HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Rams’ Andrew Whitworth To Continue Playing

January 6th, 2021 at 12:24pm CST by Zachary Links

Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth will be back in action for Saturday’s Wild Card game against the Seahawks. He also says he’ll be back for another year of football, as Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated writes. 

“I’m pretty jacked up to come back, that’s for sure,” Whitworth said. “I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t [return] next season.”

 

Whitworth, 39, previously said that 2020 would probably be his final season. He also said the same thing in 2019, so his announcement doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise. This year, Pro Football Focus rated him as one of the league’s top lineman. He played at a high level throughout his 15th pro season, up until the knee injury that put him on the sidelines. Without Whitworth, the Rams dropped games to losing clubs, further underscoring his importance to the team.

The Rams still have Whitworth under contract through 2022 thanks to the three-year, $30MM deal he inked in the spring. You can expect him back in L.A. next season, when he’ll continue on as one of the oldest linemen in NFL history.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/6/21

January 6th, 2021 at 10:22am CST by Zachary Links

Today’s practice squad moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Kansas City Chiefs

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/6/21

January 6th, 2021 at 10:19am CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of the latest minor moves here:

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Trevor Lawrence Declares For 2021 NFL Draft

January 6th, 2021 at 10:13am CST by Zachary Links

No surprise here. On Wednesday, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence formally declared for the 2021 NFL Draft. 

“I’ll look back at these three years and have the best memories,” Lawrence said (Twitter link). “I really feel like I’m a man now and I’m ready to take on those challenges. Just super excited for life ahead. The best is always yet to come, but I’m grateful for Clemson and I’m going to miss it.”

As the projected No. 1 overall pick, Lawrence long seemed ticketed for the Jets. But, with some late-season signs of life, the Jets ceded the league’s cellar to the Jaguars. There are other noteworthy passers in this class — including Ohio State’s Justin Fields — but none compare to Lawrence, who is viewed as the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck.

“Looking back on it, I hope my legacy is that I was a great teammate and a great person overall, more than how I played,” Lawrence said. “It’s how I treated people. I want that to be the main thing I’m known for.”

Lawrence threw for 3,153 yards with 24 touchdowns and five interceptions in his final season. And, with 69.2% of his passes completed, he finished as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, despite losing time to injury. The Jaguars will explore other prospects for the No. 1 overall pick, but it would be a stunner to see them take anyone other than Lawrence.

Dolphins OC Chan Gailey Resigns

January 6th, 2021 at 8:54am CST by Zachary Links

Chan Gailey will not return to the Dolphins, per a club announcement. The offensive coordinator has resigned, ending his second tenure with the franchise. 

“I want to thank Chan for all of his hard work and dedication in what was a unique year,” Head Coach Brian Flores said. “He played an important role on the staff and in the development of our young roster. I wish him all the best.”

Flores will move on to his third offensive coordinator in his third year has the Dolphins’ head coach. He sacked Chad O’Shea after 2019. This time around, Gailey was widely criticized for his inability to develop Tua Tagovailoa. Sunday’s disastrous performance didn’t help Gailey’s case as the rookie tossed three interceptions in the loss to Buffalo. The Dolphins of course took a big step forward in 2020, but that was more due to the progression of the defense than the offense.

It’s not immediately clear if Gailey — who turned 69 on Tuesday — will continue coaching. He’s been an NFL lifer, first breaking into the league as the Broncos’ tight ends coach all the way back in 1985. It might not surprise you to learn a lot of the criticism has centered around his old-school ways. Still, he’s held a number of big time jobs, including when he was head coach of the Bills from 2010-12. He was also the head coach of the Cowboys from 1998-99, and spent 2015-16 as the Jets’ OC. He retired after that 2016 season, and spent the next few years out of football before Flores brought him back.

Flores obviously isn’t going anywhere, but as a defensive coach, he now has a big decision ahead of him. Cycling through coordinators like this isn’t ideal, and the team needs to decide whether Tagovailoa is the long-term answer or if they need to start from scratch.

Andrew Ortenberg contributed to this post.

Falcons, Lions, Texans Interested In Pat Fitzgerald?

January 5th, 2021 at 8:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

Buzz surrounding Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald may be more relevant this year. Two years after he declined NFL interest, the Big Ten HC is interested in making a jump, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

He appears to have a few suitors. The Falcons and Lions are interested in Fitzgerald, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports notes. And despite a previous report indicating the Texans are not looking to hire a college coach, La Canfora adds that Houston is interested as well.

The Falcons and Lions are moving forward with their respective searches. Both teams are interviewing Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy and Titans OC Arthur Smith. Each team interviewed its interim coach — Raheem Morris and Darrell Bevell, respectively — and Michigan native Robert Saleh has been a frontrunner for this post for a bit now. But Fitzgerald has displayed impressive credentials at Northwestern.

The Wildcats have won 10 games three times since Fitzgerald, a Northwestern player on one of those teams (1995), took over in 2006. In the program’s previous 100-plus years, it only reached the 10-win plateau twice. Northwestern went 7-2 this year. Fitzgerald, 46, is not expected to take every interview possible, JLC adds, but he is squarely back on the NFL radar after not being connected to any pro jobs last year. He would be the third college coach to jump in the past three years, following Kliff Kingsbury and Matt Rhule. Northwestern OC Mike Bajakian, the Buccaneers’ QBs coach from 2015-18, has also received interest as an NFL assistant, La Canfora notes.

It now appears Nick Caserio will be offering key input into Houston’s HC hire, so it would be interesting if the 20-year NFL exec and Division III alum would go with a longtime college coach.

Texans To Hire Nick Caserio As GM

January 5th, 2021 at 8:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

Nick Caserio interviewed for the Panthers and Texans GM jobs Tuesday, but he traveled to Houston for the Texans meeting. And the longtime Patriots executive will finally make the jump to a GM role.

The Texans are expected to hire Caserio as their next general manager, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The organization has decided and is hiring the veteran personnel man, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets.

Caserio, of course, has an extensive history with the Texans. The team wanted to hire him in 2019, but his unusual Patriots contract prohibited such a move. However, he resurfaced on the Texans’ radar after Bill O’Brien‘s early-season firing. Caserio worked with current Texans executive VP Jack Easterby in New England and remains close with the former Patriots staffer. Easterby is believed to hold plenty of sway as to which direction the Texans go with this hire.

The Texans also interviewed the Steelers’ Omar Khan, Seahawks’ Trent Kirchner and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick for this job. They also met with in-house staffer Matt Bazirgan and were scheduled to meet with Bills staffer Malik Boyd and Ravens exec Scott Cohen. Korn Ferry, the firm the Texans used to spearhead their search, recommended Bazirgan, Cohen, Khan, Kirchner and Riddick but did not place Caserio on its finalist list, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Interestingly, Cal McNair told candidates they would be allowed to determine Easterby’s role, Garafolo adds (Twitter link). Given Easterby and Caserio’s past, it can be assumed Easterby will remain a key Texans figure.

Now 45, Caserio has been with the Patriots for 20 years. After Scott Pioli went to Kansas City in 2009, Caserio rose into a key role as Bill Belichick‘s right-hand man. He has been with the team for each of its six Super Bowl titles. The Patriots and Caserio reached another extension agreement in February 2020. Caserio’s departure will leave Dave Ziegler as Belichick’s top lieutenant, though the Broncos — who gave Ziegler his NFL start — have requested a GM interview. The Pats lost Monti Ossenfort to the Titans last year.

The two-decade New Englander will walk into an interesting situation. O’Brien’s brief GM tenure involved a few splashy and criticized trades, and one of them — the Laremy Tunsil deal — leaves the Texans without their first- or second-round picks. Miami holds Houston’s No. 3 overall choice. Revitalizing a roster that houses a franchise quarterback (Deshaun Watson) in need of a considerable supporting cast bump would be quite an accomplishment. But the Texans hiring an exec they have pursued for years represents a big step as well.

Ryan Day Not Interested In NFL Jobs

January 5th, 2021 at 8:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

Days away from coaching for a national championship, Ohio State HC Ryan Day has popped up on at least one NFL team’s radar. The Jaguars are rumored to be interested in the second-year Buckeyes coach, who was once a frontrunner for the Titans’ OC job.

However, Day does not want to leave the college ranks at this time. The young HC does not plan to take NFL interviews, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).

Day’s former boss, Urban Meyer, appears in front of him in the Jaguars’ pecking order. But Day has certainly elevated his stock this year, leading Ohio State past Clemson and into the title game. The 41-year-old coach figures to be in the mix for NFL jobs going forward; he just does not wish to make the jump back to the pros at this point.

Based on his NFL experience, Day has taken quite the leap to be considered for a head coaching role. He spent the 2015 season as the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach and followed Chip Kelly to San Francisco, serving as 49ers QBs coach in 2016. Both seasons went off the rails quickly, and Day latched on as Ohio State’s co-offensive coordinator. He pulled his name out of the Titans OC search in 2018 — for a job that went to Matt LaFleur — and became Ohio State’s head coach in 2019. Ohio State is 23-1 under Day.

Broncos Request GM Interviews With Patriots’ Dave Ziegler, Vikings’ George Paton

January 5th, 2021 at 6:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Broncos are moving forward with their search to bring in a new GM. They have requested to interview Patriots assistant director of player personnel Dave Ziegler, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The team also submitted a request to meet with Vikings assistant GM George Paton, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

While Ziegler has spent much of his career as a Pats exec, he began his NFL run with the Broncos. He joins Nick Caserio as Pats execs sought by other teams for GM posts. The Patriots already lost Monti Ossenfort to the Titans last year and could see multiple execs depart their front office soon.

This marks the first Ziegler GM interest to surface. The 43-year-old exec has risen from the scouting level to director of pro personnel to his current post. The Patriots promoted Ziegler to assistant player personnel director last year.

Interestingly, Ziegler played college football with Josh McDaniels — not exactly a popular name in Denver — and Caserio at Ohio’s John Carroll University. Ziegler’s Denver stint began in 2010, McDaniels’ second and final year in Denver. He joined the Patriots in 2013. The Broncos are looking for a new personnel boss for the first time since McDaniels’ rough tenure, with John Elway moving out of the role he held for 10 years.

Paton is a veteran of the GM carousel. His most notable act on this circuit was pulling out of a Browns GM search he was on the verge of winning earlier this year, but the longtime Vikings exec has interviewed with other teams and been connected to several searches in recent years.

Unlike Ziegler and fellow rumored candidates Adam Peters (49ers) and Champ Kelly (Bears), Paton does not have a Broncos past. He spent time with the Bears and Dolphins, working with longtime Vikings GM Rick Spielman with those teams as well, and has been with the Vikings since 2007.

Giants, Patrick Graham Agree On Extension

January 5th, 2021 at 5:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

Patrick Graham will be staying with the Giants. Emerging early as a head coaching prospect, Graham has signed an extension to stay on as the Giants’ defensive coordinator, Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets.

The Jets requested an interview with Graham, but despite the veteran assistant joining the Giants less than a year ago, he has a new contract and is signed on to lead Big Blue’s defense for at least one more season.

The Giants took a step back on offense this season, dropping from 18th to 31st in points scored. However, they were still — thanks entirely to their historically bad division — in the playoff race until the end because of the defensive improvements they made under Graham.

Arriving after a year as Miami’s DC, Graham oversaw a Big Blue defense lacking on the edge — especially after the midseason Markus Golden trade. The Giants also cut 2019 first-round pick DeAndre Baker before the start of the season, leaving James Bradberry as the team’s only cornerback of note. At season’s end, the Giants ranked ninth in points allowed — a massive jump from allowing the third-most points in 2019. This understandably made Graham a name to watch on the HC carousel.

While the 41-year-old DC figures to be back in HC rumor cycles ahead of the 2022 hiring period, he will be back to build on his work with the Giants this year.

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