Buccaneers Eyeing Bruce Arians For Head Coach
The Buccaneers seem to have an eye on one particular target for their head coaching vacancy. According to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter), Tampa Bay has “real interest” in former Cardinals coach Bruce Arians. Rapoport notes that the interest is mutual, and the two sides could meet soon. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero echoes that sentiment, noting that there’s been “a sense in the building” that Arians would ultimately get the job.
After serving as the Cardinals head coach for five seasons, Arians retired from the job last offseason. The 66-year-old was relatively successful during his tenure in Arizona, leading the Cardinals to 49-30-1 record and a pair of playoff appearances (including an appearance in the 2015 NFC Championship Game).
Arians was hired as an analyst by CBS back in May, but there have been continued whispers that he could seek another NFL gig. The coach was reportedly pushing for the Browns head coaching job, but Arians said in December that he wasn’t expecting to land the position. The head coach also recently said that it’s probably a “99-to-1” chance that he’ll be back on the sidelines in 2019.
As our Head Coaching Tracker shows, the Buccaneers have interviewed or will interview three candidates: Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards, and Cowboys defensive backs coach Kris Richard.
Steelers Expected To Extend Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger will be entering the final season of his contract in 2019, but it sounds like the Steelers quarterback may be sticking around for longer than that. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the Steelers and Roethlisberger are expected to “restructure and extend” the quarterback’s deal prior to the beginning of the league year on March 13th.
In recent years, there have seemingly been whispers every offseason that the 36-year-old Roethlisberger could decide to hang up his cleats, although the veteran has hinted that he’s open to playing beyond his current contract. The Steelers did use a third-round pick on Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph in this past year’s draft, but that wouldn’t necessarily prevent Roethlisberger from playing another handful of seasons. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes that team president Art Rooney II previously said that he’d like to ink Roethlisberger to one more contract.
Despite being up there in age, the veteran quarterback set career-highs in completions (452), pass attempts (675), passing yards (5,129), and touchdowns (34) this past season. Roethlisberger has taken an absolute beating throughout his career, and his 24 sacks in 2018 was his highest total since 2014. Still, the signal-caller managed to play in all 16 games for the first time since (of course) 2014.
The quarterback signed an extension with Pittsburgh back in 2015, and he’s set to have a cap charges of $23.2MM. As Schefter notes, an extension could open up some extra cap space for the Steelers, perhaps making an Antonio Brown trade more tolerable.
Steelers Will Consider Trade Offers For WR Antonio Brown
While there are some clear financial hurdles to overcome, the Steelers will be listening to offers for Antonio Brown this offseason. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports that the organization is “expected to consider trade requests” for their star wide receiver prior to the start of free agency.
As our own Zach Links previously detailed, the Steelers may be a bit wary of trading or cutting Brown due to the impending financial implications. Thanks in part to the $19MM signing bonus he received in his four-year, $68MM extension and the $12.96MM restructuring bonus he later secured, cutting or trading Brown would result in a $21.12MM cap charge for 2019.
However, as Rapoport points out, the Steelers could see some slight savings if they trade Brown prior to the third day of the league year. The receiver is due a $2.5MM roster bonus on that date, and trading Brown would save the team $1MM in cap savings. Furthermore, the team would also see around $15MM in “cash savings.”
Of course, the Steelers aren’t simply looking to give Brown away. Rapoport writes that several team executives believe the asking price is a first-round pick, while others believe it’d take “multiple high picks” in order to pry him away from Pittsburgh. On the flip side, other source told Rapoport that they wouldn’t be surprised if the organization somehow remedies the situation, leading to the receiver sticking with the Steelers in 2019.
Following his curious behavior leading up to a crucial Week 17, there have been conflicting reports about whether Brown requested a trade out of Pittsburgh. If the 30-year-old is indeed on his way out, the Steelers surely won’t be lacking for suitors. While it was a “down year” by his standards, Brown still finished the campaign with 104 receptions for 1,297 yards and a league-leading 15 touchdown receptions.
Pat Fitzgerald Won’t Consider NFL Jobs
Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald will not leave the collegiate game for the NFL, his agent tells Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link).
Fitzgerald has recently been adamant that he won’t leave Northwestern, but NFL clubs were still interested in his services. The Packers, for one, were expected to request an interview with Fitzgerald, and Silverstein reports Fitzgerald actually received multiple inquiries from the league. Packers president Mark Murphy hired Fitzgerald at Northwestern, but that connection wasn’t enough to sway Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald, 44, has been mentioned as an NFL candidate since at least 2015. A former player at Northwestern, Fitzgerald began coaching the Wildcats’ defensive backs in 2001, and was eventually named head coach in 2006. He’s since transformed the program, posting a 92-70 record during his time in Evanston.
Fitzgerald inked a 10-year extension with Northwestern in 2017. His salary is not publicly available, but Fitzgerald is believed to be among the highest-paid coaches in the Big Ten.
Jets To Interview Adam Gase
Adam Gase will be conducting two head coach interviews this week. After his Cardinals meeting, Gase will head to the Big Apple to discuss the Jets’ HC vacancy, Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
The recently fired Dolphins coach will meet with the Jets on Friday. He is currently in Arizona for the Cards meeting.
After the Dolphins cut the cord with Gase on Monday, word quickly surfaced other teams were interested in sitting down to discuss the three-year Miami head coach’s qualifications for a quick rebound. While the Broncos and Browns passed on that prospect, the Cardinals and Jets will not. And the 40-year-old coach is in the thick of another coaching carousel.
Gase’s career took off when he enhanced the Peyton Manning-era Broncos offense, leading the 2013 team to an NFL scoring record. An injury-plagued Manning also threw 39 touchdown passes a year later, but the Broncos pivoted toward Gary Kubiak, routing Gase to Chicago. He became the Dolphins’ HC in 2016, but despite rumors he would be safe and get a fourth season leading the Dolphins, Stephen Ross kept front office fixtures Mike Tannenbaum and Chris Grier, with some job-title reorganization, and axed Gase.
The Jets are also set to interview Mike McCarthy, Eric Bieniemy and Kliff Kingsbury. New York requested summits with Kris Richard, Todd Monken and Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, the latter of whom turning down the Jets. But a fourth confirmed interview appears to be in the works.
Browns To Interview Mike McCarthy
Mike McCarthy has plenty of connections in Cleveland, and the longtime Green Bay coach looks to be on his way to northeast Ohio for a head coaching interview.
The Browns are expected to meet with McCarthy on Thursday, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports. This will be McCarthy’s second known interview, with the Jets having secured one as well. It’s not known which meeting will occur first.
Now led by longtime McCarthy Packers co-worker John Dorsey, the Browns reached out to the recently fired coach over the weekend. And the parties are set to meet as part of a wide-ranging Cleveland HC search. Former Packers front office execs Alonzo Highsmith and Eliot Wolf are now with the Browns as well, making a McCarthy-to-Cleveland path obviously interesting.
The Packers fired McCarthy midway through their second straight non-playoff season. Green Bay did advance to eight straight postseasons under McCarthy, however.
Now 55, McCarthy was rumored to possibly sit out this round of hiring, unless an ideal fit came around, but the Browns are suddenly an intriguing team. Having won seven games for only the second time in the past 11 seasons, the Browns have formed a promising young nucleus featuring the likes of Myles Garrett, Nick Chubb and Denzel Ward. Potential offensive rookie of the year Baker Mayfield is the centerpiece and will help the Browns attract a level of coaching candidate they previously struggled to in the recent past.
Both the Jets and Browns will have plenty of cap space, with New York set to hold more than $100MM and Cleveland prepared to carry at least $85MM. Both teams figure to be key offseason entities, each drafting their hopeful franchise quarterback last year and each now in the process of critical coaching searches.
Vance Joseph To Interview For Bengals’ HC Job
The Bengals are going to explore one of their former assistants’ viability for their head coaching position.
Rumored as a possibility to become Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator, Vance Joseph is expected to interview for the Bengals’ HC job this week, Ryan Koensigsberg of BSN Denver and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com report (Twitter links).
Joseph’s two years in Denver brought the franchise to a rare two-year low point, the Broncos finishing consecutive seasons with losing records for the first time in nearly 50 years. But Mike Brown values familiarity, and Joseph served as the Bengals’ secondary coach from 2014-15.
Joseph joins Bengals assistants Bill Lazor and Darren Simmons as interviewees. The Bengals also requested meetings with Josh McDaniels and Rams assistants Zac Taylor and Shane Waldron. Taylor will interview for the Bengals’ job on Friday.
Now 46, Joseph has not been connected to any other HC jobs since the Broncos fired him on Monday. He went 11-21 in two seasons in Denver.
Cardinals, Jets Expected To Interview Kliff Kingsbury
While the Lincoln Riley avenue appears closed for NFL teams, they continue to explore what a college-level offensive innovator could bring to the table.
The Cardinals and Jets are expected to meet with former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury about their head coach vacancies, Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com reports.
Two other teams with HC openings said Kingsbury was on their radar but that no interviews were as of yet scheduled. The 39-year-old coach is also being monitored for NFL offensive coordinator jobs, Robinson adds. The Rams contacted Kingsbury about an assistant job late last year.
The Red Raiders fired Kingsbury after this season, but NFL teams took notice of the job he did leading the Big 12 program’s explosive offenses. Kingsbury brought both Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield to Lubbock, Texas, and steered the former to becoming a top-10 pick.
Kingsbury declined a chance to become the University of Houston’s head coach and is on USC’s staff as the program’s OC and quarterbacks coach. While Texas Tech only went 35-40 under Kingsbury, his offenses have obviously attracted NFL franchises — especially given the successes of younger, offensively oriented coaches in recent years. Case Keenum also set NCAA passing records under Kingsbury when they were at Houston together.
A former Red Raiders quarterback, Kingsbury was briefly on the Jets’ roster, in 2005, before transitioning to the CFL and then going into coaching. The Jets attempted to bring Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell in for an interview, but the Cyclones’ coach declined.
Brian Flores To Meet With Browns, Broncos, Dolphins, Packers
The latest Patriots playoff bye week will bring quite the workload for linebackers coach Brian Flores.
While he is still arranging his schedule, he has agreed to meet with the Browns, Broncos, Dolphins and Packers about their head coaching vacancies, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports (on Twitter). These interviews will occur this weekend.
After previously omitting the Broncos, who requested a meeting with Flores, La Canfora reports they will meet with the aspiring head coach. The Bucs, though, are not set to meet with the Patriot assistant this week, JLC tweets.
These four teams requested summits with Flores, and he will oblige. Flores has become a far more attractive candidate than he was a year ago, when the Cardinals met with him about their HC opening. Arizona again has an opening, but the team has not as of yet requested another audience with New England’s 37-year-old de facto defensive coordinator.
The Patriots turned to Flores as their top defensive assistant following Matt Patricia‘s defection to Detroit.
New England’s first post-Patricia defense has been the team’s typical bend-but-don’t-break unit, ranking 21st in yards allowed but seventh in scoring. The Pats have only had one non-top-10 scoring defense in the past 13 seasons; Flores has been a part of their past eight defensive coaching staffs.
Lions, Jim Bob Cooter Mutually Part Ways
Jim Bob Cooter‘s run with Matt Patricia in Detroit will be limited to one year. The Lions and their longtime offensive coordinator will mutually part ways, Albert Breer of SI.com reports (on Twitter). The team announced it will not renew Cooter’s contract.
Cooter, the youngest active NFL OC, had generated interest from other teams in recent days and will likely be a name to monitor as the OC carousel accelerates in the coming days. The 34-year-old coach has received interview requests, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
The Lions promoted Cooter to offensive coordinator midway through the 2015 season, and the young coach helped elevate Matthew Stafford‘s game. This topped out when Detroit finished as the NFL’s No. 7 scoring offense in 2017, doing so without much of a running game. But this season, Stafford’s numbers regressed, down by more than 600 passing yards and going from 7.9 yards per attempt in 207 to 6.8 this season, as did the Lions’ offense in a 6-10 season.
After letting Eric Ebron walk in the offseason, the Lions traded Golden Tate and saw Marvin Jones and Kerryon Johnson go down midseason. They plummeted to 25th in scoring in 2018.
Patricia overhauled Detroit’s defense staff upon taking the Lions’ reins but left Cooter in place. Patricia fired Lions special teams boss Joe Marciano during the season and now looks set to reshape the franchise’s offensive staff.
Cooter interviewed for the job Patricia ended up getting, and while a head coaching gig may not be in his immediate future, another OC opportunity probably will.