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Dallas Cowboys News & Rumors

Cowboys Have ‘Mutual Interest’ With Anthony Lynn For HC Job

January 20th, 2025 at 8:25pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has been mentioned as an early contender for the Cowboys’ head coaching vacancy, but he may not want to leave Washington after his success with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Dallas may then pivot to Kingsbury’s run game coordinator and running backs coach, Anthony Lynn. He coached the same position for the Cowboys in 2005 and 2006 and later went 33-31 in four seasons as the Chargers’ head coach.

There is “mutual interest” between Lynn and the Cowboys, according to WFAA’s Ed Werner, putting another reunion on the table in Dallas. Former Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has already interviewed for the head coaching job, and ex-players Deion Sanders and Jason Witten have also been mentioned as possibilities.

Lynn has not received serious head coaching consideration since he was fired by the Chargers after the 2020 season. He spent 2021 and 2022 as the Lions’ offensive coordinator, then moved onto San Francisco were he served as assistant head coach while also overseeing their running backs. He was in contention for the Commanders’ offensive coordinator gig in 2023, but lost out to Eric Bieniemy, who held the job for just one season.

A year later, Lynn was hired onto Kingsbury’s staff where the two put together one of the league’s top rushing attacks in 2024. The Commanders finished third in rushing yards, fourth in yards per carry, and fifth in rushing touchdowns during the regular season despite injuries to both Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler. Lynn helped get the most out of Daniels, whose 891 rushing yards led the team and ranked second among all QBs this year.

Lynn won’t be available to interview with the Cowboys until at least next week. Neither will Kingsbury, as both coaches will be fully focused on extending the Commanders’ surprising playoff run.

Saints To Meet With Mike McCarthy

January 20th, 2025 at 1:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

JANUARY 20: The Saints plan to interview McCarthy in person this week, per Terrell and colleagues Courtney Cronin and Kalyn Kahler. New Orleans has moved quickly in arranging second interviews with other candidates; in-person meetings are on the books for Mike Kafka and Anthony Weaver, as well as Aaron Glenn. McCarthy’s Saints summit will be his first interview of course, but once it takes place it will be interesting to see if New Orleans (or Chicago, for that matter) pursues a hire in his case.

JANUARY 14: Not conducting the kind of wide-ranging search the Bears and Jets are, the Saints are still expected to expand their candidate pool. The Cowboys’ decision not to renew Mike McCarthy‘s contract will end up affecting multiple HC-needy teams during this cycle.

McCarthy is expected to meet with the Saints next week about their HC vacancy, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. This interview will take place several days after McCarthy’s Bears summit, which is scheduled for Wednesday. McCarthy and the Saints have not yet settled on an interview date, but a meeting is on tap nonetheless.

This meeting comes after a report had the Saints monitoring McCarthy’s Cowboys situation. While Aaron Glenn is viewed as a strong candidate to return to Louisiana, McCarthy is now officially in that mix. The 61-year-old coach also has ties to the Saints, having been their OC from 2000-04. GM Mickey Loomis, the second-longest-tenured pure GM in NFL history, began his Saints run during McCarthy’s time in New Orleans.

It says a lot about McCarthy’s credentials (and perhaps this year’s tepid HC market) that he has remained on the HC radar for this long. The Packers first hired him in 2006, and he lasted 13 seasons in the role. Winning Super Bowl XLV with Green Bay, McCarthy became known for postseason letdowns henceforth. His five-year Cowboys HC stay extended that franchise’s NFC championship game drought, with Jerry Jones citing a 2023 wild-card upset against the Packers as a central reason why his contract was never extended. That said, McCarthy led the Cowboys to three straight 12-win seasons. While the NFL’s expansion to 17 games helped here, the Cowboys had not won 12 games in three consecutive years since the mid-1990s.

Contract length became the main sticking point for the Cowboys and McCarthy. Considering Jones’ reluctance to authorize a new deal for McCarthy in 2024, thus making him the rare (for non-Cowboys teams, that is) lame-duck HC, it would have been surprising if Dallas was willing to offer a long-term deal after a seven-win season. McCarthy also carried unusual leverage late in his Cowboys tenure due to outside interest, and two NFC teams will capitalize on his newfound coaching free agency by interviewing him. The Bears had attempted to schedule a McCarthy interview while he was still under Cowboys contract. The NFC East team nixed that meeting, but true negotiations never happened, and the Cowboys ultimately moved on.

No Saints interview request came during McCarthy’s final days on his Cowboys contract. The NFC South team has not been connected to nearly as many names, and a recent report indicated the team is not likely to expand its list. Though, McCarthy and Kliff Kingsbury are now part of it. Loomis said adding more names is “possible,” via ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell.

The early-2000s Saints stint marked McCarthy’s first OC job, and it started off well. Despite losing starter Jeff Blake to injury during the 2000 season, the Saints rallied to the playoffs behind second-year QB Aaron Brooks. The team then notched its elusive first playoff win, over the defending champion Rams. New Orleans, however, did not make the playoffs again during Jim Haslett‘s tenure. The Saints did still rank in the top 14 offensively in each McCarthy season. By 2005, McCarthy was in San Francisco as 49ers OC. The Loomis connection remains, thanks to the GM now going into his 24th season at the controls in New Orleans.

Via PFR’s Head Coaching Search Tracker, here is how the Saints’ HC search looks as of Tuesday afternoon:

Updated 2025 NFL Draft Order

January 19th, 2025 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Two weekends of playoff football have come and gone, providing us with 10 more draft slots cemented into position as NFL teams continue to be eliminated from the playoffs. The top 18 picks were already divvied up at the conclusion of the regular season to the teams who failed to make the playoffs, while picks 19-28 have been determined over the past two weeks.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order has been determined by the inverted 2024 standings plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. The playoff squads are being slotted by their postseason outcome and the reverse order of their regular-season record.

The league’s Super Wild Card weekend resulted in the elimination of Chargers, Steelers, Broncos, Packers, Buccaneers, and Vikings after their respective losses. Tampa Bay benefitted from the three-way tie in record with Denver and Pittsburgh, just as the Chargers did over the Packers.

The divisional round of the playoffs resulted in the elimination of the Texans, Rams, Ravens, and Lions. This time, Houston held the tiebreaker over Los Angeles, gifting it higher draft priority.

We are still at a place that, for the first time since the league expanded to 32 teams in 2002, there is a chance that every team drafts in the first round, as no first-round picks have yet been traded. It’s extremely unlikely that this will remain the case, as draft-day trades are a very common occurrence, but it’s still an interesting concept to note this close to the draft.

Here is how the draft order looks following two weeks of playoff football:

  1. Tennessee Titans (3-14)
  2. Cleveland Browns (3-14)
  3. New York Giants (3-14)
  4. New England Patriots (4-13)
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13)
  6. Las Vegas Raiders (4-13)
  7. New York Jets (5-12)
  8. Carolina Panthers (5-12)
  9. New Orleans Saints (5-12)
  10. Chicago Bears (5-12)
  11. San Francisco (6-11)
  12. Dallas Cowboys (7-10)
  13. Miami Dolphins (8-9)
  14. Indianapolis Colts (8-9)
  15. Atlanta Falcons (8-9)
  16. Arizona Cardinals (8-9)
  17. Cincinnati Bengals (9-8)
  18. Seattle Seahawks (10-7)
  19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7)
  20. Denver Broncos (10-7)
  21. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
  22. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6)
  23. Green Bay Packers (11-6)
  24. Minnesota Vikings (14-3)
  25. Houston Texans (10-7)
  26. Los Angeles Rams (10-7)
  27. Baltimore Ravens (12-5)
  28. Detroit Lions (15-2)
  29. Washington Commanders (12-5)
  30. Buffalo Bills (13-4)
  31. Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
  32. Kansas City Chiefs (15-2)

Cowboys Expected To Expand HC Search; Kliff Kingsbury On Team’s Radar?

January 19th, 2025 at 9:55pm CST by Adam La Rose

Given the timing on the decision to move on from Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys are slightly behind other head coach-needy teams around the NFL. A list of candidates has emerged over the past few days, but it could grow in the near future.

[RELATED: HC Search Tracker]

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports Dallas is expected to speak with more potential hires over the coming days (video link). Once the divisional round concludes, several notable coaches will become eligible to conduct in-person interviews with the six teams still in need of a new HC. The Lions’ in-demand duo of Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn are among the staffers available to be hired at any time starting tomorrow, and to no surprise ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes they represent the next two dominoes to fall in the hiring cycle (video link).

Glenn was mentioned yesterday as a potential Cowboys target, but to date no connections have been made between Dallas and Johnson. A different candidate with an offensive background could be on the team’s radar, though. Rapoport names Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury as someone who could receive an interview request from the Cowboys. Washington’s season is ongoing, of course, something which will delay the process by which he could land his next head coaching gig.

Kingsbury returned to the pro game this offseason by joining Dan Quinn‘s staff. The former Cardinals coach and USC staffer has drawn praise for the performance of the Commanders’ offense in general and the play of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels in particular. The Bears and Saints have submitted interview requests for the 45-year-old, while the Jaguars have also been mentioned as a potential suitor. Kingsbury made it clear last week he will not take part in any interviews (even virtual ones) until the Commanders’ season comes to an end.

The only remaining interview on the Cowboys’ docket as things stand is with Seahawks assistant Leslie Frazier. Dallas was not among the teams to request an interview with Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, although he is now off the market for at least one more year as a result of his Longhorns extension. It will be interesting to see which other targets emerge for the Dallas vacancy with an increased pool of candidates available.

For the time being, though, here is where things stand with the Cowboys:

NFL Staff Rumors: Allen, Sanders, Williams, Panthers, Saints

January 19th, 2025 at 8:21pm CST by Ely Allen

Former Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich was hired to rejoin his old coworker, Raheem Morris, in Atlanta as defensive coordinator. This threw a wrench in some other plans in coaching searches around the league. Specifically, two teams that viewed him as a defensive coordinator candidate will have to look elsewhere to fill the position.

After Ulbrich filled in for a fired Robert Saleh in New York, he was likewise being viewed as a backup candidate for defensive coordinator behind Saleh in San Francisco. The 49ers are hoping to hire Saleh back to his old job as their defensive play-caller. Saleh is still interviewing for some open head coaching positions, though, and in case he becomes unavailable, Ulbrich was seemingly the second option.

The second team watching Ulbrich was whatever team ends up hiring former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Johnson had Ulbrich tabbed as the potential defensive coordinator on his first staff as an NFL head coach. Rapoport claims former Saints head coach Dennis Allen is the new name to look out for to join Johnson’s first staff.

Here are a few other rumors in staff conversations around the NFL:

  • As more and more hurdles continue to present themselves in the Cowboys‘ pursuit of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, it’s beginning to seem like him becoming their next head coach is an unlikely scenario. According to another Rapoport report, the NFL Network reporter claimed he “would be surprised — probably very surprised — if (a formal interview) did, in fact, get scheduled.”
  • New Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel hasn’t spoken much of how much of the existing staff in New England will be salvaged, but the understanding seems to be that, like in most new head coaching situations, Vrabel will likely be replacing both coordinators. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, one name to watch for defensive coordinator is Lions defensive line coach and run-game coordinator Terrell Williams. Williams was one of Vrabel’s most-trusted assistants during his time as head coach in Tennessee, where Williams served as assistant head coach in addition to his duties as defensive line coach. Especially with the likely turnover expected on the defensive staff in Detroit, it makes perfect sense that Williams would explore the opportunity to take his first coordinator position.
  • The Panthers are reportedly moving on from passing game coordinator Nate Carroll, son of former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Joe Person of The Athletic confirmed the report, adding that the team does not expect Carroll back in any capacity.
  • Switching for moment from coaching staffs to the front office, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis addressed the consistency of staff in the team’s personnel department. Amidst questions concerning job security, Loomis claimed that “he loves (vice president/assistant general manager — college personnel) Jeff Ireland and (director of pro personnel) Michael Parenton in their” current roles, per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. While he does expect changes and tweaks in their processes and procedures, Irelend and Parenton’s jobs appear secure.

Steve Sarkisian Agrees To Texas Extension

January 18th, 2025 at 7:52pm CST by Adam La Rose

One of the college coaches who has been listed as a name to watch for the 2025 NFL hiring cycle is Steve Sarkisian. He will not be making the jump to the pro game at this time, however.

Sarkisian has agreed to an extension at Texas, Brett McMurphy of Action Network and ESPN’s Pete Thamel report. One year has been added to his existing pact, meaning he is now set to remain with the school through 2031. That could of course change with renewed interest from the NFL, but for at least one more campaign he will carry on at the helm of the Longhorns.

Interestingly, McMurphy’s report notes Sarkisian turned down a pair of interview requests from NFL teams seeking a head coach. Six vacancies are currently in place around the league (Bears, Cowboys, Jaguars, Raiders, Saints, Jets), although Dallas was not among the teams to reach out as an expression of interest as of earlier this week. David Moore of the Dallas Morning News confirms the Cowboys were not one of the two clubs to request an interview.

Presuming the Patriots did not reach out prior to making the anticipated move of hiring Mike Vrabel, that leaves Chicago, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, New Orleans and New York as the group which produced a pair of interview requests. Prior to the conclusion of the regular season, a report noted interest in Sarkisian was expected for this year’s hiring cycle. That proved to be the case, something which obviously helped his leverage in negotiating an extension. As Thamel notes, Sarkisian secured a “significant raise” with this new deal.

The 50-year-old has been at Texas since 2021, amassing a 38-17 record during that span. Sarkisian has guided the Longhorns to the CFP seminals each of the past two seasons, and expectations will remain high for the program moving forward. Also a previous head coach at Washington and USC, Sarkisian’s coaching resume includes a two-year run as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator (2017-18). A return to the NFL could be in the cards down the road, but that will not be the case next season.

Aaron Glenn A HC Candidate In Dallas?

January 18th, 2025 at 4:17pm CST by Ely Allen

Compared to the other open head coaching positions, we have heard relatively little about the possibilities in Dallas. So far, the names connected to the Cowboys are few and far between as the team has interviewed just two candidates and only has one other interview on the schedule. That makes it noteworthy to see Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports reporting Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn as “a name to watch closely” in connection to the job.

Like his coworker on the offensive side of the ball in Detroit, Glenn’s name has been an extremely popular one in multiple searches for a new head coach around the league. He has been mentioned as a candidate for every other open position, already having interviewed with the Jets (1/9), Raiders (1/10), Saints (1/10), Bears (1/11), and Jaguars (1/11) and declining an interview with the Patriots. While New York has reportedly been extremely interested in adding the 52-year-old to lead their staff, so far, the Saints have been heavily linked as a favorite to land Glenn.

Dallas, on the other hand, has been fairly inactive in their search after they got a late start on the process. They’ve interviewed their former quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator and current Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore (1/17) and former Jets head coach Robert Saleh (1/18), and they have an interview scheduled with former Vikings head coach and current Seahawks assistant head coach Leslie Frazier for Monday. They’ve shown interest in two collegiate head coaches, but North Carolina’s Bill Belichick remains committed to the Tar Heels, and the interest in Colorado’s Deion Sanders has not resulted in anything substantial as of yet.

A Houston native, Glenn played for four of the teams with open jobs (Jets, Cowboys, Jaguars, and Saints) as a cornerback in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The proximity of Dallas and New Orleans to his hometown could be factors in their relevance during his job search, as well. He also spent time on the coaching staff in New Orleans for five seasons as defensive backs coach before landing the coordinator job in Detroit.

Glenn is perhaps the most sought-after coach in this coaching cycle, as evidenced by his connection to every open job so far. The Cowboys will need to make up some ground on a number of teams that have over a week’s head start on courting Glenn in order to contend for his services. Team owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones, though, reportedly holds Glenn in “especially high regard,” so their pursuit may be starting soon.

NFL Coaching Rumors: Johnson, Orlovsky, Sanders

January 18th, 2025 at 2:42pm CST by Ely Allen

There has been a bit of criticism in recent days over the interview process for head coaching candidates on playoff teams as coordinators for the Lions, Bills, Chiefs, Eagles, and Ravens have all been participating in interviews during their free time throughout the week. Many of the teams looking to fill head coaching jobs will be watching the Lions’ game against the Commanders tonight, as the results could be a big catalyst for things to come.

According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, if Detroit were to fall to the Commanders tonight, a chain reaction could result for coaching jobs as a mad dash would be incoming to complete in-person interviews with both offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. If the Lions continue to win, though, it could continue to stall the hiring process until both coaches become available for in-person interviews.

In anticipation for this expected interest, Johnson has hired a new agent, Rick Smith of Priority Sports, per Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports. Smith will likely be apprised of what Johnson’s preferences are and will be fielding phones calls for second interviews as soon as he becomes available.

Johnson has interviewed for the Bears’, Jaguars’, and Raiders’ open positions, as well as the Patriots’ job that was filled by Mike Vrabel. He has not been mentioned as a candidate in New Orleans or New York, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter doesn’t believe he’s in play for the Cowboys’ job.

Here are some other coaching rumors from around the league:

  • One media name has been floating around coaching rumors as former NFL quarterback and ESPN personality Dan Orlovsky has expressed interest in entering the coaching world. Orlovsky claimed on the Pat McAfee Show that he’s “had conversations with places about stuff in the coaching world.” While he’s very happy with his place on television, ESPN jobs are pretty unstable, as we’ve seen in recent years, and Orlovsky admits that if the right situation presented itself, he would be open to exploring it. Later in the week on the show, Schefter confirmed that Orlovsky has been communicating with teams in search of any positions that may fit the bill and interest him. Orlovsky’s interest would be more in the realm of a quarterbacks coach or perhaps even an offensive coordinator gig, but nothing substantial seems to be forming as of yet.
  • There’s been a lot of momentum lately on Colorado head coach Deion Sanders as a candidate for the Cowboys‘ open position. One hurdle mentioned has been a roughly $10MM buyout that could certainly be a deterrent in landing his services. NFL Insider Josina Anderson recently pointed out another hurdle in the process. In order to formally interview Sanders, the Cowboys would need to obtain approval from the school’s athletic director, Rick George, and inform the league office.

Kellen Moore, Jason Witten Viewed As Strong Contenders For Cowboys’ HC Position?

January 17th, 2025 at 11:34pm CST by Adam La Rose

Much of the discourse around the Cowboys’ head coaching vacancy has been dominated by Deion Sanders. While it remains to be seen how willing the Colorado coach and owner Jerry Jones will be to move forward with such a hire, other names are worth watching.

Former Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is on Dallas’ interview list. He will speak with the team today before ultimately turning his attention back to the Eagles’ upcoming divisional round game. Moore vastly outranks longtime Cowboys tight end Jason Witten in terms of time spent on the sidelines, but his name has also been floated with respect to the HC gig or at least another spot on Dallas’ staff.

Taking things one step further, Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda reports both Moore and Witten are considered to have a strong chance at being hired by Jones. The former quickly transitioned from his quarterback career to the sidelines, serving as the Cowboys’ QBs coach in 2018. He was promoted to offensive coordinator one year later and held that title for four seasons. With then-head coach Mike McCarthy taking on play-calling duties in 2023, Moore moved on to the Chargers for one year before winding up in his current Eagles posting.

Philadelphia’s passing efficiency has been a talking point for much of the season, but the team’s strong rushing attack played a big role in the current run to Round 2 of the playoffs. Moore, 35, also has an interview lined up with the Jaguars today and another with the Saints tomorrow for their respective HC positions.

Witten’s “realistic shot” (as Pauline terms it) to succeed McCarthy is notable given his inexperience as a coach. The 11-time Pro Bowler retired in 2018 but wound up returning to play two more seasons before hanging up his cleats for good. Since then, his four years leading Liberty Christian School in Texas (which includes a pair of state championships) represent the extent of his coaching tenure. As NFL Network’s Jane Slater notes, Witten has been in contact with Jones recently and was set to be part of Dallas’ 2025 coaching staff in the event McCarthy had remained in place (video link).

Such a setup could very well have set Witten up as a potential successor to McCarthy, but now that the team will be going in another direction it remains to be seen what will happen on that front. Slater notes Jones’ affinity for Witten, 42, could still land him a position of some kind on the team’s coaching staff. Jumping from his current situation all the way to an NFL HC position would remain surprising regardless of how Jones views his other options.

Pauline’s sources note that Sanders is not viewed as being a true contender to land the position at this point. The Hall of Famer corner is not considered ready to handle a head coaching gig in any market, they add. If Jones agrees with that assessment, Moore and Witten’s respective candidacies will increasingly become worth monitoring.

Courtesy of PFR’s head coaching search tracker, here is an updated breakdown of where things stand with the Cowboys:

OL Notes: Thuney, Packers, Cowboys, Bears

January 17th, 2025 at 7:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

Joe Thuney landed on the All-Pro first team at his natural left guard position, but as the Chiefs have struggled to find a left tackle solution this season, they had kicked their standout LG to that post. Although in-season free agency addition D.J. Humphries is healthy, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes Kansas City will leave Thuney at LT. This arrangement has featured Mike Caliendo at left guard. Humphries, who rehabbed an ACL tear for most of 2024 as a free agent, suffered a hamstring injury during his Chiefs debut. Thuney has fared much better than Wanya Morris or second-round rookie Kingsley Suamataia, the latter having won the job out of training camp. While the two-time reigning champions will have work to do at this spot soon, it appears their threepeat push will feature Thuney at LT the rest of the way.

Here is the latest from the O-line ranks:

  • The Packers have both their primary tackle starters (Rasheed Walker, Zach Tom) under contract for 2025, and Elgton Jenkins is tied to a lucrative extension. With Jordan Morgan‘s rookie deal going through 2027, Green Bay only has one key UFA-to-be on its offensive front. Four-year center starter Josh Myers is out of contract, but GM Brian Gutekunst labeled (via the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s Ryan Wood) the blocker as having “his best year.” Perhaps more importantly, Gutekunst praised how Myers and Jordan Love work as a combo on offense. Although Ryan Kelly is the biggest name among available centers, Myers’ age (26) and experience (56 starts) will help him become one of the top interior O-linemen on the market. The Packers last faced a decision on a center in 2021, when they let Corey Linsley walk before drafting Myers. It will be interesting to see how they address the situation with Myers.
  • Also in Green Bay, Gutekunst noted that there could be some shuffling in the offensive line starters’ positions. Notably, he mentioned that Tom, who has started every game at right tackle for the past two years, could potentially shift over to the blind side, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Back in 2022, Tom’s rookie season, the Wake Forest alum started games at both left tackle and left guard, and Gutekunst believes Tom could play any of the five positions, though he lauds that the 25-year-old has established himself at tackle and could end up starting on the left side.
  • In the recent past Jerry Jones and the Cowboys have been extremely fortunate when forced to start rookie offensive linemen. Players like Tyler Smith, Tyler Biadasz, Connor Williams, and Zack Martin have all been players who immediately (or almost immediately) stepped in to great success on the offensive line in Dallas. This year, Jones hoped he’d be able to count to two rookies drafted in the first three rounds once again, starting first-round Oklahoma tackle Tyler Guyton and third-round Kansas State center Cooper Beebe for a combined 27 games. Guyton was drafted to replace departed veteran Tyron Smith, but the rookie was in a bit over his head this season. Out of 81 players graded at the position by Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Guyton graded out as the 73rd-best tackle, getting benched near the end of the season. Beebe faired a bit better in 16 starts but only ranked as the 16th-best center in the league, per PFF. According to Jon Machota of The Athletic, Jones admitted on a radio interview with 105.3 The FAN that he “probably got a little out over (his) skis thinking, ‘just plug those guys in.'”
  • Offensive guard Matt Pryor has bounced around quite a bit over his first six years in the NFL, getting traded halfway through his rookie deal from Philadelphia to Indianapolis before spending a year each in San Francisco and Chicago. In his sixth NFL season, Pryor, who had only filled in as a starter over his first five years, found himself starting 15 games this season for the Bears. According to Adam Jahns of The Athletic, Pryor wouldn’t mind putting down some roots, saying “he’d like to return” after the one-year deal he played on this season. He graded out decently (21st of 77) per PFF, so he could fetch some money on the free agent market, but it sounds like he’s interested in staying in Chicago.

Ely Allen contributed to this post.

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