AFC West Updates: Paton, Bolts, Chiefs
In an appearance on the Altitude Sports Radio show in Denver, ESPN’s Adam Schefter answered a question pertaining to the possibility of Broncos general manager George Paton potentially leaving the team. As the hosts of the show posed the situation, the Vikings are currently looking to fill their open GM role, and Paton is in the final year of his contract with Denver. Paton spent 14 years working his way through Minnesota’s front office and landed the Broncos general manager position after serving five years as director of player personnel for the Vikings.
Despite the obvious connection, Schefter did his best to assuage his hosts’ concerns. While conceding that he had heard the name mentioned in relation to the job in Minnesota, he relayed that he hadn’t gotten any indication that Paton would leave right now. While Paton could leave one day, Schefter didn’t get the impression he was looking to go anywhere at the moment and “is pretty content” with a team that “is intent on keeping him in Denver.”
On the coaching side of things, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported yesterday that USC defensive backs coach Doug Belk is expected to be taking the same role in Denver for 2026. Last year’s defensive pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard and cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch have both departed for new roles in Buffalo and New York, respectively, so the Broncos will now turn to Belk to coach up their elite secondary.
Here are a few other staff updates from around the AFC West:
- After seeing linebackers coach NaVorro Bowman depart to spend more time with his family, the Chargers have turned to another former NFL linebacker to fill the role. According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Los Angeles is hiring former Steelers linebacker Sean Spence to the role of inside linebackers coach. Initially a promising third-round pick out of Miami (FL), Spence’s playing career was derailed early by injuries, but he eventually turned to coaching. Spence has spent the last three years at Western Michigan as a special teams analyst (2023), linebackers coach (2024), and edges coach (2025). If the team re-signs pending free agent veteran Denzel Perryman, Spence would be coaching his former Hurricanes teammate.
- Schultz also reports that the Chargers are hiring Denzel Martin as an assistant outside linebackers coach. Martin spent the last six years working with outside linebackers for the Steelers, getting named OLB coach in 2023. He’ll now bring his experience working with the likes of T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, and Co. to Los Angeles.
- Lastly, according to Zenitz, the Chiefs are bringing back Terry Bradden in the role of assistant defensive line coach. Bradden had worked for eight years as a defensive assistant in Kansas City before taking a job as defensive line coach at Nebraska last year. He’ll now return to the Chiefs with an upgraded title.
Extra Points: Cowboys, Chiefs, Darkwa
Jerry Jones only helped add fuel to the fire today regarding Earl Thomas potentially joining the Cowboys. When asked if the organization would pursue some help at safety, the team’s owner made his answer pretty clear.
“Yes,” Jones told ESPN’s Todd Archer (Twitter link). “That’s about all I’ll say, but yes.”
Of course, it’s important to note that Jones never explicitly mentioned Thomas, but it’s pretty easy to assume that the organization will pursue the veteran defensive back. The mutual interest between the two sides has been covered extensively, although the NFL recently made it clear that the Cowboys didn’t tamper when it came to the 29-year-old.
Of course, Dallas ultimately may look to leverage Thomas’ interest in joining the Cowboys. The team is projected to have around $50MM in cap space, but a solid portion of that total will go towards a DeMarcus Lawrence franchise tag and other extensions. As a result, the team may not have a whole lot of money to give Thomas.
Let’s check out some more notes from around the NFL…
- The Chiefs have finalized their defensive coaching staff under new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. As Brooke Pryor of KansasCity.com writes, the biggest addition was defensive line coach and run game coordinator Brendan Daly, who previously served in that role with the Patriots. The organization has also added linebackers coach Matt House, defensive backs coach Dave Merritt, defensive backs/cornerbacks coach Sam Madison, linebackers coach Britt Reid, defensive quality control coach Terry Bradden, and defensive assistant Alex Whittingham.
- Steelers linebacker Jon Bostic may have appeared in all 16 games this season, but his role was reduced as the season went on. While the journeyman may be able to find a bigger role elsewhere, he’s still hoping to stay in Pittsburgh. “Obviously this is my first year here and whatnot; hopefully we can make this place a home,” Bostic told Chris Adamski of TribLive.com. “It’s been a fun year; definitely didn’t go the way we would have planned (missing the playoffs). But that’s football. You can’t plan everything out. But I do (feel like the Steelers’ organization can be home).” Bostic is set to earn $1.8MM next season, and the team would be left with only $700K in dead cap if they released the 27-year-old.
- It sounds like we now have an explanation for why Orleans Darkwa never joined an NFL team last season. The veteran running back told ESPN’s Jordan Raanan that he tore the Achilles tendon in his right leg during an October audition with the Jaguars. The 26-year-old was coming off his most productive NFL season in 2017, rushing for 751 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 171 carries. The Giants had offered him a contract that would have kept him in New York, and he also received interest from the Redskins, Patriots, and Bills.
Coaching Notes: Monken, Chiefs, Lions, Bills
Todd Monken became the Buccaneers‘ offensive coordinator once Dirk Koetter rose to the HC spot, but he will now have more time to concentrate on the offense from a macro sense. The Bucs announced the promotion of Skyler Fulton to the role of wide receivers coach. Monken had served in a dual capacity of overseeing Tampa Bay’s wideouts and running the offense the past two years. This staff adjustment, however, won’t result in Monken calling plays, with Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk noting Koetter will still do that next season.
Fulton joined the Bucs’ staff during the 2016 preseason as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship. The 35-year-old assistant played wide receiver under Koetter at Arizona State before a short NFL career. He received his first assistant-coaching opportunity in instructing running backs at Grossmont College, a community college in California, in 2015.
More coaching carousel happenings took place on Monday. Here’s the latest:
- The Lions will move George Godsey to the side of the ball with which he’s most familiar, shifting him from a defensive assistant/special projects to their quarterbacks coach, Alex Marvez of the Sporting News tweets. OC for the Texans from 2015-16, Godsey will replace Brian Callahan — whom the Lions let go last week. While the rest of the defensive staff Godsey was working with was dismissed as Matt Patricia is slated to take over, the team will be making an exception by transitioning Godsey — who worked with the Patriots as an offensive assistant (2011) and tight ends coach (2012-13) during Patricia’s stay in New England — back to offense.
- In addition, the Lions added former coordinators Jeff Davidson to coach their offensive line and Brian Stewart to head up their secondary, Marvez reports. A former Panthers OC and five-year Vikings offensive line boss, Davidson will coach a third O-line in the past three seasons after leading the Chargers’ group in 2016 and the Broncos’ front last season. Stewart, the Cowboys’ DC from 2007-08 under Wade Phillips, will leave his post as Rice’s DC to jump back to the NFL. Coaching at Houston, Nebraska and Rice during the 2010s, Stewart hasn’t coached in the NFL since that ’08 season in Dallas.
- An NFL defensive line coach for the past 20 seasons, Mike Waufle will retire after spending the 2017 campaign with the Bills, he told the Evening Tribune (N.Y.). Position coach of the famed 2007 Giants’ Super Bowl champion defensive front, Waufle said various injuries have him in constant pain and will induce a retirement — one he informed Sean McDermott of shortly after Buffalo’s first-round loss in Jacksonville. As a result, the Bills will bring on Bill Teerlinck as their D-line coach, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com tweets. Teerlinck spent last season as Waufle’s assistant. Teerlinck’s assistant DL coach will be Aaron Whitecotton, who spent 2017 as an assistant to McDermott.
- The Chiefs announced a slew of hirings and transitions. Most notably, Gary Gibbs will no longer serve as Kansas City’s linebackers coach. Gibbs served on staff for nine seasons, hired as part of Todd Haley‘s first group. The Chiefs will divvy up Gibbs’ responsibilities by placing previous assistant defensive line coach Mike Smith in charge of the outside linebackers and previous assistant linebackers coach Mark DeLeone in command of the inside ‘backers. Corey Matthaei is now K.C.’s assistant O-line coach, while Joe Bleymaier will become assistant quarterbacks coach under new QBs instructor Mike Kafka. Terry Bradden and David Girardi will take quality control positions, on defense and offense, respectively.