Assessing NFL’s OC Landscape
This offseason showed the turnover that can take place at the offensive coordinator position. As a result of several decisions in January and February, the NFL no longer has an OC who has been in his current role for more than two seasons. Various firings and defections now have the 2022 batch of hires stationed as the longest-tenured OCs.
One of the longest-tenured coordinators in NFL history, Pete Carmichael is no longer with the Saints. The team moved on after 15 seasons, a stay that featured part-time play-calling duties. The Browns canned their four-year non-play-calling OC, Alex Van Pelt, while three-year play-callers Arthur Smith and Shane Waldron are relocating this winter. Brian Callahan‘s five-year gig as the Bengals’ non-play-calling OC booked him a top job.
The recent lean toward offense-oriented HCs took a bit of a hit of a hit this offseason, with five of the eight jobs going to defense-oriented leaders. Callahan, Dave Canales and Jim Harbaugh were the only offense-geared candidates hired during this cycle. But half the NFL will go into this season with a new OC. Following the Seahawks’ decision to hire ex-Washington (and, briefly, Alabama) staffer Ryan Grubb, here is how the NFL’s OC landscape looks:
2022 OC hires
- Ben Johnson, Detroit Lions*
- Mike Kafka, New York Giants*
- Wes Phillips, Minnesota Vikings
- Frank Smith, Miami Dolphins
- Adam Stenavich, Green Bay Packers
- Press Taylor, Jacksonville Jaguars*
Although this sextet now comprises the senior wing of offensive coordinators, this still marks each’s first gig as an NFL OC. Three of the six received HC interest this offseason.
Johnson’s status back in Detroit has been one of the offseason’s top storylines and a development the Commanders have not taken especially well. The two-year Lions OC was viewed as the frontrunner for the Washington job for weeks this offseason, and when team brass did not receive word about Johnson’s intent to stay in Detroit (thus, waiting until at least 2025 to make his long-expected HC move) until a Commanders contingent was en route to Detroit for a second interview, a back-and-forth about what exactly broke down took place. Johnson should be expected to remain a high-end HC candidate next year, but Dan Campbell will still have his services for 2024.
Kafka interviewed for the Seahawks’ HC job, and the Giants then blocked him from meeting with the NFC West team about its OC position. Rumblings about Kafka and Brian Daboll no longer being on great terms surfaced this year, with the latter yanking away play-calling duties — given to Kafka ahead of the 2022 season — at points in 2023. Taylor may also be on the hot seat with his team. Doug Pederson gave Taylor the call sheet last season, and Trevor Lawrence did not make the leap many expected. After a collapse left the Jaguars out of the playoffs, the team had begun to look into its offensive situation.
2023 OC hires
- Jim Bob Cooter, Indianapolis Colts
- Nathaniel Hackett, New York Jets*
- Mike LaFleur, Los Angeles Rams
- Joe Lombardi, Denver Broncos
- Todd Monken, Baltimore Ravens*
- Matt Nagy, Kansas City Chiefs
- Drew Petzing, Arizona Cardinals*
- Brian Schottenheimer, Dallas Cowboys
- Bobby Slowik, Houston Texans*
Only nine of the 15 OCs hired in 2023 are still with their teams. One (Canales) moved up the ladder, while others were shown the door following that organization canning its head coach. The Eagles were the only team who hired an offensive coordinator last year to fire that staffer (Brian Johnson) after one season. Nick Sirianni fired both his coordinators following a wildly disappointing conclusion.
Hackett may also be drifting into deep water, given what transpired last year in New York. Rumblings of Robert Saleh — who is on the hottest seat among HCs — stripping some of his offensive play-caller’s responsibilities surfaced recently. This marks Hackett’s fourth chance to call plays in the NFL; the second-generation staffer did so for the Bills, Jaguars and Broncos prior to coming to New York. After the 2022 Broncos ranked last in scoring, the ’23 Jets ranked 31st in total offense. Hackett’s relationship with Aaron Rodgers has largely kept him in place, but 2024 may represent a last chance for the embattled coach.
Of this crop, Monken and Slowik were the only ones to receive HC interest. Neither emerged as a frontrunner for a position, though Slowik met with the Commanders twice. The Texans then gave their first-time play-caller a raise to stick around for C.J. Stroud‘s second season. Stroud’s remarkable progress figures to keep Slowik on the HC radar. Monken, who is in his third try as an NFL OC (after gigs in Tampa and Cleveland), just helped Lamar Jackson to his second MVP award. The former national championship-winning OC did not stick the landing — as Jackson struggled against the Chiefs — but he fared well on the whole last season.
Schottenheimer is on his fourth go-round as an OC, while Lombardi is on team No. 3. The latter’s job figures to be more secure, being tied to Sean Payton, compared to what is transpiring in Dallas. With the Cowboys having Mike McCarthy as the rare lame-duck HC, his coordinators probably should not get too comfortable.
2024 OC hires
- Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills*
- Liam Coen, Tampa Bay Buccaneers*
- Ken Dorsey, Cleveland Browns
- Luke Getsy, Las Vegas Raiders*
- Ryan Grubb, Seattle Seahawks*
- Nick Holz, Tennessee Titans
- Kliff Kingsbury, Washington Commanders*
- Klint Kubiak, New Orleans Saints*
- Brad Idzik, Carolina Panthers
- Kellen Moore, Philadelphia Eagles*
- Dan Pitcher, Cincinnati Bengals
- Zac Robinson, Atlanta Falcons*
- Greg Roman, Los Angeles Chargers*
- Arthur Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers*
- Alex Van Pelt, New England Patriots*
- Shane Waldron, Chicago Bears*
The 49ers do not employ a traditional OC; 16 of the 31 teams that do recently made a change. Most of the teams to add OCs this year, however, did so without employing play-calling coaches. This naturally raises the stakes for this year’s batch of hires.
Retreads became rather popular. Dorsey, Getsy, Moore, Van Pelt and Waldron were all OCs elsewhere (Buffalo, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Seattle) last season. Smith will shift from calling the Falcons’ plays to running the show for the Steelers. Dorsey, Getsy and Van Pelt were fired; Moore and Waldron moved on after the Chargers and Seahawks respectively changed HCs. Moore and Smith will be calling plays for a third team; for Moore, this is three OC jobs in three years.
Coen, Kingsbury and Roman are back after a year away. Kingsbury became a popular name on the OC carousel, having coached Caleb Williams last season. This will be his second crack at an NFL play-calling gig, having been the Cardinals’ conductor throughout his HC tenure. This will be Coen’s first shot at calling plays in the pros; he was Sean McVay‘s non-play-calling assistant in 2022. Likely to become the Chargers’ play-caller, Roman will have a rare fourth chance to call plays in the NFL. He held that responsibility under Jim Harbaugh in San Francisco; following Harbaugh’s explosive 2015 49ers split, Roman moved to Buffalo and Baltimore to work under non-offense-oriented leaders.
Grubb, Holz, Idzik, Pitcher and Robinson represent this year’s first-timer contingent. Grubb has, however, called plays at the college level. Robinson is the latest McVay staffer to move into a play-calling post; he was a Rams assistant for five years. A host of teams had Robinson on their OC radar, but Raheem Morris brought his former L.A. coworker to Atlanta. Pitcher appeared in a few searches as well, but the Bengals made the expected move — after extending him last year — to give him Callahan’s old job.
* = denotes play-calling coordinator
Patriots Gave Bill O’Brien Chance To Stay; Latest On Team’s Coaching Staff
Bill O’Brien‘s second stint with the Patriots ended after one season. The Pats’ 2023 offensive coordinator has since committed to both Ohio State and Boston College, becoming the ACC program’s head coach after initially pledging to be the Buckeyes’ OC.
With O’Brien set to replace Jeff Hafley as Boston College’s HC, he not do so after being booted from the Patriots. The veteran coach said he was given an opportunity to stay on under Jerod Mayo. A number of Bill Belichick assistants are still in place, including Brian Belichick, but O’Brien is now back in the college ranks.
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“I definitely had an opportunity to stay,” O’Brien said (via WEEI.com’s Mike Kadlick). “I thought it was really important for coach Mayo to hire his own staff. I came and worked for Bill Belichick, and I think it’s really important for Jerod to be able to hire his own staff. The Krafts were great about that, and I really appreciate that. And Ryan Day was awesome about offering me a job, so that’s why I made that decision.”
Robert Kraft played a key role in bringing O’Brien back to Foxborough. A rumor pegged Belichick as remaining interested in keeping Matt Patricia on as the Patriots’ de facto OC. But O’Brien — the Pats’ OC in 2011, closing out a multiyear play-calling stint with the team — brought extensive experience on the offensive side. This led Patricia to Philadelphia. O’Brien committed to Ohio State on Jan. 18. The Packers hired Hafley on Jan. 31. Days later, O’Brien agreed to come back to Boston.
A January report indicated the Pats were not planning to run it back with O’Brien as OC; he would have needed to vie for the job as part of a search. O’Brien took his name out of consideration early. After a thorough search, the Patriots ended up with ex-Browns OC Alex Van Pelt, who has one season of play-calling experience. But Van Pelt represents a new voice in a building still filled with Belichick assistants.
Mayo having only worked for the Patriots led to some concerns about his ability to fill out a staff, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe notes. This helps explain why Eliot Wolf, who is believed to be the team’s new front office boss, was involved in coaching searches and why a few ex-Packers assistants are part of Mayo’s first staff. Wolf was a regular presence in coaching interviews during this hiring period. He and Van Pelt overlapped as Packers staffers from 2012-17.
Ben McAdoo is another ex-Packers assistant who is now with the Patriots. The former Giants HC and Van Pelt worked together in Green Bay from 2012-13, a stay that ended with McAdoo as QBs coach and Van Pelt as running backs coach. After the Giants hired McAdoo as their OC in 2014, Van Pelt — a longtime NFL backup QB — shifted over to become Aaron Rodgers‘ position coach. While McAdoo will now work for Van Pelt, Volin adds he hold the title of senior offensive assistant in New England.
Additionally, the Patriots will split up their linebacking coach role. Dont’a Hightower will coach the team’s outside ‘backers, per Volin. Drew Wilkins is overseeing the ILBs. This will allow Hightower a smoother path into the coaching ranks. The standout Patriot has not held a full-time coaching job previously.
The Pats are also hiring Taylor Embree as their running backs coach, according to the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed. Embree, 35, spent the past three years coaching the Jets’ running backs. The team dismissed the former Mike LaFleur hire earlier this offseason. The son of Dolphins TEs coach/ex-Colorado HC Jon Embree, Taylor had been a lower-level staffer under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco. The Jets gig marked the 35-year-old assistant’s first position coach role in the NFL.
Patriots tight ends coach Will Lawing is on track to follow O’Brien to Boston College, ESPN.com’s Pete Thamel tweets. This is not exactly surprising, as Lawing has worked with O’Brien for more than 10 years. Lawing followed O’Brien to Penn State, the Texans, Alabama and then the Patriots.
Seahawks To Hire Rams’ Jake Peetz
One of the candidates for the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator position, Jake Peetz will instead join another team that recently hired a new head coach. This will result in another Sean McVay assistant departing the Rams.
The Seahawks are adding Peetz to their staff as pass-game coordinator, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets. Peetz has not previously coached alongside Mike Macdonald or new Seattle OC Ryan Grubb. He will nevertheless become the latest Rams assistant to depart Los Angeles and join one of this year’s new HC hires.
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Peetz, 38, has been with the Rams for two seasons; he served as a pass-game specialist. He will follow Raheem Morris, Zac Robinson, Jimmy Lake and Eric Henderson off McVay’s staff. Previously the Panthers’ QBs coach under Matt Rhule in 2020, Peetz has spent time in the college game. But he did not coach on the same teams that employed Grubb and Macdonald previously. The Bucs interviewed Peetz late last month but hired another ex-McVay staffer, Liam Coen, to be their play-caller.
Peetz worked as LSU’s offensive coordinator in 2021 and was on Nick Saban‘s Alabama staff in 2013 and then again in 2018. Macdonald was at Georgia in 2013, prior to his long-term Ravens stint, and then resurfaced at Michigan in 2021. While Grubb has spent most of his career in the college ranks, he was in Division I-FCS or at the mid-major level prior to becoming Washington’s OC in 2022. But hiring McVay staffers represents a trend that has not cooled off within the NFL.
While this will keep a McVay tributary flowing to Seattle, Peetz did not work on the same staff as previous Seahawks OC Shane Waldron. The Rams ranked 10th in pass offense last season, and Matthew Stafford bounced back from an injury-filled 2022 to finish sixth in QBR. The 35-year-old passer led a team tied to a retooling year back to the playoffs, nearly toppling the No. 3-seeded Lions in the wild-card round. McVay now must replace his QBs coach and pass-game specialist. Peetz turned down a chance to work with Rhule at Nebraska late in 2022, opting to continue his career in the pros.
Additionally, the Seahawks are hiring Scott Huff as their offensive line coach, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Huff spent the past seven years as Washington’s offensive line coach. He was also set to follow Kalen DeBoer alongside Grubb to Alabama. But Grubb will instead bring him back to the Pacific Northwest. Huff previously served as Boise State’s co-OC, being on Chris Petersen’s staff for 11 seasons — several of them coaching the Broncos’ O-linemen or tight ends. Like Grubb, this will be Huff’s first NFL assignment.
Seattle is also adding Devin Fitzsimmons as its assistant special teams coach. Fitzsimmons will work under ST coordinator Jay Harbaugh. Fitzsimmons has nine seasons’ worth of NFL experience, most recently serving as the Panthers’ assistant ST coach.
Chiefs To Extend DC Steve Spagnuolo
Steve Spagnuolo has established himself as one of the best defensive coordinators in NFL history, picking up a fourth Super Bowl championship as an assistant Sunday night. Still off the HC radar, the Chiefs will take advantage.
The two-time reigning champions are giving Spagnuolo an extension, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. Spagnuolo’s defense played a bigger role in helping the Chiefs rally to another championship. With Kansas City’s offense experiencing several speedbumps this season, the team depended on its defense. Spagnuolo will continue to lead that unit for the foreseeable future.
Spagnuolo, 64, coached in Super Bowl LVIII on an expiring contract, according to Rapoport. The former Rams HC has been in place under Andy Reid since 2019. That tenure resulted in the Chiefs elevating their defensive profile. Kansas City giving Patrick Mahomes a sturdy defensive safety net has allowed for the game’s premier active player to lead the team to three titles and four Super Bowl appearances. After a woeful tenure as a head coach in St. Louis, Spags’ tenure in western Missouri has bolstered his reputation as well.
Reid brought in Spagnuolo following the Chiefs’ shootout loss in the 2018 AFC championship game. Mahomes’ best statistical season ended with the quarterback on the sideline as the Patriots marched down for a game-winning touchdown in overtime. The Chiefs then fired six-year DC Bob Sutton and brought in Spagnuolo, who has regularly had his defense in top form late in the season.
This year brought Spagnuolo’s best work with the Chiefs. Although this success did not result in Tony Romo learning the correct pronunciation of the veteran assistant’s name, Spagnuolo’s defense ranked second in scoring and total yardage this season. An inconsistent Chiefs offense benefited from the team’s best defensive effort since perhaps the Derrick Thomas era.
While Spagnuolo has said on a few occasions he would pursue another HC job, that has not been in the cards. No team has requested an interview during Spagnuolo’s Chiefs years. The Rams hired the Super Bowl-winning Giants DC in 2009, but their modern-era nadir occurred soon after. In place as Rams HC for three seasons, Spagnuolo submitted 1-15 and 2-14 seasons in that span. A 7-9 slate ensued in between, but the Rams had seen enough by the end of the 2011 slate. Spagnuolo, who won his first ring as part of the 2007 Giants, returned to the DC level soon after. Finishing the 2017 season as the Giants’ interim HC, Spags landed the Chiefs gig. But HC interest has eluded the accomplished defensive play-caller.
The Chiefs held the 49ers to three field goals in their latest Super Bowl win. While Kansas City’s offense was far from dominant, its defense had done enough to keep the deficit at one score late in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs have questions regarding top defensive pieces Chris Jones and L’Jarius Sneed. Although the team wants to retain both, each sits weeks away from free agency. The Chiefs having Spagnuolo locked in will stand to help if they lose top personnel soon.
Buccaneers Want To Re-Sign Baker Mayfield Before Free Agency
The Buccaneers have made a habit of letting their top free agents test the market in recent years. Jamel Dean, Carlton Davis and Shaquil Barrett each re-signed with the Bucs but did so after being unattached going into the legal tampering period.
It does not appear Tampa Bay wants to take that chance with Baker Mayfield. Mutual interest exists between the Bucs and their 2023 starting quarterback. While no known talks have transpired, the team wants to have Mayfield re-signed before free agency begins, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo.
Dean spent nearly five hours unattached to start the 2023 legal tampering period. The Bucs, who had made several maneuvers to create cap space following the Tom Brady retirement bill ($35.1MM), reached a four-year, $52MM deal to re-sign the cornerback that afternoon. Operating on a near-identical timetable, the Bucs reached an agreement to re-sign Davis (three years, $45MM) just more than five hours into the 2022 tampering period. Barrett did not make it through to the afternoon unattached, with a Bucs team determined to keep its Super Bowl LV-winning core together authorizing a four-year, $72MM deal. The veteran edge rusher committed to re-sign less than an hour into the 2021 legal tampering period.
The club’s ability to convince its top in-house free agents to stay even after speaking with other teams has made for an interesting trend. It might apply to the situation surrounding Mike Evans, who is weeks away from his first free agency bid. The Bucs have shown an interest in re-signing Evans, but after the sides could not reach an agreement before the start of last season, the accomplished wide receiver vowed to test the market. Antoine Winfield Jr. profiles as a more likely candidate for the franchise tag, though the Bucs’ past locking down Davis and Dean could pertain to the standout safety.
A Winfield tag would cost the Bucs approximately $17.22MM. That would be preferable to the team having a quarterback tag ($35.95MM) on its books going into free agency. It remains to be seen if the Bucs value Mayfield that highly, but just about everything to surface since December indicates the team wants to keep its quarterback. The Bucs giving Mayfield input into their OC search, which ended with ex-Rams OC Liam Coen replacing Dave Canales, furthers the notion the Bucs are operating as if Mayfield will be back in 2024. But it will cost far more than $4MM — eventually bumped to $7MM via incentives — for Tampa Bay to retain Mayfield this year.
Teams without a clear path to land one of this draft’s top QB prospects could loom as Mayfield suitors. The Falcons, Broncos and Raiders would make sense as potential buyers. The Bucs’ exclusive negotiating rights with Mayfield expire at 11am CT on March 11, when this year’s legal tampering period begins. If the team determines the franchise tag as necessary here, it has until 3pm CT on March 5.
Representing a major value spike from his low-key 2023 free agency foray, Mayfield joins Kirk Cousins as the top UFA options at quarterback this year. Teams without top-three draft choices will undoubtedly be monitoring these two options, and interest and price points often circulate at the Combine. It will be interesting to see if the Bucs can re-sign Mayfield before that point, but they certainly want to prevent their Brady successor from having the chance to shop around come March 11.
Broncos Hire Jim Leonhard
Viewed as the Packers’ preferred defensive coordinator candidate in 2021, Jim Leonhard instead stayed on as DC at Wisconsin. With the Badgers making changes following the 2022 season, Leonhard left his longtime post. He is now expected to try his hand in the NFL.
The former NFL safety is on track to return to Denver. A Broncos backup in 2012, Leonhard is expected to become part of Sean Payton‘s second Broncos staff, ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler indicate. While Leonhard played 10 NFL seasons, he has only coached in the college game. Leonhard, 41, is set to replace Christian Parker as the Broncos’ DBs coach, per the Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson. The team has since announced the hire with the additional title of pass game coordinator.
As the NIL ruling and transfer portal warp an unsteady college landscape, a few college staffers have made the jump to the pros. Leonhard becomes the latest. While he does not register on the level of Jim Harbaugh or former Boston College HC (and new Packers DC) Jeff Hafley, he was in place as Wisconsin’s DC for six seasons. The Badgers fared well defensively under Leonhard, ranking in the top 25 nationally in all but one of his seasons. Wisconsin deployed four top-10 scoring defenses in that span.
This garnered Leonhard interest from college programs, and ESPN.com indicates he spoke with multiple NFL teams this offseason. Leonhard spent the 2023 season as an analyst at Illinois. The Eagles interviewed Leonhard for their DC job last year.
Leonhard has a past with both the Broncos and Payton. While his career featured better moments, Leonhard signed with the Broncos in 2012 and was part of a 13-3 team. The Broncos used Leonhard as a part-time punt returner, protecting the fumble-prone Trindon Holliday in certain situations, but used the veteran on 260 defensive snaps that year. Also playing for the Bills, Ravens and Browns, Leonhard is best known for his Jets tenure. The 2005 UDFA started 40 games for the Jets during Rex Ryan‘s stay. Leonhard spent the 2013 offseason with Payton in New Orleans but did not make the Saints’ 53-man roster.
The Broncos held Parker in high regard, keeping the Vic Fangio-hired assistant in place on Nathaniel Hackett and Payton’s staffs. Parker interviewed for Denver’s DC job last year and met with the Packers and Patriots about their positions last month. Leonhard was not believed to be in the mix for the Green Bay job this time around, but Matt LaFleur placed him as the top choice in 2021. Parker committed to rejoin Fangio in Philadelphia recently; he will be the Eagles’ defensive pass-game coordinator.
Commanders Hire Lions’ Lance Newmark As Assistant GM; Martin Mayhew, Marty Hurney Reassigned
As the Commanders transition to the Adam Peters regime, this new era will involve a longtime Lions executive holding a key position. In place since the 1990s, Lance Newmark will leave the Lions for the Commanders.
The Commanders are hiring Newmark as their assistant GM, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. Newmark finished his Lions tenure as the team’s senior director of player personnel. Newmark’s Lions stay overlapped with Martin Mayhew‘s. With Mayhew sticking around in Washington despite Peters displacing him atop the front office, he will reunite with Newmark.
While Newmark showed a tremendous commitment to Detroit and was onboard for this Brad Holmes-overseen rebuild effort, he had been tied to some GM pursuits in the past. The Lions interviewed him for the job that went to Holmes, and the Jets considered him for their GM post — a race Joe Douglas won — back in 2019. Newmark served as the Lions’ senior player personnel director for two years, being part of the team’s ascent that nearly produced a Super Bowl berth.
It is interesting this will be Newmark’s move up the ladder, considering the time he put in with the Lions. Newmark has come up on the scouting side, working his way up from the area-scouting tier. Newmark held multiple scouting director positions during his run in Detroit, serving as the team’s assistant director of college scouting for seven years.
Arriving in Detroit in 1998, Newmark joined the team under Chuck Schmidt‘s GM tenure — one that covered Barry Sanders‘ career. While Sanders’ arrival predated Newmark’s, the latter was in place when the Lions chose Calvin Johnson. Detroit, of course, missed on other first-round receivers during Matt Millen‘s GM tenure. This helped lead to Mayhew’s turn in charge. The team crafted a turnaround with Johnson and Matthew Stafford leading the way, and the Lions keeping Newmark despite four GM hires (Millen, Mayhew, Bob Quinn, Holmes) illustrated the organization’s respect for the veteran exec.
Given his relationship with Peters, Mayhew sticking around was not too surprising. Though, teams obviously do not make a habit of retaining GMs after hiring a new FO boss. Washington’s GM from 2021-23, Mayhew will now work as an advisor to Peters. The Commanders’ new personnel chief had not worked with Newmark previously, though Mayhew has an extensive past alongside Newmark.
Although Mayhew spent time with Peters in San Francisco, he is mostly known for his Detroit and Washington GM stays. Mayhew did elevate the Lions following the Millen years, as the team booked playoff berths in 2011 and 2014 on his watch. But it is interesting Josh Harris will make two staffers from a Lions organization mostly known for modern-era futility as key lieutenants.
The Lions hired the former NFL cornerback in 2001, and he climbed to the assistant GM role in 2004. Mayhew and Newmark worked together for 15 years in Detroit, making the former’s presence a presumable draw for the entrenched Lions staffer. Peters will have final say on personnel matters, representing a pivot after Washington had Ron Rivera in that role. Newmark and Mayhew figure to be key parts of that process as the team attempts to craft its own rebuild operation.
The Commanders also announced Marty Hurney will remain with the team as an advisor. This certainly represents an interesting path for the team, which has fired Rivera but kept his top two personnel staffers in place.
A two-time Panthers GM, Hurney rejoined Rivera in Washington in 2021. He had served as the team’s executive VP of player personnel under Rivera. Following Rivera’s ouster, Hurney and Mayhew stood in limbo as the organization evaluated their statuses. An NFL staffer since beginning his career under Hall of Famer Bobby Beathard — an ex-Washington Super Bowl-winning GM — with the Chargers in 1990, Hurney served as Panthers GM from 2002-12 and again from 2017-20. Newmark also received his start as a Chargers staffer under Beathard in the ’90s, overlapping with Hurney during that period.
Dolphins Will Not Retain Renaldo Hill, Sam Madison; Team To Hire DeShawn Shead
Renaldo Hill left his post as Chargers DC to rejoin former boss Vic Fangio in Miami. With Fangio determining he was not a good fit in South Florida, leading to a quick return to Philadelphia, the Dolphins have since changed plans.
As Anthony Weaver transitions to his role as Dolphins DC, Hill will not be in the equation. Neither Hill nor Sam Madison will be part of Weaver’s defensive staff, per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson. Fangio kept Madison, a former Pro Bowl cornerback in Miami, in place as cornerbacks coach.
A Dolphins safety from 2006-08, Hill had coached under Fangio with the Broncos. The Chargers hired the two-year Denver assistant to be their defensive coordinator in 2021. Brandon Staley retained play-calling duties on that side of the ball during his Los Angeles tenure, and when Fangio accepted the Dolphins’ lucrative DC offer in 2023, Hill made the interesting move to leave a DC post for a position coaching role. The Dolphins employed Hill as their DBs coach. This marked the longtime assistant’s second tour of duty with the franchise; the Dolphins had Hill in place as assistant DBs coach in 2018 under Adam Gase.
The Chiefs had Madison in place as their corners coach from 2019-21; he returned to Miami to work under then-DC Josh Boyer in 2022. A 1997 Dolphins second-round pick, Madison spent nine seasons with the team. He collected All-Pro accolades in four of those years, signing a lucrative extension in in 2000. Madison, 49, will be in search of a new team moving forward.
Miami has since replaced Hill with Brian Duker, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. While the Dolphins are also making Duker their pass-game coordinator on defense, he will make a lateral move after serving as the Lions’ DBs coach under Aaron Glenn. Duker took over as Detroit’s DBs coach following the midseason firing of Aubrey Pleasant in 2022. The Lions gave Duker more help in 2023, via the additions of several free agents and second-round pick Brian Branch. But Duker’s unit lost C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Emmanuel Moseley early. The Lions also made tweaks to their secondary this season, accounting for Branch’s rise and the struggles of cornerback Jerry Jacobs.
Additionally, the Dolphins are hiring DeShawn Shead from the Seahawks, per Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz. Although Shead’s role is not yet confirmed, the Seahawks had the ex-Legion of Boom supporting-caster in place as their assistant DBs coach from from 2021-23. It is certainly reasonable to expect Shead, 34, to work in that capacity under Duker in Miami. After an ACL tear during a Seahawks 2016 divisional-round loss to the Falcons sidetracked Shead’s playing career, he eventually found his way to coaching for his former team. The Pete Carroll favorite will follow the longtime HC off Seattle’s staff.
Key Dates For 2024 NFL Offseason
With the NFL’s 104th season in the books, the calendar shifts to the offseason. As teams prepare for free agency and the draft, here are the important dates to file away:
- Window for teams to apply franchise or transition tags: February 20-March 5
- Legal tampering period, enabling contact with free agents tied to other teams: March 11
- Start of the 2024 league year and official free agency: March 13
- Offseason workouts begin: April 1 (teams with new head coaches); April 15 (teams with returning HCs)
- Final day for teams to conduct “30” visits with draft prospects: April 17
- Restricted free agent signing period ends: April 19
- 2024 NFL Draft: April 25-27
- Deadline for teams to exercise fifth-year options on 2021 first-round picks: May 2
- Deadline for teams to extend franchise-tagged players: July 15
The period for teams to use franchise tags on players expires at 3pm CT on March 5. More action tends to come near the end of this window, as last year’s Giants situation showed. Until an extension is reached or the tag is rescinded, teams must carry a tagged player’s tender number on their cap sheet. Teams have until July 15 to sign tagged players to extensions. Otherwise, these performers will be prevented from engaging in extension talks until January 2025. Tag-and-trade transactions can still occur following that July 15 date.
The legal tampering period begins at 11am CT on March 11. Although clubs have exclusive negotiating rights with their own free agents, that ends when the tampering period opens. Unsigned players can speak with any team beginning March 11. Since the NFL introduced the tampering period, it has become the window in which most of the top free agents reach contract agreements. No deals can be official until the start of the 2024 league year (3pm CT on March 13), but most of the top UFAs have selected a destination by that point in recent years.
Fifth-year option tender prices for 2021 first-round picks are not yet available, but these decisions have warranted longer examinations from teams due to the 2020 CBA shifting them from guaranteed for injury to fully guaranteed. The 2020 first-round class featured a record-low (12) number of options exercised last year. Teams have until shortly after the draft to make decisions on 2021 first-round picks’ free agency timelines.
Commanders To Hire Anthony Lynn, Sharrif Floyd; Team To Retain Bobby Engram
Dan Quinn continues to add high-profile names to his Commanders staff. The latest comes after a background with new football ops president Adam Peters.
Anthony Lynn will join Peters in making a San Francisco-to-Washington trek. The 49ers assistant head coach will join the Commanders as the team’s run-game coordinator, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The Commanders pursued the former Chargers HC last year, interviewing him for their OC job, but went with Eric Bieniemy. Despite an ownership change and staff overhaul, Schefter notes Lynn is close with Peters and Quinn. This certainly makes sense as the veteran coach’s next landing spot.
In addition to Lynn, Washington will bring ex-Quinn assistant Sharrif Floyd over from Dallas. Floyd will join the Commanders as their assistant defensive line coach, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. The former Vikings first-round pick was in place as a Cowboys assistant under Quinn last season. Despite new Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer having coached Floyd in Minnesota, the latter is following Quinn to Washington.
The Commanders, however, will not let their wide receivers coach go. Bobby Engram will stay in that role, per the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala. The former NFL wideout joined Washington’s coaching staff last year. Although Engram was a Ron Rivera addition, he will stay on under Quinn. Outside interest in the veteran assistant emerged, Jhabvala adds.
Lynn, 55, made the most to San Francisco after washing out as Lions OC. Dan Campbell booted Lynn after one season, having taken play-calling duties away. The longtime running backs coach has since played a role in boosting the 49ers’ ground attack. The 49ers hired Lynn to aid their run game, and he received an unexpected personnel boost midway through the 2022 season (via the Christian McCaffrey trade). As a result, San Francisco’s ground attack has enjoyed dominant stretches.
This will be Lynn and Quinn’s first time on the same staff; Peters was with the 49ers for both of Lynn’s seasons in the Bay Area. Lynn, who has been an NFL coach since 2000, went 33-31 as Chargers HC from 2017-20. Lynn joins Kliff Kingsbury as former head coaches on Quinn’s Commanders staff.
Engram, 51, broke into coaching just after his lengthy playing career wrapped. He joins Lynn in having never coached with Quinn. Prior to coming to Washington in 2023, Engram served as Wisconsin’s OC. He was on John Harbaugh‘s Ravens staff from 2014-21, however. Floyd served as the Cowboys’ assistant D-line coach last season. He will follow DC Joe Whitt to Washington.
The Commanders are also hiring Tom Donatell as their defensive backs coach, The Athletic’s Ben Standig tweets. The son of veteran DC Ed Donatell, Tom spent the past three seasons with the Chargers. The Bolts promoted Tom Donatell to defensive pass-game coordinator last year. Quinn and Ed Donatell worked together with the Jets back in the 2000s. The team is also hiring David Raih as its tight ends coach, Schefter adds. Raih worked as the Cardinals’ wide receivers coach under Kingsbury from 2019-20, becoming Vanderbilt’s OC in 2021. He spent last season on the Buccaneers’ staff.