Chris Hewitt Parts Ways With Ravens, Joins Colts
The Ravens defensive staff was ransacked by opposing coaching staffs last offseason as they lost former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald (Seahawks head coach), defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson (Titans defensive coordinator), and defensive line coach Anthony Weaver (Dolphins defensive coordinator). Baltimore was able to hold on to inside linebackers coach Zachary Orr by promoting him to defensive coordinator, but with so many departed pieces from his staff, a bit of a drop off was expected. 
One area in which the Ravens weren’t expecting a drop off was pass defense. Although, like Wilson, Weaver, and Orr, pass-game coordinator & secondary coach Chris Hewitt also received some defensive coordinator interest last offseason, Baltimore was able to retain Hewitt by granting him the additional title of assistant head coach. Unfortunately, after watching an abysmal pass defense handicap the team for the first 10 weeks of the season, the Ravens and Hewitt “agreed to mutually part ways,” per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
Viewed as a strength of the defense coming into the season, the Ravens secondary returned starting safeties Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams and starting cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Stephens while also adding veteran safety Eddie Jackson in free agency, rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins through the draft, and nickelback Ar’Darius Washington in return from injury. With such outstanding depth, the Ravens looked forward to being able to use their defensive ace Hamilton as a utility defender all over the field and being able to employ Washington in the slot, giving them the potential to field an effective dime personnel most of the time.
Unfortunately, Williams and Jackson took major steps backwards in 2024, both ending the season among the 10 bottom-ranked safeties in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Stephens similarly struggled in 2024, ranking as the 100th-best cornerback in the league out of 118 players graded by PFF and getting targeted frequently as a result. Through 10 weeks, Baltimore’s defense ranked dead-last in total defense, despite fielding a league-best rushing defense.
Eventually, the team was able to turn things completely around, but it required the team to cut Jackson and bench Williams. This moved Hamilton and Washington back into the safety positions and moved Humphrey more into a nickelback role, opening the door for more opportunities for Wiggins on the outside. The defense ranked at the top of the league in many categories over the last seven weeks of the regular season as a result, but it appears the damage was already done.
Following the rocky start to the 2024 campaign, Hewitt’s time in Baltimore came to an end. Hewitt had been in Baltimore since 2012, when he was first hired as defensive backs coach. After eight years in that role, he was promoted to pass defense coordinator for two years before adding secondary coach to his title for two more. This was his first and only season with the assistant head coach moniker, which he took over from Weaver.
Luckily, Hewitt has quickly rebounded. Three days after Pelissero’s initial report, the NFL Network reporter has followed up with the announcement that Hewitt has been hired as pass game coordinator/secondary coach for the Colts. It will be only the second NFL franchise Hewitt has worked with in his long coaching career.
Hewitt will fill the role left vacant when defensive backs coach Ron Milus was dismissed. He joins defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and linebackers coach James Bettcher as new additions to the defensive staff in Indianapolis.
Jaguars Meet With Grant Udinski; Team Requests OL Interview With Austin Gund
Three more of the league’s offensive coordinator vacancies were filled on Friday. The Jaguars are among the teams who have yet to fill their OC position, though, and their search process is ongoing. So far, their search has been less than exhaustive, with the team only interviewing two candidates, Commanders quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard and Rams pass game specialist Nate Scheelhaase, to replace Press Taylor.
A third interview took place today, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, as the Jaguars hosted Vikings assistant offensive coordinator and assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski. At only 29 years old, Udinski has been on a meteoric rise through the coaching ranks.
After going undrafted in 2019 as a defensive end out of Towson, Udinski traveled to Waco, TX, where he served for a year as a graduate assistant under then-Baylor head coach Matt Rhule. The next year, Udinski followed Rhule to Carolina as a coaching assistant for the Panthers, where he remained for two years.
Under the advice of Vikings passing game coordinator and tight ends coach Brian Angelichio, who had worked with Udinski for two years in Carolina, Minnesota hired Udinski on as assistant to the head coach/special projects in 2022. After a year in that role, Udinski was promoted to assistant quarterbacks coach, and this season, he added assistant offensive coordinator to his title, as well.
It’s not uncommon to see young coaches quickly rise through the ranks on offensive coaching staffs, but those phenoms are usually former quarterbacks with a high understanding of offensive schemes and philosophies. It’s strange to see so much offensive responsibility handed to a man who only seven years ago was playing defense at Towson as a walk-on. It probably doesn’t hurt that he was a CoSIDA academic first-team all-American with high marks at both the undergraduate and master’s levels of his education.
The Jaguars are not alone in their interest in Udinski, either. Today’s interview was Udinski’s fifth for an offensive coordinator role this offseason. A popular name, Udinski first interviewed twice with the Seahawks (a job that went to Klint Kubiak), then interviewed with the Patriots (a job that went to Josh McDaniels) before interviewing with the Buccaneers (a job that went to Josh Grizzard) and the Texans. While there’s a chance that the Houston and Jacksonville jobs may, too, fall out of his reach, it seems clear that Udinski’s trajectory is not slowing. The young coach is likely to find a home as a coordinator soon.
Despite having not hired an offensive coordinator yet, the Jaguars are reportedly actively looking to fill one of their position coaching jobs on the offensive side of the ball. Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Jacksonville requested permission to interview Bills offensive/offensive line assistant Austin Gund for what he called “their open offensive line coaching position,” which seems to indicate that incumbent offensive line coach Phil Rauscher will not be returning to the role. Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports adds that the team has requested to interview 49ers assistant offensive line coach Cameron Clemmons for the job, as well.
Here’s a breakdown of the Jaguars’ search to fill the offensive coordinator position:
- Chip Kelly, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (Ohio State): Team has interest
- Tavita Pritchard, quarterbacks coach (Commanders): Interviewed 1/29
- Nate Scheelhaase, pass game specialist (Rams): Interviewed 1/29
- Grant Udinski, assistant quarterbacks coach (Vikings): Interviewed 1/31
Ely Allen contributed to this post.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/31/25
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/30/25
With the Bills season having come to an end last weekend, the team has started signing players to reserve/futures contracts. The Bills added one player to their growing list today:
Buffalo Bills
- DT Branson Deen
Chiefs WR Skyy Moore Returns To Practice
Skyy Moore could be activated to the 53-man roster just in time for the Super Bowl. The Chiefs announced that the wide receiver has been designated to return from IR and was a limited participant at today’s practice.
Moore landed on injured reserve back in October thanks to a core muscle injury. Even with Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice sidelined, Moore struggled to carve out a role on the 2024 Chiefs prior to his injury. In six games, the wideout only garnered three targets without a catch.
At one point, Moore was expected to be a major part of Kansas City’s post-Tyreek Hill solution. He was limited to only 22 catches as a rookie, although he showed some promise in the postseason when he hauled in five receptions and a touchdown. He saw a somewhat larger role as a sophomore, appearing in more than half of the Chiefs’ offensive snaps in 14 games. Still, Moore was limited to only 21 catches while getting lapped by the likes of Rice, Justin Watson, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the depth chart.
Following a lost 2024 campaign, Moore’s future in Kansas City is very much in doubt. The team added Xavier Worthy to their wide receivers room this past offseason, and while many of the team’s veteran WRs are set to hit free agency (including Brown, Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, and JuJu Smith-Schuster), their initial acquisitions were already an indictment on Moore.
With Brown having made a return from injury in time for the playoffs, the Chiefs current depth chart is pretty much full. Considering how much time Moore has missed, he’ll face an uphill battle to garner a Super Bowl roster spot.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/29/25
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/29/25
Wednesday’s lone minor move in the NFL:
Buffalo Bills
- Re-signed: QB Shane Buechele
Buechele was on track to be a restricted free agent this offseason, but instead he has landed a new one-year Bills commitment. The former undrafted free agent began his career with the Chiefs, but he landed on Buffalo’s practice squad shortly before the 2023 campaign began. He signed a futures contract with the Bills after the season, although he missed all of this past year due to injury. Buechele, 27, has yet to make a regular season appearance in his career.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/28/25
Today’s reserve/futures contracts:
Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills
- WR Tyrell Shavers, WR Jalen Virgil
Cleveland Browns
Washington Commanders
- RB Kazmeir Allen, DT Viliami Fehoko Jr., G Julian Good-Jones, QB Sam Hartman, TE Tyree Jackson, DE Andre Jones Jr., WR Chris Moore, S Ben Nikkel, TE Cole Turner
Bills Extend T Ryan Van Demark, Sign Seven To Reserve/Futures Deals
Although ill-timed secondary injuries again bit the Bills in a Chiefs playoff matchup, the team has enjoyed good health along its offensive line over the past two seasons. This has kept swing tackle Ryan Van Demark mostly on the bench.
But the Bills still have plans for the backup lineman. Van Demark signed an extension Monday, allowing him to bypass exclusive rights free agency. This is a formality, as the Bills could have tendered Van Demark as an ERFA and retained him without any outside competition. Nevertheless, the young blocker is under contract for 2025.
Van Demark beat out David Quessenberry for the Bills’ swing job in 2023 and held a key backup role again this season. The 26-year-old former UDFA made his first two starts this season. While one of those came in a Week 18 after the Bills had wrapped up the AFC’s No. 2 seed, Van Demark also filled in for Spencer Brown at right tackle against the Chiefs in Week 11. He played 199 offensive snaps this season.
The Bills initially added Van Demark on a practice squad deal in September 2022; the Colts had included the UConn alum in their UDFA class that year but did not carry him onto their 53-man roster. Buffalo is still in good shape at tackle, having extended both Brown and Dion Dawkins in 2024.
In addition to Van Demark, the Bills conducted standard postseason business by handing out reserve/futures contracts. Running back Frank Gore Jr., who joined one of his father’s former teams by signing as a UDFA last May, is among the seven sticking around with the team into the 2025 offseason. Here is that contingent:
- CB Te’Cory Couch
- OL Mike Edwards
- RB Frank Gore Jr.
- OL Richard Gouraige
- WR KJ Hamler
- CB Daequan Hardy
- DT Zion Logue
Bills S Micah Hyde To Retire
Micah Hyde flirted with retirement in 2024, eventually confirming he would only return to the Bills if he opted to continue his career. Buffalo kept the door open and eventually called on Hyde as insurance. Though, the team did not opt to turn to that insurance policy when a significant safety injury occurred.
The Bills did not elevate Hyde from their practice squad for the AFC championship game; Sean McDermott confirmed the team would not do so despite Taylor Rapp‘s hip injury in the divisional round. With Hyde spending his final season in Buffalo on the practice squad, he confirmed (via the Buffalo News’ Jay Skurski) he will retire.
Hyde said as much upon rejoining the Bills in early December. The Bills had split up one of the longest-tenured safety tandems of the free agency era in March, cutting Jordan Poyer and not re-signing Hyde. Poyer joined the Dolphins, but Hyde remained in Buffalo as a backup plan. Although the Bills centered their 2024 safety setup around Rapp and Damar Hamlin, they added Hyde to their P-squad for the stretch run. Hyde effectively replaced the seldom-used Mike Edwards — released midseason — but did not log any appearances in his 12th season.
This season obviously does not best encapsulate Hyde’s run in Buffalo. The former Packers draftee played a central role in the team’s McDermott-era rise. Signed to midlevel deals in McDermott’s first offseason in charge, weeks before Brandon Beane came aboard as GM, Hyde and Poyer started together for seven seasons (a 2022 Hyde injury did interfere during that stretch).
Each Buffalo safety earned at least one All-Pro honor, giving the Bills reliable back-line deterrence. The Bills made the playoffs six times during the Hyde-Poyer pair’s seasons together. Although the perennial AFC East champions have run into a rough trend of seeing their top cornerbacks unavailable for Chiefs matchups in the playoffs, the team was regularly able to count on its Hyde-Poyer duo for years.
Hyde, who turned 34 in December, made 95 starts with the Bills. Among Buffalo safeties, that ranks behind only Poyer (107), 1990s bastion Henry Jones (129) and all-time leader Steve Freeman (134). The Iowa alum earned two second-team All-Pro nods — in 2017 and 2021. Each season featured five Hyde interceptions. He added another pick in a 2021 wild-card rout of the Patriots.
A fifth-round Packers pick, Hyde yo-yoed as a starter in Green Bay. The Bills gave him a five-year, $30.5MM deal in March 2017 and later extended him in 2021 (two years, $19.25MM). While Hyde never became a top-market safety, he did well for himself as a pro by crossing the $50MM mark in career earnings during the 2023 season. Overall, Hyde has earned more than $53MM as a pro.
Hyde came back from a season-ending neck injury, one that gave Hamlin his first batch of starts before the latter’s terrifying injury in Cincinnati, to start alongside Poyer in the 2023 season. But the Bills drafted Cole Bishop in the 2024 second round; the Utah product became their No. 3 safety this season. Rapp’s new deal locks him down through the 2026 season, while Bishop could be in line to replace Hamlin as a starter — should the free agent-to-be leave Buffalo in March.