Latest On Steelers, Antonio Brown
Antonio Brown is unhappy with Steelers brass and coach Mike Tomlin, but the assumption so far has been that the Steelers would not trade the wide receiver. Apparently, things have changed. In an interview with Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette, Steelers president Art Rooney II said it would be “hard to envision” Brown being with the Steelers in training camp this summer. 
“There’s not much we can do right now; we have time to make a decision,” Rooney said. “We’ll look at all the options. We’re not going to release him, that’s not on the table. But I will say all other options are on the table.”
With that, it appears that one of the game’s most dangerous offensive weapons could be on the market. It’s likely that every team will have interest in adding Brown, but the cost figures to be sky high. Not only is Brown a superstar player, but trading him would also leave the Steelers saddled with an astronomical cap hit. Even though dissatisfied players are often traded for pennies on the dollar, a Brown trade could call for the forfeiture of two first-round picks, and possibly more.
Even though Rooney is leaving the door open to a possible trade, he’s not slamming the door on a potential reconciliation either.
“I’m not going to use those words. All options are on the table. We have two months to go before we can do anything. There’s no sense making the decision now,” Rooney said. “We’ll see how things play out. Maybe he decides to come talk to us some day and we learn more about where he is. We’ll see.”
Broncos Hire Vic Fangio As HC
The Broncos have a new head coach. On Wednesday, Denver reached agreement with Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, sources tell Adam Schefter and Dan Graziano of ESPN (on Twitter). As is the usual standard, the deal will be a four-year contract with a team option for a fifth year. 
[RELATED: PFR’s 2019 Head Coaching Search Tracker]
On Thursday, the Broncos made it official.
“Vic really impressed us with his attention to detail — His focus is on teaching the fundamentals, technique and playing disciplined football,” GM John Elway said. “Going through this process and talking to many qualified candidates, it became clear that Vic was the best choice to lead our team. There are few things that Vic has not seen in 40 years of coaching. He’s been great on the defensive side of the ball for a number of years with a simple, detailed approach that gets results. With his intelligence and experience, Vic is as good of a football coach as you can find. He’s the perfect fit and exactly what we need as head coach of the Denver Broncos.”
The Broncos are hoping that Fangio will help restore the defense to its former glory. Meanwhile, they’ll have to pay special attention to how they fill out the rest of their staff.
Fangio is experienced, but the 60-year-old has never served as a head coach at any level. And, despite all of his defensive acumen, they’ll need a sharp and seasoned offensive team to handle the other side of the ball. Shortly after agreeing to terms with Fangio, the Broncos took a big step in that direction by appointing Gary Kubiak as the team’s offensive coordinator.
Fangio was largely overlooked in last year’s cycle, but the Bears’ success in 2018 vaulted him to the top of Denver’s list. Despite their early playoff exit against the Eagles, the Bears’ D thrived – they ranked No. 1 in scoring defense and allowed just 17.7 points per game.
Fangio has spent the last four year as the Bears’ DC. Before that, he had four years as the 49ers’ DC and also had DC stints with the Panthers, Colts, and Texans.
The hiring leaves the Bears with a DC vacancy of their own. This also means that runner-up Mike Munchak will have to evaluate other options. Munchak interviewed for the Broncos, Packers, and Browns’ head coaching jobs, but they have all been filled. The Dolphins reached out to Munchak, but he turned down their interview request earlier this month.
The hiring of Fangio coupled with the Browns’ hiring of Freddie Kitchens on Wednesday leaves the Dolphins, Bengals and Jets as the only teams with head coaching vacancies.
A’s Expect Kyler Murray To Enter NFL Draft
The Oakland Athletics own Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray‘s baseball rights after selecting him in the first round of the 2018 MLB draft, but they expect him to declare for the NFL draft this weekend, according to Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle.
Simply declaring for the NFL draft doesn’t necessarily mean Murray will decide not to play for the Athletics, although one source does tell Slusser that Murray is reportedly leaning towards football. If Murray does opt to play football, he’d be required to pay back the A’s more than $4.5MM. Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter) NFL decision-makers believe Murray is “magic” and predict he’d come off the board on Day 1 or 2 of the draft, so he’d be able to make up that lost money in short order.
Murray and his agent Scott Boras have never officially ruled out the NFL despite persistently denying interest in deviating from an MLB-based plan. The Athletics would retain Murray’s baseball rights, but playing both baseball and football is not an option for Murray, per Slusser. The time commitments afforded to modern day professional sports simply make a dual-sport athlete nearly impossible.
Murray will likely need to make a decision by the end of February, as Slusser reports. He’ll be expected to attend Spring Training at that point, while the impending NFL Draft Combine would also require his attention, meaning the Heisman winner’s hand will likely be forced.
Jets To Hire Adam Gase As Head Coach
The Jets have agreed to hire former Dolphins head coach Adam Gase for the same position, according to Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Gase will stay in the AFC East, where he led Miami to a 23-25 record from 2015-17. That tenure only included a single postseason appearance, a first-round loss in his rookie campaign. But Gase, 40, earned glowing reports as an offensive coordinator with the Broncos and Bears earlier in his career, as he helped Peyton Manning and Jay Cutler to immensely successful seasons.
Once viewed as something of a “quarterback whisperer,” Gase will now be tasked with continuing the development of 2018 No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold, who showed flashes during his first NFL go-round. He’ll also inherit an interesting offensive corps, with weapons such as receiver Robby Anderson and tight end Christopher Herndon at his disposal. And the Jets, who rank second in projected 2019 cap space with nearly $100MM at their disposal, should be likely to reinforce their roster via free agency.
As PFR’s Head Coaching Search Tracker shows, the Jets had been one of just three teams without a head coach in place. With Gase on board in New York, only the Bengals and Dolphins have yet to find a new head coach.
Before hiring Gase, the Jets interviewed a number of intriguing candidates:
- Eric Bieniemy, offensive coordinator (Chiefs): Interviewed on 1/2
- Jim Caldwell, former head coach (Lions): Interviewed on 1/7
- Kliff Kingsbury, offensive coordinator (USC): Interviewed on 1/7
- Mike McCarthy, former head coach (Packers): Interviewed on 1/5
- Todd Monken, offensive coordinator (Buccaneers): Interviewed on 1/8
- Matt Rhule, head coach (Baylor): Interviewed
- Kris Richard, defensive backs coach (Cowboys): Interviewed on 1/6;
- Matt Campbell, head coach (Iowa State): Declined interview request
Kingsbury landed the Cardinals’ head coaching job, while others like Bieniemy, Monken, and Richard each still candidates for either the Cincinnati or Miami position. But of the remaining vacancies, McCarthy was only interested in New York, so he’s now likely to wait until 2020 to find another head coaching gig.
Matt Rhule Will Remain At Baylor
Baylor head coach Matt Rhule has indicated to his coaching staff that he won’t be leaving for the NFL, where the Jets had interviewed him for their head coaching position, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
The Jets wanted Rhule to agree to hire assistants the team’s front office would procure, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter links). New York had concerns that Rhule, who has spent almost the entirety of his career in the college ranks, wouldn’t be able to form a staff. But Rhule had no interest in hiring coaches with whom he wasn’t familiar, per Mehta.
Besides a brief 2012 stint as the Giants’ offensive line coach, Rhule has spent the majority of his career in the NCAA. Rhule was head coach at Temple for four seasons, where he led the Owls to their only back-to-back 10-win seasons in school history. He joined Baylor in 2017 and didn’t see similar results, as the Bears finished with a 1-11 record during his first season. However, Baylor improved in 2018, finishing 7-6.
Despite his lack of an NFL track record, Rhule has been mentioned as an NFL head coaching candidate in the past. He interviewed for the Colts’ top job last offseason before Indianapolis selected Josh McDaniels as its initial head coach (before moving to Frank Reich once McDaniels spurned the club).
New York was the only NFL team known to be considering Rhule as a head coaching candidate, so it will need to move on to other candidates. As PFR’s Head Coaching Search Tracker indicates, Gang Green has interviewed a number of other coaches:
- Eric Bieniemy, offensive coordinator (Chiefs): Interviewed on 1/2
- Jim Caldwell, former head coach (Lions): Interviewed on 1/7
- Adam Gase, former head coach (Dolphins): Interviewed on 1/4
- Mike McCarthy, former head coach (Packers): Interviewed on 1/5
- Todd Monken, offensive coordinator (Buccaneers): Interviewed on 1/8
- Kris Richard, defensive backs coach (Cowboys): Interviewed on 1/6; no longer in running?
- Matt Campbell, head coach (Iowa State): Declined interview request
- Kliff Kingsbury, offensive coordinator (USC): Interviewed on 1/7
Todd Bowles To Choose Buccaneers
The Buccaneers will have a key component of Cardinals Southeast in the fold. Todd Bowles will, in fact, choose Tampa Bay over Chicago.
Bowles and the Bucs worked out offset language in his contract, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link), adding the recently fired Jets coach will become the Bucs’ defensive coordinator.
A possible Bruce Arians-Bowles reunion had been planned for around six weeks, assuming the Jets did follow through on firing the latter and that the former received a head coaching job, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets.
Arians will be taking Bowles, Byron Leftwich and Harold Goodwin with him to Tampa Bay. More former Arizona assistants may well be en route. But when the Broncos hired Vic Fangio to be their head coach, Bowles — who has known Matt Nagy for decades — the Bears entered the equation. However, Bowles will be following Arians, leaving the Bears with a DC vacancy.
One of those assistants will be former Jets DC Kacy Rodgers, per Mehta (on Twitter). Rodgers will coach the Bucs’ defensive line. Bowles tabbed Rodgers to follow him for more than a month, Mehta notes. Rodgers dealt with health concerns this year but returned to the Jets’ sideline shortly after taking a leave of absence. He does not have a history with Arians, coming to the Jets from Miami when Bowles was hired.
Bowles will replace Mike Smith as Tampa Bay’s full-time DC. He oversaw two top-10 defenses in Arizona before taking the New York HC job. After a brief period of uncertainty, the 55-year-old coach can again go light on winter-gear packing.
Broncos To Hire Gary Kubiak As OC
Gary Kubiak is back in Denver. After hiring defensive guru Vic Fangio to run the team, the Broncos reached agreement on a deal to bring Kubiak back as the team’s offensive coordinator, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. 
Fangio offers defensive coordinator experience with five different clubs, but he has never served as a head coach in his ~40 years on the sidelines. With Kubiak in the fold, Fangio can put the bulk of his focus on the defense and day-to-day tasks while allowing Kubiak to manage the offense and aid him in the transition to the new job.
This arrangement has likely been in the works for a while. Earlier this month, the Broncos blocked other teams from interviewing Kubiak for OC jobs and Kubiak’s preference was to remain in Denver under any circumstances. Prior to the Broncos’ block, the Bengals and Falcons requested interviews with the 57-year-old.
Following his brief but successful stint in Baltimore, Kubiak returned to Denver to accept his “dream job” as the Broncos’ head coach. But, after two years as sideline general, health issues forced Kubiak into an executive role. He was actually rumored to be a viable OC candidate last offseason, but GM John Elway expanded Kubiak’s front office responsibilities in order to keep him in the fold. This offseason, they’re putting him back on the sidelines to prevent him from being poached.
Browns To Hire Freddie Kitchens As HC
The Browns decided to stay in-house. Or, more accurately, in the kitchen. On Wednesday afternoon, the Browns will formally announce the promotion of offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens to the head coaching position, according to ESPN.com’s Chris Mortensen (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: PFR’s 2019 Head Coaching Search Tracker]
Kitchens proved his value after an in-season promotion gave him the keys to the Browns’ offense. Under Kitchen’s tutelage, rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield thrived and became a legitimate contender for the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award. The Browns closed the season 5-3 with Kitchens donning the headset and it appears that he is being given more credit for the turnaround than interim head coach Gregg Williams.
Early on, the Browns were connected to some big-name coaching candidates such as former Packers coach Mike McCarthy and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. The Browns did not seriously pursue either coach, choosing instead to talk with Williams, Jim Caldwell, Dan Campbell, Matt Eberflus, Brian Flores, Mike Munchak, Nick Sirianni, and Kevin Stefanski.
Stefanski, the Vikings’ offensive coordinator, was believed to be a finalist alongside Kitchens. Ultimately, he lost out, which means that Brad Childress is probably not on his way back to Cleveland after all.
Buccaneers Officially Hire Bruce Arians
The Buccaneers-Bruce Arians noise produced the conclusion many expected. The two-time coach of the year is heading to Tampa Bay, as first reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Bucs have since confirmed the hire via press release.
“Bruce Arians is one of the NFL’s most well-respected coaches over the past two decades and we are excited to have him leading our team,” Buccaneers owner Bryan Glazer said in a statement. “Throughout this process, we focused on finding the right coach with a proven ability to elevate our players and lead our team forward. Bruce has played a large role in the development and career success of some of our league’s best players and we look forward to seeing him continue that work here with our franchise.”
This will be a four-year deal with a team option for a fifth season, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. And Arians wants to bring some of his former Cardinals assistants with him. Byron Leftwich, Harold Goodwin and Clyde Christensen — an Arians coworker with the Colts — will be brought on board and Todd Bowles has already agreed to become the team’s defensive coordinator. Bowles was Arians’ DC for two seasons with the Cardinals.
Arians-to-Tampa gained steam over the past few days, and it turns out the former Cardinals coach’s retirement was brief. Arians is now going to rejoin former Cards personnel exec Jason Licht with the Bucs and be in charge of determining what can be coaxed from Jameis Winston, whom he’s known since the passer’s high school days.
The Bucs had initial concerns about the 66-year-old Arians’ health, per Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com (Twitter link). This required a physical. But they are satisfied with the results. That, and language in Arians’ Arizona contract — which contained a 2019 option — represent cleared hurdles now, Darlington notes. Of note: Arians is the oldest HC hire in NFL history, surpassing a 64-year-old Dick Vermeil.
Arians interviewed for the Tampa Bay job on Saturday morning and outflanked everyone else on the meeting list in terms of experience. The 2012 and ’14 coach of the year, the first coming when he was the Colts’ OC who took over for a cancer-stricken Chuck Pagano, Arians has guided three teams to the playoffs — that Colts team and two Cardinals squads. Armed with the NFL’s No. 1 offense, Arizona advanced to the 2015 NFC championship game under Arians. They produced a top-10 attack in 2016 as well. After Arians’ retirement, the Cardinals fell off quickly. They hired Kliff Kingsbury today to replace Steve Wilks, who oversaw the team’s descent from 8-8 to 3-13.
Spending the 2018 season as a CBS analyst, Arians initially said the only job he would come out of retirement to take was the Browns’ position. But Cleveland did not reciprocate the interest. Tampa Bay did and was the only team to interview Arians. The sides were believed to have only begun negotiations Tuesday, and they progressed quickly.
Arians will now be tasked with ending the NFC’s longest playoff drought. The Bucs have not qualified for a bracket since 2007, in Jon Gruden‘s penultimate season, and have fired five coaches since that happened.
Licht announced last week that the candidate who won the race to replace Dirk Koetter was going to work with Winston. Despite the quarterback’s off-field issues and interception troubles, he figures to have his best chance at showing he’s a capable starter under Arians. In Arizona, Arians resurrected Carson Palmer‘s career and pushed him to a near-MVP performance in 2015. Arians received his 2014 coach of the year honor for steering the Cards to 11-5 after losing Palmer and Drew Stanton to injuries.
The Bucs also employ Mike Evans, O.J. Howard and Chris Godwin on offense, and the team wants to bring back Adam Humphries to retain one of the franchise’s best-ever skill-position groups — one that is more well-rounded than the David Johnson-less contingent Arians had in his final Arizona season.
Bowles has also received interest from the Redskins, interviewing with Washington on Tuesday, but another job with Arians figures to be enticing.
Falcons To Bring Back Dirk Koetter As OC
Minutes after the Buccaneers agreed to replace Dirk Koetter with Bruce Arians, the recently fired coach will land in familiar territory.
The Falcons are bringing Koetter back as their offensive coordinator, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The team offered Koetter the job on Monday night. He will now be facing the Bucs twice a season.
Mike Mularkey, who joined Darrell Bevell in interviewing for this post, will come back to Atlanta as tight ends coach, the Falcons announced.
Atlanta’s OC from 2012-14, Koetter relocated when the Falcons switched from Mike Smith to Dan Quinn. Now, he’ll work for Quinn and be the top offensive voice in the Falcons’ building. Quinn will now serve as his own defensive coordinator, and Koetter will be tasked with revitalizing an offense that regressed under Steve Sarkisian.
Although Atlanta improved from Sarkisian’s first year to his second, finishing 2018 as the No. 10 scoring offense (after ranking 15th in 2017), the Falcons fired him. He did not live up to expectations, and the offense (as could be expected) regressed from its historic 2016 perch under Kyle Shanahan. Koetter oversaw a Bucs attack that ranked third in yards this season, although Todd Monken was Tampa Bay’s primary play-caller this season. The Bucs boasted a top-10 yardage attack (ninth) in 2017, with Koetter calling the plays, as well.
With the Falcons, Koetter oversaw a No. 1-seeded team’s explosive offense in 2012 and two less impressive attacks in 2013 and ’14. Matt Ryan praised Koetter recently and will get to work with the veteran schemer again soon. Koetter also oversaw Julio Jones‘ rise; now, he’ll be in charge of the back end of the future Hall of Famer’s prime.
Mularkey is a three-time head coach whose most recent work includes ending a near-decade-long Titans playoff drought. Tennessee, however, fired Mularkey after the 2017 divisional-round sojourn. He served as the Falcons’ OC from 2008-11, and that tenure included an Atlanta run to the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Koetter replaced Mularkey when the latter became the Jaguars’ HC. He was a one-and-done in that role, however.
Prior to ascending to the Titans’ HC post, he was their tight ends instructor. The former NFL tight end has coached this position for four teams dating back to 1994.