2022 January - Pro Football Rumors

Month: October 2024

Broncos Request Interview With Bengals OC Brian Callahan

January 11th, 2022 at 5:38pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Broncos are planning a thorough search to replace Vic Fangio. They have run their interview-request list to 10 names as of Tuesday evening.

Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan is the 10th name on the Broncos’ list, Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post tweets. Callahan has been in his position since the Bengals hired Zac Taylor in 2019.

While Taylor’s tenure appeared on thin ice after the Bengals won six games from 2019-20, the team’s offense has been one of the NFL’s top storylines this season. Joe Burrow came back successfully from ACL surgery and helped Ja’Marr Chase move toward the Offensive Rookie of the Year doorstep. The Bengals are in the playoffs for the first time in six years, having seen Joe Mixon bounce back after an injury-plagued 2020 as well.

Callahan does not call plays in Cincinnati but has a history in Denver. The 37-year-old Bengals staffer broke into coaching with the Broncos, joining the team during Josh McDaniels‘ ill-fated HC stint. Callahan worked as an offensive assistant in Denver from 2010-15, staying on through the team’s Super Bowl 50-winning season before jumping to the Lions to become their QBs coach.

In Fangio and Vance Joseph, the Broncos have hired back-to-back defensive-oriented coaches. After the team fired Fangio, it would make sense for an offense-based leader to replace him.

Falcons HC Arthur Smith Wants Matt Ryan To Still Be Starting QB

January 11th, 2022 at 5:35pm CST by Ben Levine

If Arthur Smith has his way, Matt Ryan will be the Falcons starting quarterback in 2022. Per Chris Mortensen (on Twitter), the Falcons HC is a proponent of Ryan and wants him under center next season.

Specifically, Smith wanted Ryan as his QB when he joined the organization last offseason. Per Mortensen, the coach has made his fondness for Ryan clear to owner Arthur Blank and general manager Terry Fontenot.

It’s been four seasons since Ryan and the Falcons finished with a winning record, but the veteran QB was still managing to put up numbers. That wasn’t necessarily the case in 2021, as the 36-year-old’s 3,968 passing yards and 20 touchdowns were among the lowest of his career. To top it all, the Falcons once again finished below .500 at 7-10.

There have been rumblings that the Falcons could pursue a replacement at the position, with many pundits believing the organization could look toward the draft. The team avoided the position during last year’s draft, and while they could reconsider during the 2022 draft, the rookie class isn’t filled with a bunch of future starting QBs. Further, considering the money that the Falcons still owe to Ryan, the team might not even have a choice when it comes to the former MVP’s future with the organization; rather, they might just be stuck with him.

Dolphins Request HC Interviews With Cardinals’ Vance Joseph, Cowboys’ Kellen Moore

January 11th, 2022 at 4:49pm CST by Sam Robinson

Vance Joseph has enjoyed some eventful years since leaving Miami in 2017. The Dolphins, however, are interested in bringing the veteran defensive coach back to south Florida.

The Dolphins requested a head-coaching interview with Joseph, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. This follows the team’s interview summons for Brian Daboll, Mike McDaniel, and Dan Quinn. Joseph, however, has more familiarity with the franchise. This marks Joseph’s first connection to an opening this year.

In addition to the Joseph inclusion, the Dolphins sent out a request to meet with Cowboys OC Kellen Moore, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Prior to taking the Broncos HC job, Joseph spent the 2016 season as the Dolphins DC. That did not go particularly well, with Miami ranking 29th in total defense that year. Nevertheless, Joseph impressed enough to beat out Kyle Shanahan to become Denver’s HC. The Broncos fired him after two years, however. Joseph went 11-21 in Denver, starting the franchise’s run of sub-.500 seasons. Joseph, 49, has run the Cardinals’ defense since 2019. Following two relatively mediocre seasons, Arizona’s defense has turned it around in 2021, including them ranking seventh in passing yards allowed.

Moore inked a three-year extension with the Cowboys towards the close of the 2020 season, but he’s remained a hot name in coaching circles. The rival Eagles requested an interview with him in January of 2021 before ultimately going with Nick Sirianni.

Vikings Expected To Interview Doug Pederson For HC Vacancy

January 11th, 2022 at 4:38pm CST by Ben Levine

Doug Pederson is turning into a popular name on the coaching circuit. Per Jason La Canfora (on Twitter), the former Eagles head coach is expected to interview with the Vikings for their head coaching vacancy. We previously learned that Pederson was set to interview with the Bears and Broncos, and he’s already completed an interview with the Jaguars.

Pederson was actually fired by the Eagles exactly one year ago. Pederson had Carson Wentz playing at an MVP level through the first 14 weeks of the 2017 season, up until his fateful ACL tear. Then, with backup QB Nick Foles under center, he guided the Birds to their first ever Super Bowl ring. Pederson’s final Philadelphia season ended with a 4-11-1 mark, but he remains an attractive candidate nonetheless.

The Vikings decided to shake up their staff yesterday when they fired coach Mike Zimmer (along with GM Rick Spielman). The organization is clearly looking to take it to another level with their new HC. Zimmer ranks third in franchise history with 71 wins and had plenty of regular-season success. However, the Vikings managed only one postseason victory over the past four seasons. The new HC will be tasked with changing the team’s playoff woes.

Pederson is the first reported candidate for the Vikings HC vacancy, but we’ll surely learn of more options over the next few days.

Giants Fire Joe Judge

January 11th, 2022 at 4:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

After a bit of deliberation, the Giants are moving on from Joe Judge. Despite the votes of confidence the second-year HC received late this season, he is out, per USA Today’s Josina Anderson (on Twitter). The Giants announced Judge’s dismissal late Tuesday afternoon.

Judge becomes the Giants’ third straight two-and-done HC, with Judge following Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur out the door. Given the Giants’ brutal finish — a six-game losing streak in which the team was outscored 163-56 — this is not especially surprising. Judge was viewed as safe late this season, with ownership seeking new offensive staffers. That ended up not being enough. The Giants will now conduct searches to fill their HC and GM roles.

“Steve [Tisch] and I both believe it is in the best interest of our franchise to move in another direction,” co-owner John Mara said. “We met with Joe yesterday afternoon to discuss the state of the team. I met again with Joe this afternoon, and it was during that conversation I informed Joe of our decision. We appreciate Joe’s efforts on behalf of the organization.”

The Giants plan to hire a GM first and let that executive run the coaching search. This runs the risk of the team missing out on potential candidates, with summons going out from franchises with new HC vacancies. But the Giants do join the Bears and Vikings as teams looking to fill both HC and GM roles.

For the Giants, this comes on the heels of an ugly stretch. Daniel Jones‘ injury brought free agent QB2 Mike Glennon into action. That did not go well. The Giants lost each of their final six games by at least two scores, and Judge yanked Glennon for late-season addition Jake Fromm. Colt McCoy ended up winning two of his three starts as the Cardinals’ Kyler Murray fill-in. The Giants’ decision to make him a one-and-done backup certainly hurt the team Judge deployed by season’s end.

Big Blue finished with a minus-158 point differential, with most of that damage coming after Jones went down. That ranks as the franchise’s worst single-season differential since 1980. The Giants endured a rough patch during the 1970s, but they are currently mired in one of the worst periods in franchise history. Since its 2016 playoff qualification, New York is 22-59. The team has been unable to fill Tom Coughlin‘s post effectively, and after Gettleman hired Shurmur and Judge, a new GM will end up doing so. The Giants have requested interviews with four execs thus far.

This news comes barely two weeks after Judge delivered a lengthy, defiant address seemingly aimed at selling ownership on giving him a third season. The Giants signed the former Patriots special teams coach to a five-year contract in 2020. The team was in the playoff race until the end of the 2020 season, but it finished 6-10. Judge did not have good luck on the injury front, with Saquon Barkley missing almost all of 2020 and Jones going down with a neck issue midway through this season. Even prior to Jones’ injury, the former top-10 pick had not shown much improvement under Judge’s staff. Less than two months after firing Jason Garrett, Judge joins him in coaching free agency.

Bears Request Four More GM Interviews

January 11th, 2022 at 4:18pm CST by Ben Levine

We can add three more names to the list of Bears GM candidates. Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter), Chicago requested permission to interview Colts vice president of player personnel Ed Dodds. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the Bears also requested permission to interview Saints assistant general manager Jeff Ireland, while Albert Breer of TheMMQB tweets that Chicago put in a request on 49ers director of player personnel Ran Carthon. Schefter also notes (on Twitter) that Chicago requested an interview with Bills assistant general manager Joe Schoen.

Dodds was a popular name in the GM circuit last offseason, when he was connected to gigs with the Lions and Panthers. Dodds has worked with the Colts since 2017, and he was promoted to his current position in 2018. Dodds previously spent time in the Seahawks front office, where he played a major role in constructing a Super Bowl-winning roster.

Best known for his time as Dolphins GM (2008-13), Ireland resurfaced with the Saints and helped the Mickey Loomis–Sean Payton regime reposition the team as the NFC South’s best after some mid-2010s defensive struggles. During Ireland’s stay, the Saints have draft perennial Pro Bowlers Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara and Marshon Lattimore and several other impact starters. He was also connected to the Lions and Panthers gigs last offseason.

Carthon is already set to interview for the open Giants GM job. The former Florida Gators fullback has spent a decade as a pro personnel director, doing so with the Rams from 2012-16 and in his five years with the 49ers. Carthon was promoted to his current role during this past offseason.

Schoen has been with the Bills organization since 2017, and he’s played a major role in the organization’s recent rise in the AFC. Prior to his stint in Buffalo, Schoen spent almost a decade in Miami (when he was endorsed by Bill Parcells), evolving from a national scout into director of player personnel. The executive also had a stint with the Panthers, working his way up from an intern in the ticket office.

We learned of the first three potential names to replace Ryan Pace in Chicago, with Browns VP of football operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Browns VP of player personnel Glenn Cook, and Colts director of college scouting Morocco Brown connected to the job.

Buccaneers Activate Shaq Barrett, Place Richard Sherman On IR

January 11th, 2022 at 3:43pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Buccaneers received good and bad news on the health front Tuesday. The defending champions activated pass rusher Shaquil Barrett from the reserve/COVID-19 list but moved cornerback Richard Sherman to injured reserve for the second time, a move that ends his season.

In 15 games this year, Barrett has produced 51 total tackles, three forced fumbles and a team-leading 10 sacks. His return would be a major boost to the team’s pass rush and defense as a whole. His play from a dominant postseason last year carried over into 2021, as he was voted to the Pro Bowl a second time.

Head coach Bruce Arians expects to also have fellow outside linebacker Jason-Pierre Paul back, along with starting running back Leonard Fournette.

As for Sherman, the fact that he was placed on IR again means his Achilles injury was too much to overcome in time for the playoffs. He missed the team’s regular-season finale and had only played sparingly since his first two contests in Tampa Bay. His 11th NFL season ends with him totaling 11 tackles and one interception.

The Bucs will look to defend their Super Bowl title, beginning Sunday afternoon when the host the Eagles.

Dolphins Request Interviews With Dan Quinn, Mike McDaniel

January 11th, 2022 at 3:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

After surprisingly firing Brian Flores, the Dolphins continue to put in early work on his replacement. They sent interview requests to Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter links).

Quinn has become a consistent presence early in the request process. The Broncos and Bears have requested permission to meet with the first-year Cowboys DC. The Jaguars also submitted a request to interview Quinn virtually, attempting to take advantage of the NFL’s new early window, but the ex-Falcons leader declined to do a virtual meeting during the regular season. Nevertheless, he is a popular name thus far.

The 49ers saw the Jets poach one of Kyle Shanahan‘s right-hand men on offense last year, when Mike LaFleur became Robert Saleh‘s OC. McDaniel has been a Shanahan staffer for years, following him from Atlanta to San Francisco. The first-year 49ers OC doubles as the team’s run-game coordinator. Despite Raheem Mostert going down in Week 1 and Elijah Mitchell missing time with multiple injuries, the 49ers finished as a top-10 rushing attack.

This marks McDaniel’s first HC connection this year, but the Dolphins were interested in him a year ago. Miami had the San Francisco assistant on its OC radar last year, but Flores opted to go with an Eric Studesville–George Godsey co-OC setup. The Quinn and McDaniel summons follow the Dolphins’ Brian Daboll request, one the team submitted hours after firing Flores.

Latest Bears’ Head Coach Interview Requests

January 11th, 2022 at 3:01pm CST by Adam La Rose

The second wave of interview requests has begun for the teams who let go of coaches and executives yesterday. The busiest of those teams, so far, is the Chicago Bears. In addition to the requests they made on Monday after firing Matt Nagy, another seven interviews have been scheduled for the Head Coaching vacancy.

Just as the Bears are interested in both Bills’ coordinators, they have requested to interview both Buccaneers’ coordinators, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). OC Byron Leftwich has held his title since 2019, where he reunited with HC Bruce Arians. Leftwich was in charge of the Super-Bowl winning Bucs offense last season, and has helped the unit put up the second most points per game (30.1) in the league in 2021. DC Todd Bowles also reunited with Arians in 2019 in Tampa Bay, and played a crucial role in the Bucs’ smothering defensive performance in that Super Bowl victory.

Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter), another request was made to Colts DC Matt Eberflus, who has also been named as an interviewee with the Jaguars. After an impressive stint as the Cowboys’ linebackers coach from 2011-2017, Eberflus took the defensive coordinator position in Indy in 2018, and immediately helped turn that unit around.

Next on the list is Cowboys DC Dan Quinn (Twitter link via Pelissero). Quinn has since been linked with all four current Head Coaching vacancies, making him the most sought-after candidate so far. His work with Dallas’ defense in just one season – seventh in the league in points allowed per game, first in interceptions, to name a few statistics – has put him in line to get another HC gig one year after being fired by the Falcons.

Per Pelissero’s colleague Ian Rapoport, Doug Pederson will also be interviewed (Twitter link). Pederson was fired by the Eagles exactly one year ago, and has also been linked with multiple teams. The 2017 Super Bowl winner, like Quinn, seems to have a good chance at rejoining the Head Coaching ranks during this hiring cycle.

Another popular name is Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett, whom the Bears will interview on Friday or Saturday, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer (Twitter link). Breer notes that Hackett has also received requests from the Broncos and Jaguars, as the 42-year-old has overseen one of the league’s best offenses in Green Bay for the past two seasons.

Last, but certainly not least, recently fired Brian Flores has been added to the list of interviewees, according to Pelissero (Twitter link). After three seasons – including the last two with winning records – in Miami, Flores was let go in what has been the most surprising move of the coaching cycle so far. The Bears are not expected to be the only team interviewing the 40-year-old, though nothing has officially been lined up with any other clubs yet.

Seahawks’ Geno Smith Arrested On Suspicion Of DUI

January 11th, 2022 at 1:58pm CST by Adam La Rose

While there is plenty of drama and speculation around the Seahawks’ starting quarterback, their backup made headlines after their regular season came to a close. Geno Smith was arrested on suspicion of DUI early Monday morning, according to a report from ESPN’s Brady Henderson.

Smith was arrested just after 2:00 am on Monday and released on his own recognizance around 9:30 the same morning. According to an update from the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta, a report from the Washington State Patrol indicates that Smith was driving 96 mph in a 60 mph zone, and that he “grew increasingly agitated” while realizing he would be arrested. In addition, Smith refused a blood alcohol breath test, meaning blood had to be drawn on the authority of a warrant, and with Smith “having to be placed under restraints”.

Smith, 31, said in a Tweet, “Being arrested brings a taint onto the reputation that is impossible to undo, no matter what really happened. I’m asking all of you to hold back on judging me the same as you would do for a friend or family member. I’ll have more to say down the road & ask that you bare [sic] with me.”

His attorney added that “Geno is fully cooperative with the investigation” and that “I hope that an open mind can be kept by all as the facts are ascertained”. After Smith was present for the team’s end-of-season player meeting later in the day Monday, Head Coach Pete Carroll said, “I checked in with him. We have to let his people handle all that”.

Smith has spent the past two seasons as the backup in Seattle, a stretch that includes four appearances in relief of Russell Wilson after the latter’s broken finger this season. He won one of his three starts, completing 68.4% of his passes for 702 yards, five touchdowns and one interception overall. He is set to be an unrestricted free agent in March.

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