Examining Fallout From Matthew Stafford’s Fourth NFL Extension
For a third straight offseason, the Rams have adjusted Matthew Stafford's contract. Unlike the past two years, the latest move represents a full-on extension rather than a rework. The 2024 and '25 changes provided some extra security for Stafford, but this one-year, $55MM pact will set him apart in NFL contract history.
The reigning NFL MVP is no longer in a contract year, and he has now become the rare player to sign four extensions (two with the Lions, two as a Ram). This was a long-expected conclusion, though the new timeline will create some questions. Once viewed as a player Los Angeles was open to trading -- after a concerning 2022 season -- Stafford boosted his leverage with strong mid-2020s showings. A year after the Rams balked at authorizing a $50MM-per-year contract, Stafford secured one -- albeit a deal structured differently than any other in this NFL salary bracket.
Several short- and long-term components are part of this negotiating endpoint, one that provides the first construction of the Rams' Ty Simpson onramp.
Stafford breaks new contractual ground
The NFL has now seen 14 $50MM-per-year contracts designed (15 if Patrick Mahomes' 2023 rework is included). Multiple facets separate Stafford from the pack. All but three of those contracts covered at least five years in length. Dak Prescott, armed with historic leverage, managed a four-year extension in 2024. That came two years after the Packers started the $50MM-per-year club with a three-year Aaron Rodgers extension. The Texans just gave Will Anderson Jr. a three-year, $150MM pact to make the edge rusher the first non-QB in this exclusive contingent. None of the previous $50MM-AAV players even scored a two-year deal.
Jacoby Brissett, Cardinals Far Apart In Contract Talks
The Cardinals signed Gardner Minshew and drafted Carson Beck in the third round, but the team still views Jacoby Brissett as its starter. Contract negotiations are ongoing, but they aren’t in a great place.
Brissett and the Cardinals are “significantly” apart on terms as the sides discuss a reworked deal, ESPN.com’s Josh Weinfuss reports. Brissett, Arizona’s primary 2025 starter, is tied to a two-year deal worth $12.5MM. Just $1.5MM guaranteed remains on that pact, however. That number trails projected backup Minshew’s $5.14MM guarantee at signing.
As Cardinals OTAs began this week, Brissett has been absent with negotiations ongoing. The journeyman passer has been seeking a starter-level extension. While Brissett is tied to backup money — after he signed to be the 2025 Cards’ QB2 behind Kyler Murray — Arizona is in a clear transitional phase. Brissett is prepared to miss more OTA time during these talks, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler.
The Cardinals will likely be connected to the 2027 quarterback class in the near future, and Brissett and Minshew are in place as bridges. The Beck pick is unlikely to stop the Cardinals from a high-stakes QB research project before the 2027 draft, but it stands to reason Mike LaFleur‘s team will want to see the Miami prospect in action as a rookie to gather more information.
Trading either Brissett or Minshew before the deadline would make sense, as the Cardinals may not need two veteran bridge options this season. As PFR’s Ely Allen noted recently, Beck was viewed by some evaluators as this draft class’ most pro-ready QB prospect. He will turn 25 before season’s end. With Minshew signing with the Cardinals after LaFleur’s hire, Brissett could well become the team’s preferred trade chip. But tepid interest has emerged thus far.
Brissett, 33, has not been tied to a deal worth more than $8MM per year since his Colts tenure ended in 2021. He has since played for five teams, with the Cardinals the only club authorizing a two-year pact in that span. Brissett played with the Colts from 2017-20, yoyoing between the starter and backup levels, but stopped through Miami, Cleveland, Washington and New England between 2021-24. He started 12 games last year, after Murray went down with an injury, and went 1-11 in those starts. Brissett did sport a 23:8 TD-INT ratio and finish with a career-best 64.9% completion rate, and his camp will surely emphasize these points in this renegotiation.
For now, the Cardinals have Minshew and Beck taking reps in the voluntary portion of their offseason program. While Arizona OTAs will continue past this week, the next notable chapter here may be mandatory minicamp in June. Brissett may be costing himself by not taking reps in LaFleur’s offense before that point, but for the time being, he is viewed as the Cardinals’ starter. Team and player, however, have differing views on how much that should cost in 2026.
Assessing Steelers’ QB Hierarchy Under Aaron Rodgers
After much ado, veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned to the Steelers on a new deal last weekend then, shortly after, announced his plans to retire following the 2026 NFL season. Both bits of news could influence the makeup of the quarterbacks room moving forward in Pittsburgh, and the possibilities of who might be the odd man out are extremely interesting.
Rodgers is clearly the starter, as he returns for his 22nd season of NFL play, but in his return, he joined an existing three-man group. New head coach Mike McCarthy is surely thrilled to be reunited with his longtime quarterback from the pair’s time in Green Bay together, but he has routinely carried no more than three quarterbacks on the active roster in any given year, sometimes going with two but sticking with three a majority of the time. With Rodgers in tow, it now becomes a question of which of the other three will be the odd man out.
The three likely competing for two spots are veteran backup Mason Rudolph, 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard, and rookie third-round pick Drew Allar. While a couple of combinations seem like obvious favorites, there are several arguments that make this an intriguing battle to watch.
One seemingly obvious conclusion would be that Rudolph must be one of the two backups; in fact, it would be a reasonable presumption to say that he should be the primary backup. Since being taken in the third round out of Oklahoma State eight years ago, Rudolph has appeared in 34 games, starting 19 but never functioning as QB1 for a team. He’s shown over time that he can keep a team afloat, but a limited ceiling is likely going to keep him from being the man to eventually take the reins from Rodgers.
According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rudolph believes Rodgers’ presence bodes well for him. With Rodgers, he sees the Steelers as a “win now” team that could ride Rodgers off into the sunset on top. If they’re going all in on this one season to “win now,” they would need an experienced backup, in case Rodgers can’t make it all the way from start to finish. Fortunately for Rudolph, Howard and Allar have combined for zero NFL snaps as of today, and it’s hard to imagine the team would feel comfortable with either youngster coming off the bench right now in place of Rodgers.
Bucking against the obvious presumption, McCarthy, who has a penchant for developing quarterbacks, has expressed his preference for molding younger, less experienced arms. “I love the young guys, especially when you get them when they’re just starting out,” McCarthy said at rookie minicamp (per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor).
If that’s the case, then the argument could be made for holding on to the younger pair of backups. Howard has a slight advantage over Allar, having been on the team for a year longer, but Howard’s rookie-year redshirt was essentially a medical redshirt, keeping him away from many of the things that would’ve provided him a familiar edge over Allar. If McCarthy likes passers who are “just starting out,” Allar may be his perfect canvas. The Penn State-product didn’t even start playing the position until high school, and though he oozes potential, a lot of production failed to make it to the field in Happy Valley.
A Steelers correspondent on The Pat McAfee Show, Mark Kaboly seemed pretty of convinced of how things might shake out. He started with the obvious route, slotting Rodgers in at QB1 and Rudolph in as his experienced backup. Then, when choosing between Howard and Allar for the third spot, Kaboly opted for the higher-drafted Allar, who also has more years of team control remaining on his contract. Kaboly thinks this route also gives Pittsburgh its strongest chance to retain all four guys. Either young player would be placed on waivers, if cut, and be at risk of any team claiming them. Howard stands the best chance of clearing waivers to land on the practice squad, while Allar would likely draw a decent number of claims as a third-round pick with potential.
In a surprising update from just a couple days ago, though, Pryor reported that, at early practice activities, Howard has been taking QB2 reps over both Allar and Rudolph. As a third-round pick this year under McCarthy, it seems highly unlikely that Allar would be going anywhere, so Rudolph may just end up being the odd man out. We’d likely need to see this stack with much more consistency before truly believing that Howard has surpassed Rudolph on the depth chart, but it’s great experience for the Ohio State-product regardless.
To see where Rodgers’ retirement plans come into effect, one must fast forward a year. Further supporting the potential hierarchy Pryor noted, the notion Pittsburgh might move forward with Rudolph as the starter next year is highly unlikely. If it turns out the Steelers are not as competitive as they hope to be in Rodgers’ final year, McCarthy and Co. may be interested in seeing what they have in their younger arms.
There is so much time that will transpire before anything definitive decisions need to be made. Injuries or trades may make the team’s decision for them, or one of the three contenders could start to steal the show and run away with the job. While Rodgers is obviously the star of the room, it will be very interesting to see how the battle behind him plays out.
Jimmy Haslam Played ‘Active Role’ In Browns’ 2022 Deshaun Watson Trade
No NFL transaction has defined a team’s 2020s on a level in which the Deshaun Watson trade/extension sequence shaped the Browns’ decade. The catastrophic misstep has produced nothing resembling Watson’s Texans form and is poised to clog Cleveland’s cap sheet through 2028.
Although Watson is only under contract for one more season, the Browns’ spree of restructures on the QB’s deal have them positioned to designate the high-priced player as a post-June 1 cut in 2027. That is projected to spread $86.2MM in dead money between 2027 and 2028, running the Watson contract’s time on Cleveland’s payroll to seven years.
Not long after the Browns made the decision to part with three first-round picks, two third-rounders and a fourth for Watson and a sixth, Jimmy Haslam said GM Andrew Berry devised the plan to give the quarterback a fully guaranteed contract. That offer rocketed the Browns back in the Watson sweepstakes, after he previously eliminated them during a process that appeared set to produce a Falcons commitment from the Georgia native. But the five-year, $230MM pact swayed the embattled passer.
That became a massive mistake on the Browns’ part. The team’s decision to part with the assets it did — as the first team to trade three future firsts for a QB since the 1976 49ers (Jim Plunkett) — and sign off on the fully guaranteed deal has made it widely viewed as the worst transaction in NFL history. Haslam even said last year the Watson trade was a “swing and miss,” though the owner walked that back a bit this offseason — as an interesting push for the QB to start again has taken place.
Although Berry was the front office point man at the time Watson was acquired, an ESPN.com report indicates Haslam played an “active role” in doing background work that led to the trade. Haslam, who famously pushed for the Browns’ Johnny Manziel pick in the 2014 first round, obviously needed to approve the historic transaction. But the owner being part of the process that led to it offers an interesting wrinkle in this seminal move, even if he credited/blamed Berry for hatching the scheme to convince Watson to commit to Cleveland.
Haslam doing background work is also not especially surprising, considering Watson had been hit with dozens of sexual misconduct allegations over the previous year, but this piece of information does shine a light on ownership influence in the NFL. Two of the Browns’ three playoff berths since respawning in 1999 have come during the Haslam era, but the organization also completed an astonishing 4-44 stretch during Haslam’s first decade in charge — a period that brought a run of GM and HC changes. The Browns have followed their 2023 playoff berth with an 8-26 record.
The Browns had not extended a head coach or general manager under Haslam until he authorized re-ups for Berry and Kevin Stefanski in 2024. Haslam has since fired Stefanski, making the interesting move to keep Berry at the helm despite his fingerprints being on the Watson disaster. It is worth wondering how active the owner was in bringing Watson to Ohio; Berry remaining on the job four-plus years after that trade would seem to suggest the GM was not solely responsible for the decision.
Berry said in 2024 Browns brass was aligned on the Watson trade. Stefanski had said earlier that season, before Watson’s first Achilles tear, he was not being forced by ownership to keep starting the wildly ineffective QB. Watson spent the 2025 season, after a second Achilles tear, out of the picture but has moved back to the forefront in Cleveland thanks to his competition with Shedeur Sanders for the Browns’ QB job. Haslam’s fingerprints on the team’s 2026 QB plan make for an interesting storyline to follow as the Browns enter what is likely their final year with Watson on the roster.
AFC West Notes: Chiefs, Mahomes, Broncos, Coleman, Bolts, Raiders, Gruden
Brett Veach has been given considerable credit for the Chiefs‘ plan to acquire Patrick Mahomes during the 2017 draft, though John Dorsey pulled the trigger on the trade-up move that gave Kansas City access to the future superstar. The Chiefs traded a 2017 third-round pick and their 2018 first-rounder to move from No. 27 to No. 10 (via the Bills) for the Texas Tech prospect. Plenty has changed about the organization’s trajectory since. During the process that produced the momentous K.C. trade-up, CEO Clark Hunt watched film of the prospect — then viewed as a high-variance raw talent — and deviated from his stance against trading future firsts, according to ESPN.com.
The Chiefs had not traded a future first-rounder since acquiring Trent Green from the Rams just before the 2001 draft. As Mahomes’ trajectory became clear early in his career, however, Hunt has signed off on two such trades. The team sent the Seahawks its 2019 first in the Frank Clark deal and included its 2021 first in the package to land Orlando Brown Jr. After waiting behind Alex Smith as a rookie, Mahomes zoomed to MVP honors after his best statistical season before powering the Chiefs to five Super Bowls and three titles during his 20s.
Here is the latest from the AFC West:
- The team that ended the Chiefs’ nine-year run of AFC West championships did not make a pick until the third round this year. The Broncos did make two fourth-round choices, the first being Washington running back Jonah Coleman. A key reason the Broncos tabbed the 5-foot-8, 220-pound back at No. 108 stems from his pass-protection skills. Denver brass viewed Coleman as this draft’s top pass-pro back, ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold notes. Coleman drew interest from other teams, including the Chiefs, but fell to Round 4 because of concerns about his knee. The Broncos acknowledged Coleman’s knee injected risk into the proceedings but deemed it one worth taking. Coleman will develop behind J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey as a rookie.
- Three picks later, Denver drafted offensive lineman Kage Casey. Starting three seasons at left tackle at Boise State, Casey looks to be making his Broncos-to-Broncos transition at a different primary position. Denver lined Casey up at left guard during its rookie minicamp, The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider notes. Sean Payton said Casey could also help at center, but his LG placement is notable due to both Ben Powers being in a contract year and the team re-signing Powers backup Alex Palczewski to a two-year, $9.5MM deal. Casey also should be expected to cross-train at tackle, as the Broncos have two 30-somethings — Garett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey — at those spots.
- The Chargers carried nearly $100MM in cap space into free agency but did not spend wildly. That restraint should be expected in future offseasons, with third-year GM Joe Hortiz indicating (via ESPN.com’s Kris Rhim) the Bolts are unlikely to be big spenders on outside talent under this regime. “I just believe in building through the draft and I believe in paying the players you know,” Hortiz said. Considering Hortiz’s extensive Ravens past, his ideology adds up. The Ravens are not typically big FA spenders, and they hoard compensatory picks. The Chargers did authorize three eight-figure-per-year deals in free agency (for Khalil Mack, Teair Tart and Tyler Biadasz), but only Biadasz was an outside addition.
- The Raiders are partially in the state they are because of free agency and draft misses during Jon Gruden‘s second run as head coach. One of those misses came on Clelin Ferrell, whom Gruden and then-GM Mike Mayock chose fourth overall despite most mocks having the defensive end going several picks later. The Raiders’ initial plan was to trade down and grab Ferrell later, per then-DC Paul Guenther (via The Athletic’s Zak Keefer), but the team “panicked” and went with the Clemson product at 4. The Raiders soon saw fourth-rounder Maxx Crosby outplay him. Two years later, the Raiders missed badly on first-round tackle Alex Leatherwood. Ahead of that draft, Keefer notes the Raiders had a strange setup in which Gruden’s staff and Mayock’s scouting group were each siloed and produced separate draft boards. The coaches’ board won out on Leatherwood, with Keefer indicating then-O-line coach Tom Cable talked Gruden into the Alabama blocker (whom Las Vegas cut in 2022).
AFC Staff Updates: Merritt, Watts, Browns, Colts
A month ago, Chiefs cornerbacks coach David Merritt was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, Merritt’s case was dismissed by the District Court of Johnson County.
At the time of Merritt’s arrest on the Kansas side of the border, no details accompanied the news to explain his arrest and charging, but the former NFL linebacker pleaded not guilty once given the opportunity in court as the Chiefs chose not to comment on the situation. Merritt’s attorney, Ryan Ginie, informed Garafolo that the District Attorney’s office “looked at (the case) a little more thoroughly and reviewed some additional information” before they “agreed it was a matter that should be dismissed.”
Following the case’s dismissal, the Chiefs are set to continue the offseason with their assistant coach of the past seven years. Merritt has helped coach a secondary unit on a defense that has routinely finished in the top half of the league in pass defense.
Here are a few other staff updates from around the AFC:
- After leaving Pittsburgh in March, veteran scout Chris Watts reportedly turned to the collegiate ranks of the game, joining the University of Texas “in a player personnel capacity,” per Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports. Watts is coming off a four-year stay with the Steelers following a 15-year stint in the Giants’ front office. Watts scouted the Longhorns in his coverage of the south area for the Steelers, and he also has some experience working for the Senior Bowl.
- The Browns have added a veteran presence to their front office, hiring Mike Derice as their new mid-Atlantic area scout, according to Neil Stratton of SucceedInFootball.com. Derice wasn’t with a team in 2025, but before his short sabbatical, he had gathered a combined 13 years of experience working with the Giants and Colts. He returns to work following a surprising parting of ways with New York a year ago.
- The Colts made a minor addition to their data/analytics group earlier this month. Per ESPN’s Seth Walder, Sam Swift was hired as a football data analyst in Indianapolis. Swift will be working his first full-time NFL position after interning with the Bills last year and working as a recruiting assistant as he finished school at the University of Iowa.
QB Brendan Sorsby’s Injunction Hearing Date Set
The latest legal move by Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby‘s team in his case against the NCAA seems to have produced the desired result. On Tuesday, Sorsby’s legal team filed an injunction in Lubbock County District Court in a move many viewed as an attempt to expedite the NCAA’s usually lengthy investigative process.
According to Pete Nakos of On3, “Sorsby’s eligibility case has been assigned a temporary injunction hearing set” to take place June 1. The date works well for Sorsby, who has requested a timeline that would allow him to hear a final decision in time to potentially declare for the NFL Supplemental Draft. The deadline to declare is June 22.
The case experienced a slight delay already when the judge originally assigned to the case, Judge Phillip Hays, recused himself, per Ryan Autollo of Bloomberg Law, based on the fact that he holds two degrees from Texas Tech and grew up in the area. Judge Ken Curry, a retired judge in Tarrant County over in Houston, was assigned to replace him yesterday, per Nakos. His degrees from UTSA and Houston made him less likely to approach the case with any inherent bias. Since retiring, Curry has continued to work as a visiting judge for Tarrant County.
Sorsby’s legal team is led by prestigious antitrust attorney Jeffrey Kessler, famed for his impact on cases touching all areas of the sports world like NIL, equal pay for the US Women’s National Soccer Team, and both the “Bountygate” and “Deflategate” controversies. If granted, Sorsby’s injunction could “feasibly allow him to play out the 2026 college football season” during the NCAA’s investigation. Sorsby’s team leaned on “potential damage to (Sorsby)’s mental health” as a precedent for the injunction.
Sorsby is fighting for his eligibility after the Red Raiders placed the transfer quarterback from Cincinnati on an “indefinite leave of absence” due to a gambling addiction. Sorsby’s team has admitted that the passer has placed “thousands” of sports bets since 2022, including several on a team he played for at the time he placed the bet. The NCAA has set guidelines that would potentially remove a student athlete’s eligibility permanently if they were to bet on their own sport or other sports at their own school. Sorsby has shelled out for the best representation money can buy in his situation, and they’re trying to move things quickly to set him up for whatever the courts decide.
Texans’ E.J. Speed Suffers Quadriceps Tear, Expected To Miss Regular-Season Time
The Texans re-signed E.J. Speed this offseason, but they are now unlikely to have the veteran linebacker available by Week 1. Speed suffered a quadriceps injury during offseason workouts.
Speed sustained a partially torn quad and a partially torn tendon, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson reports. The injuries will require a surgery that is expected to sideline Speed for part of the regular season. The Texans have hope Speed can return during the regular season, per Wilson, but no exact timetable is in place yet.
The injury occurred during a weightlifting session at the Texans’ facility, Wilson adds. This would make Speed eligible to land on the active/PUP list to open training camp — a near-certainty after this news — and the reserve/PUP list to open the regular season. If the Texans use the reserve/PUP list for Speed, he would be required to miss at least four games.
Cowboys team doctor Dan Cooper will perform the surgery, per Wilson, who adds a three-month recovery timetable — plus additional rehab — is on track. Speed re-signed with the Texans on a two-year, $10MM deal that included $7.5MM guaranteed at signing. The Texans re-signed Speed shortly before free agency, making him a priority after a 2025 partnership.
Houston gave Speed a one-year, $3.5MM deal to come over from Indianapolis in 2025, and he started nine games while playing 44% of the Texans’ defensive snaps. The Texans have Henry To’oTo’o and the recently extended Azeez Al-Shaair in place as their top two linebackers, but Speed serves as the No. 3 LB. Although he can be classified as a part-time player, the former Colts mainstay’s $7.5MM guarantee reflects his status as a key role cog. Speed will turn 31 next month.
Players activated from the reserve/PUP list do not count toward teams’ eight injury activations during the regular season. But with Speed working as a regular starter over the past three seasons, it is still a setback to a loaded Texans defense (the former Colts fifth-rounder has 41 career starts). Houston did draft two linebackers, bringing in Wade Woodaz in Round 4 and Aiden Fisher in Round 7. Woodaz would stand to have a clearer path to playing time after the Speed setback.
Rams Considered Placing Matthew Stafford On IR To Open 2025 Season
Matthew Stafford now has a second Rams-designed contract, being extended on a one-year deal worth $55MM on Thursday. That agreement came after Stafford’s MVP 2025 season.
While the agreement helps the Rams with quarterback stability as they develop first-rounder Ty Simpson, Stafford has battled through injuries for most of his career. This included a bout with a back issue during training camp last year. Stafford experienced back soreness early in camp and was shut down until mid-August, not getting in a full workout until August 21. The Rams had continually said Stafford was on track for Week 1, and that turned out to be an accurate timeline. But Sean McVay revealed the team considered placing the veteran passer on IR to open the campaign.
“What people don’t realize is how close — he and I sat down — and I was like, ‘Hey, this isn’t responding the way we had hoped,'” McVay said of the injury during an appearance on the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast (h/t CBS Sports’ John Breech). “‘Let’s put you on temporary IR so we don’t put this, where we feel like this anxiety of having to hit a timeline to be ready to go.‘”
The Rams needed to determine Stafford’s status when they set their 53-man roster August 27. Los Angeles carried its fifth-year quarterback on the active roster and had him available in Week 1. Despite Jimmy Garoppolo spending most of training camp working with the team’s first-string offense, the veteran was not needed for meaningful regular-season snaps. The PFR pages did not have a Stafford update between his August 21 return to practice and the playoffs. In between, the former Lions mainstay claimed an MVP honor to strengthen his Hall of Fame case.
Had the Rams used IR to help Stafford return to full strength, they likely would have utilized one of their two August IR-return designations. Although eight regular-season activations are allowed, teams can use two of them in setting their 53-man roster each August. L.A., however, did not use either of those slots. Stafford started 17 games for the second time in his Rams career and finished with a 46:8 TD-INT ratio. Had Stafford began the season on IR, Drake Maye would likely have been named MVP. Stafford narrowly edged the second-year Patriots passer in the voting.
Upon winning MVP honors, Stafford confirmed he would return for an 18th NFL season. The 38-year-old QB is now signed through 2027, and while precise figures from this one-year, $55MM bump are not yet known, the Rams no longer have their top signal-caller in a contract year. That will help give Simpson a longer developmental period and ensure the Rams, who let Stafford shop himself in trades last year, have one of the game’s best QB options at the controls.
Eagles’ Vic Fangio Planning To Coach At Least Two More Seasons
Vic Fangio‘s coaching career spans nearly five decades. He began coaching at the pro level in the USFL and started his NFL tenure with the 1986 Saints, overseeing New Orleans’ famous Dome Patrol linebacking corps as a position coach. He has since been a defensive coordinator with seven teams.
A head coaching stint in Denver transpired during a three-year stretch between Fangio’s long-running DC career, and he did not hold an official position in 2022 after being fired by the Broncos. But Fangio resurfacing with the Eagles in a consulting role brought a resurgence. After the Dolphins gave him more than $4.5MM to be their DC in 2023, the sides separated to lead Fangio back to his native Pennsylvania. Philadelphia then stormed to a Super Bowl LIX rout before returning to the playoffs in Fangio’s second season as Eagles DC.
[RELATED: Eagles Shift Cooper DeJean’s Role In Base Defense]
Fangio, 67, was linked to a potential retirement this offseason. He agreed to return for a third season as Philly’s DC, and a fourth should be considered likely. Fangio said (via The Athletic’s Zach Berman) he intends to coach “at least” two more years. The seasoned coordinator said he was not close to retiring this offseason.
Having 22 seasons in a DC role and three as a head coach, Fangio is one of the most experienced defensive leaders in NFL history. Winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles and helping the 2012 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII has Fangio among the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL annals. He oversaw Hall of Famers Rickey Jackson and Sam Mills during his lengthy Saints stay and elevated the Bears’ defense into a top-ranked unit by 2018, providing a springboard for the Denver hire. Due largely to the Broncos’ issues finding a quarterback, Fangio did not experience much success as a head coach and has conducted one interview (with the Jaguars in 2022) for a head coaching role since.
Fangio’s Eagles consulting season made him a coveted DC candidate, however, and his first year back in Philly keyed an Eagles smothering of the Chiefs’ threepeat bid in Super Bowl LIX. Nick Sirianni does not call plays, highlighting his coordinators’ importance. Even as the Eagles struggled on Sirianni’s side of the ball last year, as OC Kevin Patullo appeared overmatched, Fangio’s defense ranked fifth in points allowed. That marked an eighth season in which a Fangio-led defense produced a top-five finish.
The Eagles’ effort to re-sign Jaelan Phillips failed, but the team traded two third-round picks for Jonathan Greenard during the draft. The team extended Jordan Davis and has Jalen Carter signed through 2027 via the fifth-year option. Fangio will have two All-Pro cornerbacks — DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell — to go with Seahawks import Riq Woolen at his disposal in coverage. It would be surprising if the veteran staffer did not have the Eagles near the top of the rankings in defense this season, and an Eagles team that has been unable to find OC continuity does not need to worry about losing its defensive boss in the near future.