West Notes: Manning, Trestman, Lynch
We heard earlier this morning that current Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak will accept the Broncos‘ head coaching job if and when it is offered to him, and there are a number of items related to the Broncos’ head coaching search to pass on, along with several notes from other clubs in the league’s west divisions. Let’s take a look:
- Citing colleague Ian Rapoport, NFL.com’s Conor Orr writes that Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is still undecided about his future, and even though many believe his return to Denver is a foregone conclusion, Rapoport wonders if Denver’s recent activity has laid the foundation for the team to hit the reset button. After all, as Orr writes, “John Elway was concerned about the team’s toughness after a loss to St. Louis earlier in the season and wondered if his team had gotten as good as they possibly could with the current staff and roster.” Manning still has a month to make up his mind before taking a physical that will lock in his $19MM salary for next year.
- Benjamin Hochman and Mike Klis of the Denver Post wonder if the Broncos would be better off if Manning were to hang up the spikes right now (spoiler alert: the answer is “no”).
- Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com asked former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer how Kubiak and Manning will overcome the conflicts between Manning’s abilities and Kubiak’s style of play-calling, and Plummer describes how the two men could make it work.
- Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com looks at a few standouts from yesterday’s East-West Shrine Classic that could be of interest to the Chargers.
- Citing Rapoport, Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk writes that the Raiders, as expected, will interview Marc Trestman for their offensive coordinator vacancy within the next several days.
- Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times believes the Seahawks should retain Marshawn Lynch for at least one more season.
- Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes that former Youngstown State head coach Eric Wolford is set to become the 49ers‘ assistant offensive line coach.
Gary Kubiak To Accept Broncos Job If Offered
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak will take the Broncos‘ head coaching job if it is offered to him, and all signs points towards GM John Elway making that offer. Mike Klis of the Denver Post writes that Elway and Kubiak will spend this Sunday together watching the AFC and NFC Championship Games, and although there are some concerns with how Kubiak’s schemes will mesh with Peyton Manning‘s abilities–Kubiak’s passing game is largely predicated on play-action bootleg passes, which is not a great fit for the increasingly immobile Manning–Kubiak has been Elway’s top target for a long time.
As NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets, other candidates for Denver’s top job who met with Elway were so convinced that Kubiak was Elway’s preference that they withdrew their names from consideration, and CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora tweets that Kubiak’s move to Denver has been a foregone conclusion for several days now. Klis adds in his piece that a formal announcement will be made by Tuesday.
North Notes: Big Ben, Browns, Prater
After the Steelers were eliminated from the playoffs on Wildcard Weekend, one more year in Ben Roethlisberger‘s career had come and gone and Pittsburgh was no closer to its seventh Super Bowl victory than it was when Tim Tebow dispatched the Steelers in the first round of the 2011 playoffs. However, as Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, there is plenty of room for optimism in the Steel City.
Roethlisberger, who started every game in consecutive seasons for the first time, enjoyed the best statistical season of his career, which helped to dispel the notion that he would break down sooner than other quarterbacks. With the continued growth of Martavis Bryant, Markus Wheaton, and Le’Veon Bell, along with All-Pro wideout Antonio Brown, there is no reason to think Roethlisberger will not continue to thrive for at least another five years. Therefore, Bouchette believes the team should hammer out the much-discussed extension with Roethlisberger quickly, even though it will likely be a six-year pact worth about $120MM or so, with a $30MM signing bonus and even more in guaranteed money.
Now for some more links from around the league’s north divisions:
- Even though the Steelers have been justly criticized for their poor salary cap management in recent years, Bouchette writes in a separate piece that the team is actually in pretty good shape for 2015, especially after it works out the extension for Roethlisberger and sheds the contracts of some aging veterans. Bouchette notes that the Steelers will not only have room to retain some of their own key free agents, but also to pursue players from other clubs.
- Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com looks at a number of issues facing the Browns this offseason, including their offensive coordinator search, which has taken a disappointing turn thus far, their quarterback concerns, and what they will do about a kicker.
- Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune writes that new Bears head coach John Fox is not a quarterback expert, but he handles them well, which will benefit the team regardless of whether it keeps Jay Cutler or moves in a different direction.
- Lions kicker Matt Prater has reiterated that he would like to remain in Detroit next season, writes Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. Prater is an unrestricted free agent and has not had talks with the Detroit front office, but he believes the team is aware of his desire to return.
Jets Hire Mike Maccagnan As GM
TUESDAY, 6:00pm: The Jets announced (via Twitter) that Maccagnan has been named as the team’s new GM.
SUNDAY, 9:48am: The Jets are expected to name former Texans college scouting director Mike Maccagnan as their next GM, writes Kevin Patra of NFL.com, citing colleague Ian Rapoport. Maccagnan has been meeting with owner Woody Johnson over the past three days.
As Patra writes, Maccagnan is viewed as a very good talent evaluator, though the drafts in which he participated while with Houston yielded some mixed results. As PFR’s Zach Links wrote last week, the consensus among front office executives around the league is that Maccagnan is not ready to be an NFL general manager, but clearly the Jets feel differently. Charley Casserly, who served as a GM for Washington and the Texans in his career, has been Johnson’s most influential consultant in the hiring process, and he doubtlessly endorsed Maccagnan’s candidacy. Casserly and Maccagnan have developed a strong relationship over the past several decades, as Casserly hired Maccagnan while with Washington and Houston.
Maccagnan’s first task will be to find a new head coach to replace the recently-fired Rex Ryan, who was named as the Bills head coach this morning. As PFR’s Luke Adams wrote several days ago, Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has emerged as the favorite for the position, but Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles will receive strong consideration and the team remains “intrigued” by Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak.
Maccagnan will also be tasked with finding the team’s quarterback of the future. Geno Smith has disappointed and Michael Vick is nearing the end of his career, but the Jets do hold the sixth overall pick in the 2015 draft, which may net them a chance to select one of the year’s top two quarterback prospects, Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston.
Bills Hire Greg Roman As OC
TUESDAY, 12:05pm: The Bills and Roman have officially signed their agreement, making the former Niners offensive coordinator the new OC in Buffalo, tweets Marvez.
MONDAY, 11:08am: Roman has finalized a deal with the Bills to become their new offensive coordinator, a source tells Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (on Twitter). He’s expected to officially sign on Tuesday in Buffalo.
SUNDAY, 2:41pm: Roman, who had already interviewed with the Bills (albeit for their head coaching vacancy), will meet with the club a second time, and is expected to be named OC, tweets Alex Marvez of FOX Sports.
10:14am: We heard this morning that 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman was expected to fill the same position with the Bills, who just hired Rex Ryan as their new head coach. ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirms (via Twitter) that the Bills are expected to hire Roman, who worked with Ryan when the two men were Ravens coaches, as the team’s new offensive coordinator.
The Browns, Rams, and Buccaneers, among others, were also interested in Roman, who is regarded as a talented offensive mind but whose play-calling came into question during the latter stages of his tenure in San Francisco. Roman became available when former 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh opted to take the top job at the University of Michigan, as he was never one of the internal candidates under consideration to replace Harbaugh. The Bills have some talent on the offensive side of the ball but have a major question mark at the quarterback position, which will be the primary concern facing both Ryan and Roman.
Bills Hire Rex Ryan As Head Coach
The Bills have officially made Rex Ryan their new head coach, the team announced today in a press release. Ryan, who was expected to be a finalist for the Falcons’ head coaching position and who was rumored to have serious interest in the 49ers’ job as well, will remain in the AFC East, having coached the Jets from 2009 to his firing at the end of the 2014 campaign.
“Following an extensive search, we are pleased today to announce that Rex Ryan is our new head coach. Rex brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to the position that we feel will be a tremendous benefit to our players and the entire Bills organization,” Bills owner Terry Pegula said in a statement. “He was very impressive during the interview process, as were many of the candidates to which we spoke, and we feel Rex is the best fit for our team. We look forward to his leadership and expertise in directing our team to the playoffs and bringing a championship to Buffalo for our fans.”
Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets that Ryan’s contract with Buffalo will be a five-year pact worth $27.5MM. Mehta adds (Twitter links) that Ryan’s top choice was the Atlanta position, but the Falcons never scheduled a second interview with him, and Ryan never felt that GM Thomas Dimitroff was “in his corner.” The Bills, meanwhile, made Ryan “feel wanted,” according to another tweet from Mehta.
According to Metha (via Twitter), Ryan wants to bring the majority of his Jets defensive staff with him, including defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman. That list also includes defensive line coach Karl Dunbar and defensive backs coach Tim McDonald, tweets Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. However, Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News tweets that the Bills have “every intention” of retaining last year’s defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, and ESPN’s Adam Caplan tweets that Ryan has already asked Schwartz to stay on as defensive coordinator.
Ryan, always praised as a master defensive mind, will have a number of talented defensive players to work with in Buffalo, (although, as John Kryk of The Toronto Sun tweets, 2015 will mark the fifth straight year in which the Bills have alternated between a base 4-3 and a base 3-4 defense, assuming Ryan deploys his favored 3-4 scheme, and it has been a while since Schwartz last coached a 3-4 unit). The offensive side of the ball, on the other hand, was frequently the bane of Ryan’s existence in New York, and the Jets’ general lack of offensive success under Ryan played a significant role in his firing. Ryan plans to bring Jets quarterbacks coach David Lee with him to Buffalo, according to a tweet from Mehta, and Schefter tweets that 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman is the most likely candidate to fill the same position with the Bills.
Struggles at the quarterback position, which persisted throughout Ryan’s tenure with the Jets, were ultimately too much to overcome. Although Ryan’s club advanced to the AFC Championship game in each of his first two seasons in New York, former first-round selection Mark Sanchez never blossomed into the franchise quarterback that the Jets had hoped, and 2013 second-round pick Geno Smith fared no better, as the Jets failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth straight year in 2014 and Ryan concluded his Jets career with a 50-52 overall record.. It seems, therefore, that Ryan will be facing many of the same challenges in his new job as he did in his last one, even with the potential addition of Roman to his coaching staff: a strong defense but a major question mark under center, where E.J. Manuel has done little to prove that he is worthy of the 16th-overall pick that the Bills used on him in 2013.
Nonetheless, Ryan does bring a reputation as a player’s coach who can consistently generate maximum effort from his personnel. Although everyone on the Jets knew that Ryan was going to be fired shortly after the team’s final contest of the 2014 season, the team played perhaps its best game of the year in Week 17, beating division rival Miami 37-24 and giving Ryan a Gatorade shower when the victory was secured.
In addition to an attitude and bravado that the Bills have rarely seen on their sidelines, Ryan also brings an obvious familiarity with the AFC East. Before his first season in New York, Ryan famously stated that he was not brought in to kiss Patriots head coach Bill Belichick‘s rings, and now he will have another opportunity to best Belichick several times a season. If he can overcome the quarterback hurdle that plagued him with the Jets – a big “if” to be sure – he might just be able to do it.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported (via Twitter) that Ryan and the Bills were finalizing an agreement.
John Fox To Be Fired If Broncos Lose?
Citing Fox NFL Insider Jay Glazer, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets that, if the Broncos lose their Divisional Round matchup against Indianapolis today, Denver head coach John Fox could be fired. Cole, in fact, believes there is a “pretty good chance” Fox would get the ax if the Broncos fall today.
Fox has led the Broncos to the playoffs in each of his four seasons in Denver, including a Super Bowl appearance last season. However, after an embarrassing performance in the Super Bowl, which followed a surprising upset at the hands of the eventual-champion Ravens the year before, Fox may be coaching for his job today. Another home upset in the second round of the playoffs may be too much for the Denver front office to take, especially considering the talent on the team’s roster.
Fox, though, recently signed an extension with the Broncos through the 2016 season, so a firing at this point would seem unlikely. However, if it did happen, he would immediately become the most desirable candidate on the head coaching market.
Sunday Roundup: Austin, Ravens, Steelers
Let’s take a look at some links from around the league as Day 2 of the Divisional Round gets underway:
- Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets that Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is also on the Bears‘ radar.
- Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com provides an offseason outlook for the Bears.
- Manish Metha of the New York Daily News tweets that the Jets, despite their heavy interest in Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, still want to interview Kubiak for their head coaching vacancy.
- Rapoport tweets that Dick LeBeau‘s departure took the Steelers by surprise, and he adds (via Twitter) that LeBeau likely wanted to leave Pittsburgh with Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor, with whom he had established a close relationship.
- Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, reiterating what he passed along yesterday, tweets that Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler, whom the Titans attempted to hire last season, is the most likely candidate to be elevated to defensive coordinator.
- In a series of Baltimore items, Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun writes that Ravens outside linebacker Pernell McPhee is expected to cash in on the free agent market and Steve Smith has no plans to retire.
- Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer describes how the departure of Kyle Shanahan might impact the Browns‘ quarterback situation.
- Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com writes that, with the Bills‘ hiring of Rex Ryan and the emergence of Dan Quinn as the frontrunner for the Jets head coaching vacancy, Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich may stay put in San Diego.
- Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News tweets that, had the 49ers hired Ryan, Vic Fangio was likely to stay as the team’s defensive coordinator. However, now that Ryan has been hired by the Bills, Inman believes Fangio will be promoted to head coach. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, though, tweets that San Francisco will conduct a second interview with Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.
East Notes: Quinn, Spagnuolo, Hartline
It’s been a busy morning in the AFC East, as the Bills have tabbed Rex Ryan as their new head coach and Greg Roman as their new offensive coordinator, and the Jets are set to name Mike Maccagnan as their new GM. Let’s take a look at some other news from the league’s east divisions this morning:
- If the Seahawks had lost to Carolina last night, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the Jets were prepared to fly to Seattle to offer Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn their head coaching job.
- Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork takes a look at how the Ryan hiring affects the Jets‘ roster and staffing.
- The Giants would have been interested in Bills defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz to fill the same position with Big Blue, but with Schwartz apparently set to remain in Buffalo, Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Daily News writes that New York will interview Bills defensive line coach Pepper Johnson to fill its vacant defensive coordinator job.
- Despite the Giants‘ interest in Johnson, Jordan Raanan of NJ.com writes that all signs point towards the team’s hiring Ravens secondary coach Steve Spagnuolo as the team’s new defensive coordinator. Spagnulo, of course, won a Super Bowl ring with the Giants as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2007 before becoming head coach of the Rams in 2009. Raanan names former Falcons head coach Mike Smith as a dark horse candidate for the position.
- New Washington GM Scot McCloughlan says that head coach Jay Gruden will have complete control in hiring a new defensive coordinator, writes Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com. “The head coach hires the coaches,” McCloughlan said.
- Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald says the Dolphins owe Brian Hartline a quick decision as to whether the team will retain him, release him, or ask him to take a pay cut. In a separate piece, Salguero looks at the uncertainty facing the entire Miami receiving corps.
Coaching Rumors: Sunday
We will keep you apprised of any new coaching rumors right here over the course of the day:
- Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles will be a busy man over the next few weeks, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that he will be interviewing with the Jets, 49ers, Falcons, and Raiders (via Twitter). As we learned earlier, the Bears are also expected to be on that list.
- Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports 1 confirms that Bowles will meet with all five of those organizations, and notes that he will likely begin his interviews on Tuesday or Wednesday (via Twitter).
- The Bears and Jets have both asked permission to interview Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, but the former Texans head coach has decided not to pursue openings until his season is over, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN (via Twitter).
- Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis hopes to return to the team in 2015, but knows that is not guaranteed after another dismal playoff performance, writes Coley Harvey of ESPN. “Tomorrow’s not promised for anyone,” Lewis said. “That’s part of life in the NFL and the finality of losing when you lose in the playoffs.”
- Despite both teams losing this Wild Card weekend, Cardinals defensive coordinator Bowles and Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin have impressed D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). He notes that Austin’s ability to create pressue should have him moving up the Falcons’ list of candidates (via Twitter).
- Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich will interview for the Jets’ open head coaching position on Wednesday, reports Brian Costello of the New York Post (via Twitter).
- In addition to Reich and Bowles, the Jets will interview Dolphins director of college scouting Chris Grier in the coming days, reports Kimberly Martin of Newsday (via Twitter).
Earlier updates:
- We’ve previously heard that every team with a coaching vacancy had contacted the Cardinals about defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. Mike Jurecki of Fox Sports 910 tweets that official request for interviews have come from the Falcons, Bears and Jets.
- Current Bengals offensive coordinator (and former Oakland head coach) Hue Jackson has at least one fan in former Raiders CEO Amy Trask. “There is a misconception … that Hue is difficult to work with,” said Trask (via Twitter of Contra Costa Times Steve Corkran). “He is delightful…Hue Jackson is one of the most brilliant offensive minds I have ever had the privilege and pleasure of working with…He does what you hope a coach will do, which is put his players in the best position to win.”
- ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the Raiders have requested permission to interview Cowboys passing game coordinator Scott Linehan. Linehan compiled an 11-25 record as head coach of the Rams from 2006-2008, but his subsequent work as the Lions‘ offensive coordinator and as Dallas’ passing game coordinator–a position that includes play-calling duties–has revived his reputation as a top offensive mind.
- Schefter also tweets that the Bills have requested permission to interview Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. Buffalo, which will be interviewing Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn today, has cast a very wide net as it seeks to replace Doug Marrone.