February 24th, 2025 at 10:00am CST by Adam La Rose
Much of the Cowboys’ offseason will center on the Micah Parsonsextension situation. The team has other priorities as the new league year approaches, though, and that includes talks with a number of pending free agents.
One of those is Osa Odighizuwa. The former third-rounder is currently set to be one of the top defensive tackles in free agency, but there is still time for the Cowboys to work out a deal preventing him from reaching the market. COO Stephen Jones recently made it clear talks have begun on a second contract for Odighizuwa.
The 26-year-old has started all but four of his 67 career games, collecting 13.5 sacks to date. Improving against the run is a key need for the Cowboys this offseason, and multiple changes in the front seven could be in store as a result. With the chance of a departure to Washington (and thus a reunion with Dan Quinn) looming, it will be interesting to see if an agreement can be reached before the start of the new league year in March.
As for other roster priorities, Jones noted the Cowboys also hope to retain slot corner Jourdan Lewisand lead running back Rico Dowdle. Lewis has spent his entire eight-year career in Dallas, playing out his rookie contract, a three-year deal worth an average of $4.5MM per year and the less lucrative one-year accord signed last March to keep him in place. Approaching his age-30 season, Dallas could make another short-term commitment while DaRon Blandand Trevon Diggsremain perimeter starters.
The Cowboys opted for a committee approach early in the 2024 season in particular, and it did not go according to plan. The shift in approach later in the year allowed Dowdle to surpass 1,000 rushing yards while handling by far the heaviest workload of his career, though, something which could help his market value. Dallas ranked 27th on the ground last year, and improving in that department could involve selecting a running back in April’s draft, one which is viewed as being deep at the position. Re-signing Dowdle would nevertheless allow for backfield continuity and at least provide the team with an experienced backup.
Jones added the Cowboys are awaiting a decision from defensive end DeMarcus Lawrenceon his future. The 33-year-old was limited to just four games last year and is a pending free agent. Lawrence received the franchise tag twice, and his career earnings also include the five- and three-year Cowboys pacts he has played on. After seeing that fellow 2014 draftee Zack Martinintends to retire, Lawrence could do the same; taking that path would leave Dallas in need of at least a depth addition along the edge.
As for Parsons, Jones declined to give a firm timeline on when negotiations for his pending mega-extension will begin. He did say, though, that talks will pick up over the coming weeks as the team navigates the lead-in to free agency while preparing for the draft. Parsons has a case to become the league’s highest-paid defensive player, but before a deal reaching (or approaching) that mark is worked out the Cowboys will look to attain clarity on how their 2025 roster shapes up at several positions.
“20 years ago, I started this journey,” Neal’s announcement reads in part. “Today, I am retiring from the NFL… I am incredibly grateful for the coaches and teammates I had the privilege of working with along the way… All the lessons learned through the game has helped mold me into who I am today.”
A first-round pick of the Falcons in 2016, Neal entered the league with high expectations. He had a strong start to his Atlanta tenure, recording 100-plus tackles in each of his first two seasons and earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2017. Neal’s first playoff run saw him make 30 tackles en route to a Super Bowl appearance.
Across the 2018 and ’19 campaigns, however, the Florida product played a combined total of only four games. Neal returned to full health during his final Falcons campaign, but he was unable to land a notable commitment from any suitor during his free agent spells. A one-year Cowboys contract (which saw him spend time at middle linebacker) was followed by a return to the NFC South in 2022 with Tampa Bay.
After serving as a part-time Buccaneers starter, Neal inked a two-year free agent pact with the Steelers. Early in his Pittsburgh tenure, he served as a key member of the secondary with eight starts, 50 tackles and an interception. A ribs injury ended Neal’s campaign, though, and he was released last March. After failing to land a deal on the open market in 2024, he will turn his attention to his post-playing days.
In all, the 29-year-old made 94 combined regular and postseason appearances during his time in the NFL, starting 74 of them. Thanks in large part to the size of his rookie pact, Neal amassed roughly $25.5MM in career earnings.
To be clear, this seems to directly conflict with a report from just over a week ago from the team’s website, following a meeting between Parsons and team owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones. After the meeting, Parsons stated that the talks went well and that “there’s definitely a plan in place.” The more recent report from Watkins seems to indicate that Jones and company didn’t take Parsons’ plan as seriously as Parsons did.
Typically, as Watkins points out, team officials will wait for the NFL Scouting Combine to start contract talks with players’ agents. While Parsons and Jones met in the building where Parsons laid out his expectations for what the team’s website called “an exceptionally complex and lucrative contract,” it appears the source with knowledge of the situation communicating with Watkins is indicating that those preliminary talks were just window dressing until the real talks with Parsons’ agents can begin.
This continues a worrying trend wherein Jones and the Cowboys seem to be operating with no sense of urgency. Waiting to secure extensions for quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb last year cost the Cowboys millions as other players around the league set new markets at the same positions with their own extensions. Jones’ baffling decision to let former head coach Mike McCarthy‘s contract expire instead of firing him earlier not only gave every other team with an opening a head start on interviewing and hiring replacement head coaches, but he also allowed the assistant coaches’ contracts to expire. When he eventually promoted offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to the top position, the new head coach was unable to retain many of his assistants from 2024 as they had already started to explore other opportunities following the expiration of their deals.
In addition, not only have the Cowboys seemingly not been working night and day to retain their best defensive player (perhaps their best player overall) on a long-term deal, but there have also been internal discussions about trading the star pass rusher. With how unabashed Parsons has been about wanting to stay in Dallas, it’s truly stunning to see the Cowboys continue to slow play the situation and explore other options.
February 20th, 2025 at 10:05pm CST by Sam Robinson
One of the greatest interior offensive line careers is set to end. Zack Martin will follow through on retirement, informing the Cowboys he plans to walk away after 11 seasons, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports.
The decorated blocker played out a six-year extension, one adjusted after a 2023 holdout, and was set to hit free agency for the first time. Barring a course change, Martin will pass on testing the market ahead of an age-35 season. This will both strip another O-line constant from Dallas’ roster and tag the team with significant dead money.
Tabbing Martin as a key piece on an offensive line featuring fellow first-rounders Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick, the Cowboys saw him become one of the greatest players in franchise history. He earned seven first-team All-Pro honors and received nine Pro Bowl invites, placing the Notre Dame alum among the very best in NFL history for any O-line position. He was a vital piece for the Cowboys during their Tony Romo– and Dak Prescott-centered periods.
Martin signed a six-year, $84MM contract in 2018, giving the Cowboys seven years of control. As that contract term waned, Martin successfully secured the final two years guaranteed. The Cowboys caved during their top lineman’s 2023 holdout, giving him $36.85MM guaranteed. That covered the 2023 and ’24 seasons. As a result of Martin’s retirement, the Cowboys will be hit with $26.46MM in dead money.
The Cowboys were able to avoid a void years-driven cap crunch with Prescott, giving him a record-smashing extension hours before their Week 1 game. Martin’s money was set to void had he not re-signed with the team before the start of the 2025 league year. This retirement will not help, as it still represents a departure. Although the many restructures the Cowboys performed with Martin’s contract will put them in a bit of a bind thanks to this exit, he rewarded the team for over a decade. Few clubs had comparable options during Martin’s tenure.
Martin’s seven first-team All-Pro nods match Hall of Famers John Hannah and Randall McDaniel for most in NFL history among guards. Among guards to begin their careers in the 21st century, the former Fighting Irish tackle is two above anyone else in this area. Only four offensive linemen (Jim Otto, Ron Mix, Anthony Munoz, Jim Parker) are ahead of Martin in terms of first-team All-Pro placements. Of that quartet, only Munoz began his career after the 1970 merger. One of the most distinguished players on the 2010s’ All-Decade team, Martin will be a safe bet to book a Canton invite in 2030.
Last season, Martin landed on IR due to an ankle injury. The seven missed games matched the most of his career. The only seasons that did not end with a first- or second-team Martin All-Pro distinction involved season-ending injuries (2020, ’24). Beyond that, the Cowboys could bank on him elevating their offense. One of the Jerry Jones–Will McClay era’s top finds, the former No. 16 overall pick helped the Cowboys to six playoff berths. Dallas also accomplished a historically rare feat by seeing DeMarco Murray and Ezekiel Elliott win rushing titles three years apart, with Elliott adding a second crown in 2018 as well. Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle also produced 1,000-yard rushing seasons during Martin’s career, though the latter effort came partially while he was down with injury.
Last summer, Martin floated the possibility 2024 would be his last season. Although a rumor circulated earlier this month Martin was waiting for his injured ankle to heal before making a final decision, he will pass on testing the market. While Martin did quite well for himself ($111.6MM in career earnings), he joins Smith in seeing a lengthy contract prevent him from maximizing his value. Excepting Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys had done well to tie their standout performers to five- and six-year deals; Smith’s lasted eight years. But Martin is the last of the Cowboys’ Romo- and Prescott-era core blockers to depart. Frederick retired after the 2019 season, while Smith joined the Jets in free agency last year.
Dallas has identified another guard standout, installing Tyler Smith there after initially having planned for him to succeed Tyron Smith at LT. The team, which struggled to replace the elder Smith and center Tyler Biadasz last year, now must replace the most decorated O-lineman in its history.
Speculation about how Micah Parsons‘ contract situation will play out will no doubt continue until a deal is officially in place. The Cowboys’ All-Pro edge rusher recently provided an update on that front indicating traction could soon be gained.
Parsons and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recently met to discuss an extension which will tie him to the franchise for the foreseeable future. A deal moving the 25-year-old near the top of the edge rush market (if not to the top of the pecking order) can be expected, although he has publicly noted becoming the NFL’s highest-paid pass rusher may not be necessary to get a deal done. Parsons spoke positively about the nature of his latest conversations with Jones.
“It was good,” the four-time Pro Bowler said (via the team’s website). “I really have a lot of respect for Jerry. We have great conversations all the time. There’s definitely a plan in place, but we’ll just see how everything plays out. There’s been no progress yet, but I’m pretty confident that something will happen, so we’ll see.”
A lack of inroads being made with respect to term and finances on a long-term pact is certainly a noteworthy remark on Parsons’ part. The Penn State product made it clear in December his preference would be to have a deal in place before the start of free agency, although more recently he moved that timeline to the onset of training camp. In any case, a lengthy wait would come as little surprise given how the Cowboys have operated in recent years.
Dallas’ 2024 offseason was defined in large part by the extensions worked out with Dak Prescottand CeeDee Lamb. The latter engaged in a training camp holdout until his pact was in place, while the news of the former’s record-breaking accord broke hours before the start of the regular season. If Jones and the Cowboys opt for a similar approach with Parsons, it may very well take until the summer for an agreement to be reached.
Set to play on the fifth-year option in 2025, Parsons is due just over $24MM this season. A multi-year pact will check in at a much high price, though, and fitting in a massive raise while balancing the Prescott and Lamb accords will be difficult from a cap perspective. The Cowboys have attempted to shoot down trade speculation, but a report from Super Bowl Sunday indicated Parsons was not pleased with the decision to move on from former head coach Mike McCarthy and added the team has held discussions about the possibility of a trade.
In the absence of anything on that front materializing, attention will continue to be focused on extension talks. Parsons’ latest comments prove no firm timeline exists, but if the plan the parties understand to be in place is followed, he will have a new pact in hand sometime this offseason.
The Cowboys replaced former head coachMike McCarthywith in-house candidateBrian Schottenheimer. Despite the consistency of Schottenheimer remaining from last year, the handling of the coaching contracts by owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones caused many staffers to explore opportunities elsewhere in the NFL, forcing Schottenheimer to build a mostly new coaching staff. The Cowboys announced their finalized staff on Friday, and though many of the hires Schottenheimer has made we’ve already reported on, we’ll list every hire in this post.
We had heard rumors that the team had been working to retain assistant quarterbacks/game management coach Ryan Feder and assistant offensive line/quality control coach Ramon Chinyoung, but Friday’s announcement confirmed that both will remain in slightly different roles. Feder will serve in 2025 as solely game management coordinator and Chingyoung as solely assistant offensive line coach.
The new offensive hire news from the announcement is the additions of Junior Adams as wide receivers coach and Dele Harding in a quarterbacks fellowship. Adams is making his NFL coaching debut after spending the last 17 years coaching at the collegiate level, most recently as (co-)offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Western Kentucky, Washington, and Oregon. Harding, a former linebacker at Illinois, began his coaching career after he finished playing at his alma mater. He spent a year as a defensive assistant for the Texans in 2022. He’s also been a fellow in the past for the Colts and Browns.
On defense, we were already made aware of the hirings of defensive coordinatorMatt Eberflus, linebackers coachDave Borgonzi, defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton, and assistant defensive line coach Bryan Bing. We’ve also posted on the hirings of Andre Curtis, David Overstreet, and JJ Clark, but clarifications have been made about their roles. We initially reported that Curtis would serve as defensive pass game coordinator, which is true, but he will add safeties coach to his title, as well. Similarly, we reported Clark in a quality control role, but he will also have the title of defensive assistant. Overstreet was initially reported as assistant defensive backs coach, while the Cowboys’ announcement lists him as secondary/cornerbacks coach.
Overstreet will work alongside Darian Thompson, a quality control/assistant linebackers coach for the team last year who was retained as the new secondary/nickels coach. Lastly, former Rams and Jets defensive tackle Tanzel Smart has been hired as a defensive assistant/quality control coach, like Clark. Smart last appeared in a game in 2023 and was cut from the Jets at the roster cut deadline in August.
Both special teams roles, coordinatorNick Sorensen and assistant coach Carlos Polk were already reported.
There we have it: the Cowboys 2025 coaching staff. Schottenheimer doesn’t get the benefit of familiar faces on staff after Jones’ handling of the contracts, so a mostly new staff has been built. We’ll see what the new staff can do in 2025 after a down, injured year last season.
Free agency is roughly one month away, and teams are preparing for the first major roster-building checkpoint on the offseason calendar. In several cases, of course, the lead-in to the start of the new league year will require cost-cutting measures.
Teams expect the 2025 cap ceiling to check in somewhere between $265MM and $275MM, providing a general target to aim for before the final figure is unveiled by the NFL. Using a projected cap of $272.5MM, here is a look at where all 32 teams currently stand (courtesy of Over the Cap):
New England Patriots: $119.8MM
Las Vegas Raiders: $92.53MM
Washington Commanders: $75.21MM
Arizona Cardinals: $71.33MM
Los Angeles Chargers: $63.41MM
Chicago Bears: $62.97MM
Minnesota Vikings: $58.01MM
Pittsburgh Steelers: $53.26MM
Cincinnati Bengals: $46.26MM
Detroit Lions: $45.69MM
San Francisco 49ers: $44.26MM
Tennessee Titans: $44.08MM
New York Giants: $43.38MM
Green Bay Packers: $42.14MM
Los Angeles Rams: $38.33MM
Denver Broncos: $34.78MM
Jacksonville Jaguars: $32.27MM
Indianapolis Colts: $28.25MM
Carolina Panthers: $20.33MM
Philadelphia Eagles: $18.08MM
New York Jets: $16.86MM
Baltimore Ravens: $5.96MM
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $2.24MM
Houston Texans: $99K over the cap
Kansas City Chiefs: $916K over
Dallas Cowboys: $2.85MM over
Miami Dolphins: $5.44MM over
Atlanta Falcons: $11.15MM over
Seattle Seahawks: $13.46MM over
Buffalo Bills: $14.18MM over
Cleveland Browns: $30.17MM over
New Orleans Saints: $54.11MM over
These figures will of course change based on where the final cap ceiling winds up for the year, but they take into account each team’s carryover amount for 2025. Even with those savings in play, more than one quarter of the league finds itself in need of cost-shedding moves to simply achieve cap compliance by mid-March.
With the Patriots leading the way in terms of spending power, they will be a team to watch closely once free agency begins. The team’s willingness (or lack thereof) to make major free agent additions last year was a talking point, and it will be interesting to see if the regime featuring de facto general manager Eliot Wolf and new head coach Mike Vrabel takes a different approach in 2025. A serious push for Tee Higgins– by far the most sought-after wideout set to hit the market – can be expected.
Aside from Higgins, the Bengals have a number of financial priorities. Working out a monster extension for fellow receiver Ja’Marr Chase and a new deal (and accompanying raise) for edge rusher Trey Hendrickson are key goals for the franchise. Quarterback Joe Burrowis prepared to restructure his own pact to create cap space for this offseason, but the team will no doubt need to break with tradition in terms of contract structure and guarantees to keep its core intact.
The Colts’ offseason has been defined in large part by a focus on retaining in-house players during recent years. That approach has not paid off as hoped, and general manager Chris Ballard said last month he plans to oversee a shift in roster-building philosophy this year. With the finances to make at least a modest addition or two on the open market, Indianapolis could be a suitor for some of the middle-class free agent options.
No Saints–Mike McCarthy reunion is on tap, but the team will go forward with an interesting hire that will bring about a reunion of sorts from that era. The team is hiring Chase Haslett as tight ends coach, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets. Chase Haslett is the son of ex-Saints HC Jim Haslett, who coached the team from 2000-05. Jim Haslett was steering the ship when the Saints won their first playoff game, a wild-card thriller over the Rams in 2000. The Saints gave Jim Haslett his only NFL HC job; they will give his son his first position-coaching role. Mickey Loomis became Saints GM during Jim’s HC tenure and led the search to name Moore as HC this year.
Chase will come over after three Cowboys seasons, the last of which overlapping with new Saints HC Kellen Moore. Chase assisted with Cowboys TEs, helping Dalton Schultz to a productive 2022 before aiding in Jake Ferguson‘s development.
Here is the latest from the NFC coaching ranks:
Elsewhere on the Saints’ staff, they are also bringing back a familiar face to oversee the offensive line. Brendan Nugent is coming back to head up this group, per NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill and Mike Triplett. Nugent coached the Saints’ O-line from 2015-21; he will replace John Benton, who is following Klint Kubiak to Seattle. Nugent comes over from Seattle, having been the Seahawks’ assistant OL coach last season. He was the Saints’ assistant OL coach from 2015-20 and their O-line boss in 2021. This hire will bring about familiarity for Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz, who were in place when Nugent was last with New Orleans. More familiarity will be in place at wide receiver, with Underhill addingKeith Williams is staying on as WRs coach. The Saints had hired Williams in 2024.
The Lions are also hiring Tyler Roehl to coach tight ends, Rogers adds. Previously reported (via Zenitz) to be coming to Detroit as an offensive assistant, Roehl is making the jump after one season as Iowa State’s RBs coach. He is better known for work at Division I-FCS power North Dakota State. Roehl was with the Bison from 2014-23, finishing his tenure with five seasons as OC. This included mentorship during Trey Lance‘s 28-TD, zero-INT 2019 season, one of the program’s many national titles.
T.J. Yates is heading into his second season as Falcons QBs coach; the former NFL signal-caller will also serve as Atlanta’s pass-game coordinator in 2025, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones notes. After the Falcons attempted to make the Kirk Cousins–Michael Penix Jr. setup work, Yates will be tasked with developing Penix (after a Cousins release) in 2025.
Brian Daboll‘s son will not be part of his father’s 2025 Giants staff. Christian Daboll is leaving to pursue another career path, the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard tweets. Brian hired his son out of college; Christian was part of the past two New York staffs, working as an offensive assistant.
UTEP defensive coordinator JJ Clark is joining the Cowboys in a quality control role, Zenitz tweets. Clark coached the Miners’ defense for one season, coming over from Austin Peay in 2024. UTEP ranked 113th in Division I-FBS defensively last season.
February 13th, 2025 at 11:51am CST by Adam La Rose
As the Cowboys searched for Mike McCarthy‘s replacement, Jason Witten emerged as a potential candidate. The All-Pro tight end will not be with the team in 2025, though, and he recently confirmed a position on Dallas’ staff was never discussed.
“I did not talk to [owner] Jerry [Jones] about it,” Witten confirmed (video link via All DLLS). “I think they went through a thorough process for them and got to a place where they felt like Brian [Schottenheimer] was the guy. I never worked with Brian or any of that, but I’ll always pull for the Cowboys,”
Witten spent the first 16 years of his decorated career with the Cowboys, and he has been mentioned as a candidate to return to the organization at some point on the sidelines. The 42-year-old was reported to be a head coaching contender last month, something which raised eyebrows given his complete lack of experience at the NFL and college levels. Witten has worked as head coach for Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas for the past four years; that span has included two straight state championships.
A move to other coaching opportunities in the future will be possible whenever Witten chooses to take a new challenge. That could eventually take the form of a role with the Cowboys; the possibility of a non-head coach title for 2025 was floated before the Schottenheimer hire which would have paved the way for Witten to become an heir apparent. Such a scenario is something Witten would entertain down the road.
“Of course that’s a long-term goal of mine to one day get back there, when the right opportunity comes,” he added. “I think for me to be able to coach my son and take over a program and win back-to-back state championships at that level, it’s been really, really special and memories that I’ll keep with me for the rest of my life. When that right time and the right opportunity comes, I’m excited to embark on that next chapter.”
Schottenheimer will call plays on offense for Dallas this season, one in which Klayton Adams will be in place for his first career OC gig. An agreement sending Witten back to the Cowboys (presumably working on the offensive side of the ball to start) could be in play at some point in the future, but for now nothing on that front is in the works.
February 12th, 2025 at 10:06pm CST by Sam Robinson
With the Saints making their post-Super Bowl Kellen Moorehire official, the NFL’s 2025 HC carousel has stopped. Nearly a fourth of the league has now changed coaches. Who fared the best with their hire?
Starting in Chicago makes sense, as the Bears convinced picky candidate Ben Johnson to sign on. Johnson was squarely on the Jaguars and Raiders’ radars, to the point it is safe to assume the three-year Lions OC was the favorite for both AFC teams. Johnson expressed concern about the Jaguars’ then-Trent Baalke-centered front office setup, and the Raiders could not entice the highly valued play-caller with a rumored big offer.
The Bears are believed to be giving Johnson a $13MM-per-year deal — more than twice Matt Eberflus‘ salary — to develop Caleb Williams after an uneven rookie season. After Johnson played the lead role in reviving Jared Goff‘s career and turning the Lions’ offense into a dominant attack, this is the most anticipated Bears hire in decades. Johnson will work with holdover GM Ryan Poles, who is expected to receive an extension, and team president Kevin Warren.
As this marks a third straight instance of the Bears drafting a first-round quarterback then firing their HC one season into that player’s career, the Patriots are in the same boat. They jettisoned Jerod Mayo one year into Drake Maye‘s career, capping a tough year for Robert Kraft, who passed on a head coaching search in 2024 due to having identified Mayo as Bill Belichick‘s long-term successor years ago. Kraft’s initial plan was for Belichick to coach through the 2024 season, giving Mayo more on-the-job training. But the Pats’ 4-13 2023 record scuttled that aim. After Belichick’s firing, Mayo did not prove ready — in the eyes of Kraft and most other observers.
Enter Mike Vrabel, who will make his return to Foxborough 16 years after being included in the Matt Cassel tag-and-trade transaction. The 2021 NFL Coach of the Year made sense as an option in 2024, when the Pats had a vacancy, but the team had inserted language in Mayo’s contract naming him the HC-in-waiting. New England has Vrabel set up to have the final say moving forward, though both he and de facto GM Eliot Wolfwill report to Kraft. Vrabel was viewed as having overachieved in Tennessee, leading the Titans to their first AFC championship game since 2002 and following that up with two more playoff berths — including a No. 1 seed in 2021.
The Jaguars enjoyed a much more complicated route to complete its HC hire. After favorite Liam Coeninitially rejected a second interview, Shad Khan fired Baalke — who was again viewed as a hindrance in a coaching search — and conducted stealth negotiations with Coen to reconsider. He ultimately did, and despite the one-and-done Buccaneers OC not having worked for the same team in back-to-back years since a three-season Rams tenure that ended in 2020, he is believed to be tied to a Johnson-level contract and will effectively pick the next Jaguars GM.
This is quite the coup for Coen, after he helped Baker Mayfield to a 41-touchdown pass season, and the exit — after Coen had agreed on a Bucs extension — certainly ruffled feathers in Tampa. But the Jags were desperate for an offense-minded coach to boost Trevor Lawrence, whom the team gave a $55MM-per-year extension ahead of a 4-13 season.
The Raiders pivoted to Pete Carroll, who is set to become the oldest HC in NFL history. Carroll, who will turn 74 in September, profiles as a short-term option. The Raiders gave the former Seahawks Super Bowl-winning leader a three-year deal, which is shorter than the typical HC contract. Carroll will work with powerful minority owner Tom Brady in aiming to turn the Raiders around. The Raiders have gone through four HCs and four GMs (John Spytek the latest) this decade, and they will hope Carroll can calm things down. Carroll was linked to conducting his interviews with a potential successor in mind. The team, however, hired 61-year-old OC Chip Kelly and kept Josh McDaniels‘ DC choice (Patrick Graham); this points to Carroll’s successor not yet being with the team.
Like Vrabel, Aaron Glenn is returning to the team with which his playing career is best identified. The former Jets first-round CB is being given more power than Robert Saleh held, being set to report to ownership. Woody Johnson went so far as to label GM Darren Mougey as Glenn’s sidekick, illustrating both a tremendous opportunity for Glenn and the state of a Jets organization that had trouble attracting candidates (Vrabel and Johnson among them) after a turbulent year.
Glenn, who comes over after elevating the Lions into a top-10 defense despite Aidan Hutchinson‘s injury, is already making his voice heard. Aaron Rodgers is not expected back, with Glenn and Mougey believed to have pressed the QB on ditching his Pat McAfee Showsegments in an effort to focus on football. After two years of the Jets catering to Rodgers, they are in the hunt for a new passer — one Glenn will have a significant say in identifying.
Prior to his Cowboys meetings, Brian Schottenheimer had not conducted a head coaching interview since PFR launched in 2014. The second-generation NFL coach has made the stunning leap from off-radar candidate, who had been Mike McCarthy‘s non-play-calling OC, to Jerry Jones‘ next sideline leader. The Cowboys again conducted a strange HC change, waiting a week to ditch McCarthy — after term length proved a negotiating sticking point — before being tied to Deion Sanders, who never officially interviewed.
Schottenheimer beat out three candidates, as Dallas’ past three HC changes have now featured an interim promotion (Jason Garrett), a two-candidate pool (McCarthy) and now an off-grid option. Schottenheimer has, however, been a four-time NFL OC, dating back to 2006. He was in place for some strong Russell Wilson Seahawks showings, albeit having been fired from that post after three seasons.
The Saints saw McCarthy, Joe Brady and Kliff Kingsbury bow out, as their perennially bad cap situation — one featuring an onerousDerek Carr contract — certainly may have deterred some candidates. But Moore stuck with the team, agreeing to terms despite Super Bowl LIX having raised his stock considerably. The three-time OC will call plays in New Orleans, which will aim to find a post-Carr answer during Moore’s tenure.
Although the new Saints HC’s staff has yet to take shape, Moore will aim to elevate New Orleans after four straight non-playoff seasons. He comes to Louisiana after helming an Eagles offense that peaked at the right time, as the team overpowered the Commanders and Chiefs to claim the championship.
Which teams did the best (and worst) this year? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts on the 2025 HC carousel in the comments section.
The Cowboys opted for a committee approach early in the 2024 season in particular, and it did not go according to plan. The shift in approach later in the year allowed Dowdle to surpass 1,000 rushing yards while handling by far the heaviest workload of his career, though, something which could help his market value. Dallas ranked 27th on the ground last year, and improving in that department could involve selecting a running back in April’s draft, one which is viewed as being deep at the position. Re-signing Dowdle would nevertheless allow for backfield continuity and at least provide the team with an experienced backup.
