Colts Hire Shane Steichen As Head Coach
In a move which now comes as no surprise, the Colts officially have their new head coach in place. Per a team announcement, Shane Steichen has been hired to lead the team’s staff.
The now-former Eagles offensive coordinator was considered the frontrunner following a report just before the Super Bowl indicating he was the Colts’ top target. His hire comes after he also received interest from the Panthers and Texans, a sign of how much his stock has risen recently, especially after a hugely successful campaign in Philadelphia in 2022. 
Steichen, 37, joined the Eagles in 2021 after a lengthy stint with the Chargers. That time saw him spend one season as the team’s full-time OC, one in which Los Angeles ranked top-1o in scoring in the NFL. Expectations were high for him when he paired up with Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, and they were certainly met. Philadelphia put up impressive numbers in the run game in particular in 2021, and took a step forward this past season.
The Eagles entered the year with question marks regarding quarterback Jalen Hurts‘ ability to cement himself as the team’s unquestioned starter. He quickly put those to rest over the course of a dominant campaign, helping lead Philadelphia to the No. 1 seed in the NFC and putting himself in the MVP conversation. Steichen’s unit ranked third in both scoring and total offense in the regular season.
Blowout victories in the divisional and conference championship rounds set the Eagles up for Sunday’s Super Bowl. In the title game, Hurts delivered a highly commendable performance and the team as a whole outplayed the Chiefs in a number of key categories. While it wasn’t enough to secure a victory, Steichen drew further praise to cap off his time in Philadelphia and set him up for what will be a tall task in Indianapolis.
The Colts struggled mightily on offense in 2022, averaging 312 yards and 17 points per game. That led to Frank Reich‘s midseason firing, and the controversial decision to replace him with Jeff Saturday. The latter remained in contention to land the full-time role until somewhat recently, as the list of candidates began to shrink in the lead-up to today’s announcement.
Steichen will follow in Reich’s footsteps in terms of making the move from Eagles offensive coordinator to Colts head coach. He is the second-youngest HC in franchise history (and the youngest during their time in Indianapolis), and third-youngest in the NFL. He will attempt to steer the Colts to the postseason by orchestrating a rebound on offense, something which will depend in large part on the play of their yet-to-be determined starting quarterback.
With this expected news now official, the Eagles will likely look inwards for Steichen’s replacement. QBs coach Brian Johnson has long been named as the staffer to watch with respect to filling in at OC in the event Steichen went elsewhere. Johnson himself drew plenty of interest from outside teams, but the door is now open for him to take on an increased role without leaving the NFC champions.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 2/13/23
Today’s reserve/futures contracts:
Jacksonville Jaguars
WR Kevin Austin Jr., OL Coy Cronk, K James McCourt, WR Jaylon Moore, OL James Murray, S Ayo Oyelola, QB E.J. Perry, TE Gerrit Prince, RB Mekhi Sargent, S Deionte Thompson, DL Nick Thurman, OL Darryl Williams, WR Seth Williams
Jets To Hire Todd Downing As Passing Game Coordinator
The Jets made a notable move when they hired Nathaniel Hackett as their new offensive coordinator. Another key addition has reportedly been made to their staff. 
New York is hiring Todd Downing to serve as their passing game coordinator, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). He meets head coach Robert Saleh‘s previously stated goal of adding an experienced offensive staffer, something not accomplished by hiring Hackett as OC. The latter’s stint as head coach of the Broncos led to his dismissal before his rookie HC campaign ended, and did not see him retain play-calling duties throughout his tenure.
Downing, 42, spent the past two seasons as the Titans’ offensive coordinator. Tennessee kept him in place following his November DUI charge, but fired him at the end of the season. The Titans ranked near the bottom of the NFL in terms of both total and scoring offense in 2022, as running back Derrick Henry was less effective than usual and the team struggled to generate consistent production in the passing game.
Tennessee has since promoted Tim Kelly to their OC position, but Downing was quickly able to find his next NFL gig. The latter has plenty of familiarity with quarterback Ryan Tannehill, given their time spent together in Nashville. Prior to that, Downing also worked as the QBs coach, and later offensive coordinator, of the Raiders. That allowed him to spend time with Derek Carr, who is expected to hit free agency in the coming days and be a target of the Jets. New York is in the market for an upgrade under center, and Downing would be a familiar face to those two passers should an Aaron Rodgers acquisition not come to fruition.
Downing will join offensive line coach Keith Carter, who also made the move from Tennessee to New York upon Hackett’s hiring. Downing worked with the latter in Buffalo in 2014, so he will provide not only experience but familiarity as well, as the new-look Jets staff aims for a step forward on offense in 2023.
Chiefs QB Chad Henne Retires
The Chiefs will have their head coach around for at least one more season, but they do need to find a new backup quarterback. Chad Henne announced (via Instagram) in the aftermath of Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory that he is retiring. 
The 37-year-old spent the first nine years of his career in Florida. A second-round pick of the Dolphins in 2008, he started 31 of his 36 appearances in Miami before being replaced by Ryan Tannehill. That led Henne to Jacksonville, where he held the starting role for a pair of seasons prior to the arrival of Blake Bortles. Overall, he finished his career with an 18-36 record as a starter.
For the past four seasons, Henne backed up Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. He made just one start over that stretch, and 11 total appearances. His limited action with the Chiefs was enough to earn him a new one-year, $2MM deal this past offseason. Rather than attempting to land a new contract in Kansas City or elsewhere, the Michigan product will hang up his cleats with a pair of Super Bowl rings.
Henne was called into action during the Chiefs’ divisional round game against the Jaguars this postseason, after Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain. That injury was a key talking point throughout the remainder of the team’s playoff run, and forced Henne to briefly come into the game. It seemed as though that scenario could be repeated again last night, after Mahomes re-injured his ankle at the end of the first half. Instead, Henne remained on the sidelines for the Chiefs’ comeback victory.
Henne ends his career with modest totals from a statistical standpoint (13,290 passing yards, 60 touchdowns, 63 interceptions) but his Chiefs tenure allowed him to take part in a pair of championship runs. His total earnings add up to nearly $40MM after 13 years in the NFL. Kansas City has former UDFA Shane Buechele and 2022 seventh-rounder Chris Oladokun available as in-house replacement options.
Chiefs Activate RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Place WR Mecole Hardman On IR
FEBRUARY 12: Even though Edwards-Helaire is healthy enough to play, he is among the team’s inactives for tonight’s championship game. That news comes as little surprise given the time he has missed, and confirms that Pacheco and McKinnon will handle the load in the backfield for Kansas City.
FEBRUARY 6: As the countdown to Super Bowl LVII continues, the Chiefs have made a pair of injury-related moves. The team announced on Monday that running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire had been activated from injured reserve, while wideout Mecole Hardman has been placed on IR. 
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The former’s three-week activation window had nearly expired, as he had been designated for return on January 17. The news will be a welcomed sight for Kansas City in terms of being closer to full health on offense, though the former first-rounder may not be in line for a particularly large role in the championship game.
Edwards-Helaire has not played since Week 11 due to a high ankle sprain. In his absence, the Chiefs have increasingly turned the reins over to seventh-round rookie Isiah Pacheco as their early-down back. Jerick McKinnon, meanwhile, has excelled in a pass-catching role, scoring at least one touchdown in six straight games to close out the regular season. It will be interesting to see how much of a workload Edwards-Helaire takes on within the team’s backfield after missing extended time and with the other two backs enjoying success in his absence.
The other move is likewise not surprising. Hardman being placed on IR guarantees that he will not play in the Super Bowl, something which head coach Andy Reid recently indicated was the likely outcome in his situation. Kansas City suffered a slew of injuries at the receiver position in their AFC title game win over the Bengals, with Hardman reaggravating his pelvis injury suffered earlier in the year.
Fellow pass-catchers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kadarius Toney are in better shape as it relates to their potential availability for next week’s big game. The Chiefs are always in position to be dangerous through the air with quarterback Patrick Mahomes (who is, of course, nursing an ankle sprain of his own) and tight end Travis Kelce available. Still, the uncertainty they face at the WR position could be a key talking point over the course of the next few days.
Texans To Hire Bobby Slowik As Offensive Coordinator
The Texans will hire Bobby Slowik as their new offensive coordinator, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports (via Twitter). Like DeMeco Ryans, Houston’s new head coach, Slowik joined the 49ers as a defensive quality control coach in 2017. He subsequently moved to the other side of the ball and spent the 2022 campaign as San Francisco’s offensive passing game coordinator. He will now follow Ryans from the Bay Area to Texas.
[RELATED: Texans Hire Matt Burke As DC]
Slowik, 35, represented a logical candidate to take on the OC job in Houston, one which was vacated by Pep Hamilton. The latter held that role last season for the first time with the Texans, overseeing one of the league’s lowest-scoring and least efficient offenses. Talent obviously played a large role on that front, of course, but it comes as no surprise that a new face is being brought in to help the team’s rebuild.
Today’s news comes just days after Kliff Kingsbury was brought in for an interview for the offensive coordinator posting. That, in turn, came as something of a surprise considering the belief the ex-Cardinals head coach would spend the 2023 season away from the sidelines. Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports that his sit-down with the Texans went well, but Slowik was thought by many to be the frontrunner once it became official that Ryans was the new head coach in Houston.
The son of former NFL DC Bob Slowik, Bobby began his NFL tenure in Washington in 2010. That time was followed by a brief stint as a defensive assistant in the nation’s capital, then a three-year period working as an analyst with Pro Football Focus. He turned his work with the analytics website into his first San Francisco position, allowing him plenty of time to gain experience on both sides of the ball and develop a working relationship with Ryans. Expectations will be raised for the pair heading into the 2023 season.
Slowik played a key role in the 49ers’ offense over the past several years, helping coach one of the more unique units in the league. San Francisco has ranked in the top four in the NFL in terms of total offense three times in the past four seasons, finishing top-six in scoring twice during that same span. Slowik will be dealing with a very different Texans group in his first coordinator posting, but the team does appear to have the foundation of a strong running game in place in tailback Dameon Pierce, and has a prime opportunity in the upcoming draft to land a franchise quarterback.
In other Texans news, Pelissero’s colleague Mike Garafolo tweets that Jerrod Johnson is coming onboard as the team’s quarterbacks coach. Johnson, 34, is a Houston native who received OC interest during this year’s cycle. He interviewed for the Texans’ coordinator vacancy, along with that of the Chargers. Johnson spent last year as the assistant QBs coach in Minnesota, and will take on a larger role this season in Houston with, in all likelihood, a rookie signal-caller in place.
Rory Parks contributed to this post.
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/11/23
Saturday’s minor moves, including the final gameday elevations of the season:
Kansas City Chiefs
- Elevated: WR Marcus Kemp, C Austin Reiter
Philadelphia Eagles
- Activated from IR: P Arryn Siposs
- Elevated: S Anthony Harris, WR Greg Ward
The activation of Siposs comes as little surprise, since the Eagles designated him for return last week. The 30-year-old has been out since Week 14 due to an ankle injury. His return to the lineup means veteran Brett Kern (who had filled in during Siposs’ absence) will not be in uniform for tomorrow’s Super Bowl.
Panthers Add Josh McCown, Dom Capers To Staff
Frank Reich‘s Panthers staff continues to take shape, and more familiar names are headed to Charlotte. Per a team announcement, Carolina has hired Josh McCown as quarterbacks coach and Dom Capers as a senior defensive assistant. 
McCown, 43, spent two seasons (2008 and 2009) with the Panthers during his journeyman playing days. That stretch saw him attempt just six passes, but he is nevertheless a hire who, like Reich, has experience inside the organization. This position will be his first coaching opportunity at the NFL level, but certainly not the first which he was connected to.
Following the end of his playing career in Houston in 2020, McCown was named as candidate for the Texans’ head coaching vacancy. The same was true in the 2022 coaching cycle, and he was reportedly a finalist for the position before the team’s eleventh-hour decision to pivot to Lovie Smith. McCown said this past September that he would be open to taking on a non-HC role despite the repeated interest showed in him by the Texans.
In Carolina, McCown will join a highly-regarded bench boss in Reich, who figures to be heavily involved in the development of Carolina’s signal-callers (the identities of whom will, in all likelihood, be noticeably different by the start of the 2023 season than they are now). Interestingly, McCown’s hire has come before that of an offensive coordinator.
As for Capers, this news comes as little surprise. The 72-year-old will hold the same title in Carolina that he did in 2022 with the Broncos. That, of course, allowed him to work alongside defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. The pair helped guide Denver’s defense to a strong showing in the latter’s debut season at the coordinator level. Evero was hired by the Panthers to helm their defense this past weekend, and he will continue to have an experienced voice in Capers as a resource during the next chapter of his coaching career.
Capers was the head coach of the first team in Panthers history, one which was quarterbacked by Reich. He also worked with Evero during their time together with the Packers in 2016, and has given him high praise for his work as both an assistant and coordinator. Expectations will be raised for the Panthers in 2023, given their relatively strong finish to this past season, along with the acclaim and familiarity found on Reich’s staff.
Tom Brady Announces Retirement
FEBRUARY 10: Brady filed a retirement letter Friday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Another comeback could certainly commence, but this decision will sting the Bucs ahead of free agency. Brady’s $35.1MM in dead money will accelerate onto the Bucs’ 2023 cap. Tampa Bay, which went to the void-years well with Brady again in 2022, will be free of this contract after 2023. But the team is $55MM-plus over the cap presently.
FEBRUARY 1: Exactly a year from the date he initially announced he would retire, Tom Brady again informed the Buccaneers he will walk away from the game. The legendary quarterback said Wednesday morning he will call it quits after 23 seasons (video link).
Although Brady backtracked on his Feb. 1, 2022 decision, he said recently another retirement call would be final. The 45-year-old superstar had already been linked to a few teams as a free agent, but it does not appear he was planning to leave Tampa. For months, Brady had indicated to confidants he would either play a fourth season with the Bucs or walk away, Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Brady informed Bucs brass at 6am Wednesday he would take the retirement route.
Family considerations will drive Brady’s second retirement decision, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Brady had long set an age-45 season as a goal, and while even that seemed a difficult milestone to hit, the former sixth-round Patriots draft choice got there and did so without displaying a significant decline. While the decision to unretire in March 2022 produced a wave of headlines and preceded an 8-9 Bucs season — one that ended with a blowout wild-card loss to the Cowboys — Brady still broke his own single-season NFL record for completions. The enduring great has just about every other passing standard on his resume, one that will be difficult for future quarterbacks to eclipse.
Last year’s retirement decision did not emerge from Brady himself, but rather from reports indicating he was departing after two Bucs seasons. Brady subsequently made a retirement announcement. Given Brady’s unmatched career and relentless desire to succeed on the field, even this exit cannot completely be labeled his definitive NFL walk-off. But the seven-time Super Bowl champion did add “for good” to his brief address this time.
“I’m retiring for good. I know the process was a pretty big deal last time, so when I woke up this morning I figured I’d just press record and let you guys know first,” Brady said. “So I won’t be long-winded. I think you only get one super-emotional retirement essay, and I used mine up last year.”
A recent Darlington report (video link) indicated two teams were looking into Brady as a free agent. He was set to hit the market for a second time in March. A Josh McDaniels reunion with the Raiders came up weeks ago, and speculation of Brady wrapping his career with his hometown 49ers intensified following Brock Purdy‘s UCL tear. The fact that teams were investigating Brady to be their starter in what would have been an age-46 season illustrates the staggering endurance the former Patriots cornerstone showed. The Michigan alum’s place as the greatest NFL player ever can be debated, but he displayed preposterous longevity that allowed for considerable distance to form between he and his peers in the record book.
Brady’s 89,214 career passing yards lead the field by more than 8,000; his 649 touchdown passes are 78 more than Drew Brees‘ second-place total. Playing in an astonishing 48 playoff games, Brady threw 88 postseason TD passes as well. He finished his career as a three-time MVP and five-time Super Bowl MVP. The last of those Super Bowl honors came for the Bucs two seasons ago, when his two-year, $50MM contract produced an immediate turnaround in Tampa. Brady then signed an extension, adding the 2022 season to his deal. Rather than attempt to walk away on a higher note, Brady following a tumultuous season with another retirement announcement will prompt a second Bucs quarterback search in two years.
Following Brady’s unretirement, the Bucs attempted to reload again. Prior to Brady’s third Tampa Bay season, however, steady reports of Miami connections emerged. The NFL then sanctioned the Dolphins for tampering for their effort to try and secure a Brady-Sean Payton alliance. The Dolphins are without a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 third-rounder as a result. Bruce Arians surprised most with his latest retirement — a March move many connected to a Brady power play — days after the Bucs learned their quarterback was staying. While Arians shot down that notion on multiple occasions, Brady headlines kept coming. Several weeks after Brady’s divorce from wife Gisele Bundchen became official, Darlington revealed the ageless signal-caller played the 2022 season down 15 pounds from his usual playing weight.
Brady left Bucs training camp, staying away from the team for more than a week. While he returned to the team and powered the Bucs to another NFC South title, this Tampa Bay edition fell from second to 25th offensively and rarely found the form it displayed during the previous two seasons. Todd Bowles fired offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich last month, after both Bowles and Brady voiced issues about the state of the offense, and the team continues to search for the four-year play-caller’s successor.
Like Peyton Manning‘s Broncos stay, Brady’s Bucs years tacked on considerable legacy points. But Brady will obviously be best remembered for his Patriots stay. After Drew Bledsoe’s injury in Week 2 of the 2001 season thrust Brady into action, he remained in place as New England’s starter through the 2019 season. Brady led the Patriots to six Super Bowl titles and formed an unrivaled partnership with Bill Belichick. While the future Hall of Fame coach’s defenses drove the first batch of Pats titles, Brady was in place as the team’s centerpiece for the next six Super Bowls for which it qualified.
The No. 199 overall pick in 2000, Brady is without question the greatest draft choice in NFL history. The Pats were able to extend their dynasty for nearly two decades, reloading around Brady for a second run of Super Bowl titles midway through the 2010s. That period peaked with a 25-point comeback win over the Falcons in Super Bowl LI, which gave Brady more championships than any other passer in the Super Bowl era.
After Belichick and Robert Kraft‘s reported disagreement on Jimmy Garoppolo led to the then-backup’s 2017 move to San Francisco at the trade deadline, Brady continued to move the boundaries at his position. He quarterbacked the Pats to two more Super Bowls, winning the latter, before a final contract agreement in 2019. That pact prevented the team from franchise-tagging its quarterback, and rather than Brady agreeing to a ninth contract with the team, he hit free agency. Numerous teams showed interest in 2020, but Brady decided on the Bucs over the Chargers that year. Tampa Bay voyaged to its second Super Bowl — a 31-9 romp over Kansas City — after Brady paired with a strong Bucs defensive nucleus to provide an upgrade on Jameis Winston to elevate his new team.
The Bucs’ next QB search figures to be a less flashy process. The team is more than $55MM over the $224.8MM salary cap, and the bills from the void years it utilized to bolster the roster during the Brady run are coming. Brady can help the team by re-signing for procedural purposes; that would allow the Bucs to spread out a $35.1MM dead-money hit over two years and create $24MM in cap space for 2023. Of course, Brady doing that, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes, would affect his ability to unretire and sign elsewhere. Brady was connected to other teams during his brief 2022 retirement, but the then-Arians-led Bucs refused to trade his rights during that period.
Bowles already informed Bucs coaches the team was unlikely to be especially active on the market, but the team will now need to replace its quarterback. Entering the mid-February Derek Carr market may now become a consideration, while pursuing Garoppolo — which would make for an apt Brady succession strategy — would also make sense.
Texans To Hire Matt Burke As DC
The Texans will give Matt Burke a second chance on the coordinator level. Shortly after interviewing the Cardinals’ defensive line coach, the AFC South team plans to hire him as its next defensive coordinator, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
While DeMeco Ryans will head up Houston’s defense, Burke will step in as the young HC’s right-hand man here. Burke previously oversaw the Dolphins’ defense from 2017-18 but has been with three teams since. Burke, 46, spent the 2022 season with the Cardinals, worked with the Eagles from 2019-20 and was with the Jets in 2021.
Ryans obviously earned the Houston HC job on the strength of his defensive acumen, but it is not a certainty he will call plays. He and Burke have not determined that key component of the Texans’ 2023 blueprint, per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com, who suggests Burke has a legitimate chance to step into this role (Twitter link).
This process did not double as a wide-ranging search. Beyond Burke, it is believed only Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel interviewed for the position. Manuel interviewed for the gig twice, per KPRC’s Aaron Wilson, but the Texans were unable to secure meetings with Chris Harris or 49ers D-line coach Kris Kocurek. Harris interviewed for San Francisco’s DC position and received a Texans interview request; he ended up sticking with his initial offseason pledge — a Titans staff gig. Harris is now Tennessee’s cornerbacks coach.
Kocurek is expected to stay with the 49ers, with Wilson noting a title bump may be on tap. Manuel interviewed for both the Texans and Panthers’ DC posts. Unable to bring Kocurek to Houston, Ryans is also interested in former San Francisco coworker Cory Undlin. Undlin’s 49ers contract has expired, per Wilson; that could well lead the team’s passing-game coordinator/DBs coach to the Texans. Undlin, 51, spent the 2020 season as the Lions’ DC but was one of Ryans’ top assistants over the past two years.
An NFL staffer since 2004, Burke has spent much of his career coaching linebackers. He served in that role with the Lions, Bengals and Dolphins. Miami promoted Burke to DC in 2017, and he worked as Adam Gase‘s DC during the latter’s final two seasons running the Dolphins. Success proved elusive. The Dolphins ranked 28th and 25th in defensive DVOA, respectively, during Burke’s two years in charge. The Dolphins ousted both Gase and Burke in 2019, pivoting to an aggressive rebuild.
Burke just finished overseeing J.J. Watt‘s final season. The former Texans superstar rebounded from an injury-plagued 2021 to exit the NFL on a high note, producing 12.5 sacks — including two in his final game, against Ryans’ 49ers — and seven pass deflections. Perhaps more indicative of Burke’s Arizona work: Zach Allen‘s contract-year ascent. Working alongside Watt, Allen produced eight pass batdowns — a total that tied for the league lead among D-linemen last season — and registered a career-best 5.5 sacks and 20 QB hits.
The Cardinals stayed with Vance Joseph‘s 3-4 scheme in 2022, but Ryans and Burke used 4-3 looks during their seasons running defenses. It should be expected the Texans will pivot to that alignment in 2023. Houston does not have much in the way of cornerstone defensive pieces; it will be on Burke to spearhead a young group. The Texans ranked 27th in scoring defense and allowed the third-most yards last season.