Coach Notes: Dolphins, Gase, Raiders, 49ers
The Dolphins announced on Tuesday evening that they have completed head coaching interviews with former NFL head coach Mike Shanahan and Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, tweets Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald.
The Dolphins have several more candidates lined up this week, including Bills assistant head coach Anthony Lynn, former Bills head coach Doug Marrone, and their own interim head coach Dan Campbell. However, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald hears that, at the start of the search, team owner Stephen Ross‘s favorite candidate is Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, who is scheduled to meet with Miami on Thursday.
Having seen multiple coaches with previous head coaching experience fail in Miami over the last decade or so, Salguero is unconvinced that Gase is the right man for the job, suggesting that the Dolphins need a more seasoned NFL coach for the role. As we wait to see if the team agrees with that assessment and passes on Gase in favor of someone with more experience, let’s round up a few more Wednesday morning coaching notes…
- Speaking of Gase, the Eagles confirmed that they interviewed the Bears offensive coordinator for their head coaching position on Tuesday. Per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link), Tuesday’s marathon meeting lasted for about eight hours.
- A year after Jack Del Rio took over as the team’s head coach, the Raiders don’t plan to make any changes to his coaching staff, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
- There’s a good chance that the 49ers‘ new head coach will be a quarterback-friendly, offensive-minded candidate, writes Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. A few of the candidates already linked to the Niners, including Sean Payton, Hue Jackson, and Mike Shanahan, definitely fit that bill.
- After firing defensive coordinator Greg Manusky on Tuesday, the Colts also parted ways with tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts and secondary coaches Mike Gillhamer and Roy Anderson, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
- Earlier today, we recapped the latest updates on the Giants‘ head coaching search.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Rams Owner May Build L.A. Stadium With Or Without NFL Approval
10:31pm: Inglewood mayor James Butts has since refuted the idea that the Hollywood Park stadium will be built no matter what, according to CBS St. Louis. While it’s still possible that Kroenk’s group will decide to move forward with the stadium even if the Rams don’t receive NFL approval to relocate, it’s not a certainty, the mayor told KMOX.
“The decision as to whether the stadium is ultimately built would be that of Hollywood Park Land Company, which is combined with the Kroenke Group,” Butts said. “That will only be determined by them at the time the [NFL’s] decision is made.”
9:56pm: Rams owner Stan Kroenke has plans to go ahead with a multibillion-dollar stadium and entertainment complex in Inglewood, California, even if the NFL votes down the Rams’ proposed move, Brian Feldt of St. Louis Business Journal writes. Kroenke claims that he will built a stadium that can host future World Cups, Olympics, award shows, and other major events if it cannot feature the Rams for 2016.
[RELATED: Chargers, Rams, Raiders Apply For Los Angeles Relocation]
If Kroenke’s bid to move to Los Angeles is turned down by the NFL’s owners, Kroenke could either accept a proposed $1.1 billion stadium along St. Louis’ north Mississippi riverfront or remain in the Edward Jones Dome on a year-to-year basis. Each of the three teams vying for Los Angeles – the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders – will need to secure 24 yes votes in order to move.
In a matter of days at the owners meetings in Texas, we’ll find out which of those teams (if any) will get to move to Los Angeles. For his part, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt expects at least one NFL franchise to be play in L.A. in 2016, as The Associated Press writes.
“All three of those franchises have tremendous fan bases in their home markets,” he said. “In an ideal world, I’d like to see them all stay where they are. It probably won’t work out that way. There will probably be at least one team moving to LA. I can’t speculate who that might be.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/5/16
Here are today’s reserve/futures contract signings from around the league. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2016 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ 90-man rosters.
Arizona Cardinals
- Taylor Boggs, C (Twitter link via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com)
- Valerian Ume-Ezeoke, C
- Mike Reilly, OLB
- Tyrequek Zimmerman, S
Baltimore Ravens
- Jerod Johnson, QB (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle)
Cincinnati Bengals
- Zach Hocker, K (Twitter link via team)
- Dezmond Johnson, DE
- Floyd Raven, S
Green Bay Packers
- QB Ryan Williams (Twitter link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com)
Indianapolis Colts
- Burton Pierce, OT
- Ben Heenan, G
- Edwin Jackson, LB
- Kitt O’Brien, G
- Dezmen Southward, DB
- Joshua Stangby. WR
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Quanterus Smith, DE (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle)
Kansas City Chiefs
- Kenny Cook, WR
- Dominique Davis, DE
- Cameron Gordon, LB
- Jordan Kovacs, DB
- Trey Millard, RB
- Alameda Ta’amu, DT
Miami Dolphins
- Jahwan Edwards, RB
- Robert Herron, WR
- Terrell Manning, LB
- Vinston Painter, G
- Anthony Steen, G
- Dax Swanson, DB
- Julius Warmsley, DE
- Jordan Williams, DE
New Orleans Saints
- Ashaad Mabry, DT (Twitter link via Evan Woodbery of the Times-Picayune)
- Chris Manhertz, TE (Twitter link via Nick Underhill of The Advocate)
New York Jets
- Joe Anderson, WR (link via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com)
- Deion Barnes, LB
- Brandon Bostick, TE
- Jarvis Harrison, OL
- Julian Howsare, FB
- Wes Saxton, TE
- Kevin Short, DB
- Deon Simon, DL
- Julian Stanford, LB
Oakland Raiders
- Garrett Gilbert, QB (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle)
- Giorgio Tavecchio, K
San Diego Chargers
- Kasey Redfern, P (Twitter link via Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego)
- Torrence Allen, WR
- Michael Huey, G
San Francisco 49ers
- Corey Acosta, K (link via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle)
St. Louis Rams
- David Arkin, OL (Twitter link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com)
- Justice Cunningham, TE
- Zack Hodges, LB
- Zach Laskey, RB
- Deon Long, WR
- Matthew Wells, LB
Chargers, Rams, Raiders Apply For Los Angeles Relocation
The Chargers, Raiders, and Rams have all filed their applications to relocate to Los Angeles, according to a press release from the NFL. Today was the first day that teams were allowed to formally submit their applications.
[RELATED: Latest On Potential St. Louis Stadium]
“We have tried for more than 14 years, through nine separate proposals and seven different mayors, to create a world-class stadium experience for fans in San Diego. Despite these efforts, there is still no certain, actionable solution to the stadium problem. We are sad to have reached this point,” the Chargers said in a statement.
Now, all three teams and their respective cities will wait to see what happens when NFL owners convene in Houston on January 12-13.
San Diego’s latest proposal called for $350MM in funding to come from the city, but a public vote to OK that measure isn’t slated to take place until June. Of course, with the owners meetings happening in a little over a week, that was not a suitable timeline for the Bolts or the NFL. The San Diego plan suggested that a new stadium would cost $1.1 billion in total with $200MM from the NFL, $363MM from the Chargers, and personal seat license sales accounting for $187MM. That plan will have no chance of coming to fruition, of course, if the league greenlights the Chargers L.A. move.
Months ago, the Raiders and the Chargers teamed up on a proposal that would have put both teams in a shared, $1.7 billion stadium in the city of Carson, California. Meanwhile, Rams owner Stan Kroenke has appeared hellbent on moving his team to a proposed site in Inglewood. As of late, some NFL owners have been looking to break up the Raiders/Chargers partnership and instead marry off the Chargers and Rams in Los Angeles.
The Rams and Raiders each issued two-sentence statements which didn’t provide much in the way of detail.
2016 Home And Away Opponents Named For All 32 NFL Teams
Top 20 Teams Set For 2016 NFL Draft
With the 2015 NFL regular season now complete, the 2016 draft order has been set for the teams that didn’t earn playoff berths this year.
The order for the top 20 is determined first by record — the teams with the worst records get the highest picks. The tiebreaker for teams that finish with identical records is strength of schedules. The easier the team’s schedule, the higher its pick. The thinking there is that if two teams finished with the same record, the team that played the easier schedule is likely the “worst” of the two teams, earning that club the higher pick.
Via NFL.com, here’s how the top 20 breaks down for the 2016 NFL draft, with each team’s record and opponents’ winning percentage noted in parentheses:
- Tennessee Titans (3-13, .492)
- Cleveland Browns (3-13, .531)
- San Diego Chargers (4-12, .527)
- Dallas Cowboys (4-12, .531)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11, .473)
- Baltimore Ravens (5-11, .508)
- San Francisco 49ers (5-11, .539)
- Miami Dolphins (6-10, .469)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-10, .484)
- New York Giants (6-10, .500)
- Chicago Bears (6-10, .547)
- New Orleans Saints (7-9, .504)
- Philadelphia Eagles (7-9, .508)
- Oakland Raiders (7-9, .512)
- St. Louis Rams (7-9, .527)
- Detroit Lions (7-9, .535)
- Atlanta Falcons (8-8, .481)
- Indianapolis Colts (8-8, .500)
- Buffalo Bills (8-8, .508)
- New York Jets (10-6, .441)
While teams that played weaker schedules will get the higher draft picks – via tiebreaker – in the first round, that’s not the case for every round. Teams that finished with identical records will rotate order throughout the draft, so the Browns, for instance, will pick ahead of the Titans in round two.
As for the remaining 12 spots, those will be determined based on which teams are eliminated from the playoffs first. The four teams knocked out in the Wild Card round will pick 21st through 24th, for example — the clubs with the weaker records will get the higher picks. The full order will be determined after the Super Bowl, with this year’s champion getting the last pick of the first round — unless, of course, that’s the Patriots, who won’t have a first-rounder in 2016.
Cole’s Latest: Colts, Giants, Saban, Raiders
Let’s take a look at the latest from Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole (all video links):
- The presence of Andrew Luck could lead several high-profile names to be interested in the Colts‘ potential head-coaching vacancy, per Cole, who reports that Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, and Sean Payton could all have varying levels of interest in the position. The key question, according to Cole, is how much roster/personnel control owner Jim Irsay is willing to hand over.
- Luck makes the Colts job very attractive, but the most desirable landing spot on the market? The Giants, says Cole, due to ownership’s “hand-off” approach. Plus, the combination of Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. is very enticing to candidates.
- Despite interest from numerous teams, Alabama head coach Nick Saban is not expected to make the leap to the NFL. Saban, who does have NFL experience with the Dolphins, is quite comfortable in Tuscaloosa, and he doesn’t want to take any attention away from his team’s looming championship game against Clemson on January 11.
- Sources tell Cole that billionaire Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle Corporation) has spoken with Raiders owner Mark Davis about buying a portion of the team. While nothing is close, the mere presence of Ellison could potentially attract other investors, per Cole, and ultimately help the club make the move to Los Angeles.
Sunday Roundup: Mularkey, Gase, McDaniels
As we roll into the final week of the regular season, let’s round up some news and notes from around the league:
- We learned earlier today that Titans interim head coach Mike Mularkey will receive serious consideration to be the team’s permanent head coach, and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports explains that although there are aspects of the Tennessee top job that make it appealing, questions about ownership could force some big name candidates to steer clear. If Mularkey does get the job, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com (via Twitter) expects the team to make changes to the rest of its coaching staff.
- La Canfora was busy on Twitter this afternoon, reporting that the Browns, Dolphins, and Eagles all have serious interest in making Bears OC Adam Gase their next head coach, and that the Titans and Giants head coaching jobs would be the most appealing to Patriots OC Josh McDaniels (Twitter links).
- La Canfora also tweets that Mike Holmgren‘s reported interest in the 49ers‘ head coaching position should not be discounted, though he also tweets that San Francisco will give strong consideration to Chip Kelly if and when Jim Tomsula is fired. Mike Silver of NFL.com tweets that Kelly himself has reached out to express his interest in the job, along with Mike Shanahan. As Silver notes (via Twitter) the 49ers’ head coaching job is much more appealing than is commonly perceived.
- Jenna Laine of SportsTalkFlorida.com tweets that Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has received interest from at least one club looking for a new head coach.
- Hall-of-Fame executive Ron Wolf had lunch with Browns owner Jimmy Haslam several weeks ago, but per Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com, Wolf denied that Haslam asked him to serve as a consultant for the club. Wolf said he has had no contact with Haslam since that lunch. Wolf’s son, Eliot, currently works as the Packers‘ director of player personnel and is rumored to be Cleveland’s top choice to fill its soon-to-be-vacant GM role.
- Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Kevin Patra of NFL.com) writes that the Raiders, Chargers, and Rams will all apply for relocation in advance of Monday’s deadline, with the expected relocation fee to be a whopping $550MM per team that relocates. The league will assist whatever club or clubs that get left out of the LA sweepstakes to secure a new home.
Raiders Send Nate Allen To IR, Promote SaQwan Edwards
The Raiders have placed safety Nate Allen on injured reserve with a knee injury and promoted cornerback SaQwan Edwards from their practice squad, writes Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com.
Allen, who picked off a career-best four passes in Philly in 2014, signed a four-year, $23MM deal with the Raiders last offseason. His first season in Oakland was an injury-riddled disappointment, as the 28-year-old appeared in only five games, totaling 11 tackles and an interception. Allen’s year got off to a poor start immediately when he tore his MCL in Week 1. He came back midway through the campaign but eventually reaggravated his knee and hasn’t played since Dec. 6.
The Raiders could move on from Allen this offseason, per Bair, which would make sense. Allen has no dead money left on the three years remaining on his contract. Cutting him would save the Raiders $5MM next season, $6MM in 2017 and another $5MM in ’18.
Extra Points: Stadium Proposals, Lions, Reece
The NFL officially confirmed today in a statement that it has received stadium proposals from the cities of Oakland, St. Louis, and San Diego in advance of the deadline, per Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports.
“We are able to confirm that we have received submissions from Oakland, St. Louis, and San Diego as requested,” the league’s statement reads. “All three submissions are generally consistent with our most recent discussions with public officials and task forces. We appreciate the leadership that public officials have demonstrated on behalf of the three cities. There is a great deal of information for the three teams and all of NFL ownership to review and consider. At this point, no applications for relocation of a franchise have been filed.”
The announcement doesn’t come as a surprise — it would have been more noteworthy if one of the cities had not submitted a proposal. But it takes us another step closer to the NFL eventually making its decision on the Raiders, Rams, Chargers, and Los Angeles.
Here are a few more Wednesday odds and ends:
- If he had a vote in the matter, Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson would have head coach Jim Caldwell return to Detroit for the 2016 season, he told reporters today. According to Johnson, Caldwell is one of the best coaches he has had in his career, and he thinks the rest of the locker room wants to see him return for next season as well (Twitter links via Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com).
- In a statement to Pro Football Talk, Raiders fullback Marcel Reece explained why he failed a drug test, resulting in his four-game suspension. “I have NEVER, and would NEVER, ingest any banned substance that would result in a failed drug test,” Reece said. “What I did consume was a natural plant root extract by the name of ‘Umcka,’ which is a completely safe substance that is clearly legal by NFL policy, in terms of being acceptable to consume. What I didn’t know is that this plant root, once ingested in the human body, converts to the substance ‘methylhexanamine,’ which is a banned substance by NFL standards.”
- Pat McManamon of ESPN.com lays out four reasons why the Browns should retain general manager Ray Farmer, then turns around and provides four reasons why the team should move on from on its GM.
- The Ravens elevated defensive back Sheldon Price to their active roster on Tuesday, and head coach John Harbaugh explains that Price was receiving interest from another team, prompting Baltimore to promote him to avoid losing him (Twitter link via Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun).