2017 January - Pro Football Rumors

Bills To Interview Sean McDermott

January 3rd, 2017 at 5:07pm CST by Zachary Links

Many assume that interim head coach Anthony Lynn is a shoo-in for the Bills job, though that might not be the case anymore. Even if Lynn does want the role, the Bills are insistent that they are going to explore multiple options before reaching a decision. One of those options, Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, will interview with the Bills on Wednesday, reports Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News.

McDermott’s name came up with a few different coaching searches last season. The Browns and Buccaneers both interviewed McDermott last season before going with Hue Jackson and Dirk Koetter, respectively. The Eagles had an “informal” chat with McDermott, though they did not formally interview him before selecting Doug Pederson as their guy. The Giants internally discussed McDermott, but they neglected to ask during the Panthers first-round bye week.

Although he did not land a head coaching job last year, it was widely reported that he interviewed well. After the Panthers led the NFL in sacks this year, McDermott figures to get a few different looks again this season. Whether the Bills job is truly available, however, remains to be seen.

49ers To Interview Sean McVay, Vance Joseph

January 3rd, 2017 at 4:58pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay and Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph are the latest serious candidates to fill the 49ers’ head coaching vacancy. McVay will interview next Monday, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, and Joseph will also meet with the team sometime in the near future, tweets Rand Getlin.

If McVay were to land the job, the soon-to-be 31-year-old wunderkind would become the youngest head coach in the modern era. McVay, who has three years’ experience as a coordinator, teamed with head coach Jay Gruden to guide the Redskins to the NFL’s third-best total offense and a fifth-place DVOA ranking this season. The Rams are also targeting him as a result, though going to San Francisco – where his grandfather, John McVay, once thrived as an executive – would perhaps make for a more interesting story.

Unlike McVay, Joseph’s season isn’t over – the playoff-bound Dolphins will take on the Steelers in the wild-card round this weekend. Thus, it’s unclear when he’ll meet with the Niners. The Broncos will also interview Joseph, according to Getlin, while the Rams, Bills and Chargers have expressed interest in sitting down with him. Joseph, 44, is amid his first year as a defensive coordinator, one in which the Dolphins finished the regular season with unspectacular rankings in scoring (18th), DVOA (19th) and total defense (29th).

Raiders Sign Garrett Gilbert To Practice Squad

January 3rd, 2017 at 4:30pm CST by Zachary Links

In advance of their first playoff game in 14 years, the banged-up Raiders have announced the signing of quarterback Garrett Gilbert to their practice squad.

In December, the Raiders watched star Derek Carr go down with a season-ending leg injury. Then, on Sunday, Matt McGloin suffered an injury to his left shoulder. Connor Cook, the Raiders’ fourth-round draft pick out of Michigan State, took over from there. If McGloin cannot go Saturday against Houston, Cook will get the start. In that event, it could be Gilbert holding the clipboard.

Gilbert, a product of SMU, was a sixth-round pick of the Rams in 2014. When he didn’t hook on there, he made the NFL rounds including practice squad stops with the Raiders, Lions, and Patriots. He has never appeared in an NFL game.

If McGloin can’t play on Saturday, Cook will be the first quarterback to start a playoff game without starting a regular season game in the modern era.

Latest On HC Candidate Anthony Lynn

January 3rd, 2017 at 4:22pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Bills interim head coach Anthony Lynn was reportedly a “virtual lock” as of this past Sunday to earn the job on a full-time basis, but that’s not necessarily the case anymore. There’s now buzz that Lynn might not even want to take over for his former boss, the fired Rex Ryan, according to Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News.

The 48-year-old Lynn has options outside of Buffalo, as it’s now official that he’ll interview with the Rams and 49ers, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). It’s also conceivable that any of the other teams with head coaching vacancies – the Broncos, Jaguars and Chargers – could court Lynn. Notably, the former running back played in Denver with then-quarterback and now-general manager John Elway. He also began his coaching career there as a special teams assistant in 2000.

Lynn drew some interest in head coaching searches last winter, but he was merely a running backs coach at the time. Then, after the Bills fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman in mid-September, Lynn took over and guided the unit to impressive results. Thanks largely to the NFL’s best rushing attack, the Bills’ offense finished the 2016 campaign 10th in both scoring and DVOA.

On the heels of Ryan’s late-December dismissal, Lynn earned the interim title for Week 17, though the Bills lost in embarrassing fashion, 30-10, to the Jets. In defense of Lynn, the Bills benched starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor for business reasons, leaving the coach with EJ Manuel and Cardale Jones as his only options under center. It now seems possible that could go down as Lynn’s only game as the embattled organization’s head coach.

Cowboys Audition Jonathan Cooper

January 3rd, 2017 at 2:14pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cowboys have worked out former first-round pick Jonathan Cooper, according to multiple sources who spoke with ESPN.com’s Todd Archer (on Twitter). The team is currently discussing whether to add the guard to the active roster.

Cooper, the No. 7 overall pick in 2013, was released last week by the Browns. It’s not immediately clear how he would fit in the roster with the Cowboys looking to bring La’el Collins back from injured reserve.

The Browns didn’t feel like Cooper was worth holding on to for Week 17, but the advanced metrics painted him as an above-average interior lineman over the past ten weeks or so. Football Focus has assigned Cooper a 73.2 overall grade in his 183 snaps, a score that would have put him in the middle of the pack amongst guards if he had enough playing time to qualify.

In other Cowboys news, Randy Gregory may have bought himself some more time before his appeal hearing, which could allow him to play in the postseason while things get sorted out.

Coaching Rumors: Rams, Chargers, Patricia

January 3rd, 2017 at 1:18pm CST by Zachary Links

We have six head coaching vacancies and it’s not easy to keep track of every candidate and development in each search. That’s why Pro Football Rumors rolled out the 2017 NFL Head Coaching Tracker this week. Bookmark the page and keep up with every bit of news out of Los Angeles, Buffalo, Denver, San Diego, San Francisco, and Jacksonville.

Here’s the latest coaching news from around the league:

The Rams‘ interview with Panthers assistant head coach Steve Wilks will take place today (Tuesday), a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). This marks the Rams’ first coach interview of this cycle.
The Chargers have requested to interview Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Broncos, he adds, are expected to do the same. Special teams coordinators are not often considered for head coaching jobs, but we have seen a few serve as interim head coaches. In the past, Toub has been an advocate for special teams coaches to get a chance at running the show.
Matt Patricia‘s interviews with the Rams and Chargers will go down this weekend, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Patricia, the defensive coordinator for the Patriots, must get his interviews out of the way before the Pats’ first playoff game.

Extra Points: Giants, JPP, Raiders, McGloin

January 3rd, 2017 at 12:49pm CST by Zachary Links

Let’s go coast-to-coast for some news from around the NFL:

Despite a report that Jason Pierre-Paul could return for the divisional round and possibly even Wild Card weekend, the timeline has not changed for the Giants star, a source tells Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. That means JPP is still looking at a conference round return as his best-case scenario. The defensive end is still just one month removed from sports hernia/groin surgery.
The Raiders are going forward with the expectation that quarterback Connor Cook starts against the Texans, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Matt McGloin is not believed to be ready for this weekend’s playoff game. If McGloin cannot go, it sounds like Oakland will have quarterback Garrett Gilbert on the active roster as the backup.
The Raiders worked out seven players Monday including running back LaMichael James, but no quarterbacks (Twitter link via Adam Caplan of ESPN.com). defensive end Alex Bazzie, linebacker Brandon Hepburn, safety Dion Bailey, and cornerback Greg Ducre also auditioned, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets.

Jets OC Chan Gailey Retires

January 3rd, 2017 at 12:33pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jets announced that offensive coordinator Chan Gailey has retired. The Jets also announced that five coaches will not return: quarterbacks coach Kevin Patullo, running backs coach Marcel Shipp, defensive line coach Pepper Johnson, outside linebackers coach Mark Collins, and defensive backs coach Joe Danna. Defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers, apparently, will be retained.

“I’m grateful to Chan for joining our coaching staff and enjoyed working with him,” coach Todd Bowles said in the statement. “The respect that I have for him as a person and a coach only increased during our time together.”

It seems possible that Gailey would have been forced out even if he did not retire this offseason. The soon-t0-be 65-year-old oversaw an offense that had the second-worst offensive DVOA in the NFL this year. However, in 2015, Gailey’s offense that amassed a franchise-record 5,925 yards and scored 387 points, the most in a Jets season since 1998. There was lots of frustration over Gailey’s play-calling this year, but the team’s shortcomings under center probably played a bigger role.

The Jets are expected to target Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo and former Chargers coach Mike McCoy as OC options, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com and Albert Breer of The MMQB (Twitter links).

Brock Osweiler To Start For Texans

January 3rd, 2017 at 11:45am CST by Zachary Links

Brock Osweiler will start at quarterback for the Texans in Saturday’s playoff game against the Raiders, coach Bill O’Brien announced. If Tom Savage clears concussion protocol, he’ll serve as the team’s backup. It was widely expected that Osweiler would get the start after Savage suffered a significant blow to the head.

Signed to a $72MM deal this offseason, Osweiler was expected to flourish as a full-time starter. Instead, he was inconsistent at best and putrid at his worst, leading the team to make a quarterback change late in the season. Savage might not be a superstar, but he was playing much better than Osweiler in his limited sample. After suffering a concussion, the Texans really had no choice but to revert to Osweiler this weekend.

After taking over in the regular season finale, Osweiler completed 21-of-40 passes for 253 yards and a passing touchdown with no interceptions. He also added a rushing touchdown from one yard out.

Latest On Cowboys’ Randy Gregory

January 3rd, 2017 at 11:42am CST by Zachary Links

Randy Gregory is changing agents, a family member tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter), and that process could help him stay on the field for the postseason. Gregory was scheduled for an appeal hearing today (Tuesday), but his lack of representation could result in a postponement. If the hearing is delayed, that could drag out the process and leave us even further from a resolution to his case. And, if he continues to stay in limbo, that could mean that he is free to suit up in the playoffs.

The agent dropped Gregory and not the other way around, a source tells Clarence Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram (on Twitter). However, it went down, the net effect is likely the same: Gregory has a right to a representative in an appeal hearing and it sounds like he can effectively stall until a new rep is in place.

The Cowboys, of course, have a first-round bye. Gregory hopes to be in uniform for Dallas when the divisional round gets underway.