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Rams To Part Ways With Bobby Wagner

February 23rd, 2023 at 4:15pm CST by Adam La Rose

As cost-cutting season begins to take shape around the NFL, a major name on the defensive side of the ball is set to hit the open market. The Rams are mutually parting ways with linebacker Bobby Wagner, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link).

The 32-year-old was one of the more sought-after veterans last offseason after his storied Seahawks tenure came to an end. He stayed in the NFC West, inking a five-year, $50MM deal. That allowed the future Hall of Famer to head home, though the possibility of a move such as this one remained given the structure of the deal. It came out not long after Wagner signed the Rams pact that the agreement was essentially for two seasons in terms of guarantees, and gave him the option of voiding the final three years.

Wagner was an every-down starter for the Rams this season, logging over 1,000 snaps for the fourth straight campaign. His production (including 140 tackles, six sacks and five pass deflections) earned him second team All-Pro honors. He was also PFF’s highest-graded middle linebacker, a testament to his value even in the waning stages of his career. Wagner will once again find himself amongst the league’s top free agents next month.

Mike Garafolo tweets that this move will not become official until the new league year begins in March. Five days after that point, the contract would have seen Wagner’s 2023 salary of $7.5MM (along with a $2.5MM roster bonus in 2024) become fully guaranteed. He did not waive that clause, per Schefter (Twitter link). Nevertheless, this will save the Rams considerable cap space for each of the next four seasons, including $5MM in 2023.

That figure will be counterbalanced by a dead cap hit of $7.5MM for this season, presuming Wagner’s guarantee remains in place as scheduled. His cap hit was set to spike to $12.5MM in 2023, and remain around that level through the 2026 campaign. Los Angeles will thus save much-needed space as they look to rebound from a disastrous Super Bowl title defense which saw much of the team’s veteran nucleus (including Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald) end the season on the sidelines through injuries. Each of that trio is under contract after signing new deals last offseason, so Wagner represents a more logical release candidate for cost-cutting purposes.

Los Angeles entered today roughly $15MM over the cap, so they will still have work to do in advance of free agency. That period will be an interesting one from their perspective, but also that of Wagner, who received serious interest from the Ravens before choosing to sign with the Rams. Baltimore made a midseason splash at the trade deadline, acquiring Roquan Smith from the Bears and subsequently signing him to an historic extension. Their massive commitment to Smith – along with the presence of former first-rounder Patrick Queen – would make a second pursuit on the Ravens’ part highly unlikely.

No shortage of other teams will be willing to sign the nine-time Pro Bowler, though. A short-term pact with an appropriate amount of guarantees would allow him to fulfil his reported desire of landing on a contender, something the Rams may struggle to re-establish themselves as (even with head coach Sean McVay remaining) barring much better luck on the health front. Los Angeles will move forward with Ernest Jones still in place in the middle of their defense, but a lack of established players alongside him currently under contract. Wagener, meanwhile, will begin assessing his options on the open market.

Broncos To Hire Vance Joseph As DC

February 23rd, 2023 at 10:36am CST by Sam Robinson

Vance Joseph is coming back to Denver. The former Broncos head coach will make a quick return, agreeing to join Sean Payton‘s staff as defensive coordinator, Peter Schrager of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).

This hire will come barely four years after the Broncos fired Joseph following a two-year HC run. While unusual, a coach coming back so soon is not unprecedented. Joseph beat out the likes of Rex Ryan, Matt Patricia and Sean Desai for the job. Joseph will again play the lead role in helming Denver’s defense, doing so under Payton this time around.

Joseph, 50, received extensive interest from the Eagles as well. He went through a two-day interview with Philly brass; that wrapped Wednesday. Despite a rocky history with the Broncos, Joseph kept the door open for a return. The University of Colorado alum has not worked with Payton previously, but these two will be the top coaches in the Broncos’ organization going forward. Payton will call plays offensively, and Joseph will now step into Denver’s defensive play-calling role.

The Broncos went 9-7 under Gary Kubiak in 2016; their decline began to hit under Joseph over the next two seasons. Denver went 5-11 and 6-10 in 2017 and ’18, respectively, though quarterback trouble did more to sink those teams than defensive issues. While the Broncos’ defense did dip from its Wade Phillips-overseen apex, Joseph immediately landed the Cardinals’ DC job upon being axed. It is not known if the Eagles offered Joseph their DC position, but the Broncos’ new ownership — as evidenced by the Payton hire — certainly would be in position to win a bidding war for a coach. Joseph left his Eagles interview believing he had a good chance at either that job or the Denver opening, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson tweets.

The Cardinals interviewed Joseph for their HC position early in their lengthy search process but ended up preferring two other DCs — finalists Jonathan Gannon and Lou Anarumo. Gannon and Joseph soon came to an understanding, one that led the Cardinals to replace him with the NFL’s youngest active coordinator — 29-year-old Nick Rallis. The Cardinals took on water from all sides last season, with their defense ranking 24th in DVOA despite J.J. Watt‘s bounce-back finale. But Joseph’s unit played a major role in Arizona’s 2021 playoff voyage; DVOA ranked the 2021 Cardinals’ defense sixth. The metric placed Arizona’s 2020 defense, which did not have Chandler Jones for most of the season, 10th overall.

Joseph is the second former Broncos HC to return to the team as a defensive boss over the past 10 years. Phillips, Denver’s head coach from 1993-94, came back in 2015 and helped steer the Kubiak-led team to a Super Bowl win. This reminds more of the Chiefs rehiring Gunther Cunningham four years after firing him as head coach. Cunningham coached the Chiefs from 1999-2000, being promoted from DC, but he returned to his previous coordinator role under both Dick Vermeil and Herm Edwards. Unlike those circumstances, when the same GM was in place (Carl Peterson), the GM who fired Joseph — John Elway — is no longer in a regular role with the team. Payton and George Paton are running the show. New ownership is also in place, with the Rob Walton-led group taking over last year.

“I’m over it. It was never a sore spot,” Joseph said (via Denver7’s Troy Renck) of being fired as Broncos HC in 2019. “That’s a great opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL. It didn’t work out, but I wasn’t the first guy and I won’t be the last. There were never any ill feelings. It was just a job. It didn’t get done and you move on.”

Justin Simmons and Josey Jewell are the only Broncos cogs left from Joseph’s first run with the organization. The Broncos ranked 10th and fifth, respectively, in defensive DVOA under Joseph from 2017-18. His 11-21 HC record aside, Joseph has shown an ability to lead upper-echelon defenses. He will now bring four additional years of experience back to Denver. Joseph’s experience helped sell Payton, Mike Klis of 9News tweets. Phillips also reached out to Joseph before his interview with Payton, Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com notes.

Ryan obviously brings more experience than Joseph, but the ESPN analyst — reported as the favorite for this job days ago — has also been out of the league since the Bills fired him late in the 2016 season. Desai, who also interviewed for the Eagles’ DC job, has one season of coordinator experience. Joseph has been a head coach or D-coordinator for seven combined seasons. This will be his fourth opportunity to lead a defense.

Defensive backs coach Christian Parker also interviewed for the job, Legwold notes, adding Mike Zimmer interviewed for a separate position on staff. Kris Richard, whom Payton hired with the Saints in 2021, also interviewed for the gig. Parker would appear to be a candidate to stay, while Zimmer — previously mentioned as a candidate to team with Payton again — could be in play for a senior defensive assistant-type position. Joseph should still be expected to have input in how Denver’s defensive staff looks.

Titans Release LT Taylor Lewan

February 22nd, 2023 at 10:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Titans are following through with their expected Taylor Lewan release. After nine seasons in Tennessee, the Pro Bowl left tackle announced (via his Bussin’ With The Boys podcast, on Twitter) he is set to be a free agent.

Although Lewan initially indicated a pay cut could be a path for him to stay with the Titans, it looks like the sides are parting ways. Lewan said he would consider retirement this offseason. It is not yet known if the three-time Pro Bowler plans to play a 10th season, but the Titans will create another need along their offensive line with Wednesday’s transaction.

[RELATED: Titans To Cut WR Robert Woods]

The prospect of that above-referenced return at a reduced rate remains under consideration, according to veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky (on Twitter), but the team has a few moving pieces up front at present. For now, this release will create significant cap savings.

No guarantees remained on Lewan’s contract; the release will shed $14.8MM from Tennessee’s payroll. While the 31-year-old blocker had been one of the game’s best left tackles, injuries have sidelined him for much of the past few seasons. Lewan has missed 30 games since the 2020 campaign.

Lewan signed a five-year, $80MM extension with the Titans back in 2018. He stood as the premier player on an O-line that helped Derrick Henry to the rushing title in 2019. Lewan was unable to play a significant role during Henry’s second rushing championship, tearing an ACL five games into the 2020 season, but he did re-emerge to assist the injury-battered Titans to the AFC’s No. 1 seed in 2021. Lingering knee trouble affected him that year, however, and another ACL tear sidelined the Michigan product in Week 2 of the 2022 season.

The Titans drafted Lewan 11th overall, selecting him during Ruston Webster’s GM tenure. Jon Robinson authorized the extension; new Tennessee GM Ran Carthon is signing off on the release. Although Lewan sits just outside the top 10 in franchise history for games started by an offensive lineman, his 100 starts are sixth in the Titans era. Only Michael Roos, Benji Olson, David Stewart, Ben Jones and Brad Hopkins have logged more starts with Tennessee among O-linemen. Lewan was the current Titans’ longest-tenured player.

Tennessee already has right guard Nate Davis on the cusp of free agency, and Jones is considering retirement after finishing the season on IR. The veteran center is signed through 2023, however. Tennessee cut Rodger Saffold last year and replaced him primarily with former UDFA Aaron Brewer, who can be retained as a restricted free agent. Nicholas Petit-Frere, a 2022 third-round pick, may be penciled in at right tackle, but Carthon and Co. will have plenty of work to do to assemble a line around him. Thanks to the Lewan and Woods moves, additional cap space will now be available to do so.

Titans Release LB Zach Cunningham

February 22nd, 2023 at 2:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

Making a fourth major cut Wednesday, the Titans will now move north of $10MM in cap space. They are jettisoning veteran linebacker Zach Cunningham, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

A waiver claim in 2021, Cunningham has been a regular starter for most of his career. The former second-round pick has spent his six-year NFL run in the AFC South, moving from the Texans to the Titans. The 28-year-old off-ball ‘backer will have an early chance to catch on somewhere else, perhaps in another division this time around. The Titans cut Cunningham with a failed physical designation, Aaron Wilson of KPRC tweets.

Over the past few hours, the Titans have released four starters — Cunningham, Taylor Lewan, Robert Woods and Randy Bullock — and cleared more than $35MM in cap space. This purge of veterans will give the quartet opportunities to land elsewhere before free agency’s March 13 soft opening.

Cutting Cunningham creates $8.9MM in room for Tennessee, which entered Wednesday more than $20MM over the cap. This move will cost $4.5MM in dead money, thanks in part to a 2022 restructure. The team has now moved well under the $224.8MM salary ceiling, with the Cunningham transaction giving the retooling squad more than $12MM in space as of 2pm CT.

Teams still have until the start of the new league year — 3pm CT March 15 — to comply with the 2023 salary cap, but new Titans GM Ran Carthon is moving early to create space. The team is almost definitely not done on this front.

While Woods and Lewan’s positional markets are not especially strong, Cunningham’s is. A host of off-ball linebackers — fellow Titans starter David Long, ex-Tennessee starter Rashaan Evans, Bills standout Tremaine Edmunds, Bucs stalwart Lavonte David among them — are set to be available once the market opens. Cunningham should still be able to find a gig, though his next contract should not be expected to approach the four-year, $58MM deal the Texans gave him in August 2020.

Cunningham led the NFL in tackles in 2020, totaling 164 in the league’s final 16-game season. He racked up an NFL-most 106 solo stops that year as well, but the Texans’ 2021 regime change altered his standing with the organization. Cunningham’s playing time yo-yoed during the ’21 season in Houston, and he finished his tenure there as a healthy scratch. The Titans claimed the Vanderbilt alum off waivers that December, and Cunningham became an instant starter for his new team. He started Tennessee’s final four regular-season games that year and logged a playoff start.

Injuries slowed Cunningham in 2022, however, and he joined numerous Titan starters on IR. An elbow injury sidelined him at multiple points this season. The Titans used one of their injury activations on Cunningham, bringing him off IR late in the season, but he finished the year back on the injured list because of the elbow issue. As such, Cunningham will not hit street free agency with much momentum.

Titans Cut WR Robert Woods

February 22nd, 2023 at 11:52am CST by Sam Robinson

Ten months after trading for Robert Woods, the Titans will make the veteran wide receiver a cap casualty. Tennessee is releasing Woods on Wednesday, Jordan Schultz of The Score reports (on Twitter).

The Titans will save just more than $12MM by cutting Woods, whom they acquired from the Rams last year. The team made Woods a key part of its post-A.J. Brown plan, but its passing attack struggled throughout the season. Woods, who suffered an ACL tear in November 2021, could not recapture his pre-injury form. Between the Woods and Taylor Lewan releases, the Titans created more than $26MM in cap room Wednesday.

Woods was a constant for the Sean McVay-era Rams prior to his injury. The former Bills draftee broke through upon joining McVay in Los Angeles in 2017, reeling off his four highest receiving yardage totals from 2017-20. Woods surpassed 1,100 yards in 2018 and ’19 and caught 90 passes for 936 yards in 2020. After sweetening Woods’ contract previously, the Rams gave him an extension in September 2020. Landing Woods for just a 2023 sixth-round pick, the Titans took on that contract weeks before dealing Brown to the Eagles.

In Woods’ defense, the Titans were not readily equipped to produce a full-fledged bounce-back season. The team started an unready Malik Willis in three games and was without Ryan Tannehill for five in total. Woods, 30, finished his 10th NFL campaign with 53 catches for 527 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-foot receiver’s 9.9 yards per reception was a career-low figure.

The USC product did not establish much momentum in Tennessee, but he did play all 17 games. On a thin receiver market, Woods catching on with a fourth team is not difficult to foresee. Any deal will not come close to the $16.25MM-per-year pact the Titans are shedding, but Woods would make sense as a veteran auxiliary target. The longtime starter will now have an early start in free agency. As a street free agent, Woods signing somewhere would not affect the compensatory formula.

Tennessee’s Brown decision backfired quickly. Deemed too costly by ex-GM Jon Robinson, the former second-round pick broke the Eagles’ single-season receiving record and caught a deep touchdown pass in Super Bowl LVII. The Titans, who also let Corey Davis walk in 2021, had no receiving presence on Brown’s level. Woods, who came to Nashville a year after the team traded a second-round pick for Julio Jones, led Tennessee’s 2022 edition in receiving, with Treylon Burks‘ 444 yards second among the team’s wideouts. The Titans ranked 30th in passing last season.

While Burks should be expected to play a centerpiece role for the 2023 team, new GM Ran Carthon will have work to do in assembling a receiving corps. The Woods and Lewan cuts will save the Titans more than $26MM, though they still have cost-clearing tasks ahead of the market opening. These transactions moved the team’s cap-space total to barely $2MM, according to OverTheCap.

Cardinals Hire Drew Petzing As OC

February 19th, 2023 at 10:10pm CST by Rory Parks

The Cardinals are moving quickly to fill their coordinator positions. Shortly after he reported that Arizona was hiring 29-year-old Nick Rallis as its new DC, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network says that the club is hiring Browns quarterbacks coach Drew Petzing as its new OC (Twitter link).

Petzing, 35, landed his first NFL position when he became a football operations intern for Cleveland in 2013. Like Rallis and Gannon, Petzing spent a number of years working under former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer in Minnesota, serving on the Vikings’ offensive staff from 2014-2019 (Gannon was the Vikes’ assistant DBs coach from 2014-17, and Rallis was on the club’s defensive staff from 2018-20).

In 2020, Petzing returned to the Browns as the team’s tight ends coach, and he moved to the quarterbacks room last year, working with Jacoby Brissett and Deshaun Watson. Watson served an 11-game suspension to start the 2022 campaign, and when he returned to the field, he was clearly rusty. In six games, he compiled a 3-3 record, completed a meager 58.2% of his passes, and threw seven TDs against five interceptions. That amounted to a poor quarterback rating and QBR of 79.1 and 38.3, respectively.

On the other hand, Brissett delivered a solid performance as Watson’s placeholder for the first 11 games of the season, and it is clear that both Zimmer and Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski saw Petzing as a valuable offensive mind worth retaining. Of course, the relative youth and inexperience of Gannon, 40, and his new coordinators will be a major talking point in the desert, though Gannon has been quick to downplay the significance of such matters.

Noting that the Eagles enjoyed success with an inexperienced trio of Nick Sirianni at head coach, Shane Steichen at offensive coordinator, and himself at defensive coordinator, Gannon said, “You never really know until you do the job. Experience, yes, it’s a good thing, but if you’re convicted on somebody, you roll the dice and that’s what you go with” (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, who adds that Gannon and Petzing developed a strong friendship and working relationship during their time in Minnesota).

“We (the Eagles) had the youngest staff in the NFL,” Gannon added. “You need to hire the right people, not necessarily their resume. It’s what’s the right fit.”

Though Petzing will be calling offensive plays for the first time in his career, his most important duty will be getting quarterback Kyler Murray to return to form (when he is cleared to play, that is). After earning Pro Bowl acclaim in the 2020-21 campaigns, Murray regressed in all major passing categories last year, and he suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in December. That injury could keep him on the shelf until the halfway point of the 2023 season. Arizona might also part ways with star wideout DeAndre Hopkins in the coming months, adding another challenge for Petzing & Co. to overcome.

The Browns, meanwhile, could turn to receivers coach/passing game coordinator Chad O’Shea or tight ends coach T.C. McCartney to replace Petzing, as Cabot notes. Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic suggests that Cleveland could also consider Ravens quarterbacks coach James Urban, who may be allowed to make a lateral move to a different organization since Baltimore has a new OC in Todd Monken on the staff (Twitter links).

Cardinals Hire Nick Rallis As DC

February 19th, 2023 at 7:12am CST by Rory Parks

New Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon has made his first coordinator hire. Arizona is bringing Nick Rallis aboard as its DC, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports (via Coral Smith of NFL.com).

Rallis, 29, becomes the youngest coordinator in the league after spending each of the past two seasons working closely with Gannon as the Eagles’ linebackers coach. Just as Philadelphia’s defensive performance in 2022 reflected well on Gannon, the club’s two-year defensive coordinator, Rallis has also received attention for his work with the likes of T.J. Edwards, Kyzir White, and Haason Reddick. Zach Berman of The Athletic says (via Twitter) that Rallis was well-regarded in the Eagles’ locker room, and according to Pelissero, multiple teams tried to lure Rallis away after the Cardinals made their offer.

As opposed to the lengthy search process that culminated in Gannon’s hire, the Cardinals’ search for a defensive coordinator lasted less than a week and included just three external candidates: Bears linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi, Patriots defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, and Rallis. Gannon initially left open the possibility of retaining Vance Joseph, who worked as Arizona’s DC for the past four seasons and who also interviewed for the team’s head coaching position, but it appears that the two men were not aligned in their vision for the Cards’ defense. Joseph will now explore other opportunities, which, interestingly enough, include Philadelphia’s now-vacant defensive coordinator post.

Rallis played collegiately at the University of Minnesota, and his first job in the professional ranks came as a defensive quality control coach for the Vikings under then-HC Mike Zimmer in 2018 (Zimmer, who was also rumored to be a candidate for the Cardinals’ DC position, had Gannon on his staff from 2014-17). Rallis finished his tenure with the Vikes in 2020 before moving on to Philadelphia in 2021.

In Arizona, Rallis will be tasked with improving a unit that finished the 2022 season 21st in total defense and 31st in points allowed. The team presently has major needs at cornerback and along the defensive line.

Jets To Meet With QB Derek Carr

February 17th, 2023 at 10:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

Derek Carr already met with the Saints, after the Raiders granted permission, but the Jets will be his first free agent visit. Carr is set to meet with the Jets this weekend, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

The Jets have been linked to Carr for weeks now, and their potential either/or quandary will not deter them from a meeting. The Jets have been linked to Aaron Rodgers and Carr, and the team has done early work on Jimmy Garoppolo. Carr, however, is available now. With interest from several teams expected, the Jets will face a decision. The meeting will begin Friday night, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets.

The Saints, Commanders, Titans and Panthers are all believed to have some level of interest in Carr. The Saints having established a trade framework with the Raiders displays their level of interest, but Carr may go through multiple meetings before making a decision. Carr, 31, is going into his 10th NFL season; he refused to waive his no-trade clause and forced a release before a $40.4MM guarantee hit the Raiders’ books.

Following Zach Wilson‘s disastrous 2022 season, the Jets have made no secret of a desire to seek a veteran upgrade. Woody Johnson said he would be willing to shell out a veteran contract, while Robert Saleh confirmed the team’s interest in acquiring an experienced arm. The team pursued Kirk Cousins in 2018, but after the Vikings won out, the team drafted Sam Darnold. The Jets have primarily given their QB keys to first- or second-round picks over the past decade and change, going from Mark Sanchez to Geno Smith to — after multiple Ryan Fitzpatrick bridge seasons — Darnold and then Wilson. But the team with the league’s longest active playoff drought has pivoted, aiming to land a passer to complement a vastly improved defense.

With the Raiders only agreeing to let Carr meet with the Saints, it can be assumed no other team was willing to trade anything of note for the nine-year starter. Though, the Jets did reach out to the Raiders on Carr prior to his release, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. The Jets reside in the middle of the pack in terms of cap space, sitting less than a million over the cap as of Friday afternoon. If the Saints are their primary competition, that is an important number to note. The Saints’ annual February cap crisis has produced a $55MM-over figure.

QBR still slotted Carr 14th — a slight drop from his recent years’ work — last season, but his completion percentage and yards per attempt dropped noticeably under Josh McDaniels in 2022. Carr completed 60.8% of his throws (down from 68.4 in 2021) on 7.0 per pass (down from 7.7 in 2021 and 7.9 figures in 2019 and ’20), though he spent chunks of the season without Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow. Davante Adams‘ arrival produced more big production from the ex-Packer, but the Raiders’ performance led Carr out of town. Given Wilson’s play and Mike White‘s inability to stay healthy, Carr would provide a considerable upgrade. White is also a free agent-to-be.

The Jets hired Nathaniel Hackett as offensive coordinator, adding fuel to the Rodgers speculation. They also hired ex-Raiders OC Todd Downing, who was also Carr’s former QBs coach in Oakland, as their pass-game coordinator. The two remain close. The Jets have reached out to the Packers about Rodgers’ availability; that timing probably connects to Carr’s free agency. The Jets knowing if Rodgers is available will undoubtedly impact their decision with Carr, though the free agent quarterback will obviously make the final decision. Garoppolo would represent a Rodgers fallback option, but Carr has offered a higher ceiling and more reliability compared to the injury-prone 49er.

Garoppolo, also 31, will be available with the rest of the UFAs on March 13, when the legal tampering period begins. Rodgers may not be available for months, considering how much easier it will be for the Packers, cap-wise, if they trade him after June 1.

The Jets acquired Brett Favre well into the summer in 2008, ahead of his age-39 season. As was the case with Favre, the Packers would prefer to move Rodgers to the AFC. Carr is eight years younger than Rodgers, who turned 39 in December. Whomever Gang Green convinces to play quarterback in 2023 will have reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson, Elijah Moore and Corey Davis to target. Promising running back Breece Hall is also expected to return from his ACL tear, giving the Jets an intriguing setup — assuming they can make their desired upgrade at quarterback.

Commanders Hire Eric Bieniemy As OC

February 17th, 2023 at 4:12pm CST by Adam La Rose

6:10pm: Schefter tweets that the deal is now official. He adds, unsurprisingly, that Bieniemy’s new job title will be accompanied by a raise in terms of annual compensation compared to what he had been earning during his time in Kansas City.

4:12pm: A deal between the Commanders and Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy appears to be in place. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports (via Twitter) that the parties have agreed on a multi-year pact which will see him become the new offensive coordinator and assistant head coach in Washington.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds that the Commanders are aiming to have a deal formally in place by tomorrow (Twitter link). Assuming that happens, it will officially mark the end of a courtship which increasingly pointed to a move from Kansas City to the nation’s capital in recent days. Pelissero notes that the Super Bowl champions preferred to keep Bieniemy in place, but they will now look elsewhere to fill a major vacancy.

Bieniemy, 53, has been connected to several head coaching positions in recent years, as his role in shaping the Chiefs’ elite offense has been noted. His lack of opportunities has led to widespread criticism, but now he will take on an OC role featuring complete control of an offense for the first time. Much will therefore be learned about his abilities in what is an increased capacity, though the Commanders represent a far different situation to the one in Kansas City.

Washington led the NFL in time of possession last season, but put up below-average numbers in several other offensive categories. That was caused in no small part by their poor QB play, a mark of their continued inability to find a long-term solution under center. Their latest attempt was the trade acquisition of Carson Wentz, but he was relegated to backup duty by the end of the season, one in which the team went 8-8-1. Rookie Sam Howell has since been named the starter heading into 2023.

The fifth-rounder attempted just 19 regular season passes, so to call him a stark contrast from two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes in terms of pedigree would be a massive understatement. Bieniemy will still have a veteran head coach alongside him on the sidelines in Ron Rivera, though whispers have picked up that he could be on the hot seat next year.

With a Bieniemy move seemingly likely, it came out earlier today that QBs coach Matt Nagy is the name to watch for a promotion to the OC role. Nagy flamed out as head coach of the Bears, but a second OC posting in Kansas City for 2023 could help him rebuild his stock. Head coach Andy Reid has been a play-caller with the Chiefs during Bieniemy’s tenure, clouding the latter’s importance to the unit. It will be worth watching how much that dynamic changes if Nagy is tapped as Bieniemy’s replacement.

With Bieniemy set to head to the nation’s capital, here is the final breakdown of the Commanders’ OC search:

Mutual Interest Between Commanders, Eric Bieniemy; Chiefs Eyeing Matt Nagy Promotion

February 17th, 2023 at 8:16am CST by Sam Robinson

Eric Bieniemy and the Commanders look to be moving toward a deal. The longtime Chiefs offensive coordinator is back at the NFC East team’s facility Friday and is believed to have interest in leaving Kansas City for Washington, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

While it would represent a somewhat strange development for the five-year Chiefs OC to leave a place where he has won two Super Bowls, teams have continually overlooked him for head coaching gigs. This OC-to-OC move would allow Bieniemy to have full play-calling responsibilities for the first time.

The sides began their meeting with a Wednesday-night dinner, and Albert Breer of SI.com tweets he and the Commanders will discuss contract matters and staffing Friday. The process is likely to conclude with Bieniemy becoming the next Commanders OC, Rapoport tweets. If Bieniemy leaves his post under Andy Reid, Rapoport adds (via Twitter) Matt Nagy is the favorite to replace him as the Chiefs’ next OC. Other teams showed interest in Nagy this offseason, but NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets the ex-Bears HC received indications he was next in line to become Reid’s right-hand man on offense.

Both Nagy and Doug Pederson rode Kansas City’s OC position to HC opportunities — in Chicago and Philadelphia, respectively — but no such path has formed for Bieniemy, leading to widespread criticism. The Chiefs have employed Bieniemy as their OC throughout Patrick Mahomes‘ starter tenure, and while numerous HC interviews occurred, a chance to lead a team remains elusive. A move to a play-calling post, then, emerged on the radar as a potential stepping stone for the 10-year Chiefs assistant.

Bieniemy, 53, interviewed for the Colts’ HC job this year but said prior to Super Bowl LVII he had not met with any teams about their OC gig. Both the Commanders and Ravens wanted to speak with the Reid lieutenant about their play-calling positions, but Baltimore hired Todd Monken for the job. Washington, however, has kept its job open for more than a month. Bieniemy has been the Commanders’ top choice for a while, and despite Ron Rivera being on the hot seat and the franchise potentially nearing a sale, the two-time Super Bowl-winning OC is close to relocating.

The Chiefs extended Bieniemy on a one-year deal during the 2022 offseason. Even if his contract were not up, the Chiefs could not block a Bieniemy Commanders interview due to the job coming with play-calling responsibilities. Reid has retained those in Kansas City, which has played a role in the assistant not landing a top coaching gig. Bieniemy’s inability to do so, despite others securing such opportunities in recent years without play-calling pasts, has led to the intense scrutiny regarding the NFL’s hiring practices. That is unlikely to cease if Bieniemy lands in Washington, but it appears the former NFL running back is ready to test himself as a play-caller for a scuffling team.

Rivera fired three-year OC Scott Turner on Jan. 10 and interviewed several candidates, but the search slowed. Bieniemy waited until after the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVII win to interview, passing on a Titans meeting in the process. Rivera and Reid have been in contact, Breer adds.

Whereas the Chiefs are coming off a season in which their offense ranked No. 1 in DVOA despite the team trading All-Pro Tyreek Hill, the Commanders ranked 28th. Even in traditional metrics, Washington’s offense did not rank inside the top 20 during Turner’s tenure. Quarterback issues played a large part in that, though Turner drew criticism as well during the 2022 season.

While Bieniemy leaving the comforts of the Reid-Mahomes setup for uncertainty in Washington obviously brings considerable risk, the Commanders do roster some skill-position talent. Terry McLaurin and first-round pick Jahan Dotson are signed through 2025, with Curtis Samuel‘s contract running through the ’23 season. Brian Robinson also showed promise during his rookie campaign, despite suffering gunshot wounds in August.

Nagy served as Reid’s OC for two seasons — 2016-17 — after Pederson left for Philadelphia. Reid did give him a play-calling role for a bit, and the Bears hired him after Alex Smith‘s final K.C. season. Nagy earned Coach of the Year honors after helping the Bears to a 12-4 record and their first NFC North title since 2010. The operation went south soon after, with the team’s Mitch Trubisky draft choice doing well to sink Nagy. The Bears finished 8-8 in 2019 and 2020, but their 6-11 2021 mark led to Nagy’s firing. He quickly resurfaced in Kansas City as quarterbacks coach, and it looks like the Chiefs will ensure continuity by promoting him to replace Bieniemy.

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