2016 January - Pro Football Rumors

Month: January 2025

Broncos Place Bolden On IR, Promote Nixon

January 19th, 2016 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

As expected, the Broncos officially placed defensive back and return man Omar Bolden on their injured reserve list today, ending his 2015 season, per a team release. To replace Bolden on the 53-man roster, Denver has promoted cornerback Taurean Nixon from the club’s practice squad.

Bolden, 27, was limited to just nine games during the 2015 season, and wasn’t a contributor on defense for the Broncos. However, he was the team’s most effective return man when given the opportunity, with one of his five regular-season punt returns going for an 83-yard touchdown, and his lone playoff return going for 42 yards. A partial PCL tear suffered in the divisional round on Sunday ended Bolden’s season prematurely.

Nixon, a seventh-round pick in 2015, spent the entire season on the Broncos’ practice squad. If he’s active this Sunday, he’ll likely be used on special teams and perhaps in the return game, rather than on defense.

The Broncos now have an opening on their practice squad that they can fill prior to Sunday’s game if they so choose.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Eagles Hire Doug Pederson As Head Coach

January 19th, 2016 at 2:50pm CST by Luke Adams

JANUARY 19: Pederson, who was introduced to the media today, got a five-year contract from the Eagles, tweets Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

JANUARY 18: The Eagles have made it official, announcing the hiring of Pederson in a press release. He’ll be introduced at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

JANUARY 14: The Eagles are set to hire Doug Pederson as their new head coach, a league source tells Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News (Twitter link). Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer confirms (via Twitter) that Pederson is the Eagles’ man. The Chiefs offensive coordinator remains alive in the postseason, so Philadelphia won’t be able to make the hiring official until after this weekend’s game, at the earliest.

A former Eagles quarterback, Pederson had only been connected to the Philadelphia job and none of the other NFL head coaching vacancies. In addition to having played for the Eagles, he also coached with the team during Andy Reid‘s tenure, serving as an offensive quality control coach in 2009 and 2010, then as the club’s quarterbacks coach in 2011 and 2012.

Pederson, who has been Kansas City’s offensive coordinator since the team hired Reid as its head coach in 2013, was one of six head coaching candidates to interview with the Eagles. Three coaches that were considered to be strong candidates for Philadelphia have since been hired elsewhere or withdrawn from the process — Adam Gase landed with the Dolphins, Ben McAdoo was promoted by the Giants, and Tom Coughlin removed himself from consideration.

In addition to those candidates, the Eagles also interviewed in-house assistants Pat Shurmur and Duce Staley. Shurmur, Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator, served as the interim head coach in Week 17 following Chip Kelly‘s firing, while Staley is the team’s running backs coach.

McAdoo and Coughlin received plenty of buzz this week for the Eagles’ job, with at least one report suggesting he would have been the choice if he hadn’t withdrawn. However, a weekend report indicated that Pederson initially entered the process as owner Jeffrey Lurie’s favorite among non-head coaches. After McAdoo and Coughlin became unavailable, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reported that the Eagles had moved on to pursuing Pederson.

Despite losing Jamaal Charles this year and playing without a ton of wide receiving talent over the past two seasons, the Chiefs’ offense performed well on Pederson’s watch. Per Football Outsiders, Kansas City ranked sixth overall in offensive DVOA this season, just behind the Patriots, and ahead of teams like the Panthers and Packers. In 2014, the Chiefs placed 12th in offensive DVOA.

One of Peterson’s main challenges in Philadelphia will be coaxing production out of an offense whose quarterback situation is uncertain, with Sam Bradford facing free agency. The Eagles have also seen plenty of talented playmakers depart in recent years, with LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, and Jeremy Maclin all playing elsewhere now. Pricey free agent running back DeMarco Murray will look to have a bounce-back 2016 campaign under Pederson after a disappointing first year in Philadelphia.

As PFR’s head coaching tracker shows, five of the seven teams seeking new head coaches this month have now made their decisions, with only the Buccaneers and Titans still in the market for replacements. Those two jobs, which feature top young quarterbacks, will be interesting to watch, and it’s also worth keeping an eye on Detroit, where the Lions have yet to make a final decision on Jim Caldwell.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Eagles Notes: Bradford, Pederson, Coaches

January 19th, 2016 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Eagles introduced new head coach Doug Pederson today at an afternoon press conference, and announced during that presser that former Lions head coach Jim Schwartz will be Philadelphia’s defensive coordinator for the 2016 season. However, that was hardly the only item of interest from the session. Let’s dive in and round up some of the other highlights….

According to Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, the team started with a pool of about 25 head coaching candidates, then reduced that total to about 10 (Twitter link Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer). That list included head coaches on other teams, per Lurie, so I’d expect John Harbaugh, Tom Coughlin, and Sean Payton were among the Eagles’ names. Ultimately though, no one besides Pederson was going to be offered the job, Lurie said (Twitter link via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer).
Pederson said today that personnel decisions will be made collaboratively, with Lurie breaking any ties. Pederson and Howie Roseman figure to be involved in those decisions, along with the club’s new head of player personnel — Lurie confirmed today that the Eagles are looking to hire someone for that position (Twitter links via McLane).
Asked about Sam Bradford, Pederson said a decision on the free-agent-to-be hasn’t been made, but he praised the QB as one who could fit into his system (Twitter link via Berman).
The Eagles haven’t yet decided on an offensive coordinator, Pederson said today (Twitter link via McLane). Frank Reich is reportedly the frontrunner for the job, though the new head coach said he’ll consider incumbent OC Pat Shurmur too (Twitter link via McLane). Still, it’ll be Pederson, rather than the OC, who will call the team’s offensive plays, tweets James Palmer of the NFL Network.
Special teams coach Dave Fipp and offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland will be retained, tweets McLane. Pederson is still deliberating on the rest of the staff.

Eagles Hire Jim Schwartz As DC

January 19th, 2016 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

1:21pm: Pederson made it official during his introductory press conference this afternoon, announcing that Schwartz will be his defensive coordinator for the 2016 season (Twitter link via team).

12:36pm: After interviewing him today, the Eagles have reached an agreement with Jim Schwartz, who will become the team’s new defensive coordinator, reports Don Banks of SI.com (Twitter links). According to Banks, the move isn’t official yet, but the two sides have a deal in place.

Schwartz, who began his NFL career as a personnel scout on Bill Belichick’s staff in Cleveland in the mid-1990s, served as the Titans’ defensive coordinator from 2001 to 2008. After spending several seasons as the Lions’ head coach, Schwartz returned to a DC role in Buffalo in 2014, and had an excellent season.

Per Football Outsiders, Schwartz’s Bills defense ranked second in the NFL in DVOA in 2014. However, when Doug Marrone opted out of his contract as the team’s head coach, and Rex Ryan entered the picture, Ryan decided to bring in his own defensive coordinator. Under Ryan and Dennis Thurman, the Bills slipped to 24th in defensive DVOA in 2015.

With Chip Kelly no longer leading the Eagles, the team already had been expected to undergo a number of personnel changes on both sides of the ball this offseason, and Schwartz’s arrival will likely ensure that those changes are made on defense. After running a 3-4 scheme under Billy Davis for the last few seasons, Philadelphia figures to shift to a 4-3 look under Schwartz, who often employs a “wide nine” alignment.

As Albert Breer of the NFL Network notes (via Twitter), one notable Eagles player who could benefit significantly from the scheme change is Fletcher Cox, who should thrive as a three-technique in 2016, which is a contract year for him. In general, the Eagles defense shouldn’t be worked quite so hard in ’16, with new head coach Doug Pederson replacing Kelly — Kelly’s Eagles ranked dead last in the NFL in each of the last three seasons in terms of time of possession, meaning the defense spent a ton of time on the field.

With Schwartz now in line to take over the defensive coordinator job in Philadelphia, Davis figures to look for work elsewhere — perhaps on Kelly’s staff in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Mike Pettine had been cited as a candidate for the Eagles’ opening, but if he hopes to land a DC job in 2016, it’ll have to happen somewhere else. Pettine’s old team, the Browns, was one of the other teams that expressed interest in Schwartz as a defensive coordinator — the Jaguars also interviewed him.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Coach Rumors: Eagles, Schwartz, 49ers, Fins

January 19th, 2016 at 11:39am CST by Luke Adams

While there are no head coaching jobs in the NFL that still need to be filled, many clubs are still tweaking their coaching staffs, making changes among position coaches or hiring new coordinators. Here’s a round-up of the latest news and rumors on those changes from across the league:

There’s mutual interest between the Eagles and Jim Schwartz for the defensive coordinator role in Philadelphia. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), if Schwartz and Eagles head coach Doug Pederson hit it off and all goes well at today’s interview, Schwartz will likely end up with the job.
Rapoport (Twitter links) also has a couple updates on the 49ers‘ defensive staff, reporting that Eric Mangini will interview to remain in his defensive coordinator role, while former Buccaneers linebackers coach Hardy Nickerson talked to the Niners about the same position in San Francisco.
Longtime offensive coach Al Saunders, who has worked recently with the Dolphins, Raiders, and Ravens, is a “strong candidate” to join Hue Jackson‘s Browns coaching staff, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
Veteran coaches Jim Washburn and Jeremiah Washburn are headed to the Dolphins, according to Alex Marvez of FOX Sports and Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter links). Jim, the elder Washburn, will work with the defensive line as a senior defensive assistant, while his son Jeremiah will be an offensive line assistant. The duo previously spent time with the Lions, so Jim has a history of working with Ndamukong Suh.
Marvez adds (via Twitter) that the Lions denied the Dolphins‘ interview request for defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, who would have been a candidate for that DL job in Miami.

Browns Notes: Horton, O-Line, Cap Room

January 19th, 2016 at 10:14am CST by Luke Adams

Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton arrives in Cleveland today for his interview with the Browns, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. According to Rapoport, the Browns have made it clear that they want to hire Horton and things could happen quickly between the two sides.

It was just two days ago that Horton took exception to a report suggesting that he was heading to the Browns after being upset by not being given a fair shot at the Titans’ head coaching job — at the time, Horton indicated he was working on a contract extension to remain in Tennessee, so if he lands with the Browns later in the week, it would be a quick turnaround.

Here’s more from out of Cleveland:

Following up on Horton, Rapoport adds (via Twitter) that the Browns are paying his salary from his initial contract with the team, so Cleveland has some extra incentive to bring him aboard again.
Already in the midst of a rebuild, the Browns risk creating a hole that doesn’t currently exist on the offensive line as free agency approaches, writes Pat McManamon of ESPN.com. As McManamon observes, center Alex Mack can opt out of his contract, right tackle Mitchell Schwartz is eligible for free agency, and left tackle Joe Thomas has hinted that he may ask to be traded. The offensive line has been one of Cleveland’s strong spots in recent years, so the club will have to do all it can to keep at least one or two members of this trio.
Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap looks ahead to the Browns’ offseason, focusing on the club’s cap situation and its pending free agents. Per Fitzgerald, the team currently projects to have about $35MM in cap space, but that figure could end up increasing to close to $60MM.
In an interesting piece for TheMMQB.com, Jenny Vrentas examines the interview process for head coaching candidates, including what sort of questions interviewees can expect to be asked, and what sort of traits team executives are looking for. Within the piece, Vrentas notes that candidates who interviewed with the Browns this year had to ask about the team’s front office structure, featuring Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta.

49ers To Interview Mike Vrabel

January 19th, 2016 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

There is reportedly a “strong possibility” that new 49ers head coach Chip Kelly will retain incumbent defensive coordinator Eric Mangini, but it appears Mangini’s return isn’t a lock. According to Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (via Twitter), the Niners are interviewing Mike Vrabel today for their defensive coordinator job.

Vrabel, who spent most of his NFL playing career with the Patriots, winning three Super Bowls with New England, began his coaching career in 2011 following his retirement as a player. After spending three seasons as a positions coach at Ohio State, Vrabel joined the Texans in 2014. He has been the linebackers coach in Houston for the last two years.

Vrabel is the first outside candidate who has been mentioned as a possibility for the 49ers’ defensive coordinator position. It’s not clear yet how strongly Kelly and the Niners are considering him, or if the club plans on interviewing more candidates for the job. For the time being, I’d still view Mangini as the favorite, but that could change quickly.

Whoever ends up running the 49ers’ defense in 2016 will have a challenging task ahead. In Philadelphia, Kelly’s Eagles ranked at the bottom of the NFL in terms of time of possession in each of the last three seasons due to their fast-paced offense, which forced the defense to spend plenty of time on the field.

In 2015, Mangini’s unit ranked 29th in the NFL in yards allowed per game (387.4), finishing outside the top 25 against both the run and the pass.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rams Request Permission To Interview Pat Shurmur

January 19th, 2016 at 7:59am CST by Dallas Robinson

WEDNESDAY, 7:59am: If he’s hired by the Rams, Shurmur would likely fill the team’s passing-game coordinator position, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who says Boras still looks like the favorite for the offensive coordinator job (Twitter links).

TUESDAY, 5:57pm: The Rams’ search for a new offensive coordinator could lead to a familiar face, as the club has requested permission to interview Eagles’ OC Pat Shurmur, reports Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Shurmur was the Rams’ play-caller from 2009-10 under former head coach Steve Spagnuolo.

Shurmur is still under contract with Philadelphia, and in fact interviewed for the club’s head coaching position earlier this month. That job ultimately went to Doug Pederson, who said during his introductory press conference today that Shurmur would be a contender to remain as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator. But former Chargers play-caller Frank Reich is widely expected to be Philadelphia’s OC choice, at which point it’s likely the club would let Shurmur pursue other opportunities.

For Shurmur, a move to Los Angeles would represent a step up, as he did not call plays under former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly and, if retained, would not call plays under Pederson. With the Rams, that duty would surely fall to him, as Los Angeles head coach Jeff Fisher has a defensive background. Shurmur, who has head coaching experience with the Browns, wasn’t very successful during his last run with the Rams, as his offenses never finished above 30th in DVOA.

Los Angeles’ OC hunt was thought to be nearing its completion, as a report last week indicated that the club was expected to promote interim play-caller Rob Boras — who was formerly the tight ends coach and took over OC duties after Frank Cignetti was fired — to the full-time post. The Rams also interviewed former Browns coordinator John DeFillipo as part of their search.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Berry, Hali, Seahawks, Rams

January 18th, 2016 at 9:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

As expected, Andy Reid didn’t do much prioritizing when it came to pinpointing which of the Chiefs‘ free agents will return, but he did single out the one likely residing at the top of the itinerary.

“I think he wants to be here. We want him to be here. The agents and our people need to get with him, they’ll deal with all that, work through all that. But I like Eric Berry. I can tell you, I love Eric Berry,” Reid told media, including Dave Skretta of the Associated Press.

Berry will be the top safety on the market and one of the top players available as an unrestricted free agent. The Pro Bowl safety played out his entire rookie contract, a six-year deal worth $60MM, from the old CBA that was much friendlier to first-round selections.

“Obviously,” Berry told media, when asked if he wants to return to the Chiefs. “This is family. At the same time, we’ll sit down and talk about it when we talk about it. But right now I’m just thankful for my teammates, my coaches and everybody that has something to do with me being back on the field this year. This is something special.”

The Chiefs could have their franchise tag ready if talks with the 27-year-old cancer survivor stall. The remainder of the Chiefs’ free agent class includes a number of expiring deals from their top-flight defense. Sean Smith, Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali and Jaye Howard are free agents.

Kansas City possess $31.62MM in salary cap space, according to OverTheCap.

Here is the latest coming out of the Western divisions.

Hali’s path may lead to retirement or back to Kansas City, with Skretta noting it’s unlikely the 32-year-old outside linebacker will head elsewhere. The former first-round pick and career Chief told media after the Chiefs’ loss to the Patriots he would contemplate his future after spending most of this season not practicing due to knee trouble. Hali renegotiated his deal last season to help Kansas City with its cap. Of course, with the Chiefs having some lucrative free agents to consider retaining in hopes of keeping that strong defense intact, Hali’s third Chiefs contract won’t be nearly as hefty as the five year, $60MM deal he signed in 2011. Though Hali, a Pro Bowler this season and a top-10 edge player as graded by Pro Football Focus, could still command a reasonable accord on the open market if he sought such a path. “I know some of these (free agents) are going to return. That’s how it rolls. Which ones and how it works into the (salary) cap and all that, that’s (GM John) Dorsey‘s baby there,” Reid said.
The Chiefs will have their lowest first-round pick in 20 years after their 11-5 season ended in the divisional playoffs. They will pick 28th, lowest of the teams eliminated this weekend, according to Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk. The Steelers, Seahawks and Packers will pick 25th, 26th and 27th, respectively, based on a schedule strength tiebreaker.
Bruce Irvin told media, including Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com, he will take less money on his second contract to stay with the Seahawks. Irvin said both John Schneider and Pete Carroll asked him if he’d accept a below-market deal Monday. “Pete and John asked me that when I met with them today. If it came to that, I would definitely come back. $3, $4 million? $3, $4, $5 million? I would definitely come back because I’m established here,” Irvin said. The Seahawks did not pick up Irvin’s fifth-year option last year, making the edge-rusher an unrestricted free agent. The January gesture may not hold a lot of weight come March, per Joel Corry of CBSSports.com, who tweets Irvin’s agent, Joel Segal, won’t be interested in seeing Irvin take a hometown discount after he pushed the Chiefs to give Justin Houston a record deal last summer. Russell Okung, Jeremy Lane and Jermaine Kearse are among the Seahawks’ notable UFAs, with Marshawn Lynch‘s $6.5MM in cap savings likely to benefit toward this cause as well.
Carroll told media, including Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times, he’d like to bring back Christine Michael, a UFA who bounced around this year before re-signing with Seattle. Michael averaged 4.9 yards per carry with the Seahawks and 3.4 per rush with the Cowboys this season.
Stan Kroenke is borrowing approximately $1 billion from JPMorgan Chase for his new Inglewood stadium, Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Daily tweets. The stadium’s expected to cost a record $2.7 billion, and Kroenke’s $1 billion loan would represent one of the largest ever taken for a stadium, according to Elyse Glickman of the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Titans Hire Mike Mularkey

January 18th, 2016 at 8:45pm CST by Dallas Robinson

MONDAY, 8:45pm: Mularkey’s deal will be a three-year pact, Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com reports.

SATURDAY, 5:03pm: The Titans will hire interim head coach Mike Mularkey on a full-time basis, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports (Twitter link). The team has since confirmed the move (via Twitter). Tennessee is the seventh, and barring any unforeseen changes, final, club to hire a head coach this offseason.

Mularkey had longed look the favorite to take over the Titans job on a permanent basis, and just a few hours ago a report indicated that it would be a “massive upset” if anyone other than Mularkey landed the job. New general manager Jon Robinson reportedly agreed to consider Mularkey as a serious candidate for the gig, and with ownership also in Mularkey’s corner, Robinson ultimately opted for continuity over a fresh start.

As our head coaching search tracker shows, the Titans also considered several other candidates for their vacancy. Incumbent defensive coordinator Ray Horton garnered an interview, as did Jaguars assistant head coach Doug Marrone and Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. Meanwhile, Patriots OC Josh McDaniels was thought to be a strong contender for the position (given Robinson’s ties to New England), but Tennessee opted not to wait to interview McDaniels.

The 54-year-old Mularkey will become a full-time head coach for the third time in his NFL career — he previously lead both the Bills and Jaguars. A longtime offensive coordinator and tight ends coach, Mularkey has accrued an uninspiring 18-39 record, including a 2-7 mark in nine games as the Titans’ interim coach in 2015.

In being promoted to the full-time role in Tennessee, Mularkey has landed one of the prime jobs on the market. The mere presence of quarterback Marcus Mariota on the roster sets the Titans up for long-term success, and as owners of the No. 1 overall pick in 2016, the club should be able to secure another top talent.

Mularkey’s first task will be deciding on the fate of his coaching staff, especially his two coordinators. Offensive coordinator Jason Michael would be entering his third season on the job, and while his unit struggled last season (last in DVOA), Mularkey might opt to keep Mariota in the same system for consecutive seasons. On the other side of the ball, Horton has drawn interest from the Browns to act as their DC, and he’s made it known that he’d like to leave for Cleveland if he weren’t promoted in Tennessee.

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