Today’s minor moves:
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: G Jordan Meredith
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: DE Daeshon Hall, FB John Lovett
- The Raiders are hiring a new defensive line coach, tabbing Frank Okam for that role, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). This comes more than a month after the Panthers fired Okam. Carolina brought Okam from Matt Rhule‘s Baylor staff in 2020, when he served as the Panthers’ assistant D-line coach. Carolina bumped Okam to its D-line coach last year. He will follow ex-Panthers assistant Jason Simmons to Las Vegas.
Here are Thursday’s reserve/futures deals:
Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins
Josh McDaniels is the biggest name heading to Las Vegas this offseason, but his former New England coworker will be the one in charge. Dave Ziegler will control the Raiders’ roster, according to the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin.
A GM controlling a team’s roster is not particularly unusual, though a few head coaches still have final say. It is notable here, given the Raiders’ recent past and McDaniels’ history in such a role.
Mark Davis gave Jon Gruden such power, and the team made repeated missteps in the draft and in free agency. Although the Raiders also had some success, their big-ticket moves mostly bombed under Gruden. McDaniels assumed such control when he replaced Mike Shanahan in Denver in 2009. McDaniels’ feud with Jay Cutler preceded a controversial trade, one that soon left the Broncos with Kyle Orton as their starting quarterback. A year later, the Broncos traded three picks to move up for Tim Tebow in the first round. While McDaniels also experienced some success, via the 2010 draft choices of Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, he is largely remembered for personnel failures — among other shortcomings — during his first try as a head coach.
Ziegler began his career as an NFL exec under McDaniels in Denver stay but spent the past nine years in New England. He climbed the ladder with the Patriots last year, finishing his run as the team’s assistant director of player personnel. The Pats gave Ziegler a raise after Nick Caserio‘s 2021 departure.
Ziegler’s GM interview led McDaniels to Vegas, per Volin, who adds the owner did not know McDaniels was interested in the team’s HC job. Ziegler replied that McDaniels would follow him to Nevada. This will be McDaniels’ first HC opportunity (other than the Colts gig he turned down) since the Broncos fired him late in the 2010 season. The Ziegler-McDaniels duo will now attempt to establish long-term success without Bill Belichick‘s guidance.
Antonio Pierce is back in the NFL. The former linebacker is joining Josh McDaniel’s Raiders staff as their linebackers coach, reports Mike Garafolo (via Twitter).
After spending the first four years of his career in Washington, Pierce became a fan favorite during his time with the Giants. Pierce ended up spending five seasons in New York, compiling 691 tackles, nine sacks, and eight forced fumbles. Pierce earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2006, and he won a Super Bowl ring the following season, compiling 25 tackles in the Giants’ four postseason games.
After retiring following the 2009 season, Pierce resurfaced a few years later on the coaching circuit. He’s been with Arizona State since 2018, working his way up from linebackers coach to associate head coach/defensive coordinator.
As Garafolo notes on Twitter, Pierce interviewed for a coaching job on the Giants a few years ago when Patrick Graham was hired as Joe Judge’s defensive coordinator. That move obviously didn’t come together, but Pierce will now have an opportunity to coach alongside Graham in Las Vegas.
With Super Bowl LVI finished, the final two places in the 2022 Draft have been finalized. The Bengals’ top pick is locked into 31st, while the Rams will not have a selection until the third round. For the rest of the league, the focus has already shifted to free agency and the draft, of course, so now all eyes will be on the offseason maneuvering teams do to reshape their rosters.
For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.
Pending trades, here is the final first round order of the 2022 Draft:
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-14
- Detroit Lions: 3-13-1
- Houston Texans: 4-13
- New York Jets: 4-13
- New York Giants: 4-13
- Carolina Panthers: 5-12
- New York Giants(via Bears)
- Atlanta Falcons: 7-10
- Denver Broncos: 7-10
- New York Jets (via Seahawks)
- Washington Football Team: 7-10
- Minnesota Vikings: 8-9
- Cleveland Browns: 8-9
- Baltimore Ravens: 8-9
- Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
- Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)
- Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8
- New Orleans Saints: 9-8
- Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1
- New England Patriots: 10-7
- Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7
- Arizona Cardinals: 11-6
- Dallas Cowboys: 12-5
- Buffalo Bills: 11-6
- Tennessee Titans: 12-5
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4
- Green Bay Packers: 13-4
- Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)
- Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5
- Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7
- Detroit Lions (via Rams)
Quarterback Derek Carr‘s future with the Raiders has been hot and cold for quite a while now, but, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the new leadership in Las Vegas is prepared to show their commitment to the eighth-year veteran with a contract extension. 
Just before the start of February, the Raiders announced the hirings of two former New England employees. They were taking the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, to fill the role of head coach and the Patriots’ director of player personnel, Dave Ziegler, to fill the role of general manager. Both McDaniels and Ziegler had shown interest in trading for Carr during their time in New England.
Since the departures of former head coach Jon Gruden and former general manager Mike Mayock, Carr has been unsure of his future, claiming that his status could be impacted by the team’s hires. Carr’s top choice to replace Gruden was, in fact, McDaniels. The mutual support and respect is something that Carr has not had the luxury of enjoying throughout his eight years with the organization.
Joel Corry, who writes for CBS Sports on NFL contracts and salary caps, tweeted out some ideas of what an extension may look like for Carr. Back in 2017, Carr became the first player in the NFL to average $25MM per annum. Even while breaking that barrier, Carr claimed at the time that he was leaving money in the cap for deals with guard Gabe Jackson and outside linebacker Khalil Mack. Corry and Rapoport both posit that Carr has earned near-top-tier money that could make him the fourth quarterback to join the $40MM per year club, joining the likes Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Dak Prescott.
The Raiders have some time to figure out a deal with Carr, as he’s under contract through next season. They may attempt to make a show of good faith and offer an extension before the start of his contract year, or, with relations between leadership and the quarterback being much healthier, they may be able to take some time to figure out the best deal for both sides. Regardless, it is certainly an improved situation for everyone involved, and the Raiders will hope to reap the benefits.
The Raiders have hired Mick Lombardi as their new offensive coordinator, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Lombardi, who spent the 2019 season as the Patriots’ assistant quarterbacks coach and the past two years as New England’s wide receivers coach, will join Josh McDaniels on the trek from Foxborough to Las Vegas.
McDaniels, the longtime Patriots OC who was hired as the Raiders’ new head coach at the end of January, is expected to serve as the team’s offensive play-caller. Still, this represents quite a promotion for Lombardi, the 33-year-old son of former NFL exec Michael Lombardi. As Schefter writes, the younger Lombardi handled the Pats’ red zone game plan in 2021, and he and McDaniels are aligned in their offensive philosophies.
Lombardi will replace Greg Olson, who worked as the Raiders’ OC from 2018-21 (we recently heard that Olson is expected to rejoin the Rams’ staff in some capacity in 2022). He will inherit a unit that finished 11th in the league in total offense last season and that features a quality starting QB in Derek Carr (assuming, of course, that Las Vegas elects to retain Carr, who is entering a contract year).
Schefter adds that Patriots offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo will join the Raiders in the same capacity. With the departures of McDaniels, Lombardi, Bricillo, and Bo Hardegree — who was recently hired as Las Vegas’ new QB coach — New England is experiencing quite a brain drain on the offensive side of the ball. That is to say nothing of the expected retirement of RB coach Ivan Fears, who has been in his post since 2002. Of course, the club did recently reunite with Joe Judge, who is returning as an offensive assistant.
In related news, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the Raiders are adding longtime NFL scout Andy Dengler to their college scouting department. Dengler had served as the Jaguars’ assistant director of player personnel from 2013-20. As part of the continuing transition under new GM Dave Ziegler, the Raiders are also parting ways with assistant director of player personnel Trey Scott, who had been with the team for a decade (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network).
Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network offers more details on Las Vegas’ front office overhaul.
Multiple teams courted Rob Ryan this offseason. While the veteran defensive coordinator was on the Giants’ radar, it turns out New York’s former DC will bring Ryan to Las Vegas.
The Raiders are hiring Ryan for a second time, with Adam Schefter of ESPN.com noting (via Twitter) the former Oakland DC is coming to Vegas as a senior defensive assistant. Ryan will help out new Raiders DC Patrick Graham.
While this will be Ryan and Graham’s first time working together, the former was on the Patriots’ staff during new Raiders HC Josh McDaniels‘ early days in New England. Prior to Ryan’s run of DC opportunities, he worked as the Pats’ linebackers coach from 2000-03. McDaniels was a defensive assistant for the ’02 and ’03 Patriot teams.
Ryan, 59, served as the Raiders’ defensive play-caller for multiple head coaches in the 2000s, staying on as Oakland’s DC from 2004-08. Ryan worked under Norv Turner, Art Shell, Lane Kiffin and Tom Cable. The Raiders gave Ryan his first DC gig. He later landed four more, leading defenses in Cleveland, Dallas, New Orleans and Buffalo. Ryan’s Raiders defenses largely struggled; none ranked inside the top 15 in points allowed. Interestingly, his best unit came for Shell’s 2-14 team in 2006; that Raider unit ranked third in total defense.
A Ryan-Giants partnership emerged as a possibility because of Ryan’s past with new Giants DC Don Martindale, who hired him for his Ravens staff last season. Ryan coached inside linebackers with Baltimore in 2021, doing so after holding the same position in Washington in 2019.
After two years back in college, Paul Pasqualoni is returning to the NFL. The Panthers hired the septuagenarian assistant as their defensive line coach Tuesday. Like Matt Rhule, Pasqualoni has spent most of his coaching career at the college level, being best known for his lengthy tenure as Syracuse’s head coach. Pasqualoni and Rhule were each head coaches, the former at UConn and the latter at Temple, in the American Athletic Conference’s debut season (2013). Pasqualoni, 72, resurfaced in the NFL in 2018, when he became Matt Patricia‘s defensive coordinator in Detroit. After Patricia fired him, Pasqualoni spent the past two years as a special assistant at Florida.
Here is the latest from the NFC coaching carousel:
- The Bears have made a few more hires, staffing their front lines. They added Travis Smith to coach their defensive line. This will mark a notable change for Smith, who was with the Raiders for the past 10 years, coaching under Dennis Allen, Tony Sparano, Jack Del Rio, Jon Gruden and Rich Bisaccia. Chicago also added Jim Dray as its tight ends coach. A veteran tight end who retired not that long ago, Dray is moving up from the quality control level. This will be the 35-year-old assistant’s first position coaching gig, having been a QC coach in Cleveland over the past two years. Austin King is also set to become the Bears’ assistant O-line coach. King worked with Smith this past season, being the Raiders’ tight ends coach. He was Dayton’s OC from 2017-19.
- Cowboys wide receivers coach Adam Henry is interviewing with the Giants. He will do so after turning down a new Cowboys contract, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Robert Prince is set to replace him, per ESPN’s Todd Archer and Field Yates (on Twitter). Prince and Cowboys OC Kellen Moore have an interesting history. Prince, 56, was a Boise State staffer during Moore’s final season (2011). He later joined the Lions’ staff during Moore’s QB tenure there. Prince spent seven seasons in Detroit as the team’s wideouts coach.
- Curtis Modkins is likely to become the Vikings‘ next run-game coordinator and backfield coach, Mike Klis of 9News tweets. The Broncos’ running backs coach over the past four seasons, Modkins played a key role in Phillip Lindsay‘s rapid rise from UDFA to Pro Bowler and then aided Javonte Williams during his quality rookie season. Modkins, 51, is a two-time NFL OC, having served in that role with the Bills in the early 2010s and with the 49ers in 2016.
- The Seahawks are in talks to add Karl Scott as their defensive passing-game coordinator, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets. Alabama’s DBs coach from 2018-20, Scott made his NFL coaching debut this past season as Vikings secondary coach. The Seahawks adding Scott would not be as a Sean Desai backup plan, per Condotta. Both could join the revamped staff. Seattle is targeting the 2021 Chicago DC for an assistant role, in the event Minnesota does not hire him as its next DC.