Eagles win Super Bowl LII. Philadelphia won its first Super Bowl title on Sunday, defeating the Patriots by a score of 41-33 in a classic contest. With the game in the books, both the Eagles and Patriots have several questions to answer this offseason. Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman needs to decide what to do with backup quarterback — and Super Bowl MVP — Nick Foles, while New England seems incredibly unlikely to re-sign cornerback Malcolm Butler, who was benched for the entirety of Sunday’s defeat.
Colts scramble to find a head coach. The Super Bowl was expected to be Josh McDaniels‘ final game on the Patriots’ staff, but the longtime offensive play-caller stunned the NFL world by rejecting the Colts’ head coaching offer last week — after Indy had already announced him as their new leader. McDaniels reportedly had concerns about moving his family away from the New England area, and while he hasn’t been assured of succeeding current HC Bill Belichick, McDaniels will be more involved with personnel decisions going forward. The Colts, meanwhile, were forced to restart their head coaching search, and Eagles OC Frank Reich has emerged as the frontrunner for the position.
49ers ink their franchise quarterback. After trading a second-round pick for Jimmy Garoppolo last year (in a deal that they accepted in “10 minutes”), the 49ers have locked up the 26-year-old signal-caller to a five-year, $137.5MM contract that makes him the league’s highest-paid player in history on an annual basis. San Francisco structured Garoppolo’s deal in way to take advantage of its mountain of 2018 space, and Garoppolo will count for $37MM against the club’s salary cap next season. Overall, Garoppolo will take home $48.7MM in full guarantees, and $74.1MM in injury guarantees.
Panthers still looking for a GM. Nearly seven months after firing Dave Gettleman, the Panthers still don’t have a long-term general manger in place. Interim GM Marty Hurney was viewed as the favorite for the job, but a harassment complaint — albeit one that has been withdrawn — from his ex-wife could reduce his chances. Titans executive Lake Dawson has now garnered two interviews for the role, while other candidates include Jimmy Raye III (Texans) and Martin Mayhew (49ers).
The coordinator carousel. The Eagles lost well-regarded quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo to the Vikings — with whom he’ll become the team’s new offensive coordinator — and could also see Reich leave the staff if he’s hired by the Colts. The Giants, meanwhile, had been looking at Minnesota’s Kevin Stefanski and Philadelphia’s Duce Staley for their OC role, but the Vikings have already denied Big Blue permission to interview Stefanski while the Eagles are expected to do the same with Staley if Reich goes to Indy.