West Notes: Cardinals, Wilks, Taylor, Gordon
We learned at the end of November that Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks is very much on the hot seat less than one year after being one of the hottest head coaching candidates on the market. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network confirms as much today, reporting that Arizona will reassess its entire football operations and coaching staff at the end of the 2018 campaign (video link). Rapoport says all options are on the table, including dismissing both Wilks and GM Steve Keim, keeping both, or keeping one and not the other. Wilks’ fate will depend in large part on whether the 2-9 Cards continue to play hard for him down the stretch.
Now for more from the league’s west divisions:
- If Wilks does get the boot, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that current Jets head coach Todd Bowles could return to the Cardinals as their HC. Bowles served as Arizona’s defensive coordinator from 2013-14 before accepting the head coaching job with Gang Green, and he remains a beloved figure in the desert. He enjoyed his time with the Cardinals, has strong ties with many prominent figures in the organization, and has a good relationship with some of the existing assistant coaches, so the Cardinals could turn to Bowles if they want to replace Wilks but avoid a complete overhaul. Bowles is expected to be fired by the Jets at the end of the 2018 season.
- The Rams‘ success under head coach Sean McVay is having a trickle-down effect on his coaching staff. La Canfora writes that Los Angeles’ quarterbacks coach, Zac Taylor, is drawing plenty of buzz as a head coaching candidate and is expected to receive significant interest from clubs looking for a new HC this year. Taylor served as Miami’s offensive coordinator during the second half of the 2015 season and earned rave reviews for his work, and teams would love to bring the 35-yard-old aboard as a coordinator. But the relatively shallow pool of top HC candidates expected to be available in 2019 suggests that Taylor could make a McVay-like leap to the head coaching ranks next year.
- Chargers running back Melvin Gordon, who is currently sidelined with a Grade 2 MCL sprain, could be back as soon as next week, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Gordon will miss tonight’s game against Pittsburgh but has a chance to return for the team’s December 9 matchup with the Bengals or the December 13 game in Arrowhead.
- Chiefs safety Eric Berry, who returned to practice this week, is not expected to play today, per Rapoport (Twitter link). However, Berry has not suffered any setbacks, so he could be ready to go when Kansas City hosts the Ravens next week.
- More troubling news has emerged regarding former Chiefs star Kareem Hunt, which we detailed this morning.
Jets Notes: Maccagnan, Bowles, Anderson, Darnold
If the Jets’ season continues to go the way it has gone so far, it’s very likely that head coach Todd Bowles will be fired after the season. GM Mike Maccagnan is apparently in far better shape with ownership, and “all indications” are that “Maccagnan will survive this mess of a season and get a chance to finish his rebuilding project”, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. While Maccagnan seems like a heavy favorite to survive, Cimini writes that it’s unclear exactly how much power he’ll have.
Cimini writes that it’s an open question whether or not Maccagnan will get to be the one who hires New York’s next head coach, and notes that the pairing of Bowles and Maccagnan was an “arranged marriage” from ownership. For what it’s worth, Cimini thinks the Jets will “add a couple of years to Maccagnan’s deal” if they keep him, so it doesn’t send the impression that the GM has less job security than the new coach. While Maccagnan will hang on by the skin of his teeth, the way everyone is talking now it seems like a foregone conclusion that Bowles’ days are numbered.
Here’s more from New York:
- Robby Anderson is a very talented young receiver, but has dealt with multiple off-field incidents as well as injuries this season, so Cimini thinks he might not be long for the team. Anderson will be a restricted free agent this offseason, and while Cimini expects the Jets to tender him, he thinks they might look to trade him next offseason. He mentions the Eagles as a possible trade destination, and notes that the Eagles “tried to pry him away” from the Jets at the trade deadline. He also thinks the team might just let him walk if a team signs him to a huge offer sheet this spring. It was reported earlier this week that the Jets are trying to get an extension done with fellow receiver Quincy Enunwa, and it seems like the team definitely values Enunwa more than Anderson moving forward.
- Sam Darnold isn’t playing today against the Patriots, and it looks like he might not play next week either. While Darnold could still possibly return in Week 13, “the following week is more likely”, sources told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Rapoport writes that the Jets want to take it easy on Darnold and make sure he’s 100 percent healthy before returning. The team isn’t going to rush him back, so it’ll likely be Josh McCown again next week against the Titans.
Todd Bowles Likely To Be Fired At End Of Season
This will not come as much of a surprise, but Jets head coach Todd Bowles is facing an “uphill battle” to keep his job at the end of the season, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Rapoport echoes earlier reports that Bowles is not expected to be fired until the 2018 campaign is over, but in an interview with Rich Eisen of the NFL Network, RapSheet adds that the team does plan to give Bowles the pink slip at season’s end, barring an unforeseen change in circumstances (video link).
The Jets are coming off a horrific 41-10 loss to the lowly Bills, and while Rapoport indicates that there is no dysfunction in the team’s locker room, a number of players, including high-profile veterans, did not appear to be playing particularly hard during the Buffalo game. That obviously reflects poorly on the head coach, and while Bowles has been saddled with mostly uninspiring rosters during his time in New York, he has also not done much to suggest that he will be able to right the ship moving forward.
Of course, the same can be said for GM Mike Maccagnan — the architect of those mediocre rosters — though Rapoport also confirms a report from earlier this week that Maccagnan is likely to be given at least another year in his post. That means that he will also have a significant voice in determining who the next head coach will be, so the Jets are putting a lot of faith in a man who has done little to deserve it to date. But, with a promising young quarterback in tow and a ton of cash to spend, Gang Green is hoping Maccagnan can assemble a playoff-caliber squad in 2019.
Bowles has compiled a 23-35 record during his three-plus years as the Jets’ head coach, but he will not be hurting for opportunities even if he does get fired. Rapoport suggests that Bowles — who turns 55 today — is nonetheless expected to receive interest for head coaching positions around the league.
Jets Unlikely To Fire GM Mike Maccagnan
The Jets are unlikely to fire GM Mike Maccagnan, several sources familiar with the Jets’ thinking tell Ralph Vacchiano of SNY. Head coach Todd Bowles, however, is on the hot seat. 
Vacchiano hears that Maccagnan’s long-stated plan has been to compete for a playoff berth in 2019 and therefore his roster has not fallen short of expectations in the eyes of ownership. The Jets will enter the offseason with upwards of $100MM in cap space and they have a promising young quarterback in Sam Darnold, so they could conceivably put themselves in the postseason mix next year.
Still, Maccagnan’s lack of success in the draft has been alarming. Only 12 of the 22 players picked in his first three drafts (2015-2017) remain on the team and the wisdom of some of his hits can be questioned. For example, second-year safety Jamal Adams has promise, but the Jets passed on the opportunity to take Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson when they took him at No. 6 overall in 2017.
It’s also worth noting that Maccagnan had a boatload of cash to work with this past offseason, but failed to fix the team’s porous offensive line or improve the team’s stable of receivers. The club’s biggest expenditure was free agent Trumaine Johnson, a $72.5MM cornerback who has struggled to stay healthy and has done little to impress in his five games on the field.
Despite all of that, the Jets appear willing to exercise patience and stay the course with Maccagnan. Unfortunately for Bowles, that patience will probably not extend to the head coach.
Jets Unlikely To Fire Bowles During Season
Jets head coach Todd Bowles is on the hot seat, but he’s unlikely to lose his job before the end of the calendar year. If a change is made, it will likely come after the season, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. 
Bowles and CEO Christopher Johnson met on Monday morning to discuss the future, which invited speculation of a coaching change during the team’s bye week. Even after the Jets made Bills quarterback Matt Barkley look like Jim Kelly, the Jets plan to keep their embattled head coach for at least the next couple of months.
Jets owner Woody Johnson generally does not believe in firing head coaches during the season. In 2014, Johnson ignored calls to fire Rex Ryan after a 1-8 start to the year and did not dismiss him until after the season when the Jets finished 4-12.
It’s also likely that the Johnsons do not see a logical replacement for Bowles on the coaching staff. The team has struggled on both sides of the ball, so neither offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates nor defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers would make sense as a temporary solution. And, even if Rodgers was viewed as an interim candidate, his health situation would complicate matters.
The locker room is said to still hold Bowles in high regard, but he’s as good as gone if the team cannot rally over the final six games of the season. After the bye, the 3-7 Jets will face the Patriots on Nov. 25.
AFC East Notes: Jets, Bowles, Patriots
Jets coach Todd Bowles was already on the hot seat entering today. Then the Jets were demolished at home by the Bills, and Bowles’ seat got even hotter. Seemingly everyone is assuming Bowles will get fired, and it appears to be just a matter of time before there’s an opening in New York. With that in mind, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY took a look at possible candidates to be his replacement.
The list includes some of the most frequently mentioned candidates like Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, but also includes some under-the-radar names. Washington University coach Chris Peterson is listed, as is Stanford coach David Shaw. One intriguing name he brings up is Michigan and ex-49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, although Vacchiano notes “he’d only be a candidate in New York if GM Mike Maccagnan goes too”, due to Harbaugh’s desire for decision-making power.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- Speaking of Bowles, the embattled coach will meet with Jets CEO Christopher Johnson Monday morning, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. Cimini noted that a “lack of energy on the Jets’ bench” was noted by the team’s higher-ups, which doesn’t “bode well” for Bowles. Nothing is certain, but it’s definitely possible Bowles is relieved of his duties this week as the team enters its bye.
- Patriots receiver Josh Gordon is set to be a restricted free agent after the season, and New England will have several options about what to do. “Giving Gordon a first-round tender makes the most sense for the Patriots”, according to Doug Kyed of NESN.com. If the Patriots place a first round tender on him, any team that signed him to an offer sheet would have to give the Patriots their first round pick if New England let him walk. The Patriots could save some money by attaching a lower tender to him, but then they’d risk having him poached.
- Speaking of the Patriots, they’ll have a different decision to make in the coming weeks. The team has until Wednesday to activate second round pick Duke Dawson from injured reserve, notes Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Reiss notes that Dawson, a rookie cornerback, has been practicing with the team for a couple of weeks but it’s unclear whether or not New England plans on activating him.
AFC East Notes: Dolphins, Tannehill, Parker, Bills, Ivory, Jets, Maccagnan, Bowles
The Dolphins will have a lot of tough decisions to make this offseason, including what to do with Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill is set to have a cap hit of over $26MM in 2019, hasn’t been able to stay healthy, and hasn’t been great on the field even when he is. Deciding Tannehill’s fate “clearly tops” the list of Miami’s priorities for the offseason, according to Adam Beasley of The Miami Herald, who writes “Tannehill would need to be exceptional when he returns from his shoulder injury” for the Dolphins to bring him back at that salary next year.
Tannehill missed the end of the 2016 season with a torn ACL, then missed all of the 2017 season when he re-tore the ACL. This year, Tannehill started the first five games, then went down with a mysterious shoulder injury. He’s been sidelined for four games, and it’s not clear when he’s coming back. It’s still very early, but at this point it would be a surprise if Tannehill is brought back at his current cap number. For what it’s worth, Beasley writes that the Dolphins like Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- Speaking of decisions the Dolphins have to make, they’ll also have to decide the fate of receiver DeVante Parker and right tackle Ja’Wuan James this offseason, according to Beasley. Parker is owed $9.4MM next year, and Beasley writes that keeping him “seems unlikely now, but if he strings together several games like the one last Thursday in Houston (six catches, 134 yards), it becomes a strong consideration.” James will be a free agent after this season, and Beasley writes that “unless he’s great the final eight games, the Dolphins again figure to explore outside options” this March.
- The Bills’ offense has already been an injured mess this year, and they got even more bad news today. Running back Chris Ivory “was taken to Erie County Medical Center, a level 1 trauma center, for evaluations on his left shoulder”, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). It’s unclear the exact nature of the injury, but it seems clear Ivory will miss some time, and he’s been playing a fairly big role in the offense lately.
- Jets GM Mike Maccagnan “was noticeably less effusive” when talking about Todd Bowles in his ‘state of the team’ press availability than he was in last year’s availability, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. Cimini thinks that Maccagnan “is safe, no matter what” and is trying to separate himself from Bowles and from the narrative that the two are joined at the hip, in case Bowles needs to be fired. Bowles is on a very hot seat, and it wouldn’t be surprising if a change is made soon with the Jets suffering another loss today.
AFC Rumors: Jets, Nagy, Conley, Bengals
Todd Bowles and Matt Nagy will face off Sunday when the Jets head to Soldier Field, but this matchup’s visiting coach wanted Nagy to be his offensive coordinator last year, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports. The Jets ended up hiring the since-fired John Morton to be their OC in 2017, but Mehta writes Bowles’ top choice to replace Chan Gailey was Nagy, whom he’s known for decades. However, Nagy did not take an interview, continuing as Andy Reid‘s top offensive lieutenant with the Chiefs. Reid did not want to lose Nagy, per Mehta. Nagy stayed in Kansas City and served as a part-time play-caller last season. That ended up being a critical decision, with Nagy overseeing a dynamic Chiefs offense — one that continued to incorporate college concepts and doubled as one of the league’s most innovative attacks — and the season leading to the Bears hiring him as their head coach. Jeremy Bates is now the Jets’ OC.
Here’s the latest out of the Big Apple and other AFC cities:
- Bilal Powell‘s career may be in jeopardy. The Jets placed their longtime passing-down running back on IR today, and the neck injury Powell’s sustained will need to be surgically repaired. Bowles said (via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, Twitter link) this could be a career-threatening setback. Powell’s played with the Jets since arriving in New York as a fourth-round pick in 2011. He’s by far the longest-tenured Jet, having served as a backfield complement to the likes of LaDainian Tomlinson, Chris Ivory and Matt Forte.
- Patrick Peterson is either off the market, or the Cardinals are orchestrating an impressive smokescreen, so cornerback-needy teams will need to look elsewhere. Some are gauging whether the Raiders would trade another Reggie McKenzie first-round pick, with Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweeting teams are inquiring about Gareon Conley. Janoris Jenkins is the other player contenders are monitoring, but Conley is only in his second season. He is, however, one of the many Raiders who’ve seen their stock drop under Jon Gruden. The Raiders benched Conley prior to their London game; he’d started the previous five Oakland games after missing almost all of his rookie season due to a shin injury. However, the Raiders aren’t believed to be ready to part with Conley. JLC adds the Eagles, Patriots and Steelers are among the teams exploring what it would take to land a corner.
- An NFLPA grievance against the Bengals filed on behalf of Eric Reid did not go in the union’s favor, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reports. An arbitrator denied the grievance, ruling the Bengals were within their rights to ask the then-free agent safety if he planned on continuing to kneel during the playing of the national anthem. The NFLPA argued the Bengals passed on Reid solely because of the anthem controversy, per Garafolo. Now on the Panthers, Reid has knelt during the anthem with Carolina. His collusion grievance against the NFL is still pending and isn’t expected to be heard in the near future, Garafolo adds.
Jets Not Considering Coaching Change
Although the Jets have struggled to a 1-3 start, and although head coach Todd Bowles‘ job has not felt particularly safe for the last couple of years, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that Gang Green is not considering any staff changes at this point.
Indeed, the fact that the team is starting a rookie signal-caller will certainly buy Bowles — who signed an extension that runs through 2020 last December — a little bit of time. But Sam Darnold‘s development over the course of the season will be critical to Bowles’ status with the club moving forward, especially since the Jets seem to have regressed in many ways from last year, when a weak roster scrapped its way to a 5-7 record through the first 12 games of the season (before finishing 5-11 and in the AFC East cellar for the second straight campaign).
Plus, Bowles’ game management has again come under fire in 2018, and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com criticized Bowles this morning for his conservative approach. While ownership is not mulling a coaching change right now, things could change if the Jets do not begin playing more soundly as the season progresses. La Canfora says he would not be surprised if New York is in the market for a new head coach in 2019, especially if a candidate with a strong offensive resume becomes available. To date, Bowles has compiled a 21-31 record with the Jets and has failed to make the playoffs (though the team did come close in 2015, Bowles’ first year on the job).
In related news, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv tweets that Jets defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers could be out for several weeks as he deals with a serious illness. Bowles will call the team’s defensive plays in Rodgers’ absence.
Extra Points: Jets, Bowles, Seahawks, Thomas, Saints, Crawley, Raiders, Hall
Not too long ago, the Jets were riding high off their Week 1 Monday Night Football win over the Lions as they kicked off the Sam Darnold era and all was well in New York. Now things have gone south quickly, as the team has dropped two straight games to the Dolphins and Browns. And although coach Todd Bowles recently landed a contract extension that locks him up through the 2020 season, his job isn’t necessarily safe writes Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.
While Vacchiano cautions that these first couple games wont determine Bowles’ future, he writes that “the feeling around the Jets is still that the 54-year-old Bowles isn’t really that safe at all.” It’s an interesting development considering Bowles was widely praised last season for leading the team to a surprise 5-11 record. Before last season, Bowles had been thought to be on one of the hottest seats in the entire league. It will be interesting to watch play out, but it looks like Bowles might not be the coach of the future in New York.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Earl Thomas didn’t practice for the Seahawks today, and coach Pete Carroll was extremely vague about why according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. Carroll said it wasn’t an injury and was something the team was dealing with, but wouldn’t commit to Thomas playing this Sunday. This immediately revived trade rumors that have surrounded Thomas all year, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll be on the move at this point. The team that was most-linked to Thomas this offseason, the Cowboys, aren’t pursuing him at the moment as EVP Stephen Jones said the team was “not exchanging any calls or any information at this time” according to Jon Machota of Dallas News (Twitter link). It’s a strange situation, and while it doesn’t seem like he’ll be traded, Condotta writes “no one will say” why he isn’t practicing.
- The Saints’ defense, particularly their secondary, has struggled mightily this year. A large part of the problem has been cornerback Ken Crawley, who has now been benched ahead of the team’s Week 3 matchup with the Falcons according to Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com (Twitter link). Fourth-year player P.J. Williams will move into the lineup in his place.
- Raiders cornerback Leon Hall was hospitalized after the team’s Week 2 game against the Broncos according to Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Hall has a sickle cell trait issue that can flare up at altitude. He’s expected to play for this team this Sunday in Miami.