Here are Wednesday’s reserve/futures deals:
Chicago Bears
- LS Beau Brinkley, P Ryan Winslow
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- T Brandon Walton
Josh McDaniels is the biggest name heading to Las Vegas this offseason, but his former New England coworker will be the one in charge. Dave Ziegler will control the Raiders’ roster, according to the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin.
A GM controlling a team’s roster is not particularly unusual, though a few head coaches still have final say. It is notable here, given the Raiders’ recent past and McDaniels’ history in such a role.
Mark Davis gave Jon Gruden such power, and the team made repeated missteps in the draft and in free agency. Although the Raiders also had some success, their big-ticket moves mostly bombed under Gruden. McDaniels assumed such control when he replaced Mike Shanahan in Denver in 2009. McDaniels’ feud with Jay Cutler preceded a controversial trade, one that soon left the Broncos with Kyle Orton as their starting quarterback. A year later, the Broncos traded three picks to move up for Tim Tebow in the first round. While McDaniels also experienced some success, via the 2010 draft choices of Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, he is largely remembered for personnel failures — among other shortcomings — during his first try as a head coach.
Ziegler began his career as an NFL exec under McDaniels in Denver stay but spent the past nine years in New England. He climbed the ladder with the Patriots last year, finishing his run as the team’s assistant director of player personnel. The Pats gave Ziegler a raise after Nick Caserio‘s 2021 departure.
Ziegler’s GM interview led McDaniels to Vegas, per Volin, who adds the owner did not know McDaniels was interested in the team’s HC job. Ziegler replied that McDaniels would follow him to Nevada. This will be McDaniels’ first HC opportunity (other than the Colts gig he turned down) since the Broncos fired him late in the 2010 season. The Ziegler-McDaniels duo will now attempt to establish long-term success without Bill Belichick‘s guidance.
Deshaun Watson has not played since Week 17 of the 2020 season and is entangled in multiple investigations related to alleged sexual assault and/or sexual misconduct. But the Texans quarterback has received three Pro Bowl nods and is just 26. This type of quarterback is rarely available, which will lead to buzz about his destination for a second straight offseason.
The Watson-Dolphins rumblings have quieted, with new Miami HC Mike McDaniel endorsing Tua Tagovailoa as his starter. The Dolphins were believed to be the only team for which Watson waived his no-trade clause last year, but he is now considering other teams. The Buccaneers and Vikings have emerged on the young passer’s radar, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes (ESPN+ link). After holding off on trade talks during most of the 2021 offseason, the Texans are prepared to move on.
At this juncture, Tampa Bay would make more sense as a destination. Tom Brady (for now) is retired, and the team has done work on Watson since its glaring quarterback need surfaced. Minnesota still has Kirk Cousins, but the team’s four-year starter is going into a contract year and has been mentioned in trades — albeit ones that would require the Vikings to eat some of their QB1’s salary. Watson is not interested in waiving his no-trade clause for a bad situation, with Fowler identifying a winning setup as the top item on the embattled QB’s checklist.
The Vikings have Cousins tied to a $35MM base salary in 2022 and a whopping $45MM cap number. Watson is also tethered to a $35MM base, and his 2020 extension calls for a $40.4MM cap number. The Vikings would be saddled with only $10MM in dead money by trading Cousins, but convincing another team to part with reasonable draft capital to take on the soon-to-be 34-year-old passer’s full base salary is probably unrealistic. It would be interesting to see Watson commit to a team that just hired a new coach and GM, but the Vikings do have Pro Bowl wideout Justin Jefferson as a top selling point.
Tampa Bay’s path is more complicated. The Bucs are holding out hope Brady reconsiders his retirement and returns for his age-45 season. But if the 22-year veteran drags out that process into the new league year, the Bucs may be forced to move on. Nearly half of the Bucs’ starting lineup is due for free agency, and without those players’ salaries on the books, the team currently holds barely $3MM in cap space. It will obviously take work for the Bucs to accommodate Watson’s salary, but the team completed a complex financial juggling act to retain its Super Bowl core last year.
Rumblings of early retirements for Sean McVay and Aaron Donald have, to some degree, clouded the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI celebration. At the team’s championship parade Wednesday, however, the duo did not make it sound like immediate exits are in play.
McVay started a “run it back” chant, while Donald also addressed the situation in a way that would make it difficult to imagine him retiring this year.
“We built a super team. We can bring a super team back. We can run it back,” Donald said, via USA Today’s Josh Peter.
Chiming in on the matter shortly after McVay’s appearance on stage at the parade, Rams COO Kevin Demoff said the 36-year-old head coach is “ready to defend our title,” via The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue. This would obviously be great news for the Rams, who would be one of the frontrunners to win Super Bowl LVII with McVay and Donald back. Some adjustments might need to be made in order to ensure both return.
The Rams may need to adjust Donald’s contract to ensure his 2022 return, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes. Donald has shared with teammates he would be ready to walk away earlier than expected, though Fowler adds these teammates have not exactly believed him. Still, this will be a situation to monitor this offseason.
Money being a driver for this retirement buzz this should not be a big surprise. Joey Bosa, Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt have surpassed Donald’s salary since he and the Rams agreed on a six-year, $135MM extension in 2018. Khalil Mack topped Donald’s $22.5MM-AAV mark later that week, but the Bears defender only did so by $500K per year. Watt’s Steelers re-up tops Donald by $5.5MM per year. With Donald going into his age-31 season, it would make sense for him to capitalize with a final top-market accord. Three seasons remain on Donald’s deal, so the Rams making an adjustment might not involve a new contract altogether.
McVay is expected to receive another extension. His current $8.5MM-per-year deal runs through 2023. Given the Rams’ arc since he took over in 2017 (four playoff appearances, two Super Bowls), he can demand to be the game’s highest-paid HC. McVay signed his last deal in 2019. During Super Bowl week, McVay addressed the topic of an earlier-than-expected exit, and when discussing his 2022 status Monday, the five-year HC did not commit to being back on the sidelines next season. Factoring in McVay’s Wednesday comments and the team he will have in place, it would be a major surprise if the Rams needed a new coach soon.
Because of a 2021 restructure, Dante Fowler was set to be a free agent at the start of the new league year in March. The Falcons moved up that timetable, making the veteran edge defender available now.
Atlanta moved Fowler’s contract off its books Wednesday, releasing him a month before the start of the 2022 league year, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Because of the bonus proration, this move still tags the Falcons with more than $4MM in dead money. For Fowler, this separation is a chance for him to catch on with a team before free agency opens.
Fowler did well on the 2020 market, signing a three-year deal worth $48MM. The Falcons did not receive especially good value on the contract. The former Jaguars and Rams pass rusher registered just 7.5 sacks in 28 games with the Falcons, totaling 16 quarterback hits in that span. Fowler finished with 11.5 sacks and 16 QB hits during his Rams contract year in 2019. Fowler redoing his deal last March voided the final year of his contract.
Because of his past two seasons, it should not be expected Fowler will do nearly as well as a free agent this year. However, the former top-five pick is just 27 and has a couple of strong seasons on his resume. He recorded eight sacks with the Jags back in 2017, helping the team to the AFC championship game as a rotational rusher.
Most of the high-end edge rushers on this year’s market are older than Fowler, with the likes of Von Miller, Chandler Jones, Jason Pierre-Paul, Jadeveon Clowney and Mario Addison being among the biggest names set to be available. Fowler will have the advantage of being able to sign earlier, and it will be interesting how teams value him ahead of free agency.
With the various changes to coaching personnel around the league winding down, teams are beginning to officially unveil their 2022 staffs. The Seahawks recently did so, confirming a number of changes following a disappointing season, but some important retentions as well.
As Bob Condotta of The Athletic tweets, Sanjay Lal is remaining with the team in his current role of wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator. The 52-year-old has worked with that position group on seven different teams dating back to 2009. He spent the 2020 campaign in Seattle, but spent last season in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, Karl Scott, 36, is officially being brought in as the team’s secondary coach and defensive pass game coordinator. That move had been expected since last week when it was reported the team was in talks with him.
In addition, Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network reports (in a pair of tweets) more names on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Dave Canales will remain as the team’s QBs coach, a role he first had in 2018, but he will no longer have the passing game coordinator title. Brad Idzik has been added as an assistant WRs coach; he entered the NFL with Seattle in 2019. Lastly, Nate Carroll has been promoted to senior offensive assistant, after spending 11 years with the Seahawks in various roles.
As for the defensive staff, Aaron Curry is now an assistant defensive line coach; the former Seattle draftee spent the last two seasons on their sideline. He will be joined in that role by Damione Lewis. Another former player on staff is DeShawn Shead, who has been promoted to defensive backs coach. The last to fit that description is Will Tukuafu, who is coming aboard as a defensive quality control coach.
Here are some other coaching notes from the NFC:
- USA Today’s Mike Jones tweets that it is “sounding like” Wes Phillips and Chris O’Hara will be following newly-hired head coach Kevin O’Connell to Minnesota. The former, who is also the son of Wade Phillips, has been a TEs coach with three different teams, the most recent being the Rams. It was reported earlier this week that O’Connell was expected to give him the role of either OC or passing game coordinator. The latter only spent the 2021 season in L.A., but worked as an offensive assistant in Jacksonville and Washington before that.
- According to Josh Kendall of The Athletic, the Falcons are parting ways with WRs coach Dave Brock (Twitter link). The 54-year-old has an extensive background in the college ranks, but his only NFL experience was in Atlanta starting in 2017. Chandler Henley, who had been an assistant offensive line coach with them, has left to join the Dolphins.
- The Packers are supporting new ST coordinator Rich Bisaccia with Byron Storer, reports Matt Schneidman of The Athletic (Twitter link).The 37-year-old has worked with Bisaccia in each of his other three NFL coaching locations, and even knows Aaron Rodgers dating back to their college days.
- Lastly, the Bears are hiring Brent Salazar as their strength and conditioning coach (Twitter link via Wilson). He has more than a decade of experience in the NFL, having previously worked with three different teams. He also spent the years between 2017 and 2020 as the director of performance for the United States Tennis Association.
Another name has been added to the Saints’ search for an offensive coordinator. As On3 Sports’ Matt Zenitz reports (via Twitter), Jay Gruden has interviewed with the team. 
The team has been looking for a new coordinator on offense and defense, and already met with multiple candidates for each vacancy. New Orleans has already added Doug Marrone to the offensive staff, but they still have a decision to make regarding incumbent OC Pete Carmichael. In fact, Zenitz reports that Carmichael remaining in that role still “seems like a possibility”.
Gruden was out of coaching last season, following his one-year stint as the OC in Jacksonville. That came after six years as the head coach in Washington, a stretch that saw some success, but ended in disappointment. He led the team to back-to-back winning records in 2015 and 2016 (something that hadn’t been done in the nation’s capital in almost two decades), although that time includes his only playoff appearance, which ended in a Wild Card loss. Two straight 7-9 campaigns followed, and he was fired five weeks into the 2019 seasons after a winless start.
The 54-year-old also interviewed twice with the Panthers last month for their OC opening. That interest means it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he were to return to the NFL in 2022. Prior to his only head coaching position, he was the offensive play-caller for the Bengals for three seasons, and he also spent seven years on the offensive staff of the Buccaneers, being brought in at the same time as his brother Jon.
If the Saints were to keep Carmichael but also add Gruden, those two – along with Marrone – would represent a highly experienced trio of minds looking to turn around one of the league’s worst offenses in 2021.
There has been an update to the incident involving free agent running back Adrian Peterson earlier this week. As detailed in an ESPN report, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is not pressing felony charges. 
[Related: Adrian Peterson Arrested On Domestic Violence Charge]
The case will now be examined by the Los Angeles City Attorney, who could still bring forth a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. The incident between Peterson, 36, and his wife occurred Sunday before a flight was set to take off from Los Angeles to Houston. Peterson was removed from the flight before takeoff, and all other passengers landed in Houston without further issue.
In response to the arrest, Peterson said, “Me and the wife got into an argument on the plane. That was pretty much the gist of it. I ended up grabbing her hand and taking her ring off her finger… We just had a disagreement”. He also reiterated that his wife, Ashley, is not pressing charges.
Ashley also said in an Instagram post, “On Sunday, Adrian and I had a verbal argument. Unfortunately it was on an airplane. At no point did Adrian hit or strike me. This is a private matter between my husband and myself. We ask that everyone respect our privacy”.
Peterson appeared in four games in 2021, suiting up for the Titans and Seahawks. He currently ranks fifth all time in rushing yards; if he does play next season, as he intends, he will likely eclipse the 15,000 yard plateau.
After the Bengals announced a brand new deal for head coach Zac Taylor, they delivered even more good news on Wednesday. Quarterback Joe Burrow is only dealing with an MCL sprain, according to doctors, which means that he won’t need surgery this offseason. 
[RELATED: Bengals Sign Zac Taylor To Extension]
Burrow went down in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl clutching his right knee. He was clearly in pain after the takedown from Von Miller, but still managed to finish out the game. Fortunately, this shouldn’t hamper him in the 2022 season.
Burrow has dealt with much worse in the past, including the 2020 offseason when he had to rehab from a torn ACL (and MCL). Since then, the Bengals have prioritized their offensive line, but it’s safe to say that they’ll do even more on that front this spring.
In the regular season, Burrow played in 16 games and led the league with 70.4% of his throws completed. His TD/INT ratio (34-14) further positioned him as one of the NFL’s brightest young talents. Even though he didn’t capture a ring on Sunday, it stands to reason that he’ll have plenty more opportunities in the years to come, starting with the ’22 campaign.
It’s officially official. On Wednesday, the Vikings officially announced the hiring of Kevin O’Connell as their new head coach. 
“We are ecstatic to add Kevin as our head coach,” said Vikings owner Mark Wilf. “He is a strong leader, an innovative coach and an excellent communicator. Kevin played the game at all levels, which gives him a unique connection to players, and he is highly respected throughout the league. Vikings fans should be excited for the future of this team under Kevin’s direction.”
The Vikings shook hands with O’Connell two weeks ago, though they had to wait as his Rams went on to win the Super Bowl. As LA’s OC, O’Connell guided the unit to place No. 9 in total offense (372.1 yards/game). Meanwhile, his veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp both enjoyed career years. Even when Odell Beckham Jr. was taken out of the championship game, the Rams’ offense still had enough juice to top a tough Bengals team and win it all — that’s a testament to the team’s remarkable depth, as well as O’Connell’s coaching.
O’Connell will be the Vikings’ first offensive-minded head coach since Brad Childress.The past two HCs — Mike Zimmer and Leslie Frazier — were known for their defense but did not deliver the desired results in Minnesota.
Although O’Connell is respected all around the NFL, he’s only been a play-caller for a three-month stretch, doing so after Washington fired Jay Gruden early in the 2019 season. Sean McVay kept the laminates in Los Angeles, but he’s always been a huge advocate of O’Connell, encouraging other clubs to consider him for head coaching jobs. That surely helped his case in Minnesota, though the Vikings didn’t need much convincing.
“As I spent time with Kevin during the interview process, it became immediately clear he will be a great partner in building this football team for long-term success,” said new Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. “He understands what is critical to leading a team that wins at the highest level, and he has an ability to simplify the complex, which will help us in problem-solving in all football areas. He is a genuinely positive person who will help create a high-energy internal environment.”