2019 January - Pro Football Rumors

Colts Waive CB Jalen Collins

January 1st, 2019 at 8:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jalen Collins‘ time on the Colts’ active roster did not last long. Three days after promoting the cornerback to their 53-man contingent, the Colts waived him.

Indianapolis cut Collins and signed defensive lineman Geneo Grissom. The new Colt spent the past four years with the Patriots, playing in 38 games as mostly a special teams cog.

Collins caught on with the Colts via practice squad signing in November. They promoted him in advance of their Week 17 win over the Titans. But Collins did not end up playing in that game, with the then-questionable Nate Hairston suiting up.

A 2015 second-round Falcons pick, the twice-suspended Collins has not played since Super Bowl LI.

Browns To Interview Mike McCarthy

January 1st, 2019 at 7:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Mike McCarthy has plenty of connections in Cleveland, and the longtime Green Bay coach looks to be on his way to northeast Ohio for a head coaching interview.

The Browns are expected to meet with McCarthy on Thursday, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports. This will be McCarthy’s second known interview, with the Jets having secured one as well. It’s not known which meeting will occur first.

Now led by longtime McCarthy Packers co-worker John Dorsey, the Browns reached out to the recently fired coach over the weekend. And the parties are set to meet as part of a wide-ranging Cleveland HC search. Former Packers front office execs Alonzo Highsmith and Eliot Wolf are now with the Browns as well, making a McCarthy-to-Cleveland path obviously interesting.

The Packers fired McCarthy midway through their second straight non-playoff season. Green Bay did advance to eight straight postseasons under McCarthy, however.

Now 55, McCarthy was rumored to possibly sit out this round of hiring, unless an ideal fit came around, but the Browns are suddenly an intriguing team. Having won seven games for only the second time in the past 11 seasons, the Browns have formed a promising young nucleus featuring the likes of Myles Garrett, Nick Chubb and Denzel Ward. Potential offensive rookie of the year Baker Mayfield is the centerpiece and will help the Browns attract a level of coaching candidate they previously struggled to in the recent past.

Both the Jets and Browns will have plenty of cap space, with New York set to hold more than $100MM and Cleveland prepared to carry at least $85MM. Both teams figure to be key offseason entities, each drafting their hopeful franchise quarterback last year and each now in the process of critical coaching searches.

Vance Joseph To Interview For Bengals’ HC Job

January 1st, 2019 at 6:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Bengals are going to explore one of their former assistants’ viability for their head coaching position.

Rumored as a possibility to become Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator, Vance Joseph is expected to interview for the Bengals’ HC job this week, Ryan Koensigsberg of BSN Denver and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com report (Twitter links).

Joseph’s two years in Denver brought the franchise to a rare two-year low point, the Broncos finishing consecutive seasons with losing records for the first time in nearly 50 years. But Mike Brown values familiarity, and Joseph served as the Bengals’ secondary coach from 2014-15.

Joseph joins Bengals assistants Bill Lazor and Darren Simmons as interviewees. The Bengals also requested meetings with Josh McDaniels and Rams assistants Zac Taylor and Shane Waldron. Taylor will interview for the Bengals’ job on Friday.

Now 46, Joseph has not been connected to any other HC jobs since the Broncos fired him on Monday. He went 11-21 in two seasons in Denver.

Cardinals, Jets Expected To Interview Kliff Kingsbury

January 1st, 2019 at 5:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

While the Lincoln Riley avenue appears closed for NFL teams, they continue to explore what a college-level offensive innovator could bring to the table.

The Cardinals and Jets are expected to meet with former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury about their head coach vacancies, Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com reports.

Two other teams with HC openings said Kingsbury was on their radar but that no interviews were as of yet scheduled. The 39-year-old coach is also being monitored for NFL offensive coordinator jobs, Robinson adds. The Rams contacted Kingsbury about an assistant job late last year.

The Red Raiders fired Kingsbury after this season, but NFL teams took notice of the job he did leading the Big 12 program’s explosive offenses. Kingsbury brought both Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield to Lubbock, Texas, and steered the former to becoming a top-10 pick.

Kingsbury declined a chance to become the University of Houston’s head coach and is on USC’s staff as the program’s OC and quarterbacks coach. While Texas Tech only went 35-40 under Kingsbury, his offenses have obviously attracted NFL franchises — especially given the successes of younger, offensively oriented coaches in recent years. Case Keenum also set NCAA passing records under Kingsbury when they were at Houston together.

A former Red Raiders quarterback, Kingsbury was briefly on the Jets’ roster, in 2005, before transitioning to the CFL and then going into coaching. The Jets attempted to bring Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell in for an interview, but the Cyclones’ coach declined.

Falcons, Jaguars To Conduct OC Interviews With Darrell Bevell

January 1st, 2019 at 5:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

Darrell Bevell will meet with two teams about returning to an offensive coordinator position. The former Seahawks OC has interviews lined up with the Falcons and Jaguars, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports (on Twitter).

Bevell did not coach this year but took part in some interviews during the 2018 hiring period, which featured his Seattle ouster. It’s been Bevell’s plan to coach in 2019, and he’s moving toward that target date with these planned summits.

The Falcons are communicating with Dirk Koetter about a return to the Atlanta OC post, but Bevell surfaced on New Year’s Eve as a part of this search as well. The Falcons fired Steve Sarkisian after two underwhelming seasons, at least compared to the bar Kyle Shanahan set.

Jacksonville axed Nathaniel Hackett during the season but kept HC Doug Marrone. With Marrone having an offensive background, the Jags’ OC job would not appear to bring the same level of responsibility the Falcons’ gig — under defensive-minded leader Dan Quinn — would. The Jaguars are also about to be involved in the quarterback market, while Matt Ryan is signed well into the 2020s.

Bevell led the Seahawks’ offense for seven seasons and oversaw the Vikings’ attack from 2006-10.

Brian Flores To Meet With Browns, Broncos, Dolphins, Packers

January 1st, 2019 at 5:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

The latest Patriots playoff bye week will bring quite the workload for linebackers coach Brian Flores.

While he is still arranging his schedule, he has agreed to meet with the Browns, Broncos, Dolphins and Packers about their head coaching vacancies, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports (on Twitter). These interviews will occur this weekend.

After previously omitting the Broncos, who requested a meeting with Flores, La Canfora reports they will meet with the aspiring head coach. The Bucs, though, are not set to meet with the Patriot assistant this week, JLC tweets.

These four teams requested summits with Flores, and he will oblige. Flores has become a far more attractive candidate than he was a year ago, when the Cardinals met with him about their HC opening. Arizona again has an opening, but the team has not as of yet requested another audience with New England’s 37-year-old de facto defensive coordinator.

The Patriots turned to Flores as their top defensive assistant following Matt Patricia‘s defection to Detroit.

New England’s first post-Patricia defense has been the team’s typical bend-but-don’t-break unit, ranking 21st in yards allowed but seventh in scoring. The Pats have only had one non-top-10 scoring defense in the past 13 seasons; Flores has been a part of their past eight defensive coaching staffs.

Seahawks Place S Delano Hill On IR

January 1st, 2019 at 5:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks will be down one of their top backups the rest of the way. They placed safety Delano Hill on IR on Tuesday.

Hill started two games in relief of Tedric Thompson, with Seattle shifting Bradley McDougald from strong to free safety in those contests. Hill suffered a non-displaced fracture in his hip during the Seahawks’ Week 17 win over the Cardinals.

Seattle entered the season with a quartet of Earl Thomas, McDougald, Thompson and Hill at safety. Going into the team’s trip to Dallas, it is now down to the McDougald-Thompson tandem. Trade acquisition Shalom Luani and Maurice Alexander are the other safeties on Seattle’s roster.

A third-round pick in 2017, Hill played 321 snaps this season. He made 24 tackles. The Seahawks promoted wide receiver Malik Turner from their practice squad to fill the roster spot.

Lions, Jim Bob Cooter Mutually Part Ways

January 1st, 2019 at 4:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jim Bob Cooter‘s run with Matt Patricia in Detroit will be limited to one year. The Lions and their longtime offensive coordinator will mutually part ways, Albert Breer of SI.com reports (on Twitter). The team announced it will not renew Cooter’s contract.

Cooter, the youngest active NFL OC, had generated interest from other teams in recent days and will likely be a name to monitor as the OC carousel accelerates in the coming days. The 34-year-old coach has received interview requests, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

The Lions promoted Cooter to offensive coordinator midway through the 2015 season, and the young coach helped elevate Matthew Stafford‘s game. This topped out when Detroit finished as the NFL’s No. 7 scoring offense in 2017, doing so without much of a running game. But this season, Stafford’s numbers regressed, down by more than 600 passing yards and going from 7.9 yards per attempt in 207 to 6.8 this season, as did the Lions’ offense in a 6-10 season.

After letting Eric Ebron walk in the offseason, the Lions traded Golden Tate and saw Marvin Jones and Kerryon Johnson go down midseason. They plummeted to 25th in scoring in 2018.

Patricia overhauled Detroit’s defense staff upon taking the Lions’ reins but left Cooter in place. Patricia fired Lions special teams boss Joe Marciano during the season and now looks set to reshape the franchise’s offensive staff.

Cooter interviewed for the job Patricia ended up getting, and while a head coaching gig may not be in his immediate future, another OC opportunity probably will.

Lincoln Riley Signs Extension To Stay At Oklahoma

January 1st, 2019 at 4:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Lincoln Riley-to-NFL speculation stirred for several weeks, but on New Year’s Day, it will officially stop.

Riley agreed to an extension to stay at Oklahoma, keeping the 35-year-old offensive guru at the college level for the time being.

Amazingly 2-for-2 in coaching Heisman trophy winners in his two seasons succeeding Bob Stoops, Riley was connected to the Browns’ opening — largely because of what he did for Baker Mayfield‘s career in 2017. But he was loosely linked to other teams’ potential searches, as the demand for offensive innovation rapidly increases. Riley has won more games (24) in his first two seasons as a college head coach than anyone since Penn’s George Woodruff in the 1890s.

With Riley agreeing to an extension, Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald again indicating he’s happy where he is and Matt Campbell having turned down a Jets interview request, the 2019 coaching carousel as of now features NFL-based candidates.

Browns Won’t Interview Adam Gase

January 1st, 2019 at 2:32pm CST by Zachary Links

Adam Gase has been connected to a number of teams, but he won’t be in the mix for the Browns’ job. The Browns to have no plans to interview the former Dolphins head coach, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

Word that Gase won’t be up for the Cleveland job comes as a surprise since many have connected the dots between the two parties. Owner Jimmy Haslam has tried to lure Gase in the past and he comes with a strong recommendation from mutual friend Peyton Manning.

It’s possible that Gase’s acrimonious relationship with wide receiver Jarvis Landry is keeping him from consideration in Cleveland. Landry took his Miami exit as a personal slight and laughed at Gase on Twitter, in emoji form, when he was fired on Dec. 31.

The Browns aren’t interested in Gase, but the Cardinals are, and they’ll meet with him on Wednesday.