Bills Add John Fox To Coaching Staff
A little over two weeks after promoting Joe Brady from offensive coordinator to head coach, the Bills announced their 2026 staff on Friday. While most of the staff was previously reported, the hiring of John Fox as a senior assistant counts as the most interesting new development from Buffalo’s announcement.
Fox last worked as a senior defensive assistant in Detroit in 2023. He’ll now return to coaching after a two-year layoff.
An NFL coach since 1989, Fox is best known for his HC tenures with the Panthers (2002-10), Broncos (2011-14) and Bears (2015-17). Fox combined for a 133-123 record in the regular season and an 8-7 mark in the playoffs. He guided the Panthers and Broncos to one Super Bowl appearance apiece, but his teams went 0-2 in those games.
Fox had his most success in Denver, where he posted an excellent 46-18 record in the regular season. However, the Broncos’ inability to finish the job in the playoffs when Peyton Manning was still playing at an otherworldly level led the team to go in another direction in January 2015.
Eleven years later, Fox will provide an experienced aide for Brady, a rookie head coach. Like Fox’s run with the Broncos, former Bills head coach Sean McDermott couldn’t get over the playoff hump despite benefiting from a superstar QB (Josh Allen). After the Bills lost to the Broncos in last month’s divisional round, owner Terry Pegula decided the team had “hit a playoff wall” under McDermott.
Although McDermott coached the Bills to eight playoff appearances in nine years and an overall 106-58 record, he went a Fox-like 8-8 in the postseason. The Bills never got past the AFC title game during his tenure.
Brady will retain several of McDermott’s former assistants, including tight ends coach Rob Boras. In his 10th season with the Bills, Boras will add run-game coordinator to his responsibilities. In further adjustments from Brady, Joe Danna will shift from safeties coach to secondary coach; Jason Rebrovich will go from assistant defensive line coach to senior defensive assistant; and Kyle Shurmur will jump from quality control to assistant QBs coach.
LSU OC Charlie Weis Jr. On Giants’ Radar
After missing out on Todd Monken, John Harbaugh may consider dipping into the college coaching ranks to fill his offensive coordinator vacancy.
LSU offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. is “garnering a lot of attention” for the job, per SNY’s Connor Hughes. The 32-year-old spent the last four seasons in the same role at Ole Miss and is currently set to follow Lane Kiffin to Baton Rouge for the 2026 season. Weis already turned down the Eagles’ interest in hiring him as their offensive coordinator, but the Giants may make a push of their own.
Weis is the son of former Notre Dame and Kansas coach Charlie Weis, who also held a number of assistant roles with the Giants, Patriots, Jets, and Chiefs. Weis worked under his father for the first four years of his coaching career before landing a job under Nick Saban in 2015. It was at Alabama that Weis began working under Kiffin, his longtime mentor. Weis spent the 2017 season with the Falcons before joining Kiffin as Florida Atlantic’s offensive coordinator. The duo continued to South Florida and Ole Miss before landing their latest jobs with LSU.
If Weis is willing to hear an offer from the Giants, they might want to make it a good one. Over the last four years, he has helped build the Rebels’ offense into one of the best in the country. In 2024, the unit ranked third in points and second in yards in the FBS, and despite losing quarterback Jaxson Dart it remained one of the NCAA’s best en route to a college Football Playoff appearance this past season.
Weis should not necessarily be considered a frontrunner at this point, Hughes notes. Nevertheless, his name continues to be mentioned as a logical fit with Dart and Co. in New York. It will be interesting to see if the Giants make a concerted effort in this case with Monken no longer on the market.
Via PFR’s Coordinator Search Tracker, here is an updated look at the team’s situation:
- Todd Monken, offensive coordinator (Ravens): Hire expected
- Robert Prince, wide receivers coach (Dolphins): Interviewed 1/23
- Willie Taggart, running backs coach (Ravens): Joining staff in different capacity
- Davis Webb, quarterbacks coach (Broncos): Interview requested
- Charlie Weis Jr., offensive coordinator (LSU): Mentioned as candidate
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
NIL, Eligibility Issues Could Revive The Supplemental Draft
The ever-evolving landscape of college football has had several residual effects on the NFL, and nothing has forced more evolution in college football than the allowance for players to profit on their name, image, and likeness. NIL has already had some intriguing side effects on the NFL, but there’s some thought that the next new effect we may see could include the revival of the supplemental draft. 
At the collegiate level, NIL has brought a bit of parity back to an NCAA that had seen SEC power Alabama with a stranglehold on the sport of football with short stints of relevance from other SEC powers like Florida, LSU, and Georgia and with the occasional popup of an Ohio State or Clemson. The more these programs won, the better they would recruit, and the strong recruiting would beget more winning which would beget more strong recruiting.
With the onset of NIL, schools whose alumni base could form large enough coalitions through which student athletes could find NIL opportunities suddenly were able to attract more and better recruits without the championship-winning pedigree necessary to draw them in. The ability for players to make large amounts of money in the amateur ranks also made it to where promising, young players who would make too early, blind jumps to the NFL in hopes of ascending at their self-perceived peak or avoiding the pitfall of a career-ending injury pre-career could stay in school without fear of no compensation.
Those two factors, combined, made it to where the transfer portal became one of the most influential tools in the sport. This past year alone, though some of the usual suspects, like Alabama and Georgia, found their way into the College Football Playoff’s 12-team tournament, we saw a couple new, well-funded teams like Texas Tech and Miami make a run, while other new teams like Ole Miss and Indiana made their runs relying on older transfers. A common stat quoted throughout the CFP was that the average age of the Hoosiers’ championship-winning roster was only two years younger than the average age of the Packers’ roster, though those numbers may be a bit exaggerated.
As for Ole Miss, throughout the second half of their season, transfer backup quarterback Trinidad Chambliss emerged as an electric talent in his fifth year of play. Before arriving in Oxford, Chambliss spent four years at Ferris State. He didn’t play in his first two years with the Bulldogs and only got a few snaps as a redshirt sophomore before leading his team to a Division II championship victory in Year 4. He transferred to Ole Miss for his redshirt senior season, exhausting his final year of collegiate eligibility, but despite having a successful season in which he put up some great film, Chambliss is suing the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility.
This lawsuit puts Chambliss in an unfortunate situation. There’s every chance that he could come out on the winning end and return to the Rebels for another run at the CFP, but there’s also a chance that the proceedings could be slow and lengthy, extending past his opportunity to declare for the NFL Draft but denying him the ability to return to school. Hence the potential for the return of the supplemental draft. Since 1993, the supplemental draft has only been an option for players who planned to attend college but, for whatever reason, were not able to. If Chambliss’ attempts at another year of eligibility fall short after a lengthy process, he would fit that description to a T.
We’ve also seen a similar situation emerge out of Durham, where transfer quarterback Darian Mensah is attempting to transfer a second time. Joining the Blue Devils by way of Tulane, Mensah had a phenomenal season and, after a brief consideration of an NFL declaration, announced his intention to return to Duke for 2026. On the very last day that the transfer portal was open, though, Mensah made the decision to enter the portal with a new intention of transferring to Miami.
After initially seeming to be willing to play ball, Duke opted to sue Mensah on the grounds that his NIL deal was a two-year contract and, by transferring, he was violating the terms of his deal. As Mensah continued to pursue amenable compensation to settle outside the courtroom, the university pressed on with the lawsuit. Ultimately, Duke and Mensah were able to come to a settlement agreement outside of court, and Mensah has been permitted to pursue his transfer, but Tony Pauline of EssentiallySports posed a hypothetical wherein Mensah could’ve lost his suit, not wanted to play for the team that sued him out of a richer NIL deal, and been past the point to declare for the draft, making him another candidate for the NFL’s supplemental draft.
The picture painted by Pauline, combined with the current legal actions of Chambliss, show why the potential for more supplemental draft candidates is growing as a result of NIL. The NFL hasn’t seen a player drafted in the supplemental draft since 2019. Before this, the longest droughts between picks were three different occasions in which two players were picked three years apart. It’s been seven years since the last supplemental draft pick, but as NIL encourages players to seek more time in college, we could see an increase in cases that don’t get resolved until it’s too late for a player to join the regular draft, leading to an increased pool of candidates for the supplemental draft.
Coaching Notes: Titans, Cowboys, Leonhard, Packers, Eagles, Jaguars
Robert Saleh did not retain Titans OC Nick Holz or DC Dennard Wilson, but the new Tennessee HC kept special teams coordinator John Fassel. Saleh will also have some other Brian Callahan holdovers back. He is retaining running backs coach Randy Jordan, tight ends coach Luke Stocker and cornerbacks coach/defensive pass-game coordinator Tony Oden, according to veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky.
Jordan, 55, coached Washington’s running backs for 10 seasons before joining Callahan’s staff last year. Ron Rivera previously retained him from the Jay Gruden staffs. An 11-year veteran tight end who last played in 2021, Stocker initially jointed the Titans’ staff in Mike Vrabel‘s final year and has been promoted in each of the past two offseasons, rising to TEs coach in 2025.
Oden, 52, has been an NFL staffer since 2004. Of the trio known to be staying, Oden is the only one to overlap with Saleh in the past. That history is extensive. Saleh’s first NFL job — as a Texans intern in 2005 — overlapped with Oden’s Houston stint. Oden broke into the NFL with the Texans a year prior to Saleh but stayed on Dom Capers‘ staff for one more season. Saleh then worked with Oden on the 2020 49ers and brought him to New York for his Jets staff. Oden served as a senior defensive assistant who worked with the team’s corners from 2021-24. He caught on with the Titans last year.
Here is the latest from the coaching ranks:
- The Packers had eyed Jim Leonhard for their DC opening back in 2021, but the then-Wisconsin coordinator was believed to have received an offer. Leonhard did not factor into the Pack’s search to replace Joe Barry in 2024, but it was believed he was back on the team’s radar this year. Matt LaFleur was expected to talk with Leonhard, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein. While Leonhard is now free to interview, Green Bay hired Jonathan Gannon shortly before the Broncos’ AFC championship game tilt. A 2024 report indicated Leonhard was LaFleur’s top choice in 2021, so it is interesting the Packers did not formally interview him this time.
- Leonhard remains on the Broncos’ staff as DBs coach but may well receive more DC consideration. The Cowboys interviewed him before hiring Christian Parker, a previous Denver DBs coach. Dallas made the Parker hire Thursday, with the Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins indicating the team did not feel it could wait out Leonhard. Had the Broncos booked a Super Bowl LX berth, the Cowboys could not have hired Leonhard until after that game.
- The Cowboys set up interviews with recent Vikings staffer Marcus Dixon and Eagles assistant linebackers coach Ronnell Williams, according to ESPN.com’s Todd Archer. Dixon worked with Parker on the Broncos’ staff from 2022-23, serving as the team’s D-line coach. Dixon spent the past two years as the Vikings‘ D-line coach, and ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert notes his contract has expired. While Minnesota could work out a new deal as it did with Brian Flores, Dixon is scheduling interviews elsewhere. Dixon was with the Cowboys as a player from 2008-10. Williams has worked with the Eagles since 2023, overlapping with Parker over the past two seasons. Williams is still under contract with the Eagles, per Watkins.
- Philadelphia made an in-house promotion after losing Parker to Dallas. The Eagles are elevating safeties coach Joe Kasper to DBs coach/defensive pass-game coordinator, NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe tweets. Interest came in from elsewhere, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s EJ Smith, but the Eagles will retain Kasper by promoting him. Kasper followed Vic Fangio from Miami in 2024; he served as Dolphins safeties coach in 2023. Kasper, however, is in his second stint with the Eagles; he was on Nick Sirianni‘s staff from 2021-22.
- The Jaguars are adding Brian Picucci from the Buccaneers’ staff. Picucci is joining Liam Coen‘s staff as the Jags’ run-game coordinator on offense, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. The Bucs blocked Coen from poaching Picucci last year, after Coen’s acrimonious Tampa exit, but the two have an extensive history. Picucci followed Coen from Kentucky to Tampa in 2024; he served as the Bucs’ O-line coach in 2025, after Tampa Bay had blocked him from interviewing for that job in Jacksonville.
Titans To Interview Al Harris For DC; Interview Requested With Cowboys’ Aaron Whitecotton
With multiple teams in search of a defensive coordinator, Bears defensive backs coach/pass game coordinator Al Harris has become a popular candidate. He’ll interview for the Titans’ defensive coordinator opening on Saturday, Josina Anderson of The Exhibit reports. The 51-year-old previously met with the Packers and Commanders.
Harris, who enjoyed a long and productive playing career as a cornerback from 1997-2011, went into coaching as an intern with the Dolphins in 2012. The two-time Pro Bowler has gradually climbed up the ranks since then.
Before heading to Chicago this season, Harris assisted with NFL secondaries in Kansas City and Dallas. Harris has cut his teeth working with accomplished coordinators in Bob Sutton, Mike Zimmer, Dan Quinn and Dennis Allen.
The Bears’ pass defense ranked an underwhelming 22nd in 2025, but they had to navigate most of the season without two of their best cornerbacks, Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon. Although Johnson and Gordon combined to miss 24 games, the Bears racked up an NFL-best 23 interceptions during an NFC North-winning campaign. Safety Kevin Byard earned a Pro Bowl nod, while corner Nahshon Wright unexpectedly forced seven turnovers (five INTs, two fumbles) after the former Cowboy and Viking settled for a modest one-year deal in free agency last offseason.
Unlike the Bears, the Titans struggled mightily to generate turnovers in 2025. Tennessee’s defense took the ball away 14 times, the fifth-lowest total in the league, and also finished near the bottom in yards (21st) and points (28th) allowed. Just a couple days after becoming the Titans’ head coach, Robert Saleh fired defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson on Thursday.
While Saleh now has his eyes on Harris for the D-coordinator post, he’ll also consider longtime colleague and current Cowboys defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton. The Titans have requested an interview with Whitecotton, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
Saleh and Whitecotton have worked together at multiple stops. It began when the two were on Jacksonville’s defensive staff from 2014-16. Then the 49ers’ defensive coordinator in 2020, Saleh hired Whitecotton to coach the D-line. Saleh then brought Whitecotton to New York when he became the Jets’ head coach in 2021. The Jets fired Saleh in October 2024, but Whitecotton finished the year in New York. After the Cowboys fired Matt Eberflus on Jan. 6, Whitecotton was among the interviewees for their DC gig. They hired Christian Parker instead, leaving Whitecotton’s future up in the air after just one season in Dallas.
While Harris and Whitecotton don’t have any D-coordinator experience, that’s not a requirement for Tennessee. Saleh has already made it known he’ll call the defensive plays in 2026. That should make it easier for a first-time coordinator to adjust to the role.
Coaching Rumors: Cardinals, Kingsbury, Webb, 49ers, Falcons, Petzing, Lions, Fraley, Jaguars, Commanders
As the Steelers and Bills’ searches get underway, the Browns, Cardinals and Raiders’ processes have shifted into the background a bit. Two candidates (Mike McDaniel, Jesse Minter) pulled out of the Cleveland search, while Kevin Stefanski exited the Vegas derby. No known candidates have interviewed for the Arizona job and withdrawn, but insider Jordan Schultz still expects the NFC West team to have a difficult time attracting a quality candidate. Citing an organizational reputation in paying lower-end money to coaches, as evidenced most recently by Jonathan Gannon‘s bottom-tier HC salary, Schultz also points to the Cardinals’ standing in the NFC West as a deterrent to candidates. The division produced three playoff teams this season, and the Cards have not booked a postseason berth since 2021. They also carry a significant QB decision, with some of Kyler Murray‘s 2026 money guaranteed. It is not a lock Murray will be traded or released, but the next HC has a sketchier path to landing a successor due to this draft’s makeup.
Here is the latest from the coaching carousel:
- The Cardinals’ three-year OC, Drew Petzing, landed on his feet by winning the race for the Lions‘ play-calling post. Petzing can thank former Vikings coworker Hank Fraley, in no small part, for this job. Detroit’s O-line coach made a recommendation for Petzing, per SI.com’s Albert Breer, who adds the Lions’ push to keep Fraley — an OC candidate last year — made his word valuable on this year’s carousel. The Lions wanted some familiarity in their hire, Breer adds. While Petzing has never worked with Dan Campbell, his past with Fraley helped. Detroit was burned by familiarity last year, as John Morton‘s second Lions stint did not work out. But they will try their hand with Arizona’s previous play-caller (and ex-Vikings Mike Zimmer-era staffer).
- Jeff Ulbrich intends to retain some of his staffers under Stefanski. The second-year Falcons DC appears set on keeping DBs coach Justin Hood. The 49ers requested a meeting with Hood for a high-ranking job, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, but the Falcons blocked it. (This would not have been for a DC job, as the Falcons could not block that.) Hood, 39, has only been in the NFL since 2021 and was not an Ulbrich hire. Hood was part of Jimmy Lake‘s defensive staff in 2024; prior to that, he was a three-year quality control coach with the Packers. But he is now an Atlanta priority.
- Davis Webb remains in the Raiders’ HC search and has been connected to the Bills, impressing in interviews. The third-year Broncos QBs coach cannot complete another interview until next week, but a potential pairing with an OC has come up. Webb linking up with Kliff Kingsbury has circulated as a possibility, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes. This would be interesting given the experience disparity, as Kingsbury was Webb’s coach at Texas Tech. Webb, 30, played under Kingsbury, 46, for three seasons in Lubbock before transferring to Cal in 2016. Kingsbury is no longer in the running for any HC jobs but has been linked to the Ravens and Titans’ OC posts.
- The Commanders are making another key promotion on their offensive staff. Darnell Stapleton, part of Dan Quinn‘s first two staffs, is moving up to the offensive line coach position, ESPN’s Dan Graziano tweets. Stapleton, 40, spent the past two years as Washington’s assistant O-line coach. That was his first NFL job, having come to the NFL after two seasons as Florida’s O-line coach. Stapleton has worked closely with new OC David Blough since coming to D.C., per Graziano. Shane Toub is moving into Stapleton’s former position. The son of longtime Chiefs ST coordinator Dave Toub, Shane spent the past three seasons as a quality control staffer. Dan Quinn kept him from Ron Rivera‘s final staff and is now promoting him to a position coaching role.
- The Jaguars are hiring Dolphins cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz tweets. Among the Jets’ DC candidates, Araujo evidently will not land that job. Araujo reunites with former Dolphins coworker Anthony Campanile, though the Jags’ current DC is still up for the Cardinals’ HC job. Araujo was on all four McDaniel Miami staffs, three of those including Campanile.
Eagles Request OC Interview With Bobby Slowik
The Eagles have added Dolphins senior passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik to their list of offensive coordinator candidates, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Slowik, 38, arrived in Miami last offseason after a two-year stint as the Texans’ offensive coordinator. He led rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and Houston’s offense to their best finish in years in 2023, but the unit took a clear step back in 2024. However, the team’s continued offensive struggles under Nick Caley this season indicate that Slowik may not have been the primary problem.
The rest of Slowik’s resume is comprised of four years as an offensive assistant on Kyle Shanahan‘s staff in San Francisco, along with this past season in Miami. The 49ers’ passing game largely thrived while Slowik was its architect in 2021 and 2022, though he could not help Mike McDaniel revitalize the Dolphins’ air attack in 2025. If the Eagles are looking to branch out from Nick Sirianni’s coaching tree, Slowik could be an option to infuse some new concepts into Phily’s offense.
Slowik’s current competition for the Eagles’ offensive coordinator job includes several top offensive coaches, including McDaniel, Jim Bob Cooter, Zach Robinson, Kliff Kingsbury, Brian Daboll, and Mike Kafka.
Cowboys To Designate C Cooper Beebe, CB Shavon Revel For Return
The Cowboys are designating center Cooper Beebe and cornerback Shavon Revel for return, per ESPN’s Todd Archer. Both players will participate in practice this week.
Beebe landed on injured reserve after Week 2 with an ankle sprain and a foot fracture. Coming back after five weeks with a three-week practice window aligns neatly with his original six- to eight-week return timeline. The 2024 third-rounder took over a starting job as a rookie and appeared in 16 games last year, though the Cowboys had one of the worst rushing attacks in the league.
Dallas’ offense has not skipped a beat without Beebe, averaging 32.4 points. per game over their last five contests. Backup Brock Hoffman has played well enough, but Dak Prescott will no doubt be glad to have his starting center back in the lineup.
Revel, a third-round pick in April’s draft, has been on the non-football injury list since July as he completes his recovery from last year’s ACL tear. The Cowboys were hoping that he would be ready by Week 5, but the rookie cornerback will miss that mark by at least three weeks.
Revel impressed during his time at Eastern Carolina and has the talent to contribute right away. However, coming back from a major injury after missing all of the preseason will likely require a multi-week ramp up and keep him from reinforcing the Cowboys’ bottom-ranked passing defense anytime soon.
The Cowboys also designated linebacker DeMarvion Overshown for return on Monday, so they could have as many as three impact players return in the next month. All three will have 21 days to practice with the team before they must be activated to the 53-man roster or revert to season-ending IR.
Mark Sanchez Booked, Released From Jail
The next step in the Mark Sanchez-saga saw the former NFL quarterback booked at the Marion County Jail today, promptly getting released after being processed, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The 38-year-old needed to be released from the hospital before getting processed at the jail, and both things needed to occur in order for Sanchez to be allowed to leave the state. 
In an interview (via Max Lewis of FOX59) outside the jail, Sanchez expressed many thanks to the first responders that treated him in the aftermath of the altercation that led to him getting stabbed. In particular, he became emotional as he thanked the surgeon that operated on him, claiming that she “saved his life.” He informed the media that he was recovering slowly and, before leaving, apologized that he was unable to answer more questions.
Sanchez’s alleged victim, Perry Tole, is also reportedly suing both Sanchez and Fox Corp. Per ESPN, the lawsuit claims he sustained “severe permanent disfigurement, loss of function, other physical injuries, emotional distress and other damages” resulting from Sanchez’s alleged attack. Reportedly, a picture of Tole in a hospital bed with a neck brace and a deep gash in the side of his face is making the rounds in the media, but it’s unclear if the image is legitimate evidence related to the case.
Initially charged with three misdemeanor charges of battery resulting in injury, public intoxication, and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle, Sanchez now faces a single felony battery charge. Our original report on the felony showed that the Level 5 charge could carry a prison sentence of one to five years and that the next step in the process would be a conference on November 4. ESPN’s latest update slightly adjusts these facts, claiming that the felony charge could carry a sentence up to six years and that the pretrial conference will take place on November 5.
Bengals Contacted Several Teams On QBs; Cincinnati Considered Derek Carr
The Bengals went from throwing support behind Jake Browning to frantically seeking an outside upgrade. Joe Flacco became that option, being sent across Ohio early this week in a Day 3 pick-swap exchange.
Prior to landing on Flacco — a development that surprised the Browns — the Bengals looked into many reserve QBs around the league and one who recently wrapped his NFL career. In addition to calling the Eagles on Sam Howell and the Seahawks on Drew Lock, the Bengals contacted the Texans on Davis Mills, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.
[RELATED: Flacco Hail Mary Comes At Key Point On Bengals’ Timeline]
A long-hesitant franchise regarding the acquisition of players via in-season trades, the Bengals also made a call on Derek Carr. Rapoport indicates the recently retired passer became part of Cincinnati’s search. Had this progressed, the team would have needed to make a deal with the Saints for Carr’s rights. Like they did with Sean Payton when he stepped away in 2022, the Saints hold Carr’s rights after his mid-offseason retirement.
Carr did not enter the offseason assured of retaining his starting job. Kellen Moore took over in New Orleans, leading to rumors about a QB change — even in the event Carr kept playing. Two years remained on his Saints contract. Carr was not open to a pay cut on the four-year, $150MM deal and remained in the Saints’ plans for several weeks between Moore’s arrival and the post-draft retirement decision. As of September, Carr has not slammed the door on returning. But with the Saints needing compensation, that introduced a wrinkle they may have kept the 11-year veteran in retirement.
This certainly would have presented an interesting opportunity for Carr, as the Bengals paid up to retain their high-end Ja’Marr Chase–Tee Higgins duo this offseason. Carr struggled to stay healthy in New Orleans, running into a few injuries. Most notably, a shoulder malady sustained in 2023 plagued him and ultimately led the ex-Raider to retirement. Should health circumstances improve, that could conceivably change the equation. Carr did gauge the trade market this offseason. But Carr is 34, limiting his window. During the summer, a report also indicated the former playoff starter is not likely to return to the league.
The Bengals made calls to teams with three quarterbacks and those with viable practice squad options, Rapoport adds. Mills obviously remains in the Texans‘ plans, having signed a one-year extension that moves his contract through 2026 in September. The Texans also rebuffed trade inquiries on Mills in 2023, keeping he and Case Keenum behind C.J. Stroud that season. A 2021 third-round pick, Mills has played his entire career in Houston. The team replaced him as their primary starter via the Stroud selection but still values him in the QB2 post.
Cincinnati did not inquire about Giants veterans, Kirk Cousins or Ryan Tannehill. In not making Tannehill part of their QB search, the Bengals wanted a player who had been active recently, Rapoport adds. Tannehill has not played since the 2023 season, when the Titans benched him for second-round rookie Will Levis. Tannehill had been connected to the Vikings early this offseason and later came up for the Raiders following Aidan O’Connell‘s injury, but the 37-year-old passer remains out of football.
Flacco, 40, will make a start despite being acquired Tuesday afternoon. The Bengals sent Flacco cutups on his flight from Cleveland, per Rapoport, as he was getting up to speed in Zac Taylor‘s offense by Tuesday night. With the Browns giving Flacco two weeks to prepare before his first start with the team in 2023, today’s shorter-notice Packers matchup presents a daunting assignment. For the foreseeable future, however, the Bengals will have Flacco at the controls.