2020 January - Pro Football Rumors

Browns Notes: GM Search, DePodesta, McCarthy, Saleh, Daboll

January 5th, 2020 at 6:58pm CST by Marc Delucchi

While the primary focus in Cleveland remains on their search for a new head coach, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the Browns could have their eyes on a pair of front-office employees with the Seahawks for their general managerial opening. Via Garafolo’s report, Seattle’s co-directors of player personnel, Trent Kirchner and Scott Fitterer, are two well-respected executives that could emerge as leading candidates.

Here’s more notes from the Browns organization:

NFL.com’s Ian Rapaport noted that two head coaching candidates in the Browns search that align with Kirchner and Fitterer are former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. McCarthy’s connection to the two Seattle executives is unclear, but Saleh started his coaching career in Seattle and has built his defensive scheme upon the Seahawks 4-3 at the peak of the “Legion of Boom.”
The Browns pushed back their interview with Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll for Cleveland’s head coaching position, according to Ian Rapaport of NFL.com. Daboll remains a candidate, but since the Bills were eliminated from the playoffs in Saturday’s overtime loss to the Texans, the team decided to delay his interview to this week so he could meet more of the team’s current front office staff.
Browns chief strategist Paul DePodesta has been the center of a lot of coverage surrounding the power struggle in Cleveland. The onetime assistant general manager of the Oakland Athletics is spearheading the Browns head coach search, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, but is not under contract with the team beyond next week. With that said, DePodesta is still wanted in Cleveland and the team may want to extend the executive at the same time of the team’s general manager and head coaching hires to put the organization on the same page.

Cowboys Officially Part With Jason Garrett

January 5th, 2020 at 6:01pm CST by Marc Delucchi

The Cowboys have officially announced that Jason Garrett will not return as the team’s head coach next season. While the news does not come as a surprise, the team had yet to make an official announcement. The announcement confirms an earlier report from Jay Glazer of Fox Sports that Dallas had informed Garrett of the decision.

Garrett’s status had been under question for much of the season and when the Cowboys were officially eliminated from the playoffs his fate seemed sealed. While nothing was officially announced, Dallas began interviewing other head coaching candidates, including former Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy earlier this week.

The team’s statement refuses to call the move a firing, but rather says “the team would not seek a new agreement [with Garrett].” Garrett has long been held by Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones in high regard dating back to his days as a backup quarterback, but his inability to take Dallas deep into the playoffs forced Jones to make a move. In the end, Garrett finished his 10-year tenure as Cowboys head coach with an 85-67 regular season record and 2-3 postseason record.

Latest On Cowboys’ Coaching Search

January 5th, 2020 at 12:25pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Jason Garrett is still technically the coach of the Cowboys, but everything continues to indicate they’ll be moving on with the team already scheduling interviews with Marvin Lewis and Mike McCarthy. Here’s the latest on everything pertaining to Dallas’ search:

The Cowboys were conspicuously quiet for a while, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t working behind the scenes. The McCarthy interview news just leaked Friday morning but the former Packers coach was apparently originally scheduled to interview on Thursday before rescheduling to accommodate his Browns interview, according to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). That proves owner Jerry Jones hasn’t just been sitting on his hands after the season ended.
Garrett, meanwhile, is continuing to lobby Jones for another chance, as Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported in Sunday’s FOX pregame show. Jones has been steadfast in his decision to move on from Garrett, but Garrett is doing everything he can to keep his post. Meanwhile, the team’s interview with McCarthy went so well that McCarthy stayed an extra day in Dallas.
Baylor coach Matt Rhule and Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley have also been connected to the Cowboys’ job. The Jones family should have a good read on their potential interest in the job since they have the same agent as McCarthy, tweets Albert Breer of SI.com. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network says that Jones will gauge Riley’s interest, but Riley is unlikely to leave Oklahoma at this point (video link).
The Lewis interview caught a lot of people by surprise, but there is one interesting link between the two sides. Jones is very good friends with Bengals owner Mike Brown, tweets Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. Dehner writes that the two men “hold very similar view[s]” on handling their teams. Lewis, of course, was Cincinnati’s coach for 16 seasons and Brown was very reluctant to let him go. It’s possible that Brown recommended Lewis to Jones.
Speaking of Lewis, Rapoport says the former Bengals HC would require that the Cowboys — or any club — hire Hue Jackson as his OC (video link). That could be a deal-breaker for the Cowboys given the presence of Kellen Moore.
Garrett had told his assistants on expiring deals they were free to start looking for other work. Most assistants were on expiring deals like Garrett, but that notably excluded Moore and offensive line coach Marc Colombo, Breer tweets. The organization thinks very highly of Moore and he generally received positive reviews in his first year calling plays. Since both are still under contract, it’s quite possible the Jones’ will retain them even when they hire a new coach. Breer adds that Garrett hasn’t spoken to any of his staff since Monday.

Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes Expected To Reach Extension This Offseason

January 5th, 2020 at 12:09pm CST by Rory Parks

The Chiefs are expected to finalize a new contract with star QB Patrick Mahomes this offseason, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link). The two sides have not done much work on an extension yet, but the team does expect a new deal to be in place in the coming months.

Rapoport says Kansas City wants to wait until after the first wave of free agency in March, at which point there will hopefully be a new CBA in place. Before giving Mahomes an inevitably record-breaking contract, the Chiefs want to know exactly how that contract will fit into the league’s collective bargaining framework.

We heard last January that KC was planning to extend Mahomes after the 2019 season, and obviously Mahomes has done nothing this season to suggest he is not worthy of a massive new contract. On the contrary, the third-year signal-caller turned in a second straight stellar campaign despite dealing with a sprained ankle and a scary-looking dislocated kneecap. He missed two games this season, but he still threw for 26 TDs against just five interceptions and lifted his team to a first-round bye.

Given his youth and talent, Mahomes may well land the league’s first $200MM deal. The Falcons’ Matt Ryan is the current standard-bearer in terms of total contract value ($150MM) and fully-guaranteed money ($94.5MM), and it seems likely that Mahomes will easily eclipse both of those figures.

The 24-year-old will lead the Chiefs against the Texans in next week’s divisional round.

49ers Designate Kwon Alexander For Return

January 5th, 2020 at 11:32am CST by Zachary Links

Kwon Alexander will have a chance to suit up for the 49ers in the playoffs. On Thursday, the Niners designated the linebacker for return, as Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports tweets.

It’s not a given that Alexander will be able to play the Niners’ divisional round game so soon after suffering a pectoral injury. However, the move to bring him back from IR leaves that possibility open, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com says Alexander has a good chance to play next Saturday.

Alexander, 25, was said to be done for the year after landing on IR with a torc pec on November 1st. In eight games, Alexander rated as Pro Football Focus’ No. 33 ranked linebacker in the NFL, but it’s worth noting that PFF’s metrics have never been high on his work.

Getting Alexander back on the field in time for their Jan. 11 game would be a huge left for SF, particularly after their rash of injuries in the front seven.

Benjamin Watson Likely To Retire

January 5th, 2020 at 11:23am CST by Rory Parks

Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson is likely to retire, as the 39-year-old told reporters, including Zack Cox of NESN, in an emotional interview last night (video link).

New England was eliminated from the postseason on Saturday, and Watson, who was brought in to help fill the void left by Rob Gronkowski‘s retirement, caught three passes for 38 yards in the game. He also had a long reception called back due to an ineligible receiver downfield penalty.

Of course, Watson announced in December 2018 that he would be hanging up the cleats, but he chose to come out of retirement to sign with the Pats in May. Unfortunately, he was suspended for the first four games of the 2019 season due to a violation of the league’s PED policy — he reportedly took a testosterone supplement subscribed by his doctor while he was still retired — and New England released him on October 7. But he re-signed with the team shortly thereafter, and he ended the season with 17 catches for 173 yards.

In sixteen seasons in the NFL that included two separate stints with the Patriots and Saints, in addition to stops with the Ravens and Browns, Watson — who has been a finalist for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award on several occasions — compiled 547 catches for 6,058 yards and 44 TDs. He also captured a championship ring as a member of the Patriots’ Super Bowl XXXIX team.

Watson said, “there’s only so much your body can take, and so much you want to put your family though, before you want to settle down and have some roots. Figure out what the next chapter of your life is going to be.”

Redskins Nearly Hired Rick Smith

January 5th, 2020 at 10:26am CST by Rory Parks

There have been conflicting reports as to whether former Texans GM Rick Smith is ready to return to football, but if this morning’s report from Adam Schefter of ESPN.com is accurate, Smith will be back in the league sooner rather than later.

In the wake of Washington’s dismissal of former team president Bruce Allen, owner Dan Snyder thought long and hard about replacing Allen with Smith, per Schefter. Snyder and Smith met in the Bahamas multiple times and discussed their plans for putting the Redskins back on the right track, but Snyder ultimately elected to make a fundamental change to his team’s power structure and run the franchise through his new head coach, Ron Rivera, rather than through a team president.

Sources expected a deal with Smith and the Redskins to get done, but an entirely different dynamic was probably the right way for Snyder to go. The conversations with Washington, though, suggest that Smith is going to return to a prominent position in the NFL in the near future. Smith’s wife passed away of cancer last January, and Smith left the Texans at the end of the 2017 to care for her and his three children.

As we heard when the Rivera hire was reported, the Redskins are expected to wait until after the draft to hire a GM, per Schefter (Twitter link). Snyder believes he has the people in place to get through free agency and the draft, though there will be changes to the front office after the draft is over. Louis Riddick has already been connected to the GM job, and John Keim of ESPN.com says Colts exec Morocco Brown is another name to watch out for. Interestingly, it does not sound as if Smith is a GM candidate for the ‘Skins.

In other Redskins news, Rivera is hiring former Panthers LBs coach Steve Russ to serve in the same capacity in Washington, per Schefter (via Twitter). Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio tweets that Rivera is also bringing on former Chargers assistant DBs coach Chris Harris to be the Redskins’ DBs coach.

Latest On Drew Brees’ Future

January 5th, 2020 at 9:51am CST by Rory Parks

Patriots QB Tom Brady indicated that he is unlikely to retire, but with all of the talk surrounding Brady, not much has been said about the future of another future Hall-of-Famer, Saints signal-caller Drew Brees.

Brees, like Brady, is eligible for free agency, but unlike Brady, it does not sound as if there is any possibility that he could be playing for a different club in 2020. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Brees wants to remain with the Saints, and given the way he’s playing, it’s likely that the two sides come together on a new contract after the season is over (video link).

The franchise tag is also a possibility, though Rapoport says that would be a last resort. Brees, who will turn 41 later this month, is having an excellent season despite missing five games with a thumb injury (which, in retrospect, may have allowed him to stay fresh). He has thrown 27 touchdowns against just four interceptions en route to a career-high 116.3 quarterback rating, and he is a big reason why the Saints look like one of the most complete teams in football.

Of course, if the Saints do win their second Lombardi trophy this year, there will be speculation that Brees could retire to end his career on the mountaintop. But that does not sound likely either, as a source close to Brees told Rapoport that, if the New Orleans legend wins the Super Bowl in 2020, he’ll just want to win again in 2021.

The Saints host the Vikings in the wildcard round today, a game in which New Orleans is favored by 7.5 points.

Tom Brady Unlikely To Retire?

January 5th, 2020 at 9:24am CST by Rory Parks

Whenever the Patriots’ 2019 season ended, there was always going to be rampant speculation about Tom Brady‘s future, given that he is eligible to become a free agent for the first time in his long and illustrious career. And now that the Titans have ended New England’s hopes for a repeat, let the speculation and rumor-mongering commence.

At his post-game presser, Brady was, predictably, asked about whether he would retire or continue playing. And while Brady understandably said he didn’t want to discuss his future so soon after a difficult playoff loss, he indicated that he was not planning on retiring. “I would say it’s pretty unlikely. … Hopefully unlikely,” Brady said (via Kevin Patra of NFL.com).

If he does return for his age-43 season, Brady may not be back with the Patriots. He has been connected to the Chargers, and there is also some thought that he could join longtime OC Josh McDaniels if McDaniels accepts a head coaching job with the Panthers. The Colts, who have an uncertain QB situation but who otherwise have a strong roster and a bevy of cap space, could also be a fit.

However, Brady has not ruled out a return to Foxborough. “I love the Patriots. They have the greatest organization,” Brady said. “Playing for [owner Robert] Kraft all these years and coach [Bill] Belichick, there’s nobody who has had a better career than me, just being with them. I’m very blessed. I don’t know what the future looks like, so I’m not going to predict it.”

The Patriots cannot use the franchise tag on Brady in 2020, and if he does choose to come back, the Patriots would need to add more offensive firepower. It’s fair to wonder if New England would have prevailed over Tennessee if it had one or two more reliable receiving weapons, and the prospect of several more targets combined with the Pats’ sturdy defense could make the prospect of another year in Massachusetts attractive.

And Brady surely doesn’t want his career to end on a pick-six, as it would if he chose to retire this year. But as he said, “[w]ho knows what the future holds? We’ll leave it at that,”

Latest On Josh McDaniels’ Plans

January 5th, 2020 at 8:40am CST by Sam Robinson

Josh McDaniels will honor each of his interview requests in this hiring period. In addition to meeting with the Browns, the Patriots offensive coordinator will sit down with the Giants and Panthers this week.

Prior to the Pats’ playoff loss to the Titans on Saturday night, those interviews were expected to take place Friday, January 10, in Foxborough, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). But now that New England has been bounced from the postseason, the three interested clubs will get to hear from McDaniels starting on Monday, January 6, as Michael Lombardi of The Athletic tweets. The Panthers, though, will meet with McDaniels on January 10 as planned, given that they are busy with other interviews (via David Newton of ESPN.com).

Veteran NFL reporter Ed Werder also believes the Cowboys, who have not been formally connected to McDaniels just yet, to have interest in him (Twitter link).

While the Browns met with McDaniels back in 2014, the Giants have also interviewed him previously. They did so two years ago for a job that went to the recently fired Pat Shurmur.

McDaniels, however, may have a clearer path to the Cleveland or Carolina jobs. Skepticism exists on the New York front. Some around the league have doubted the 43-year-old assistant is as interested in the Giants as they are in him, per Ralph Vacchiano of SNY, who adds that Dave Gettleman‘s role may pose a problem for McDaniels. Gettleman being in place as Big Blue’s GM would not necessarily be a deal-breaker, but McDaniels’ potential demand for more say in personnel matters does not appear to be what Giants ownership prefers.

Despite McDaniels’ previous run with personnel power going poorly (with the Broncos in 2009-10, the Browns will likely be willing to give the Ohio native such a role. They plan to hire a coach before adding a GM, and McDaniels is believed to be the frontrunner for the Cleveland position. The Panthers have GM Marty Hurney in place, but with the two-stint Carolina executive being hired before David Tepper bought the team, that situation is fluid. Gettleman has said he would cede some power if it would help the Giants, Vacchiano adds the team is not likely to offer its next coach such an opportunity.

McDaniels will want a personnel staffer he trusts to accompany him to New York, per Vacchiano. But John Mara said whomever the Giants hire will not determine Gettleman’s role, so a McDaniels-Nick Caserio partnership in New York seems unlikely to commence. Regardless, McDaniels’ stock has returned to where it was before he spurned the Colts in 2018.