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.
Sunday Roundup: Fitz, Polamalu, Suh
As soon as Larry Fitzgerald‘s 2014 season ended with an unceremonious whimper yesterday, talk regarding his cloudy future with the Cardinals began anew. Our Luke Adams wrote that Arizona is unlikely to cut Fitzgerald, but they could trade him or ask to him to restructure his contract. Although Carson Palmer recently signed a three-year extension with the club, Fitzgerald, who of course would like to add a Super Bowl ring to his Hall-of-Fame resume, will have to consider if his odds of winning it all might not be greater somewhere else before he accepts such a restructure or pay cut (which was deemed unlikely last week).
We noted earlier this morning that the Patriots will once again emerge as a logical landing spot for Fitzgerald. Tom Brady would offer him the caliber of quarterback that he has rarely enjoyed in his career, and New England is seemingly always on the lookout for upgrades at the wide receiver position.
Any decision on Fitzgerald, of course, will likely have to be made before March, when he is owed an $8MM roster bonus. For his part, Fitzgerald says he has not thought about his 2015 destination just yet. “The taste of defeat is the only thing I can think about right now,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s all that’s on my mind. It’s been a great season competing with these fellas and this coaching staff.”
Now for some links from around the league as Day 2 of Wildcard Weekend gets underway.
- Steelers safety Troy Polamalu says it is fair to wonder if he has played his last game, tweets Scott Brown of ESPN.com. Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review adds (via Twitter) that there is virtually no chance Polamalu returns next season.
- Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ponders the futures of several other Steelers veterans, including Ike Taylor and James Harrison.
- Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network tweets that the Lions hope Ndamukong Suh will test his value on the free agent market and ultimately return to Detroit.
- Suh may have a number of suitors, and although Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com notes that Washington will have some salary cap room to work with in free agency, Suh should not be one of the team’s targets.
- Andrew Kulp of CSNPhilly.com writes that the recent front office “shake-up” in the Eagles organization, which ostensibly gave head coach Chip Kelly full control over the team’s roster, does not really present much of a change. After all, as Kulp says, “[W]hat moves have the Eagles made in the two years since Kelly’s arrival that didn’t have his fingerprints all over them?”
- Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that the 49ers‘ lack of a consistent approach to their head coaching search makes their hiring process just as difficult to understand as the decision to cut ties with Jim Harbaugh.
- Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star lays out the difficult decisions the Chiefs have to make this offseason, including what to do with Dwayne Bowe and Tamba Hali, the release of whom could give the team some much-needed cap space.
- Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said that suspended linebacker Daryl Washington has “protocols” to pass before he can be reinstated, and Arians, team president Michael Bidwill, and GM Steve Keim will “sit down and talk about” Washington’s future (Twitter links from Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com).
- Arians also stated that he believes Cardinals quarterback Logan Thomas has a great future, which is one of the reasons Arians chose not to play him down the stretch and into the playoffs; he did not want to put Thomas through “growing pains” (Twitter link to Urban).
- In yet another tweet, Urban reports that Cardinals wideout Jaron Brown fractured his scapula in yesterday’s loss to Carolina and is expected to be out four to six months.
Thomas Dimitroff’s Job Not Safe
Although Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff survived “Black Monday,” which saw the firing of head coach Mike Smith, Dimitroff’s job is far from safe. When Smith was fired, we heard that owner Arthur Blank was still undecided on Dimitroff’s future, and Blank’s approach in hiring a new head coach has made that clear. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network tweets that Blank has informed all the head coaching candidates he has interviewed thus far that they would have a say in who the team’s general manager will be.
Rapoport’s colleague, Albert Breer, affirms that report. Breer notes that Blank will hire the best coach he can, and then “chart the course from there.” If the new coach does not mesh with Dimitroff, then changes could come (Twitter links).
As Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, Dimitroff’s fate could be determined by Josh McDaniels. Dimitroff has championed McDaniels, with whom he and top assistant Scott Pioli worked in New England, as a candidate for the team’s head coaching vacancy. McDaniels has said that it would take a “perfect set of circumstances” to leave his comfortable position as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, especially since his first head coaching attempt with the Broncos was a decidedly unsuccessful one. La Canfora adds that, although Matt Ryan‘s presence makes the Falcon’s job at least somewhat attractive, the behind-the-scenes turmoil in Atlanta has given him pause.
As Brian McIntyre tweets, Dimitroff’s lack of job security is relatively surprising. Although the Falcons have underachieved in each of the last two seasons, Dimitroff does have a track record of success and has established a strong foundation in Atlanta. It seems counter-intuitive to allow a head coaching candidate who may not have ever held a position above coordinator to effectively dismiss Dimitroff, but Blank is apparently prepared to do just that.
East Notes: Jets, Fitzgerald, Phillips
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that all signs are pointing to Doug Marrone as the next head coach of the Jets. La Canfora notes that many of the candidates that New York is interviewing for its general manager position have strong ties to Marrone, including top candidate Mike Maccagnan. Maccagnan once signed Marrone to quarterback the London Monarchs of the now extinct World League of American Football in 1991, and the two men have developed a close personal relationship since then.
Other GM candidates like Rick Mueller, Bill Kuharich, and Ryan Pace also have ties to Marrone. Jets owner Woody Johnson would like to announce his new GM and head coach no later than the end of this week, and some believe the Jets could be the first team to do so. At the moment, the smart money appears to be on a Maccagnan/Marrone pairing in New York.
Now for some more notes from the league’s east divisions:
- Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News believes that if the Jets end up hiring Marrone, “Jets fans will have every right to believe the thing was fixed fight from the beginning.” The “thing,” of course, is Marrone’s opting out of his contract with the Bills. If he is subsequently hired by New York, it will appear as though he had a back-door agreement with Charley Casserly, who is acting as Johnson’s primary adviser in the hiring process (Twitter link to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, who described in a full-length piece how Marrone alienated members of the Bills administration during his two years in Buffalo).
- After being snubbed by Bill Polian, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that Bills owner Terry Pegula is still interested in hiring a “football czar” as he focuses in the short term on finding a new head coach.
- Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes that, even though the Larry Fitzgerald-to-the-Patriots rumors have swirled for the past several seasons, those rumblings might have some legs this offseason.
- Rich Tandler of CSN Washington.com notes that Wade Phillips‘ age (68) has some wondering if Washington should opt for a younger candidate to fill its vacant defensive coordinator position, but Tandler believes Phillips’ recent pedigree suggests that his age should not be a major consideration.
- We learned earlier today that the Raiders have requested permission to interview Cowboys‘ passing game coordinator Scott Linehan, and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports (via Twitter) that Dallas is also in danger of losing defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli. The contracts of both men expire at the end of this season, and Rapoport tweets that Marinelli may be wooed by the Buccaneers if talks with the Cowboys do not progress.
- Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram adds (via Twitter) that the Cowboys also stand to lose offensive coordinator Bill Callahan, whose contract is also set to expire at season’s end.
- Mark Eckel of NJ.com provides a list of five candidates the Eagles should consider in filling their GM position.