to re-sign with the team after his contract expired after this past season. Priefer was born in Cleveland and coached two seasons at nearby Youngstown State in the 1990s.
- New Broncos head coach Vic Fangio is bringing back special teams coordinator Tom McMahon, News9 in Denver’s Mike Klis tweets. McMahon concluded his 12th season in the NFL this past season, his first as special teams coordinator with the Broncos. He previously held the same position with the Colts, Chiefs and Rams.