Eric Bieniemy Has Not Taken Any OC Interviews; Commanders, Ravens Remain Interested
1:29pm: Neither the Commanders nor the Ravens have hired an offensive coordinator, and neither team can interview Bieniemy until after Super Bowl LVII. Bieniemy’s statement regarding OC jobs notwithstanding, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter notes (on Twitter) he remains a prime candidate for both Baltimore and Washington.
A move to either team would not be a lateral shift; both the Commanders and Ravens are looking for their next play-caller. Each team has proceeded methodically here. The Commanders’ job became open on Jan. 10; the Ravens moved on from Greg Roman on Jan. 19.
9:58am: Another team with Eric Bieniemy on its interview wish list filled its offensive coordinator vacancy this week. The Titans promoted from within, elevating Tim Kelly to the post.
Tennessee is not the only franchise to show interest in Kansas City’s OC for a non-head coaching position this year. Baltimore and Washington requested Bieniemy interviews weeks ago, but the 10-year Chiefs staffer — whose inability to land a top coaching job has drawn extensive scrutiny over the past several years — said he has only taken one interview this year. Bieniemy spoke with the Colts about their HC position, but no other teams reached out to him regarding their top sideline gigs.
“I have not taken any interviews for any offensive coordinator positions. I’ve only taken one interview, for a head coaching position. Right now, I’ve interviewed with the Indianapolis Colts. I thought it went great,” Bieniemy said, via the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala (on Twitter). “We’ll see where that goes. Now, as far as the offensive coordinator stuff, right now I am where my feet are. And right now I’m focusing on helping us win this game this weekend.”
The Colts are proceeding with one of the most thorough HC interview processes in recent history, potentially planning a third round of meetings. Bieniemy not confirming he spoke with the Colts a second time may well point to yet another team bypassing him. The Colts have interviewed eight candidates twice, including Shane Steichen, who is in the same scheduling boat as Bieniemy due to NFL rules regarding Super Bowl assistants. Bieniemy was linked to being a finalist for the Indianapolis job, but that was before the host of second interviews went down.
Heavy Bieniemy HC interest emerged in past offseasons, but it has waned. The five-year Chiefs OC only interviewed for two of the 10 available jobs last year and one of this year’s five openings. Despite the Chiefs leading the league in offensive DVOA after trading Tyreek Hill, Bieniemy has not received too much credit for the team’s success with Patrick Mahomes. Andy Reid, understandably, has received the bulk of the praise for best stretch in Chiefs history. Bieniemy’s persistent hurdle has led teams to inquire about his interest in becoming a play-calling OC, in an effort to show he can lead a successful offense independent of Reid. Though, past Reid Kansas City lieutenants Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy secured HC jobs during Alex Smith‘s stay as K.C.’s starter.
Bieniemy has reached agreements to stay in Missouri in each of the past two offseasons. He re-signed via a one-year pact in 2022, Jhabvala adds. While the former NFL running back did not confirm he would be back with the Chiefs in 2023, saying he will “have that conversation with coach Reid at that particular time,” the team would naturally have interest in retaining its OC. The Chiefs may yet again have the opportunity to retain Reid’s right-hand man.
Latest On Ravens’ OC Search
Baltimore is one of several NFL teams slowly working their way through the process of finding a new offensive coordinator. New updates have emerged with respect to who they are targeting to replace Greg Roman.
In a detailed piece breaking down where things currently stand, The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec writes (subscription required) that three candidates for the position have interviewed twice with head coach John Harbaugh. Two of those (Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken and Vikings pass game coordinator Brian Angelichio) have been well known in the search so far, but another name has been added to the mix.
Bobby Engram has met twice to discuss the Ravens’ OC vacancy, per Zrebiec. The 50-year-old is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Wisconsin, but he spent considerable time in Baltimore prior to that. Engram was the Ravens’ wide receivers coach from 2014-18, and then worked with the team’s tight ends for three seasons after that. He also has experience with the Steelers and 49ers, but has not been an OC at the NFL level.
Other finalists will also include Seahawks quarterbacks coach Dave Canales and Broncos offensive coordinator Justin Outten. Those two are set to interview for the second time this week, which will bring the list of second interviewees to five. As Zrebiec notes, however, Harbaugh could conduct second interviews with other candidates not mentioned here, or he could ever hire a name that has yet to interview for the gig. A number of Chiefs and Eagles assistants could be of interest to the Ravens (Zrebiec specifically calls out Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, senior offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach Matt Nagy and wide receivers coach Joe Bleymaier; and Eagles quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson and pass game coordinator Kevin Patullo).
The Ravens wouldn’t be able to talk to any of those coaches until after the Super Bowl. That means the organization could decide to wait at least another week to make a hire, although they may end up moving quickly on one of the existing candidates if they determine he could sign elsewhere.
Injured Reserve Return Tracker
After two years of giving teams free rein on injured reserve transactions, the NFL reinstated limitations this offseason. Teams can now activate up to eight players from injured reserve. That has reintroduced some strategy into how franchises are proceeding with their activations.
Players who were carried over to 53-man rosters after cutdown day must reside on their respective injured list for at least four weeks. Once a team designates a player for return, meaning the player returns to practice, the activation clock starts. Teams have 21 days from those return-to-practice points to activate that player. If no activation commences in that window, the player reverts to season-ending IR.
Here is how the Chiefs and Eagles’ IR situations stack up for Super Bowl LVII:
Kansas City Chiefs
Activated:
Activations remaining: 3
Philadelphia Eagles
Eligible for activation:
Reverted to season-ending IR:
- OL Brett Toth
Activated:
Activations remaining: 0
Poll: Who Will Win Super Bowl LVII?
Just one week remains until a new champion is crowned in the NFL. Super Bowl LVII will see each conference’s top seed square off against one another for the first time since 2017, and the 13th overall since seeding began in 1975.
That most recent occasion saw the Eagles win their only Super Bowl to date. A far different coaching staff and roster has led the team back to the title game, culminating a regular season which saw them establish themselves as arguably the most balanced team in the league on both sides of the ball. Numerous moves made in the offseason – including the acquisition of wideout A.J. Brown – helped the Eagles take a considerable step forward on offense, with third-year quarterback Jalen Hurts putting himself in the MVP conversation.
With the former second-rounder back at full strength, Philadelphia has had little issue in the postseason to date, securing comfortable victories over the Giants and 49ers. The latter was hamstrung by not having a healthy quarterback for much of the conference championship game, but that contest still highlighted the Eagles’ depth and their penchant for blowout wins. They enter the Super Bowl as slight favorites.
The Chiefs, however, have plenty of recent experience on the big stage. Kansas City has hosted each of the past five AFC championship games, including their win this past Sunday against the Bengals. That contest was won by the narrowest of margins, a stark contrast to the Eagles’ path through the NFC. Nevertheless, the Chiefs are now set to compete in their third Super Bowl in the past four years, as the legacy of their current era with head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes continues to grow.
Kansas City comfortably won what was expected to be a hyper-competitive AFC West during the regular season, continuing their dominance of that division. The Chiefs were able to secure the No. 1 seed in large part due to their elite offensive production, something which many raised questions about following the departure of Tyreek Hill. Despite not having the All-Pro receiver available, Kansas City led the league in passing yards in 2022, making Mahomes the favorite to win a second MVP award. The team’s offense has plenty of potential even with the latter dealing with an ankle sprain.
A number of storylines have been discussed in the build-up to the big game, including Reid facing his former team and a pair of brothers (Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Eagles center Jason Kelce) squaring off against one another. These two teams had the highest-scoring offenses in the league this season – and have even put up identical point totals to date, mirroring their shared 16-3 records – so their matchup has plenty of potential with respect to points being scored.
As the countdown to Super Bowl LVII continues, who do you see winning it all? Vote in the poll below and have your say in the comments section:
2023 NFL Cap Space, By Team
Earlier this week, the NFL revealed its 2023 salary cap. Teams can now budget for their offseasons, knowing a $224.8MM ceiling is in place. This year’s nonexclusive franchise and transition tag numbers also emerged, giving teams more clarity on those fronts as well. With that in mind, here is where every team stands in terms of cap space:
- Chicago Bears: $90.91MM
- Atlanta Falcons: $56.42MM
- New York Giants: $44.28MM
- Houston Texans: $37.56MM
- Cincinnati Bengals: $35.55MM
- New England Patriots: $32.71MM
- Seattle Seahawks: $31.04MM
- Baltimore Ravens: $26.87MM
- Las Vegas Raiders: $19.78MM
- Arizona Cardinals: $14.47MM
- Kansas City Chiefs: $13.96MM
- Detroit Lions: $13.83MM
- Indianapolis Colts: $12.59MM
- Denver Broncos: $9.07MM
- San Francisco 49ers: $8.28MM
- Washington Commanders: $8.24MM
- Philadelphia Eagles: $4.24MM
- Pittsburgh Steelers: $1.03MM
- New York Jets: $1.31MM over the cap
- Dallas Cowboys: $7.18MM over
- Carolina Panthers: $8.94MM over
- Los Angeles Rams: $14.19MM over
- Cleveland Browns: $14.64MM over
- Miami Dolphins: $16.45MM over
- Green Bay Packers: $16.48MM over
- Buffalo Bills: $17.88MM over
- Los Angeles Chargers: $20.38MM over
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $22.35MM over
- Minnesota Vikings: $23.43MM over
- Tennessee Titans: $23.67MM over
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $55.03MM over
- New Orleans Saints: $60.47MM over
These figures (courtesy of OverTheCap) will change dramatically in the coming weeks, but this is where each team stands ahead of Super Bowl LVII. After that point, cap-casualty cuts can begin taking place. Restructures, extensions and trades will commence as well, with the Saints of recent years doing well to prove there are a few roads to cap compliance.
While New Orleans is in its usual February place, the team actually was further over the 2021 and ’22 caps at this point on the NFL calendar. Using void years to load up its roster during Tom Brady‘s three-year stay, Tampa Bay has seen much of that bill come due. If Brady does not re-sign a procedural deal, which would allow for the Buccaneers to spread out his dead money, the team will be hit with a $35.1MM dead-cap charge this year.
The Browns led the league by a wide margin in cap carryover from 2022, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Cleveland carried over $27.6MM in cap space. The Browns paced the league in cap space throughout the 2022 season, bracing for the Deshaun Watson contract’s spike. As of now, Watson’s cap figure will balloon from $9.4MM to $54.9MM. No NFL player has ever played a season on a cap number higher than $45MM.
The Panthers, Broncos, Bears and Raiders rounded out the top five in carryover dollars, ranging from $10.8MM to $6.7MM. Chicago ate considerable dead money via the Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn trades. The rebuilding team is still paying most of Quinn’s salary, doing so in order to secure a better draft pick from the Eagles. The Bears will have quite the opportunity to bolster their roster in Ryan Poles‘ second year in charge, leading the league by a massive margin and holding the No. 1 overall pick. The Falcons still have $12MM-plus in Deion Jones dead money on their 2023 payroll, but the team is rid of Matt Ryan‘s record-setting dead-cap hit ($40MM).
Baltimore will have a major decision to make in the coming weeks. GM Eric DeCosta said he has not decided if the team will place the exclusive or nonexclusive tag on Lamar Jackson. Even the nonexclusive number — $32.42MM — will dramatically change the Ravens’ budget ahead of free agency. The exclusive tag, which prevents other teams from submitting an offer sheet to Jackson, is expected to come in just north of $45MM.
Mecole Hardman Unlikely For Super Bowl LVII; Chiefs Optimistic On JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kadarius Toney
Both the Bengals and Chiefs lost wide receivers during the AFC championship game, but the eventual conference champions dealt with more pass-catcher unavailability. The Chiefs finished the game without three of their top four wideouts, with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman and Kadarius Toney sidelined by game’s end.
The Chiefs are unlikely to have their top four each in uniform, but Andy Reid is optimistic Smith-Schuster and Toney will play against the Eagles. However, the 10th-year Chiefs HC added Hardman is unlikely to go (Twitter links via ESPN’s Adam Teicher).
Hardman aggravated his pelvis injury during Kansas City’s 23-20 win. The speedster’s return for the AFC decider marked his first action since Week 9. The Chiefs had placed the contract-year wideout on IR but activated him ahead of Week 18. Hardman still was not ready to go after the team’s bye week, and he played 15 offensive snaps against the Bengals.
Neither Smith-Schuster nor Toney practiced Thursday, though Toney was present for the team’s morning walkthrough. Smith-Schuster is battling a knee injury, while Toney’s latest ailment is an ankle issue. Smith-Schuster, who joins Hardman as a contract-year player, only missed one game this season. He led Chiefs wideouts — by a wide margin — with 78 catches for 933 yards. The ex-Steelers staple will command a deal north of the one-year, $3.76MM pact he signed this year. Though, Smith-Schuster boosted his earnings by hitting incentive standards this season.
Toney has been unable to shake the injury issues that contributed to his New York exit. After battling separate hamstring injuries during his final weeks with the Giants, the former first-round pick suffered another hamstring issue during his initial weeks with the Chiefs. Toney, who has missed 16 games during his two-season career, went down after making a first-half cut against Cincinnati. The new Chiefs gadget player logged just four offensive snaps.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling ended the game as the last man standing, and the ex-Packer delivered his best outing as a Chief. Valdes-Scantling totaled a season-high 116 yards against the Bengals, scoring a touchdown for the second straight week. Given Hardman’s likely absence and Toney’s unreliability, the Chiefs will likely need a similar effort from MVS against the Eagles. Valdes-Scantling signed a three-year, $30MM deal with the Chiefs, doing so shortly after the team traded Tyreek Hill (who added a third All-Pro receiving season to his resume this season). Although barely $8MM of that pact was guaranteed, Valdes-Scantling has a good chance of sticking around in Missouri next season.
Regarding the Chiefs’ other injuries, Patrick Mahomes said he did not aggravate his high ankle sprain in the AFC title game. L’Jarius Sneed remains in concussion protocol, but with the bye week, the third-year cornerback has a better shot of being cleared in time for the Super Bowl. Willie Gay‘s early shoulder tests were encouraging, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/30/23
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: WR Jerrion Ealy
- Released: K Matthew Wright
Patrick Mahomes Suffers High Ankle Sprain
JANUARY 29: No surprises here, but Mahomes will play in today’s AFC Championship Game against the Bengals, as Schefter reports. Head coach Andy Reid said his signal-caller is moving around well and that the team’s game plan is expansive enough to minimize any physical limitations Mahomes might have.
JANUARY 22: The Chiefs qualified for their fifth consecutive AFC title game yesterday, but the top story leading into next week’s game (regardless of their opponent or its location) will be the health status of their star quarterback. Patrick Mahomes missed time due to an ankle injury midway through Kansas City’s win over Jacksonville, and underwent further testing today.
An MRI has revealed that Mahomes is dealing with a high ankle sprain (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). The latter further reports that the injury is “nothing more than that,” however, meaning that his availability for the conference title game will simply be a matter of pain tolerance. In the immediate aftermath of the game, Mahomes confidently said (via Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, on Twitter) that he would be “good to go” next Sunday. USA Today’s Tyler Dragon tweets, unsurprisingly, that he is indeed expected to play.
The 27-year-old was sidelined briefly after suffering the injury. In his absence, Kansas City turned to veteran Chad Henne under center for 13 snaps; in that time, he completed five of seven passes, including a touchdown. Mahomes was then able to return and finish out the game, one in which he was clearly playing at far less than 100% but still managed to put up efficient production (195 yards and a pair of scores on 22-of-30 passing).
The 2018 MVP is likely to add a second such title to his decorated resume this year, underscoring his importance to the Chiefs as a Super Bowl contender but also how crippling his injury could be, depending on its severity. Mobility has always been a key element of his skillset, so being limited on that front would have a significant effect on his level of play and, in all likelihood, Kansas City’s offensive gameplan.
More will be known as the week progresses with respect to Mahomes’ level of participation in practice. The extent of his recovery will no doubt be a major talking point in the coming days, as it could go a long way in determining the AFC’s representative in next month’s Super Bowl.
Commanders, Ravens Interested In Eric Bieniemy For OC
JANUARY 29: Like the Titans, the Commanders and Ravens have formally requested OC interviews with Bieniemy, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter links). John Keim of ESPN.com adds (via Twitter) that Washington will continue to be patient and will wait until it is allowed to interview Bieniemy and 49ers assistant head coach/running backs coach Anthony Lynn, whose teams are playing in the championship games for their respective conferences today.
JANUARY 26: A key talking point each January, Eric Bieniemy‘s head coaching candidacy has tapered off in recent years. Despite Matt Nagy and Doug Pederson landing HC jobs from Andy Reid‘s Chiefs staff, Bieniemy has been stuck at the coordinator level. Only one team — the Colts — has interviewed him for its HC post this year.
Others remain interested in the five-year Chiefs OC. The Commanders and Ravens are the latest rumored to want an OC meeting with Bieniemy, Aaron Wilson of KPRC tweets. The Indianapolis HC path remains in play for Bieniemy, but similar avenues have repeatedly closed for the longtime Reid lieutenant over the past several years.
The Commanders and Ravens jobs are not classified as lateral moves, since each position would come with full play-calling responsibilities. Thus, the Chiefs cannot block Bieniemy from an interview. Reid has been Kansas City’s primary play-caller throughout his 10-year Missouri stay, and the top-tier HC receives the bulk of the credit for Patrick Mahomes submitting arguably the greatest early-career resume in quarterback history. Bieniemy has been Kansas City’s OC throughout Mahomes’ run as the team’s starter, but after extensive interest emerged early during his time in this job, the league has cooled on him.
Bieniemy, 53, signed an extension with the Chiefs last year and has not been closely connected to other OC jobs prior to this month. It would be bring somewhat of a risk to leave the Reid-Mahomes infrastructure the Chiefs provide, but Bieniemy having success as a play-caller could also finally break down the door to a top job. Ex-Chiefs QBs coach Mike Kafka is now on the HC radar, after becoming the Giants’ play-caller. Mahomes is ticketed to win a second MVP award and has powered the Chiefs to a fifth straight AFC championship game, doing so this time without Tyreek Hill.
Washington has seen multiple options — Jim Caldwell and Darrell Bevell — turn down the chance to interview. Ron Rivera‘s hot-seat status also complicates this season, since the OC role has a greater chance of being a one-and-done here than it does in most places. Many around the league expect, for this reason, the Commanders to promote quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese to replace Scott Turner, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. Baltimore has also begun its interviews to replace Greg Roman. While Bieniemy, Frank Reich and Byron Leftwich have been linked to the position, none has been confirmed as an interviewee just yet.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/28/23
One pair of practice squad transactions heading into Championship Sunday:
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: RB La’Mical Perine
- Released: RB Jerrion Ealy