AFC East Notes: Pats, Grier, Gore, Jets
The rumors of the Patriots‘ demise in recent years have been greatly exaggerated, but even though the club is still heading to the playoffs and remains in the hunt for a first-round bye, it doesn’t appear that this is the same New England team that we have become accustomed to. The Pats’ aging stars are beginning to play like aging stars, head coach Bill Belichick‘s future is uncertain, and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says there is some concern about how the team will function when owner Robert Kraft fully transfers control of day-to-day operations to his son.
As such, La Canfora believes the club could see a mass exodus of coaching and front-office talent this offseason, with OC Josh McDaniels, DC Brian Flores, and director of player personnel Nick Caserio all potentially on the move. Of course, New England could turn it on and roll to another Super Bowl title, but even if that does happen, this could be a very tumultuous winter in Foxborough.
Now for more from the AFC East:
- Mike Reiss of ESPN.com observes that Josh Gordon‘s indefinite suspension marked the Patriots‘ 26th transaction involving a wide receiver this year, which is unusually high. It reinforces how difficult it has been for New England to decisively address its WR needs — and it also calls into question the team’s decision to part with Brandin Cooks and Danny Amendola — and Reiss believes the Pats will make receiving talent a top priority this offseason. We learned more troubling details about Gordon’s suspension this morning.
- We have heard that the Dolphins could be in for a major overhaul this offseason, and like his colleagues, La Canfora believes that owner Stephen Ross could part ways with vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum and head coach Adam Gase. However, La Canfora reports that Ross thinks highly of general manager Chris Grier — who holds the GM title but who does not have final authority over football decisions — and that Grier is likely to remain with Miami. If the Dolphins do go searching for a new executive this offseason to replace Tannenbaum, Vikings assistant GM George Paton would be near the top of the list, as we heard earlier this month.
- Dolphins running back Frank Gore, whose season came to a premature end due to a mid-foot sprain, has already indicated he wants to play in 2019. And, as Safid Deen of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes, Gore wants to return to Miami. Given the surprising success that he had with his hometown Dolphins this year, Gore may get his wish.
- Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv lays out the Jets‘ biggest offseason needs — pass rusher, wide receiver, running back, and offensive line — and offers his take as to how to best address those needs.
- Darryl Slater of NJ.com looks at how head coaching candidates might view the Jets‘ soon-to-be vacant HC position, and he concludes that, although it has some drawbacks, it is still an attractive opening that will tempt some of the team’s top targets.
Jerry Reese Turns Down Interview With Raiders
Longtime Giants general manager Jerry Reese has turned down the opportunity to interview for the Raiders’ GM position, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Reese served as Big Blue’s GM from 2007-17, and he had been with the organization since 1994. He became one of the most respected executives in the league during that time, and he constructed two Super Bowl champions, but the latter part of his tenure was marred by a series of missteps that ultimately led to his ouster.
Nonetheless, it makes sense that he would be a top target for teams seeking a new GM. Likewise, it makes sense that someone of Reese’s caliber would turn down overtures from the Raiders, as it currently seems that whoever serves as the Oakland GM right now would be little more than a figurehead and a yes man for head coach Jon Gruden. Gruden’s second stint with the Raiders has already been sullied by frequent reports of internal discord, and it is likely that the club will have difficulty attracting an established GM candidate.
In other Raiders news, the team has fired strength and conditioning coach Tom Shaw, according to Schefter. Gruden brought Shaw to Oakland shortly after he was hired earlier this year, but the marriage did not last long. Shaw, who previously worked on speed and conditioning with the Patriots and Saints, and who trained athletes at his facility at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, was recently told by one of Gruden’s administrators that his time with the Raiders was up.
Although Shaw’s dismissal is not a high-profile move, it only strengthens the narrative that there is far too much turmoil within the franchise, and Gruden is clearly at the epicenter of that turmoil. Shaw becomes the fifth strength coach that Gruden has fired during his time as an NFL head coach.
Jim Caldwell To Be HC Candidate In 2019
Jim Caldwell, erstwhile head coach of the Colts and Lions, wants to return to the league in 2019 and is expected to be on some teams’ list of head coaching candidates, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Caldwell agreed to work as a consultant with the reincarnated XFL back in July, but an NFL head coaching job is likely a bit more tempting.
Caldwell, a longtime assistant with the Colts, became Indianapolis’ head coach in 2009 after Tony Dungy retired, and he guided his club to an AFC championship in his first season at the helm. The Colts lost the Super Bowl that year, however, and while they returned to the playoffs in 2010, they finished the 2011 campaign with a 2-14 record and Caldwell was fired at the end of the season (though to be fair to Caldwell, Peyton Manning missed the entire year due to injury).
Caldwell resurfaced in Baltimore as the Ravens’ quarterbacks coach in 2012, and though he never served as an offensive coordinator at any point in his career, he was promoted to OC later that year when Cam Cameron was fired, and he oversaw Joe Flacco‘s historic playoff run that culminated in a Super Bowl championship. He remained the Ravens’ OC in 2013 — though without nearly as much success — and the Lions hired him as their head coach in 2014.
He did take the often moribund Lions to the playoffs twice during his four years in Detroit, and nearly made it for a third time last season. But the team largely underachieved in 2017, and Caldwell was fired in January 2018.
Caldwell is far from a sexy hire, but his experience and his 62-50 regular season record as a head coach does make him worthy of consideration, and it appears he will at least garner some interest around the league next month.
Caldwell was mentioned as a potential OC candidate after he was fired by the Lions, and he may be able to land a high-level coaching position even if he does not get another head coaching job.
Vance Joseph Will Be DC Candidate For Bengals; Latest On Broncos’ HC Search
The Bengals seem to enjoy reuniting with old friends, regardless of those friends’ present status with the rest of the league. Broncos head coach Vance Joseph, who was the Bengals’ defensive backs coach from 2014-15, is expected to be fired at the end of the season, and assuming that happens, he will become one of the top candidates for the Bengals’ defensive coordinator job, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
Despite Denver’s brief reemergence into the playoff picture this season, Joseph’s two-year tenure as the Broncos’ head coach has been a resounding disappointment. He very nearly lost his job at the end of the 2017 campaign, and he has appeared overwhelmed at times. But Bengals owner Mike Brown — who quickly hired former Cincinnati staffer Hue Jackson as a special assistant when Jackson was let go by the Browns earlier this year — has retained an interest in Joseph and will consider him for the DC position.
Head coach Marvin Lewis‘ future with Cincinnati is murky at best, and Schefter suggests that Joseph, if hired, could ultimately replace Lewis as the team’s head coach. The same has been said of Jackson, though neither scenario is likely to make Bengals fans particularly happy. Of course, as Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com tweets, the fact that the Bengals are planning to pursue Joseph for their DC job suggests that they already know who their 2019 head coach will be, which means that Lewis could be back for his 17th year or Jackson could get yet another shot at an HC gig.
The Broncos, meanwhile, will need to replace Joseph at the end of the year. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that the team is still hopeful of interviewing Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, despite Baltimore’s recent announcement that Harbaugh will be back in 2019. After all, there have been no extension talks between Harbaugh and the Ravens to date, Harbaugh’s present contract only keeps him under club control through 2019, and league sources are skeptical that Harbaugh will return as a lame duck coach.
Broncos executive Gary Kubiak may be open to pursuing offensive coordinator gigs in 2019, but he and Harbaugh formed a strong relationship during Kubiak’s one year as the Ravens’ OC, and if Kubiak remains in Denver’s front office, he would play a major role in trying to get Harbaugh to Mile High.
Josh Gordon Violated Drug Policy Multiple Times
Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon was recently hit with an indefinite suspension, and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link) reports that the suspension stemmed from multiple violations of the league’s substance abuse policy and was not based upon just one failed test. Further, Rapoport says that Gordon’s drug use was not limited to marijuana, so he obviously has bigger concerns than football at the moment.
However, because the ban is indefinite and does not carry a minimum number of games, it is possible that Gordon could return for the start of the 2019 season, as Rapoport notes. But the odds of that seem quite long, as Gordon would have to prove to the league that he can remain clean for a sustained period of time.
Gordon was enjoying a productive stint with the Patriots, having posted 720 yards and three scores in 11 games with the team. There was even chatter that New England should use a first-round tender on Gordon at season’s end to prevent another club from poaching him, and a league source tells Ben Volin of the Boston Globe that Gordon and quarterback Tom Brady were developing a genuine bond.
Volin also notes that the Patriots did everything they could to support Gordon: they threw him a cookout shortly after he was traded to the team in September, receivers coach Chad O’Shea and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels took him under their wing and did their best to keep him occupied, and character development coach and pastor Jack Easterby made Gordon his No. 1 project.
Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that the Patriots also assigned people to be with Gordon at all times so that he could avoid temptation, but that proved to be unsuccessful. Schefter suggests that Gordon “eluded” the team’s security network during the November 18 bye weekend, but as Rapoport stated, Gordon violated the league’s drug policy multiple times. Even league commissioner Roger Goodell tried to help Gordon instead of simply banishing him, but Gordon has not been able to shake his demons despite all of the safeguards designed to protect him.
The Patriots, though, have not given up on the troubled talent. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports also hears that Gordon was a well-liked member of the Patriots and a good teammate, and the club — which apparently had no idea a suspension was coming — hopes to continue supporting him regardless of whether he ever plays another snap.
South Coaching Rumors: Koetter, Quinn, Marrone, Rivera
It has been assumed that the Buccaneers and head coach Dirk Koetter would be parting ways at the end of the season, but Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link) does not necessarily believe that assumption is a safe one. Rapoport says Koetter could certainly be fired — which would then make him a very appealing OC candidate for rival clubs — but the Glazer family has not ruled out keeping Koetter and the entire “upper structure” of the team. After all, Tampa Bay’s offense is the most prolific in franchise history, and the club’s defense has become a league-average unit since former DC Mike Smith was fired in October.
Now for more rumors on head coaches in the league’s south divisions:
- Rapoport also says Falcons head coach Dan Quinn is expected to be back for 2019. There has not been much national chatter about Quinn’s job security anyway, so that does not come as much of a surprise. but Rapoport does expect “significant changes” at the coordinator spots. We already learned that offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian is likely on his way out, and Rapoport confirms that Darrell Bevell will be on the short list to replace him. Defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel also appears in danger of losing his job [SOURCE LINK].
- At the end of November, Rapoport said that Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone is in no danger of losing his job, and he doubled down on that report today, saying that Jacksonville owner Shad Khan and executive VP of football operations Tom Coughlin believe in Marrone. The team will seek a new QB and a new offensive coordinator, but it currently sounds as if Marrone will get another shot in 2019. Of course, there have been rumblings that Coughlin himself will consider taking over the head coaching reins, but Rapoport’s sources seem to refute to notion.
- Despite rumors of a potential shakeup, Rapoport says the Panthers are expected to retain head coach Ron Rivera. New owner David Tepper reportedly believes in Rivera, who recently took over defensive play-calling duties and who would become one of the top head coaching candidates on the market if he were let go. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, though, suggests that Tepper could indeed go in another direction at season’s end, but if he does, it will be difficult to find someone who would represent a clear improvement over Rivera [SOURCE LINK].
NFC Notes: Lauletta, Lee, Cards, Koetter
We learned earlier today that Eli Manning is increasingly likely to remain with the Giants in 2019, and the fact that New York does not presently have a legitimate replacement on its roster is a big reason for that. Indeed, although the team selected Kyle Lauletta in the 2018 draft and repeatedly indicated it wanted to give him some game action this year, Lauletta’s first appearance in a regular season NFL game — during garbage time in last week’s blowout win over the Redskins — did not go well. Lauletta has now been demoted to the team’s No. 3 QB, where he spent most of the season, and he is inactive for the club’s game today. As Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com suggests, that move speaks volumes about where Lauletta is in his development.
Let’s round up a few more NFC items as the Week 15 early afternoon games get underway:
- Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee is active today for the first time since November 5 and will play a reserve role behind rookie phenomenon Leighton Vander Esch, per Todd Archer of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Lee still provides value when healthy, but Jane Slater of the NFL Network tweets that Lee told the team he did not want to start and interfere with Vander Esch’s progress. It remains to be seen how Lee will be deployed moving forward.
- At the beginning of this month, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network said the Cardinals were going to reassess their front office and coaching staff at the end of the season, and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reaffirms that report today. JLC writes that Arizona is mulling sweeping changes, and some sources say it would be a “major surprise” if first-year head coach Steve Wilks keeps his job. The bigger question, according to those sources, is whether GM Steve Keim is retained, but if he is not, he is a strong candidate to join the Raiders‘ front office.
- The Buccaneers are expected to move on from head coach Dirk Koetter at the end of the season, but La Canfora writes that Koetter is still highly-respected as an offensive coordinator and plenty of teams with OC vacancies this offseason will be pursuing him to fill that role. Koetter’s own OC in Tampa, Todd Monken, will also be a highly-coveted offensive coordinator candidate in 2019 assuming the Bucs cut ties with him.
- The Eagles remain committed to Carson Wentz, and Nick Foles is expected to hit free agency in 2019.
- Jay Gruden‘s future with the Redskins is uncertain, but Alex Smith is out of the hospital and there is optimism that he will be able to resume his playing career.
Gregg Williams Has A Chance To Remain Browns’ HC
Since taking over as the Browns’ interim head coach after the team fired the much-maligned Hue Jackson, Gregg Williams has put together a 4-2 record and even has Browns fans dreaming about a playoff push. That chatter increased after the team’s exciting win in Denver last night, and Williams’ stock is rising as a result.
Most interim coaches in Williams’ situation get a perfunctory interview for the full-time gig, and it was expected that Williams’ interview with the Browns this offseason would be no different. But in light of the team’s success under his watch, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Williams’ interview with team brass will be a “real one” that could end with his getting the job.
Phil Simms of the CBS Sports Network believes Williams has a “really good” chance of staying on as the Browns’ head coach in 2019 (video link), though NFL insider and former ESPN reporter Ed Werder hears from a Browns source that Williams has a small chance, but a chance nonetheless (Twitter link).
Williams previously served as the Bills’ head coach from 2001-03, though his club put together a 17-31 record during that time with no playoff appearances. He will always be remembered for the infamous Bountygate scandal during his time as the Saints’ defensive coordinator, but he remains a well-respected defensive mind and he has seemingly developed a good rapport with Browns OC Freddie Kitchens, who is getting plenty of praise for his work since being promoted to the role at the end of October.
Williams could also return to Cleveland as the defensive coordinator, but if he does not get the head coaching job with the Browns, he may prefer to look elsewhere.
Ravens Expected To Cut Or Trade Joe Flacco In 2019
This is not particularly surprising news in light of the team’s decision to stick with rookie Lamar Jackson even though Joe Flacco is once again fully healthy, but Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (via Kevin Patra of NFL.com) reports that Flacco is not expected to be back with the Ravens in 2019. Jackson is 3-1 in his time as a starter, and he would be 4-0 if not for a difficult loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City last week.
When Baltimore traded back into the first round in this year’s draft to select Jackson, it seemed that Flacco’s time with the Ravens was coming to an end. But Jackson struggled to develop as a passer, the front office finally made a concerted effort to surround Flacco with some weapons, and the team got off to a hot start led by strong play from its long-time signal-caller. The Ravens, though, lost three in a row before Flacco succumbed to a hip injury, and given that Jackson’s presence has opened up the running game, and given that Jackson has made noticeable improvement with his arm (though he is still far from perfect), Baltimore is seemingly prepared to usher in a new era.
This offseason marks the first time the Ravens can cut ties with Flacco and save money against the salary cap, which Rapoport suggests is a possibility. However, RapSheet also says that Baltimore plans to treat Flacco with class and could orchestrate a trade to a team of his choice.
Flacco has received his fair share of criticism over the years, some of which is justified. But the fact remains that, notwithstanding his large contract — which was signed at a time when plenty of teams would have lined up to give it to him — Baltimore’s front office has largely treated the offense as an afterthought, asking Flacco to make hay with a collection of declining veterans or unproven (and generally unproductive) players. Even when the Ravens have tried to invest significant financial or draft resources into the offense, it has rarely worked out (see, e.g., Breshad Perriman).
That is not to mention the parade of uninspiring offensive coordinators the team has employed; it is worth noting that Flacco enjoyed the best regular season of his career when Gary Kubiak served as the team’s OC in 2014, and Baltimore would have qualified for the playoffs in each of the last two seasons if not for backbreaking defensive collapses at the end of the year.
All of which supports Rapoport’s point that Flacco will be a hot commodity this offseason, either as a free agent or as a trade candidate. Rapoport names the Jaguars, Redskins, Dolphins, and Raiders as potential landing spots.
Latest On Jay Gruden, Alex Smith
It is difficult to blame Redskins head coach Jay Gruden for the team’s slide out of the playoff race this year given the spate of injuries that he has had to contend with, but he was mentioned as a hot seat candidate before the season even began — despite a 2017 campaign that was also marred by injury — so it stands to reason that his future with the club is questionable at best. Indeed, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link) reports that Washington’s assistant coaches have become increasingly worried about their own futures, and a number of them have made calls around the league to determine what other options they might have in 2019.
Rapoport makes it clear that the team has made no decision on Gruden one way or another, though the behind-the-scenes activity RapSheet is describing does not paint a very promising picture. Gruden, though, is likely to land on his feet as a coordinator or perhaps even as a head coach in 2019, and he says he is not allowing his future distract him. Gruden said (via John Keim of ESPN.com), “It doesn’t weigh on me at all. I’ll wait to get final word when the season is over.”
Gruden is under contract through the 2020 campaign thanks to a two-year extension signed in 2016 that includes $10MM in fully-guaranteed money, but he is already the longest-tenured head coach that the team has had under owner Dan Snyder, and assuming Josh Johnson does not pull off a miraculous stretch run, the Redskins will miss the playoffs for the third consecutive year. And, as might be expected when a team is going through the type of struggles the Redskins are battling, there is a perception that Gruden has lost the locker room, though he adamantly refutes that notion.
The team’s season really went south, of course, when starting quarterback Alex Smith suffered a brutal leg injury in November. Per Keim and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Smith has finally been released from the hospital, and while there is still of course no certainty as to whether he will be able to resume his playing career, the prognosis is encouraging. If Smith were unable to play again, the Redskins would be dealing with a potentially calamitous financial and on-field situation, which Gruden may be happy to get out of.