- Vikings receivers coach Drew Petzing won’t be back with the team next season, reports Goessling (via Twitter). Petzing had spent the past six seasons with the organization, spending time with wideouts, running backs, and quarterbacks.
We’ll keep track of today’s reserve/futures deals here:
Green Bay Packers
- TE Evan Baylis
- T Cody Conway
- RB Damarea Crockett
- CB Kabion Ento
- TE James Looney
- LB Randy Ramsey
- WR Darrius Shepherd
- WR Malik Taylor
- QB Manny Wilkins
- LB Tim Williams
Minnesota Vikings
Tennessee Titans
- DE Amani Bledsoe
- RB Dalyn Dawkins
- LB Nigel Harris
- TE Parker Hesse
- C Daniel Munyer
- DB Kareem Orr
- OL David Quessenberry
- LB Josh Smith
- WR Trevion Thompson
- RB Shaun Wilson
- QB Logan Woodside
The Browns could hire George Paton to be their new GM early this week, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com hears. Though nothing has been finalized, it sounds like the Vikings assistant general manager will be the club’s hire and make his long-awaited move up the ladder. 
Paton has been very picky with interviews in recent years and he was reportedly waffling on whether to even interview for the Browns’ vacancy. On Saturday, he met with team brass and things are apparently moving in a positive direction.
The Browns also interviewed Eagles VP of football operations Andrew Berry and Patriots director of college scouting Monti Ossenfort on Friday. Berry was thought to be the favorite for weeks, due to his familiarity with the organization. Instead, Paton is now expected to take over for John Dorsey and guide the Browns through a critical offseason.
Paton may be a natural fit for a team that just hired longtime Vikings assistant Kevin Stefanski as its head coach. The two men overlapped in Minnesota for 13 years, so they should be well-aligned.
The NFL will not fine Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons for conduct during Tennessee’s 28-12 victory in the divisional playoff round, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN. After the contest, Ravens offensive guard Marshal Yanda accused Simmons of spitting on him during the contest. Per Hensley, the NFL found no evidence to substantiate those claims.
For what it’s worth, Simmons did not deny spitting on Yanda when he was asked about it on Wednesday. Had the NFL prooved that Simmons had indeed spit in his opponent’s face, he would have been subject to an unsportsmanlike conduct fine of $14,037.
A few other players were unable to avoid hits to their checkbooks:
- Chiefs offensive tackle Eric Fisher went viral online after he celebrated by pouring beer over himself during Kansas City’s divisional round victory over the Texans. While the NFL shared Fisher’s celebration on its official Twitter account, it appears the NFL’s marketers and executors of the codes of conduct are not on the same page. Fisher was fined $14,037 by the league on Saturday, when the league announced this week’s round of fines, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.
- Fisher was not the lone Chiefs player to receive a fine for a celebration, running back Damien Williams received a $10,527 fine for taunting, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com. After he scored his third touchdown in last week’s game, he placed the ball directly in front of a Texan defensive lineman, which cost the team a fifteen-yard penalty and now will cost Williams more than ten thousand dollars.
- Defensive end Nick Bosa was fined $28,025 for an illegal blindside block in the 49ers 27-10 victory over the Vikings in last week’s divisional round, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. Normally a defensive player would not be subject to such a fine, but after his defensive teammate, Richard Sherman, intercepted one of Kirk Cousins passes, Bosa got overzealous in a block on offensive tackle Brian O’Neill that forced O’Neill to leave the game for a couple of series.
Today’s reserve/futures deals:
Baltimore Ravens
- LB Aaron Adeoye
- CB Terrell Bonds
- G/T Will Holden
- G/T R.J. Prince
- DE Ufomba Kamalu
- DE Michael Onuoha
- WR Sean Modster
- WR Antoine Wesley
- TE Charles Scarff
Denver Broncos
- OT Tyler Jones
Green Bay Packers
- DB DaShaun Amos
Houston Texans
- LB Davin Bellamy
- LB Nate Hall
- CB Anthony Chesley
- WR Chad Hansen
- RB Karan Higdon
- OT Rick Leonard
- OT Kyle Murphy
- S Shalom Luani
- S Jonathan Owens
- QB Alex McGough
Minnesota Vikings
- RB Tony Brooks-James
- QB Jake Browning
- WR Davion Davis
- WR Dillon Mitchell
- TE Brandon Dillon
- CB Mark Fields
- CB Kemon Hall
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
- CB Brian Allen
- WR Penny Hart
- WR Cody Thompson
- LB Sutton Smith
- LB Pita Taumoepenu
- DT Shakir Soto
Here are today’s reserve/futures deals:
Houston Texans
- LB Davin Bellamy, DB Anthony Chesley, LB Nate Hall, WR Chad Hansen, RB Karan Higdon Jr., T Rick Leonard, S Shalom Luani, QB Alex McGough, T Kyle Murphy, S Jonathan Owens
Minnesota Vikings
The Browns got their new head coach by hiring former Vikings OC Kevin Stefanski away from Minnesota, and they may not be finished raiding the Vikings’ staff. There have been rumblings that Gary Kubiak and/or Klint Kubiak could join Stefanski in Cleveland, and Vikings DC George Edwards could do the same.
We heard on Sunday that Edwards is unlikely to return to Minnesota in 2020, and Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune says a Stefanski-Edwards reunion could happen in Ohio (Twitter link). Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com says Edwards wants to go somewhere he can call plays, which he cannot do with the Vikings since head coach Mike Zimmer handles those responsibilities (Twitter link).
Edwards, 52, has been in the NFL in some capacity every season since 1998. He was the Redskins’ defensive coordinator in 2003, the Bills’ from 2010-11, and he has been the Vikings’ DC since 2014. He’s also served as a positional coach with several different clubs, including the Browns in 2004.
In addition to Edwards, the Browns may also be interested in Wade Phillips, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. We recently heard that Phillips, 72, would not be returning to the Rams in 2020, but his vast experience could be appealing to Stefanski, just as it was to Sean McVay when he became a first-time head coach in 2017.
In 2019, the Rams allowed 22.8 points per game and 339.6 yards per contest, putting them in the middle of the pack in both categories. But Phillips, who has plenty of head coaching experience in addition to his years as a defensive coordinator with multiple clubs, remains a respected defensive mind and would command the type of respect that Cleveland’s locker room could use.
Jan. 13: The Browns have formally announced the hire. Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that Cleveland has given Stefanski a five-year contract (Twitter link).
Jan. 12: The Browns will hire Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), and Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports (via Twitter) that it’s a done deal. Stefanski was the runner-up for the Cleveland HC gig last year, and after Freddie Kitchen‘s disastrous 2019 campaign resulted in his dismissal, the Browns have circled back to the man many believe they should have hired in the first place.
Stefanski has served in a variety of roles for the Vikings since joining the organization back in 2006, including stints as the tight ends coach, running backs coach, and quarterbacks coach. The 37-year-old was named interim offensive coordinator following the firing of John DeFilippo during the 2018 season, and he earned the full-time gig prior to the 2019 campaign.
During Stefanski’s first full season at the helm, the Vikings ranked as a top-10 offense in points. The coach led the trio of Dalvin Cook, Alexander Mattison, and Mike Boone to top-six rankings in rushing yards and touchdowns, and he also helped quarterback Kirk Cousins have one of the best seasons of his career. Although the Vikings laid an egg in Saturday’s divisional round loss to the 49ers, Cleveland was obviously undeterred.
The Browns’ coaching search saw them interview eight candidates, as our 2020 head coaching search tracker shows (former Baylor HC Matt Rhule, who ultimately accepted the Panthers’ head coaching job, turned down the opportunity to interview with Cleveland). Browns chief strategist Paul DePodesta piloted the search, and recent reports indicated that he had narrowed his list to Stefanski and Patriots OC Josh McDaniels, though Cabot tweets that Stefanski and 49ers DC Robert Saleh were the two finalists.
Interestingly, DePodesta’s contract with Cleveland is reportedly set to expire, but given his role in the coaching search, it seems likely that the Browns will retain him. However, the team continues to search for a new GM, and Eagles vice president of football operations Andrew Berry may have just become the leading candidate for that role, as his analytically-driven approach meshes with Stefanski’s.
Meanwhile, Vikings QB coach Klint Kubiak could follow Stefanski to Cleveland to become the Browns’ new OC, as Mike Klis of 9News.com tweets.
With the Stefanski hire, the 2020 head coaching cycle has come to a stop. The Browns were the last of the five teams with a head coaching vacancy this year to hire their HC.
The Browns requested permission to interview Vikings assistant GM George Paton for their GM vacancy, a source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Paton worked in Minnesota with new Vikings head coach Kevin Stefanski, so he’d be a logical fit for the job.
Paton has been a prominent GM candidate in the last few offseason cycles, though he has also pulled his name from consideration on multiple occasions, including the Jets’ search that resulted in Mike Maccagnan‘s hire in 2015. Late last offseason, after the Jets canned Maccagnan, he rejected their offer to interview for the third time in his career.
When Paton said no to Gang Green, it was speculated that he was wary of the team’s internal discord and complicated power structure. The same could be said of the Browns, though his relationship with Stefanski could sway him. Indeed, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Paton will interview for the Browns’ gig.
On Monday morning, Colts executive Ed Dodds turned down the Browns’ invitation to interview. Meanwhile, former Browns exec and current Eagles vice president of football operations Andrew Berry figures to be a top candidate.
The stage has been set for the conference championships. The Titans, Chiefs, 49ers, and Packers are moving on to the semifinals, while the Texans, Seahawks, Ravens, and Vikings will begin planning for the offseason ahead. Unfortunately for the Texans, their first round pick belongs to the Dolphins.
Here’s an updated look at the 2020 NFL Draft order from Nos. 1-28:
1. Bengals (2-14)
2. Redskins (3-13)
3. Lions (3-12-1)
4. Giants (4-12)
5 Dolphins (5-11)
6. Chargers (5-11)
7. Panthers (5-11)
8. Cardinals (5-10-1)
9. Jaguars (6-10)
10. Browns (6-10)
11. Jets (7-9)
12. Raiders (7-9)
13. Colts (7-9)
14. Buccaneers (7-9)
15. Broncos (7-9)
16. Falcons (7-9)
17. Cowboys (8-8)
18. Dolphins (via Steelers 8-8)
19. Raiders (via Bears 8-8)
20. Jaguars (via Rams 9-7)
21. Eagles (9-7)
22. Bills (10-6)
23. Patriots (12-4)
24. Saints (13-3)
25. Vikings (10-6)
26. Dolphins (via Texans 10-6)
27. Seahawks (11-5)
28. Ravens (14-2)