Lynn Put All Focus On Chargers' Job After Season
- Prior to the Chargers entering the race, Anthony Lynn saw the Bills as the best opportunity for him. The newest Los Angeles HC was connected to every team in need of a coach, save for the 49ers. “To me, [Buffalo] was the best place for me to be because I knew the personnel, I knew all the people I was working with and I think that was the quickest turnaround,” Lynn said, via Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. Although, after the Chargers became interested, Lynn said he quickly pivoted to their situation. “They have a quarterback; they have key players at every position, at skill positions, and a young, talented defense, I thought that right there was a great opportunity,” he said. “And that’s where I put all my focus, was in that job after the season was over, and thank God it came through.”
Goodell “Disappointed” In Chargers’ Move
The Chargers’ decision to leave their longtime home, San Diego, in favor of Los Angeles has drawn the ire of the NFL’s owners, many of whom are reportedly “very upset.” Commissioner Roger Goodell isn’t thrilled, either, as he told FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd on Thursday that the league is “disappointed” in Chargers owner Dean Spanos’ choice to relocate. Goodell added that the league “did some unprecedented things to try to keep the Chargers in San Diego,” though he didn’t elaborate further (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).
One option would have been for Rams owner Stan Kroenke to help pay for a stadium in San Diego, which would have enabled him to keep the Los Angeles market to himself, a league source told Florio. The Chargers still wouldn’t have gotten enough public money for a new facility to come to fruition, however, Florio notes.
On the other hand, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report disputes the idea of Kroenke’s involvement, tweeting that he never offered to help the Chargers remain in San Diego. Had he done so, Kroenke would have had to pay more for his Inglewood stadium, and he could have opened up the LA market to the Raiders – something he didn’t want to do (Twitter links).
Regardless of what went on behind the scenes, the LA situation is settled. The Raiders’ future isn’t, though the franchise did file its relocation papers last week to move from Oakland to Las Vegas. The Mark Davis-led organization remains hopeful about casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s involvement in a potential stadium, per Cole, who adds that Adelson believes contributing $650MM toward the planned $1.9 billion facility “would aid his legacy.” If Adelson doesn’t end up in the mix, Goldman Sachs would likely pick up the slack, according to Cole. However, whether it’s Adelson or Goldman Sachs helping him, Davis will need 23 of the league’s other 31 owners to sign off on his relocation plan in March. That’s “hardly a formality,” Cole relays (all Twitter links).
On the possibility of placing a team in America’s gambling capital, Goodell told Cowherd (via PFT’s Michael David Smith): “We’ve seen the changes in the culture around the country in gambling. We’re obviously very sensitive to that, but we’re also going to evaluate the Raiders case on the relocation application in what’s in the overall best interests of the league. But one thing we can’t ever do is compromise on the game. That’s one of the things we’ll do is to make sure the policies we’ve created, if we did in any way approve the Raiders, I don’t see us compromising on any of the policies.”
Chargers Owner: "There’s no looking back"
- For those wondering whether the Chargers would ever return to San Diego, owner Dean Spanos all but squashed those theories today. “That’s not even a consideration,” Spanos told Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News. “There’s no looking back. We’re moving forward.”
[SOURCE LINK]
Chargers To Hire Gus Bradley As DC
Former Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley has agreed to become the Chargers’ defensive coordinator, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
[RELATED: 2017 Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Tracker]
Bradley had been one of the most-coveted coordinators in the league during this year’s hiring cycle, as both the Redskins and the 49ers — in addition to the Chargers — had expressed interest in adding him to their staff. Considered something of a “domino,” as Schefter tweets, Bradley’s hiring in Los Angeles means that Washington and San Francisco will likely move rapidly in their searches for their next DCs.
While other teams are moving onto additional candidates, the Chargers and new head coach Anthony Lynn will land in Bradley the candidate they’ve targeted from the beginning of their search, but the club did have a backup plan. Incumbent defensive backs coach Ron Milus was the Chargers’ second choice, per Schefter (Twitter link) , and would have been hired as DC if Bradley had rebuffed Los Angeles. Instead, Bradley will inherit a Chargers defense that ranked eighth in DVOA under former coordinator John Pagano, and boasts talent — including Joey Bosa, Denzel Perryman, Casey Hayward, and Jason Verrett — at every level.
Bradley, of course, was fired before he could finish out his fourth season as Jacksonville’s head coach. While his time with the Jaguars certainly can’t be considered successful (it’s hard to argue with a 14-48 record), Bradley had seemingly begun to assemble an interesting defense that looked primed for a breakout. And the 50-year-old’s coordinating chops speak for themselves, as Bradley helped develop the Legion of Boom during his days leading the Seattle defense from 2009-12.
While Bradley’s hire will lead to a shakeup of the Chargers’ defense, the Bolts’ offensive staff will largely remain intact after Lynn agreed to retain incumbent OC Ken Whisenhunt.
Owners "Very Upset" Over Chargers' Move
- The Chargers will hire Alfredo Roberts as their running backs coach, per Adam Caplan of ESPN (Twitter link). He’ll replace Ollie Wilson, who had been with the Chargers for 14 years. Roberts and new Bolts head coach Anthony Lynn will now work together for a third time – the two were previously on the same staffs in Cleveland and Jacksonville.
The NFL is “besides itself” over the Chargers’ choice to exit San Diego in favor of Los Angeles last week, a league source told Adam Schefter of ESPN. “There are a ton of owners very upset that [the Chargers] moved,” said another source, who interestingly added the league hopes Chargers owner Dean Spanos realizes he “bungled” the situation and moves the team back to San Diego. Unsurprisingly, the chances of that happening are rather slim, Schefter notes.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/19/17
Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2017 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:
New England Patriots
- TE Rob Housler
New York Giants
- K Aldrick Rosas
San Diego Chargers
- WR Da’Ron Brown
- WR Jamaal Jones
San Francisco 49ers
- K Nick Rose
- WR Rashad Ross
Seattle Seahawks
- TE Chris Briggs
- DT Rodney Coe
- WR Jamel Johnson
- DB Demetrius McCray
- WR Rodney Smith
Redskins Interview John Pagano For DC
The Redskins today interviewed incumbent Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano for the same role on their staff, according to John Keim of ESPN.com. Pagano hasn’t officially been released from his contract in Los Angeles, but given that the Chargers are not only conducting interviews to replace him, but allowed him to meet with Washington, it’s fair to assume Pagano won’t be coaching in LA next season.
[RELATED: 2017 Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker]
Pagano, 49, has spent his entire NFL coaching career with the Chargers, working his way up from defensive quality control to defensive coordinator, assuming the latter position in 2012. In his first four years on the job, the Chargers didn’t post a better defensive DVOA ranking than 18th, and finished last in the NFL in 2013. The defense turned in its best Pagano-led showing in 2016 (eighth), but that wasn’t enough to persuade new Los Angeles head coach Anthony Lynn to retain Pagano.
The Redskins’ search for a new defensive coordinator has become the most exhaustive hunt for a play-caller in the league, on either side of the ball. Counting Pagano, Washington has now been linked to 10 candidates as it looks for former DC Joe Barry‘s replacement. While former Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley was at one time viewed as the leading candidate, the Redskins have also expressed interest in three former Rob Ryan disciples (Rex Ryan, Dennis Thurman, and Mike Pettine), 49ers linebackers coach Jason Tarver, and will meet with their own LBs coach, Greg Manusky.
NFLPA Announces Cap Carryover Amounts
The NFL Players Association has announced all 32 teams’ salary cap carryover amounts for the 2017 season (Twitter link). Next season’s cap figure isn’t yet known, but it’s likely to be in the $165MM range. When that becomes official, it can be added to each team’s carryover amount to determine that club’s official spending room for 2017.
Here are this year’s carryover totals:
- Cleveland Browns: $50,123,269
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $39,314,310
- San Francisco 49ers: $38,708,916
- Tennessee Titans: $24,046,522
- Washington Redskins: $15,055,131
- Carolina Panthers: $13,208,020
- Miami Dolphins: $8,363,708
- Chicago Bears: $8,103,197
- Oakland Raiders: $8,000,000
- Green Bay Packers: $7,984,687
- Philadelphia Eagles: $7,933,869
- Denver Broncos: $7,243,248
- Indianapolis Colts: $6,614,106
- Cincinnati Bengals: $6,578,866
- New Orleans Saints: $5,754,000
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $5,330,779
- New England Patriots: $5,292,335
- Kansas City Chiefs: $5,002,168
- Houston Texans: $4,935,924
- Detroit Lions: $4,725,644
- Arizona Cardinals: $4,405,068
- Pittsburgh Steelers: $3,269,367
- Buffalo Bills: $2,837,222
- Baltimore Ravens: $2,553,126
- Dallas Cowboys: $2,401,553
- Seattle Seahawks: $2,065,865
- New York Giants: $1,800,000
- Atlanta Falcons: $926,541
- Minnesota Vikings: $400,184
- New York Jets: $371,487
- Los Angeles Rams: $304,311
- Los Angeles Chargers: $113,693
Texans To Promote Mike Vrabel To DC
The Texans are promoting linebackers coach Mike Vrabel to defensive coordinator, reports Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link). Predecessor Romeo Crennel will stay on the Texans’ staff and become their assistant head coach.
This is seemingly a boon for Houston, which potentially could have dealt with the departures of both Vrabel and Crennel this offseason. Vrabel drew head coaching interest from the Rams, who instead hired Sean McVay, and both the Chargers and Redskins were eyeing him for their D-coordinator vacancies, according to Breer (Twitter link).
Meanwhile, the soon-to-be 70-year-old Crennel was on an expiring contract prior to Wednesday. Head coach Bill O’Brien made it clear earlier this week that the team didn’t want to lose Crennel.
“Romeo’s done a great job,” O’Brien said Monday. “I know we’d love to have him back. I haven’t sat down with any coaches yet, but I can tell you Romeo’s a great coach. He means a lot to me personally, and we’d love to have Romeo back.”
Crennel had served as the Texans’ defensive coordinator since 2014, and the unit ranked between sixth and eighth in DVOA in each season under his stewardship. Houston also led the NFL in yardage allowed in 2016, which was especially impressive given that superstar end J.J. Watt only played in three games and went on injured reserve in late September. The Crennel-led, Watt-less Texans had other stars emerge, including end Jadeveon Clowney and cornerback A.J. Bouye, while linebacker Whitney Mercilus‘ standout play continued.
Mercilus has worked directly with Vrabel, who was a terrific NFL linebacker in his own right from 1997-2010. Vrabel played under Crennel in both New England and Kansas City during that time, and he then joined him on Houston’s coaching staff in 2014. The two will remain together in 2017, though it’ll be Vrabel manning Crennel’s longtime position. Crennel has been a D-coordinator with four different teams since 2000.
Chargers To Keep Ken Whisenhunt; Will Interview Gus Bradley Again
As for the Bolts’ defensive coordinator position, Lynn revealed that he’ll conduct a second interview with Gus Bradley on Tuesday, tweets John Keim of ESPN.com. Lynn and Bradley have been connected to one another over the past few weeks, and the ex-Jacksonville head coach is reportedly the front-runner to take over the Chargers’ defense. At the same time, though, Bradley’s waiting to see if San Francisco will vie for his services.
Before the Chargers hired Anthony Lynn as their head coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported that he would retain offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt if he got the job. That will indeed be the case, Lynn confirmed Tuesday at his introductory press conference. Whisenhunt, who’s in his second stint with the Chargers, will enter his third season atop the club’s offense. He has a “strong relationship” with quarterback Philip Rivers, notes CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora (Twitter link).
As for the Bolts’ defensive coordinator position, Lynn revealed that he’ll conduct a second interview with Gus Bradley on Tuesday, tweets John Keim of ESPN.com. Lynn and Bradley have been connected to one another over the past few weeks, and the ex-Jacksonville head coach is reportedly the front-runner to take over the Chargers’ defense. At the same time, though, Bradley’s waiting to see if San Francisco will vie for his services.