Kevin Stefanski Likely To Take Second HC Interviews With Falcons, Ravens, Titans
JANUARY 17: Stefanski’s second interview with the Falcons will occur today, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. He’s scheduled to meet again with the Titans on Sunday.
JANUARY 16: The first major domino in the 2026 hiring cycle has (more or less) fallen. With John Harbaugh no longer on the market, attention will turn to Kevin Stefanski and his destination.
The two-time Coach of the Year has loomed as one of the top candidates since his Browns tenure came to an expected end. Stefanski is nearing a tour of interested teams for second interviews. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the list of teams expected to arrange a follow-up includes the Falcons, Ravens and Titans.
Both Atlanta and Tennessee came up as aggressive Harbaugh suitors. The expected Giants HC is believed to have lined up a second Falcons meeting and a first Titans summit — both in-person meetings — for this week, but each ended up being canceled after Giants negotiations heated up with a deal being expected. The Titans had an offer ready.
Stefanski, 43, becomes an interesting consolation prize. The Falcons were mentioned as a team viewing Stefanski as a strong plan B, and with Harbaugh appearing Big Apple-bound, it looks like Atlanta will need to move on.
Despite being fired by the Browns, Stefanski booked six HC interviews. He also met with the Raiders, Dolphins and Giants. The six-year Browns leader won only eight games over the past two seasons, drawing Jimmy Haslam‘s ire and becoming an interesting fall guy as the Browns have struggled to stay afloat after authorizing the Deshaun Watson contract, but the two-time Coach of the Year appears on track to land a second chance immediately. Stefanski guided the Browns to their second and third playoff berths since the franchise’s 1999 relaunch, the second of which producing a Joe Flacco Comeback Player of the Year award.
The Falcons are prepared to hire a head coach before a GM. This could appeal to Stefanski, who was hired before the Browns added GM Andrew Berry back in 2020. Matt Ryan will have a significant say in personnel, stepping away from CBS to work with the team that drafted him. It remains to be seen how powerful the GM will be in this arrangement.
As for the Titans, they are prioritizing experience this time around. Of the 19 candidates Tennessee has interviewed or scheduled meetings with, 15 are former HCs. The Titans saw first-timer Brian Callahan wash out quickly; they are looking to another AFC North veteran in the wake of that firing. Despite Mike Borgonzi‘s ties to Matt Nagy, Stefanski appears an early frontrunner to land this job.
Baltimore’s search began several weeks after Tennessee’s, and having the chance to coach Lamar Jackson represents an advantage the Ravens hold over the other HC-seeking teams on this year’s market. Steve Bisciotti said this week the Ravens will consider second-chance candidates whose first tenures were rocky. Stefanski qualifies, going 45-56 in Cleveland. It would be fascinating to see Stefanski end up in Baltimore due to the history between these two franchises; it’s a scenario that appears in play.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Raiders To Interview Mike McDaniel For HC Job; Ejiro Evero Lands Second Interview
The Raiders have lined up a head coaching interview with Mike McDaniel, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. The former Dolphins head coach will meet with the Raiders in Miami on Monday.
The Raiders will also hold an in-person interview with Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero next week, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. Evero, who has already met with the Raiders virtually, is the first candidate to set up a second interview with the club.
McDaniel has been a hot commodity across the league since the Dolphins fired him on Jan. 8. The 42-year-old has already interviewed with the Falcons, Ravens, Browns and Titans.
If McDaniel doesn’t receive a second head coaching chance in 2026, he may spend the season as an offensive coordinator. The Chargers, Lions, Buccaneers and Eagles have all shown interest in McDaniel in an OC role. Other than Philadelphia, all of those teams have booked interviews with McDaniel.
McDaniel, a longtime Kyle Shanahan protege, worked as a non-play-calling O-coordinator in San Francisco in 2021. After McDaniel’s lone season in that position, the Dolphins brought him in to replace Brian Flores. The results over McDaniel’s first two years in South Florida were encouraging. Led by McDaniel’s high-flying offense, the Dolphins combined for a 20-14 regular-season mark and earned back-to-back playoff appearances.
Although the Dolphins didn’t win either of their postseason contests, McDaniel got the most out of Tua Tagovailoa, who quarterbacked the league’s top-ranked offense in 2023. Miami’s offense sputtered in each of the past two seasons, though, and McDaniel benched Tagovailoa for seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers for the team’s final three games in 2025. The Dolphins finished 7-10, their second straight sub-.500 campaign, and elected to move on from McDaniel. He ended his Dolphins tenure 35-33.
If McDaniel winds up in Las Vegas, expectations are he’d work with a second consecutive first-round quarterback. The Raiders, who went 3-14 under one-and-done head coach Pete Carroll in 2025, will pick first in April’s draft. Indiana’s Heisman Trophy-winning signal-caller, Fernando Mendoza, is the heavy favorite to go No. 1 overall.
Evero, 45, is among the candidates McDaniel will attempt to fend off in the Raiders’ search for Carroll’s replacement. Considering the Raiders are meeting with Evero again, it’s clear he’s a serious contender for the position.
Evero, briefly a safety with the Raiders in 2004, has worked in various coaching roles in the NFL since 2007. He was the Broncos’ D-coordinator in 2022, and though the team struggled during its ill-fated Nathaniel Hackett season, its defense allowed the league’s seventh-fewest points. Then-Panthers head coach Frank Reich hired Evero to run the team’s defense in 2023.
While Carolina’s defense ranked a lackluster 29th in points allowed during Evero’s first season at the controls, it surrendered the fourth-fewest yards that year. The unit plummeted to last-place rankings in both categories in 2024, but it was a much more respectable 15th in scoring and 16th in total defense this season. The Panthers, despite an 8-9 record, won the NFC South. The Rams ended their season with a 34-31 wild-card round win, and multiple teams have shown interest in Evero since then.
Along with the Raiders, the Falcons and Steelers have requested interviews with Evero. Having signed an extension with Carolina before the season, Evero will stay put if a team doesn’t choose him as its next head coach.
Packers Expected To Extend GM Brian Gutekunst, HC Matt LaFleur
The Packers are working toward contract extensions with general manager Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Both Gutekunst and LaFleur are expected to reach agreements with the team.
As things stand, Gutekunst and LaFleur are unsigned beyond 2026. It’s no surprise the Packers are nearing extensions with the two, however, as CEO Ed Policy made it known last summer he’s against allowing GMs and head coaches reaching lame-duck status.
“I’m generally opposed — I’d never say never — [but] I’m generally opposed to a coach or GM going into the last year of their contract,” Policy said. “That creates a lot of issues. I think normally you have a pretty good idea of where that relationship is going when you have two years left — not always, but normally.”
As a Packers employee since 1999, the 52-year-old Gutekunst has spent approximately half of his life with the organization. He worked in scouting roles until taking over for Ted Thompson as the team’s GM in 2018. A Super Bowl appearance has eluded the franchise since then, but the Packers have gone to the postseason in six of Gutekunst’s eight years at the helm.
Less than a year after Gutekunst assumed the reins, he fired longtime head coach Mike McCarthy in December 2018. The ensuing head coaching search led to the hiring of LaFleur, then the Titans’ offensive coordinator. The Packers have gone a resoundingly successful 76-40-1 under LaFleur in the regular season. However, they’ve struggled to a 3-6 mark in the playoffs.
The Packers’ 2025 season ended with a wild-card round meltdown against the archrival Bears, who overcame a 21-3 halftime deficit to escape with a 31-27 win. There was some uncertainty about LaFleur’s status in the immediate aftermath, but another report indicated he’d land an extension. It appears that will be the case despite the Packers’ season finishing with five straight losses. They went 9-7-1 in the regular season after starting 9-3-1.
The Gutekunst-LaFleur duo produced 13-win seasons and NFC North titles in each of their first three seasons, but the Packers’ results have been less impressive in recent years. They compiled an 8-9 mark in 2022, future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers‘ last season in Green Bay, and have combined for a 29-21-1 record and no division crowns in three seasons since then.
Gutekunst found the Packers’ third straight franchise QB in Jordan Love, the 26th pick in 2020, and that no doubt earned the executive a longer leash. All indications are he and LaFleur will continue working together in Green Bay for the foreseeable future.
NFL Mailbag: Tomlin, Brown, Giants
This week's edition of the PFR mailbag looks into the Steelers' situation post-Mike Tomlin, the possibility of A.J. Brown's Eagles tenure ending shortly, the Giants' offseason outlook and more.
Nick asks:
Who do you think makes sense as a Mike Tomlin replacement? Also, what do you think would be a fair trade ask if he returns to coaching in 2027 or 2028?
The pattern repeated throughout Pittsburgh’s three most recent hires (Tomlin, along with Bill Cowher and Chuck Noll before him) is a good place to start when thinking about the team’s traditional HC blueprint.
Joe Schoen’s Status Factoring Into Giants’ Delay With John Harbaugh?
Early in the Giants’ John Harbaugh courtship, a rumor suggested the high-profile HC free agent would not have an issue working with GM Joe Schoen. The Giants are planning to retain Schoen, but the embattled exec’s status may be a factor in Harbaugh’s deal not being done yet.
As of Friday afternoon, the deal is not done. The sides were working on contract language this morning, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who adds money is not believed to be an issue. Harbaugh is expected to receive a deal in the $20MM-per-year range, which will place him among the NFL’s highest-paid HCs.
But an issue may be forming with regard to organizational power. Rumblings have emerged Schoen’s role in the Giants’ new setup has been a partial cause of this delay, according to the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard. Harbaugh, 63, was believed to have a Titans offer in place. He also appeared to be the Falcons’ top choice, and the Browns wanted to meet with him. This created considerable leverage, and it should translate to the 18-year HC veteran having at least some personnel say.
Schoen certainly is not in a position to win a power struggle here, but he is believed to have spoken with Harbaugh many times since his Ravens firing. That would point to the four-year Giants GM being in the team’s Harbaugh-era plan, but Leonard adds several sources informed him Harbaugh would likely want Schoen gone or at least see the GM’s power reduced. This could lead to a setup with Harbaugh carrying final personnel say, should he want it.
The Giants are prepared to give Harbaugh a monster deal to succeed Brian Daboll, who had come over from Buffalo with Schoen. It would be odd for Giants ownership, who needed to confirm Schoen was merely keeping his job for 2025, to back a GM who has yet to produce a 10-win season. There are likely more factors at play here, but Schoen’s role being one of them is interesting.
Any Harbaugh proposed changes to Schoen-overseen departments were expected to “create discomfort” during the process, per Leonard. Schoen’s modernization of the Giants’ operation was believed to be a selling point for the team, which kept him after firing Daboll in November. Potential moves to remove staffers with ties to ownership, with the potential for Harbaugh to bring in some of his own people, also loom as an issue.
We have seen new coaching hires lead to GM changes recently. The Jaguars booted Trent Baalke because his presence running their HC search was impeding a chance to hire strong candidates, and Liam Coen signed on shortly after that firing. In 2019, the Jets fired Mike Maccagnan after his first draft with new HC hire Adam Gase. In 2017, the Bills made the same move with Doug Whaley, ousting him months after hiring Sean McDermott. Eventually, GMs handpicked by the coaches — Joe Douglas, Brandon Beane — arrived in those AFC East cities post-draft.
Schoen said he did not envision his presence hurting the Giants’ GM search, and Harbaugh making New York his first visit pointed to a future working with Schoen. But this process dragging on has certainly become interesting. Considering the role Schoen has played in the Harbaugh search, it would surprise if the Giants traveled down this road. But this will be a situation to monitor as the team continues work on hammering out the expected HC’s contract.
Jaguars Plan To Keep Travis Hunter In Two-Way Role In 2026
The Jaguars paid a steep price to reel in former Colorado wide receiver/cornerback and 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter in last April’s draft. In moving up from the fifth pick to No. 2 overall, where they took Hunter, the Jaguars also sent two other 2025 selections – a second-rounder and a fourth-rounder – as well as their 2026 first-rounder to the Browns.
The trade that led Hunter to Jacksonville was a bold strike from Jaguars rookie general manager James Gladstone, especially considering the team was coming off a 4-13 season. Jacksonville orchestrated a dramatic turnaround during a 13-4 campaign in 2025, though. Adding to the surprise, the team pulled off its 180 despite limited contributions from Hunter.
After appearing in each of the Jaguars’ first seven games, Hunter suffered a non-contact knee injury in a late-October practice. The Jaguars immediately placed Hunter on IR. He underwent a season-ending LCL repair a week and a half later. The procedure came with a six-month recovery timeline, which should give Hunter ample room to gear up for what he and the Jags hope will be a more impactful 2026.
Hunter ended his rookie year with twice as many snaps on offense than defense (324 to 162). The 22-year-old shined as a receiver in his last game before the injury, but his production otherwise fell short of expectations. In a lopsided Week 7 loss to the Rams in London, Hunter caught eight passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. That was his lone score during a 28-catch, 298-yard campaign.
On the defensive side, Hunter tallied 15 tackles and three passes defensed. According to Pro-Football-Reference, Hunter allowed just nine completions on 18 targets when he was the nearest defender. Quarterbacks posted a paltry 68.3 passer rating when they threw his way.
A few days after Hunter underwent surgery, head coach Liam Coen said the team would evaluate his future as a two-way player. With the Jags’ season now over after a wild-card round loss to the Bills, they expect Hunter to continue in a two-way role in 2026.
“We still expect him to play on both sides of the ball,” Gladstone said this week (via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com). “The steps that he was taking by the midpoint of the season really made us feel good about what the back half of the year was going to be on both sides of the ball and what that impact was going to look like being a feature point on offense and an impact player on defense.”
In the wake of Hunter’s injury, Gladstone made a pre-trade deadline splash in acquiring receiver Jakobi Meyers from the Raiders on Nov. 4. The Jags were so impressed with Meyers that they locked him up on a three-year, $60MM extension a month and a half later. With Hunter returning, quarterback Trevor Lawrence will have an even stronger group of receivers to work with as the Jags try to defend their AFC South title and compete for a Super Bowl in 2026. Brian Thomas and Parker Washington are in line to join Hunter and Meyers as the Jags’ top four at the position.
Defensively, almost all of Hunter’s rookie snaps came as a boundary corner. Montaric Brown and Greg Newsome factored heavily into the mix there in 2025, but both players are slated to reach free agency in March. If they depart, it could put Hunter in prime position for more defensive work.
Chargers To Interview Mike McDaniel For OC Position
Since he was fired by the Dolphins just over a week ago, Mike McDaniel has been offered a litany of opportunities to move on in some form or fashion. Some teams (Titans, Falcons, Browns, and Ravens) have expressed interest in him as a potential head coach again, while some teams (Lions, Eagles, and Buccaneers) still have head coaches in place and are interested in him returning to a potential offensive coordinator job. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Chargers can be added to the latter group of teams as they are set to interview McDaniel to potentially replace Greg Roman.
It’s been a busy week for McDaniel. Following his dismissal in Miami, he kicked off his week with his head coaching interviews with Atlanta and Cleveland. On Tuesday, he interviewed with the Lions for their offensive coordinator job, following that up with head coaching interviews with Tennessee on Wednesday and Baltimore on Thursday. Today, McDaniel returned to the coordinator interest, interviewing with Tampa Bay. Nothing’s been announced as scheduled for McDaniel this weekend, so perhaps he’s just enjoying a couple days off, but Rapoport expects his interview with Los Angeles to take place “early next week.”
Since firing Roman, the Chargers have looked at a number of names to fill his shoes. They first looked internally, granting an interview to passing game coordinator Marcus Brady of Montreal Alouettes fame. He has arrayed experience with both young and veteran talent, and his familiarity with Herbert could be a strong place to start with the likely journey to a new offensive scheme. Their second internal candidate was quarterbacks coach Shane Day. Day held the passing game coordinator title for two seasons in 2021-22 but was fired after the team blew a 27-point lead in Herbert’s first playoff game. He returned this year, much to the joy of the team’s star quarterback.
Mostly recently, the team interviewed former Titans head coach Brian Callahan for the open position. Callahan’s experience with young quarterbacks is a bit of a mixed bag. He helped kickstart what has been a strong start to Joe Burrow‘s career in Cincinnati, but in Tennessee, he struggled to get much out of offenses led by Will Levis and Cam Ward. In an attempt to save his job this year, he ceded play-calling duties after an 0-3 start to the Titans’ season, but he was relieved of his head coaching duties, too, after only three more games.
McDaniel only had one season of coordinator experience with the 49ers, and he didn’t call plays as the OC, but he was the Dolphins’ primary play-caller throughout his four-year run with the team. His arrival in Miami seemed to unlock Tua Tagovailoa in his third season as the offense improved from 25th in total yards and 22nd in scoring to sixth in total yards and 11th in scoring in McDaniel’s first year with the team. In Year 2, the Dolphins led the league in total yards and finished as the second highest-scoring offense. Injuries would limit the team over his last two seasons in Miami, but it’s clear why McDaniel is such a respected name in offensive coaching circles.
Pairing McDaniel with Herbert, young running back Omarion Hampton, a versatile receiving corps, and eventually, two extremely talented, recovered offensive tackles could make for a dangerous unit. In order to land him, though, the Dolphins will need to hope the right head coaching opportunities don’t come his way and that he’ll prefer to work for them. There’s a long way to go in this process but bringing McDaniel in certainly makes the team’s OC search more interesting.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/16/26
Friday’s only minor transactions:
Denver Broncos
- Elevated: TE Caleb Lohner, WR Elijah Moore
With one early playoff game tomorrow to kick off the Divisional Round of the playoffs, the Broncos have announced their standard gameday practice squad elevations to match Buffalo’s. Moore will have a chance to make his Broncos debut tomorrow. He signed with Denver in early December after spending half the season with the team he’ll be playing against Saturday afternoon.
Raiders Schedule Interviews With Joe Brady, Klay Kubiak
The Raiders continue to move forward with their first round of head coaching interviews, scheduling time this Sunday for Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak, per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. After the team finishes interviewing the Rams’ coordinators today, they will have conducted 10 head coaching interviews, making Brady and Kubiak the 11th and 12th interviewees of their extensive search. 
Brady has been a bit busier than Kubiak so far in this year’s coaching cycle. Including Las Vegas, Brady has been tied to five of the nine open coaching positions since Black Monday, though he hasn’t interviewed anywhere yet. He had been tied to the Giants job that has now gone to John Harbaugh, pending signed agreements, and the Dolphins requested an interview. He has his first interviews also scheduled for Sunday, when he will somehow fit in time with the Falcons and Ravens, in addition to Vegas.
Brady’s rise has been fairly meteoric from his humble beginnings. A Miami-area-native, Brady somehow found himself playing college wide receiver in Virginia at William & Mary, only catching three balls in four years. Following his graduation, he remained with his alma mater to coach the linebackers, staying two seasons before taking up a graduate assistant role for two years at Penn State. Following his time with the Nittany Lions, Brady made his NFL coaching debut as an offensive assistant for the Saints.
After two years in that role, Brady made his way up I-10 to Baton Rouge, where his role as passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach helped Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and the rest of the 2019 LSU Tigers win their first national championship in 12 years. His single-year success with the Tigers led to his first offensive coordinator opportunity at any level when he landed with the Panthers. Though he showed promise early in his first season as a coordinator, landing five head coaching interviews in its wake, regression in Year 2 led a desperate Matt Rhule to fire his offensive coordinator midseason.
Brady rebounded by landing a job as the quarterbacks coach in Buffalo, eventually stepping up into a role as the Bills’ offensive coordinator, following the dismissal of Ken Dorsey. The Brady/Josh Allen offense has proven to be incredibly successful. Last year, a balanced attack helped Allen win his first MVP award. This past season, a middling passing attack was bolstered by the NFL’s No. 1 rushing offense. Brady had gotten a bit of head coaching interest after his first year as OC in Buffalo, interviewing with the Bears and Jaguars and planning to interview with the Saints and Jets before they named their head coaching hires.
Kubiak’s rise has been meteoric in its own right. The same year Brady went from playing college ball to coaching it, Kubiak went from English master’s graduate to high school offensive coordinator. He would eventually be promoted to high school head coach, before making his NFL debut — following in the footsteps of his father and two brothers — as a defensive quality control coach for the 49ers in 2021. Since then, Kubiak has gradually worked his way up the ranks in San Francisco, becoming assistant quarterbacks coach the next year, offensive passing game specialist in 2024, and offensive coordinator for this season.
That Kubiak is getting head coaching interest after only his first year of coordinator experience at the NFL-level is impressive, but given the number of candidates in the field, his first offseason in the head coaching cycle is likely to end like Brady’s did. The Steelers were the first team to bring Kubiak’s name into the cycle with an interview request. Nothing has been announced as scheduled for Pittsburgh, though, so unless they get him in before Sunday, Vegas will be hosting Kubiak’s first interview.
Here’s a look at how the Raiders’ search is shaping up so far:
- Joe Brady, offensive coordinator (Bills): To interview 1/18
- Ejiro Evero, defensive coordinator (Panthers): Interviewed 1/14
- Brian Flores, defensive coordinator (Vikings): Mentioned as candidate
- Jeff Hafley, defensive coordinator (Packers): Interviewed 1/15
- John Harbaugh, former head coach (Ravens): Contacted
- Vance Joseph, defensive coordinator (Broncos): Interviewed 1/8
- Klay Kubiak, offensive coordinator (49ers): To interview 1/18
- Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator (Seahawks): Interviewed 1/9
- Mike LaFleur, offensive coordinator (Rams): To interview 1/16
- Jesse Minter, defensive coordinator (Chargers): Interviewed 1/14
- Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator (Chiefs): Interviewed 1/8
- Nate Scheelhaase, pass game coordinator (Rams): To interview 1/16
- Chris Shula, defensive coordinator (Rams): Interview requested
- Kevin Stefanski, former head coach (Browns): Interviewed 1/8
- Davis Webb, quarterbacks coach (Broncos): Interviewed 1/7
Wink Martindale, Jim Leonhard, DeMarcus Covington Among Jets’ DC Interviewees
The Jets’ defensive coordinator search has flown under the radar during a frenzied HC carousel, but it has taken shape Friday. The team announced eight candidates for the job.
In addition to interim DC Chris Harris, seven others received interviews. Don Martindale (Michigan), Jim Leonhard (Broncos), Ephraim Banda (Browns), Jim O’Neil (Lions), DeMarcus Covington (Packers), Daronte Jones (Vikings) and Mathieu Araujo (Dolphins) interviewed for the position.
Harris was reported as being likely to interview to keep the job, one he took on after the Steve Wilks firing, and Martindale came up as a candidate as well. The Jets submitted an interview request for Jones. Otherwise, their actions have been pretty quiet on this front.
Entering his rookie season as a head coach, Aaron Glenn tapped the experienced Wilks as his first defensive coordinator. The decision worked out so poorly that Glenn gave Wilks the ax in mid-December. Wilks lost his job the day after a 48-20 blowout loss to the Jaguars in Week 15.
The results didn’t necessarily improve in three games under Harris, who opened 2025 as the team’s defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator. With Harris taking over for Wilks, the Jets surrendered a combined 106 points in losses to the Saints, Patriots and Bills.
Although Buffalo rested most of its key offensive players in Week 18, its Mitchell Trubisky-quarterbacked offense still teed off on the Jets for 470 total yards and 35 points. The Jets didn’t pick off Trubisky in that game, clinching an interception-less season for their defense. They became the first team to achieve that ignominious feat. While Harris is at least receiving consideration for a promotion to the full-time job, it would be a surprise to see the Jets choose him over the rest of the field.
Nobody from this octet carries more experience than the 62-year-old Martindale, most recently a D-coordinator at Michigan over the past two seasons. He has been a DC in the NFL for three teams – the Broncos (2010), the Ravens (2018-21) and the Giants (2022-23). Martindale’s Giants tenure ended after a rift with then-head coach Brian Daboll. The two got into a fiery confrontation before parting ways.
O’Neil and Covington join Martindale as former D-coordinators in the NFL. A defensive assistant in Detroit since 2024, O’Neil handled DC duties in Cleveland from 2014-15 and in San Francisco in 2016. He’s also a former Jets coach, having worked in multiple roles under Rex Ryan from 2009-12. Covington was the Patriots’ DC in 2024 under one-and-done head coach Jerod Mayo. He’s now the Packers’ defensive line coach and run game coordinator.
An NFL safety from 2005-2014, Leonhard spent three seasons as a member of Ryan’s defense in New York. The 43-year-old started his coaching career with Wisconsin in 2016. He worked as the Badgers’ DC from 2017-22.
Leonhard is now in his second season with the Broncos, who hired him as a defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator last year. Sean Payton promoted Leonhard to assistant head coach this season.
With the top-seeded Broncos chasing a championship, Leonhard may be a few weeks away from earning a Super Bowl ring as a key part of their staff. He’s also on the Cowboys’ radar as they search for a new D-coordinator.
Banda and Jones are also in the mix for the Dallas job. Previously a college DC at Miami and Utah State, Banda has been the Browns’ safeties coach since 2023. He fulfilled his interview request with the Cowboys today, too, according to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com.
Jones, LSU’s coordinator in 2021, has coached in the pros with the Dolphins, Bengals and Vikings since 2016. He started his second Vikings stint in 2022 and has worked as a defensive pass game coordinator under DC Brian Flores since 2023. Flores, whose contract has expired, could leave for another job as a head coach or an assistant. If that happens, the Vikings may promote Jones to replace Flores.
Araujo was on the Yale staff before then-Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel hired him as an assistant DBs coach in 2022. He spent the past two seasons as Miami’s cornerbacks coach, but Araujo’s future is uncertain in the wake of McDaniel’s firing. If the Jets don’t hire Araujo and the Dolphins’ next head coach doesn’t retain him, he’ll have to look elsewhere in 2026.
Along with failing to record an INT, the Jets finished the year a lowly 25th in total defense and 31st in scoring. Their next defensive coordinator will have his work cut out in improving the unit, especially after the Jets traded cornerstone lineman Quinnen Williams and cornerback Sauce Gardner before the Nov. 4 deadline. The Jets received a haul of picks in those deals, though, and they’ll enter the offseason with a hefty amount of cap space. Between their draft capital and spending room, Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey will be in position to give the team’s next defensive coordinator more to work with in 2026.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.