Exec Rumors: Caserio, Peters, Aponte
With Bill Belichick perhaps coaching his last game for the Patriots today, the club could have head coach and general manager vacancies in relatively short order (Belichick, of course, has operated as New England’s de facto GM throughout his tenure). Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post hears that Texans GM Nick Caserio, whose 20-year stint in the Pats’ personnel department earned him the Houston gig, would be open to a return to Foxborough, but Dianna Russini of The Athletic (subscription required) says Caserio does not want to leave the Texans.
Russini points out that Caserio, who squeezed an excellent return from the Browns in the 2022 Deshaun Watson trade and who appears to have hit a home run in drafting quarterback C.J. Stroud and hiring head coach DeMeco Ryans last year, has laid the groundwork for sustained success in Houston and wants to see it through. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine Caserio leaving a young and talented HC-QB pairing for the uncertainty that would await him in New England.
Here are a few more rumors relating to league executives:
- 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters is once again expected to be a hot name in the upcoming hiring cycle, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com writes in a subscribers-only piece. Peters turned down GM interview requests from the Cardinals and Titans last year, and it has been rumored for some time that he is the heir apparent to current San Francisco GM John Lynch. Per Fowler, it remains possible that the Niners will simply promote Peters to general manager now that Lynch has been given the additional title of president of football operations.
- Like Peters, Falcons assistant GM Kyle Smith has been viewed as a future general manager, and as Albert Breer of SI.com notes, Atlanta GM Terry Fontenot promoted Smith to his current role this year partly to dissuade rival clubs from trying to poach him (a team can block an assistant GM from interviewing for anything other than a GM job). While the Falcons have yet to find a long-term answer at quarterback since Fontenot and Smith joined the team, they have injected a great deal of talent into the rest of the roster, and Smith appears poised to generate serious GM interest.
- We recently heard that the Commanders may wish to add a president of football operations to oversee both their head coach and general manager, and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post reports that Dawn Aponte‘s name has come up in connection with that role. Aponte, who presently works as the league’s chief administrator of football operations, was mentioned as a potential candidate for the Giants’ GM job in 2022, though she was not interviewed for that post. Aponte has, however, served in high-ranking executive positions for the Jets, Browns, and Dolphins.
- In another subscribers-only piece, Fowler and Dan Graziano of ESPN.com compiled a list of other top candidates for GM jobs, a list that includes Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham, Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz, and Browns assistant GM Catherine Raiche. Cunningham was offered the Cardinals’ GM job last year but turned it down, while Hortiz and Raiche have both taken GM interviews in recent years.
Broncos Likely To Retain GM George Paton
We heard last month that Broncos general manager George Paton could be on the hot seat, but that does not appear to be the case. As Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com report, Paton is expected to keep his job through at least the 2024 season.
Paton was one of the most popular names on the GM interview circuit for years before the longtime Vikings exec finally decided to leave Minnesota to head up Denver’s personnel department in January 2021. While detractors will point to his ultimately disastrous decision to hire Nathaniel Hackett as head coach in 2022 and to the ill-fated blockbuster trade for quarterback Russell Wilson, Paton did show off his talent evaluation chops during his first draft with the Broncos, bringing in the likes of Patrick Surtain, Javonte Williams, Quinn Meinerz, Baron Browning, and Jonathon Cooper. The 2022-23 drafts started late due to the Wilson trade, though it was the club’s new ownership that drove the Wilson extension that is expected to create a salary cap nightmare in short order (likewise, although Paton is the one who ultimately approached Wilson about pushing back his 2025 guarantee, ownership and head coach Sean Payton surely had a hand in that controverisal overture).
Payton is widely believed to wield final say over the Broncos’ roster decisions, and even if that is not the case, Paton did lose plenty of power when club CEO Greg Penner announced in December 2022 that both the head coach and general manager would report to ownership. Despite that, and despite Payton’s surprisingly open criticism of Paton over the summer, Rapoport and Pelissero say that the two men enjoy a strong working relationship. That relationship, combined with Paton’s evaluation abilities, may well be enough to keep Paton in Denver.
Adam Schefter of ESPN.com also notes that Payton and Paton have worked well together this year, and that Payton respects Paton’s talents. Schefter does not indicate one way or another whether Paton will be retained, though he does confirm that Payton “has significant authority and influence” over Denver’s football operation and that a decision will need to be made on Paton.
Assuming that the Payton-Paton partnership survives for another season, Paton will have at least some role in navigating the Broncos’ complex quarterback situation. The expected Wilson release and the dead money hit that it will generate will make it difficult for Denver to acquire a high-end veteran passer, and the team may not be picking high enough to land a surefire prospect in the 2024 draft. As such, Jarrett Stidham may find himself as the Broncos’ starting QB to begin the 2024 season, a season that could go a long way towards determining Paton’s long-term future in the Mile High City.
Steelers DL Cam Heyward Contemplating Retirement?
Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward, who has long been one of the best interior defenders in the game, is on the back nine of his illustrious career. Heyward himself has suggested that he may have already played his final NFL game.
When asked earlier this week what the future holds for him, Heyward said, “First and foremost, I have to see how my body feels. It’s been a rough season” (via Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
Indeed, Heyward played in only 11 games this season due to a groin injury he sustained in Week 1, making 2023 the first year in which he has missed any signficant action since a seven-game 2016 campaign. And his performance has taken a noticeable dip, with Pro Football Focus assigning him a 69.8 overall grade that, while strong, is nowhere near the elite levels he has attained in recent seasons. In fact, that is the lowest mark that Heyward has earned since his injury-shortened 2016 season, when he was given a 66.5 grade.
The surface-level stats are also lacking, as the two sacks, 33 tackles, and six tackles for loss he posted this year would still fall well short of his 2021-22 totals even if they were extrapolated over a full season. That diminished performance, combined with a season marred by a difficult injury, could certainly deter Heyward from returning for his age-35 campaign in 2024.
On the other hand, the 2011 first-rounder has earned Pro Bowl acclaim in each of the last six seasons, a stretch that also included three First Team All-Pro bids. So he may have another quality year or two left in the tank, especially if he can put this season’s health struggles behind him.
He is also under contract through 2024, though his $16MM base salary for next year is not guaranteed. He is due to carry a $22.41MM cap charge due to bonus prorations, which may be an untenable figure for the Steelers. If Heyward does choose to continue his playing career, the team could explore either a pay cut or a brief extension that lowers his cap hit.
Pittsburgh kept its playoff hopes alive with a victory against Baltimore in yesterday’s regular season finale. However, the club needs one of the Bills or Jaguars to drop their Week 18 contests today to qualify for the postseason.
Packers Could Part Ways With CB Jaire Alexander
Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander may have just one more game with Green Bay. The two-time Pro Bowler has been suspended for the club’s Week 17 game against the Vikings, and while he is expected to return for the regular season finale, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com makes it clear that Alexander may not be in the Packers’ long-term plans.
According to Schefter, Green Bay’s decision on whether to retain Alexander will hinge on the $8MM roster bonus that he is due on March 20. If the team decides to keep Alexander in the fold, it will simply pay out the bonus and move on. However, Schefter reports that the Packers could explore a trade or even a release before the bonus comes due.
Alexander signed a four-year, $84MM extension in May 2022, a deal that made him the highest-paid corner in NFL history in terms of average annual value (though his $30MM in full guarantees only ranked 12th among his cornerback peers). The Louisville product did nothing to make the team regret its decision in the first year of his new contract, as he earned his second Pro Bowl nod, intercepted a career-best five passes, and earned a stellar 80.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2022.
Unfortunately, 2023 has not been as kind to Alexander. He has missed nine games due to injury this season, and in his return after a six-game absence last week, he unexpectedly joined the designated captains for the coin toss — despite not being chosen as a captain — and called out “tails.” Though he won the toss, he made a critical error by saying that the Packers wished to start the game on defense, which is not the same as deferring to the second half. In other words, the Panthers nearly started both halves with the ball, and would have done so if head coach Matt LaFleur had not communicated his intentions to referee Alex Kemp prior to the game, and if Kemp had not clarified Alexander’s decision.
Alexander also expressed no remorse for the gaffe, instead implying that it was “only suiting” for him to join the captains since the game was in Charlotte and since he is a Charlotte native (a fact that he believed LaFleur was unaware of). Schefter adds that the Packers, who prefer their players to participate in their offseason program in Green Bay, do not like the fact that Alexander does not do so; indeed, Alexander forfeited a $700K workout bonus in the spring so that he could train in Florida instead.
Despite that, Dianna Russini of The Athletic (subscription required) hears that Alexander is not considered a “problem child” within the organization. Although the injuries are a concern — Alexander also missed all but four games of the 2021 campaign — his abilities, age (he will turn 27 in February) and the fact that a trade or release would create a significant dead money charge would seem to indicate that he will be back in Green Bay in 2024. However, Russini, like Schefter, believes that a parting of the ways is a real possibility.
Bengals Unlikely To Re-Sign CB Chidobe Awuzie?
Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie is in the final year of the three-year, $21.75MM contract he signed in March 2021. According to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic (subscription required), Awuzie is unlikely to be back in Cincinnati in 2024.
Dehner’s expanisve piece, which details Awuzie’s journey from his early success with the Bengals through his recovery from his 2022 ACL tear and to last week’s struggles in a loss to the Steelers, notes that Awuzie still views himself as a starting corner. Cincinnati, however, will want to move forward with recent draftees Cam Taylor-Britt and DJ Turner as its starting CBs on the boundaries, and the clear implication is that, unless Awuzie is unable to find a starter’s contract on the open market, he will be moving on.
Of course, there is a good chance that Awuzie’s market will not develop as he would like. He built on a stellar 2021 with a strong start to the 2022 campaign, but the ACL tear he suffered in Week 8 of that season derailed his career. The Bengals deployed something of a rotation with Awuzie and the rookie Turner to start the current season, and between that rotation and an early-season back injury, he was unable to get into much of a rhythm. He also conceded that he had not yet recaptured the speed that is such a key element of his game.
He did appear to be rounding into form from Weeks 11 to 15. Due to an injury to Taylor-Britt, Awuzie returned to a full-time role and yielded a modest 73.6 passer rating during that time. Then, in the Week 16 loss to Pittsburgh, he struggled mightily against wideout George Pickens, which negated that string of strong performances to some degree.
As such, the final two games of the regular season and, if the Bengals should qualify for the playoffs, any postseason contests will go a long way towards determining Awuzie’s next home, as well as the nature of his next contract. Should he play well, it would easy enough for interested clubs to point to his strong start to his Cincinnati tenure and the fact that he showed flashes in his first year following an ACL tear to justify a lucrative, multiyear deal. If he should struggle, then he may need to settle for a one-year, prove-it contract, which could theoretically increase the chances of a Bengals re-up.
Saints Likely To Retain HC Dennis Allen
About three weeks after we heard that Saints head coach Dennis Allen could be on the hot seat, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com offer a contrasting view. The duo report that Allen is likely to get a third season as New Orleans’ HC in 2024.
Of course, the same caveat that these types of reports typically contain is also applicable to this situation: if there is a “late-season debacle,” the organization could elect to move on from Allen. However, barring such a catastrophe, Rapoport and Pelissero are hearing that Allen is safe for at least one more year.
At present, the Saints are 7-8 and in third place in the NFC South. However, they have the same record as the second-place Falcons and are just one game behind the first-place Buccaneers and will take on both clubs over the final two games of the season. They therefore have a real chance to win the admittedly weak division and secure a home playoff game, a scenario that would obviously boost Allen’s job security in a big way.
Regardless of whether New Orleans qualifies for the postseason, owner Gayle Benson and GM Mickey Loomis recognize the difficulties that Allen has faced — the early-season suspension of Alvin Kamara and the injuries to quarterback Derek Carr, the O-line, and the defensive front seven, for instance — and have nonetheless been unwavering in their support of him. During Allen’s run as the Saints’ DC from 2015-21, he helped transform a defense that had generally struggled prior to his arrival into a formidable unit, and it appears he still has a great deal of goodwill with the franchise’s top decision-makers.
Even if Allen is retained, some coaching changes may be on the horizon. In the earlier report indicating that Allen’s job could be in jeopardy, it was suggested that Benson and Loomis would seek a replacement with an offensive background, and Rapoport and Pelissero concede that the offensive operation will get a “thorough examination” after the season. Although they do not say so explictily, OC Pete Carmichael could be on the outs irrespective of New Orleans’ decision on Allen.
Back in October, we learned that Carmichael is on the hot seat, although the offense’s performance has improved since then. The team currently ranks in the top half of the league in terms of both total offense and points per game.
Matt Patricia Replaces Sean Desai As Eagles’ Defensive Play-Caller
The Eagles are in the midst of a two-game losing streak that has put their chances of winning the NFC East, to say nothing of securing the conference’s No. 1 seed, in serious jeopardy. Philadelphia has surrendered at least 33 points in each of its last three games, and as it seeks to right the ship, it is making a major change on the defensive side of the ball.
Per Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia has replaced Sean Desai as defensive coordinator, which includes assuming Desai’s play-calling duties (though Desai will remain with the Eagles in a different capacity). As Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, a team source has confirmed the move, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, among others, says that Desai will retain the formal title of defensive coordinator. Rapoport adds that Desai will head to the coaches’ booth while Patricia will man the sidelines, and all reporters are in agreement that Patricia will take over as defensive play-caller.
Patricia’s lengthy stint as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator from 2012-17 preceded a forgettable tenure as the Lions’ head coach from 2018-20. He rejoined the Pats the following year and was curiously chosen to serve as New England’s offensive play-caller in 2022, a decision that was criticized at the time and that only got worse from there. This offseason, he was a candidate to join Sean Payton‘s first Broncos staff as defensive coordinator, though he eventually wound up in Philadelphia after Denver went in a different direction.
According to Rapoport, as relayed by Kevin Patra of NFL.com, Patricia has served as a consultant for all three phases of the Eagles’ operation this year despite his official title of senior defensive assistant, and he has earned the respect of the players. By contrast, Brooks Kubena of The Athletic reported just yesterday that safety Kevin Byard had persuaded Desai to allow the secondary to handle its own scouting report of the Seahawks, the club’s upcoming opponent.
Desai was the Bears’ defensive coordinator in 2021, and Chicago finished that season sixth in terms of total defense, though it’s points-per-game and defensive DVOA rankings were not as impressive. When head coach Matt Nagy was let go at the end of the 2021 season, his defensive-minded replacement, Matt Eberflus, elected not to retain Desai, who subsequently became associate head coach and defensive assistant for the Seahawks.
Still, Desai’s one season of relative success as defensive coordinator and his long track record as a defensive assistant at the collegiate and NFL levels made him a popular DC target in the 2023 hiring cycle, and he took interviews with five different clubs. He ultimately chose the Eagles and became the replacement for Jonathan Gannon, who left Philadelphia to take the Cardinals’ head coaching gig.
Unfortunately for Desai, the Eagles presently rank in the bottom-10 in terms of both total defense and points-per-game after finishing in the top-10 in both categories in 2022 (Philadelphia actually surrendered the second-fewest yards per game in 2022). While none of Patricia’s Detroit defenses were successful, and while Bill Belichick had a major role in the quality New England defenses that Patricia coordinated, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni clearly felt a change was in order.
And Sirianni is no stranger to such a move (although he did tell reporters at the beginning of this week that no coaching changes were on the horizon, as McLane observes). During Sirianni’s first season as Philadelphia’s HC in 2021, he ceded offensive play-calling duties to then-offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, which triggered dramatic improvements from quarterback Jalen Hurts and the offense as a whole.
Patricia will have a chance to engineer a similar turnaround beginning tomorrow night, when the Eagles take on a Seattle club that may be without QB1 Geno Smith. Philadelphia faces the Giants twice and the Cardinals to close out the season, and those teams have fielded two of the league’s worst offenses in 2023.
Latest On Chargers’ Upcoming HC Search
The Chargers fired head coach Brandon Staley on Friday after an embarrassing loss to the division-rival Raiders. Even before the firing, there was already plenty of speculation as to who the club’s next head coach would be, as it became increasingly clear that Staley would not be retained for the 2024 season. Now that Staley is officially out, that speculation has naturally ramped up.
Of course, legendary Patriots HC Bill Belichick has been rumored as a possible target for the Bolts, and Armando Salguero of Outkick.com acknowledges that the connection makes plenty of sense. The last three head coaches the club has hired were first-timers, and Salguero says the team wants a proven leader. Belichick certainly fits that description, and his hiring could generate excitement for a team that has struggled to create much of a connection to Los Angeles fans since moving from San Diego.
And assuming Belichick leaves New England at season’s end, he will not want to go to a rebuilding club or one without a top-flight quarterback. The two other teams who have fired their head coaches this year, the Raiders and Panthers, would not necessarily offer Belichick — who will turn 72 in April — the chance to win right away. The Chargers, on the other hand, have a Pro Bowl-caliber QB in place in Justin Herbert and a fair amount of talent on both sides of the ball, and as Salguero writes, the team wants to stop wasting Herbert’s prime years and wants to bring in a coach who knows how to maximize a signal-caller’s abilities.
However, Salguero hears that there is resistance to a Belichick pursuit within the organization, and one of the reasons for such resistance is the fact that Belichick would want to remake the franchise as he sees fit. That would include, perhaps, displacing president of football operations John Spanos, son of owner Dean Spanos. Salguero’s sources believe it is unlikely that Belichick would agree to leave the team’s current infrastructure in place and report to John Spanos, so the fit between Belichick and the Chargers may not be as perfect as it might appear.
Salguero also hears that Jim Harbaugh could be a more viable candidate for the post. A recent report said that a “Spanos family confidant” reached out to people connected to Harbaugh to gauge his interest, and while Harbaugh is rumored to want a great deal of control over football operations should he jump back into the professional ranks, Salguero believes the former 49ers HC may be more amenable than Belichick to keeping the Bolts’ current front office framework in place.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link) says the Chargers’ job is a coveted one, primarily due to the presence of Herbert. He reports that the team will keep an open mind with respect to its impending HC search and will consider CEO-style coaches along with those who would double as the offensive or defensive coordinator. Rapoport names Cowboys DC Dan Quinn and Lions OC Ben Johnson — both of whom are expected to be among the hottest names in the 2024 hiring cycle — as realistic candidates.
Recent reports have suggested that there is mutual interest between Johnson and the Chargers, though it is worth noting that the 37-year-old has never served as a head coach before. Quinn, meanwhile, spent over five years as the Falcons’ head coach and came up heartbreakingly short of winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl during his second season at the helm.
Wink Martindale Addresses Future With Giants
Earlier this month, Giants defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale addressed the November 26 report from Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer suggesting that there is palpable tension between Martindale and head coach Brian Daboll. The report, which surfaced just two weeks after Martindale and Daboll engaged in a heated exchange during New York’s Week 10 loss to the Cowboys, was supported by Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News and even indicated that Martindale could be fired before the end of the season.
When speaking about his relationship with Daboll, Martindale said, “[w]e’re fine. It’s the same thing as it was last year. It was just different because we were winning more games” (via Leonard).
Indeed, the 5-8 Giants, who surprisingly advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs during the first season of the Daboll-Martindale partnership, have just a 4% chance of qualifying for the postseason this year (and that is despite the club’s current three-game win streak). Martindale’s unit ranks in or just outside the bottom-10 in total defense, points allowed per game, and defensive DVOA, which is largely why he was reported to be on the hot seat even before the Glazer report (though those rankings are not appreciably worse than they were in 2022, and by measure of DVOA, the Giants’ defense is actually performing better this season).
Losing obviously creates tension, and if the relationship was not in a great place even during a winning season, it stands to reason that it would deteriorate during a disappointing campaign. For what it’s worth, Martindale — who says that Daboll was the one to bring the Glazer report to his attention — indicated that he would like to be back with the Giants in 2024, though his remarks were not especially emphatic.
“Yeah,” Martindale said when asked if he wants to remain with the team. “Yeah.”
However, the 60-year-old coach also acknowledged that he could not say what would happen at the end of the season.
“As far as where I’m gonna be at, no one knows that,” Martindale said. “I say we, [my wife Laura] and myself, worked long enough and hard enough in this league that you hope you have all kinds of choices. I might be grabbing my golf clubs and go to play golf in Florida. … So you just don’t know what’s gonna happen. I can’t predict the future.”
Martindale interviewed for the Colts’ head coaching job last year and also interviewed for the Giants’ HC post back in 2020, but it seems unlikely that he will be on the head coaching interview circuit in 2024. He is under contract with New York for one more season, and given how popular he is in the locker room — and given how it would look for Daboll if he were to have to replace all three of his top coordinators in one offseason, which is a distinct possibility — Dan Duggan of The Athletic believes ownership will intervene and try to keep the relationship between Daboll and his DC in a tolerable place (subscription required).
Duggan does go on to say that such an intervention may not happen if the Daboll-Martindale rift is, as Glazer suggested, unable to be mended. And Duggan, who acknowledges that Glazer “doesn’t miss,” has heard nothing that would contradict the Fox personality’s report.
Therefore, Daboll could indeed be looking to replace Martindale, special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka in short order. Like Martindale, Kafka’s job security was called into question in November, and Duggan suggests that Daboll could seek to more firmly take the reins of the offense as he enters his third season with the Giants, which would lead to a parting of the ways between Kafka and the team.
Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy In Line For Extension
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is under contract through 2024, and it stands to reason that the team would not want him to go into the 2024 campaign as a lame duck. To that end, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says McCarthy is in line for an extension in the offseason.
When asked about the possibility of such an extension at last week’s league meetings, owner Jerry Jones said, “[t]hat’ll have a course that seeks its own time frame. I don’t do anything of that sort until the season is over.”
That hardly sounds like a guarantee that a new deal will be consummated in the coming months, but it is nonetheless difficult to imagine any other outcome. McCarthy bet on himself to a degree by parting ways with former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore this past offseason and taking over play-calling responsibilities, and that decision could not have gone much better for him. Under McCarthy’s watch, quarterback Dak Prescott is enjoying the finest season of his career and is firmly in the MVP discussion — thereby setting himself up for a lucrative extension of his own — and the Cowboys presently rank first in scoring offense, fourth in total offense, and sixth in offensive DVOA.
As Rapoport observes, McCarthy’s job security is always a talking point in Dallas, and merely qualifying for the playoffs has not compelled Jones to retain a head coach in the past. Before last season’s playoffs got underway, however, Jones unequivocally stated that the outcome of the postseason contests would not influence his decision with respect to McCarthy, and while the Cowboys were ousted by the 49ers for the second consecutive year, there were no serious rumblings that McCarthy’s job was in jeopardy.
Last month, Peter King of NBC Sports suggested that Jones — who was long rumored to covet Sean Payton for Dallas’ HC post — might make a run at current Patriots head coach Bill Belichick if Belichick should, as expected, become available in the offseason. King said that in order for Belichick or any other candidate to become a serious consideration for Jones, the Cowboys would have to lose the NFC East, have a questionable showing or two down the stretch of the regular season, and go winless in the playoffs.
Since King’s piece was published, the Cowboys have rattled off four straight victories to bring their current win streak to five and their record to 10-3. That stretch includes a 33-13 thumping of the division-rival Eagles last week, and while Philadelphia (also 10-3) has the easier schedule over the last four games of the season, Dallas currently has momentum on its side.
Over his first three-plus seasons with the Cowboys, McCarthy has compiled a 40-23 regular season record and a 1-2 mark in the playoffs. Of course, he spent the better part of 13 seasons as the Packers’ head coach, capturing a Lombardi Trophy during his tenure in Green Bay.