HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Matt Patricia A New DC Candidate In Denver

February 22nd, 2023 at 7:58pm CST by Ely Allen

As new Broncos head coach Sean Payton has continued building his new staff in Denver, two names have emerged as top candidates for the defensive coordinator position. Joining Rex Ryan and Vance Joseph as top options for the job, Patriots senior football advisor Matt Patricia spent today in Denver as a new candidate for the role, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Despite his successful tenure in New England as a defensive coordinator, which led to a head coaching job, Patricia found himself on the offensive side of the coaching staff this past year for the Patriots. The move to pair Patricia with offensive assistant Joe Judge to effectively serve as de facto offensive coordinator puzzled many and didn’t exactly deliver the desired results the Patriots were hoping for. Patricia garnered much of the criticism in his first return to the offensive side of coaching since he served as assistant offensive line coach in 2005.

With the recent addition of Bill O’Brien, back as offensive coordinator in New England for the first time in 12 years, questions immediately arose surrounding the future of both Patricia and Judge. Obviously no longer needed to call offensive plays, it’s widely been believed that both coaches would still be able to carve some role out to remain in New England. With the new update in Denver, it appears Patricia is trying his hand at other jobs in the NFL, as well.

Patricia is an intriguing candidate for the position. His tenure as defensive coordinator for the Patriots was largely successful. As defensive coordinator from 2012-17, Patricia’s defenses never finished worse than 10th in the league in points allowed, finishing first in the category in 2016. Despite the success keeping opponents out of the end zone, the defenses under Patricia finished in the bottom eight for yards allowed three times, including a 29th-ranked finish in his final season as defensive coordinator in 2017.

Besides Patricia, the Broncos have had seven other potential names mentioned for the position. Former defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero was released from his contract and allowed to accept the same position in Carolina. Brian Flores cancelled his interview and accepted the defensive coordinator position in Minnesota. Former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was mentioned as a candidate, and Seahawks defensive assistant Sean Desai and Saints former co-defensive coordinator Kris Richard were both interviewed for the job, but to this point, Joseph and Ryan are considered the favorites with Ryan even undergoing a second interview last week.

It will be interesting to see how much Patricia factors into the decision as such a late addition to the search. For updates on the job, be sure to follow our 2023 Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker.

NFC Coaching Updates: Bieniemy, Rams, Panthers

February 22nd, 2023 at 6:47pm CST by Ely Allen

The Commanders have their new play caller in former Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, and they are wasting no time in allowing the new assistant head coach and offensive coordinator to explore some options for his new staff. Stanford quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard and Chiefs running backs coach Greg Lewis both visited Washington today for potential roles on Bieniemy’s new offensive coaching staff, according to Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post.

Pritchard has been a longtime Cardinal staffer since finishing his college playing career as a quarterback at Stanford. The year after his final season as a player, Pritchard joined the coaching staff as a graduate assistant. He slowly worked his way up the staff from GA to defensive assistant to running backs coach to quarterbacks and wide receivers coach to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He had spent the past five years in that last role after the departure of Mike Bloomgren to become head coach at Rice. Pritchard was retained by new head coach Troy Taylor following David Shaw‘s resignation but, reportedly, will only serve as quarterbacks coach, no longer holding the title of offensive coordinator.

Lewis is a former NFL wide receiver who has been coaching football since 2012. Following the conclusion of his eight-year career as a player, Lewis coached wide receivers at a couple of different universities before getting his first NFL opportunity as an offensive assistant with the Saints in 2015. The next year saw Lewis get his first NFL position coaching job over wide receivers with the Eagles. In 2017, Lewis joined the Chiefs’ staff in the same position, moving to running backs coach in 2021. He is reportedly highly regarded in league circles and has interest from several suitors this offseason, according to Josina Anderson of CBS Sports. Lewis’s extended tenure under Bieniemy bodes well for the 43-year-old coach to find a top role in Washington.

Here are a couple other coaching updates from around the NFC:

  • The Rams have a new special teams coordinator after hiring the former Panthers coach of the same position, Chase Blackburn, according to Rams staff writer Stu Jackson. Blackburn began his coaching career in the city where he ended his tenure as a player as the assistant special teams coach for the Panthers. After two years, Blackburn was promoted to special teams coordinator in Carolina, where he remained until being fired by former head coach Matt Rhule following the 2021 season. He will return to his role as a coordinator after spending the 2022 season as the Titans assistant special teams coach.
  • New Panthers head coach Frank Reich is bringing along a lesser known assistant with him to Carolina, according to Joe Person of The Athletic. Reich told the media yesterday that he has hired George Li as his game management coach. Li served a similar role under Reich in Indianapolis with the title of senior football strategy analyst and game management coach.

Minor NFL Transactions: 2/22/23

February 22nd, 2023 at 5:40pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are some minor transactions from around the league today:

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Indianapolis Colts

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seahawks Sign Nick Bellore To Extension

February 22nd, 2023 at 3:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks are confident Nick Bellore will remain a reliable contributor into his mid-30s. The team announced a two-year extension for the veteran special-teamer Wednesday.

Bellore, who will turn 34 in May, re-signed with Seattle for $6.6MM, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. This marks a raise from Bellore’s previous Seahawks pact — a two-year, $4.45MM accord agreed to in March 2021.

A former Jets, Lions and 49ers role player, Bellore has enjoyed an interesting NFL career. Excepting the 2016 season, in which a 2-14 49ers team turned to him as a regular starter at linebacker, Bellore has seen action mostly on special teams. The Seahawks have barely lined him up on defense at all during his four-season run in the Pacific Northwest, though he did log nine defensive snaps last season. But the team has used the Central Michigan product at fullback on occasion. Bellore played 17 offensive snaps last season.

“I feel as good as I’ve ever felt, and I’m ready to play as long as my body and a team will allow me to,” Bellore said. “If I felt like things were starting to go, I wouldn’t do it, because I don’t want to go out there just to go out there. I want to stay at the level I’ve been playing at the last couple of years and continue to improve, which I think I can still do. Obviously on paper I’m quite old — and in reality, probably — but it was never a question that I was done.”

Bellore earned Pro Bowl recognition in 2020 and saw an 81% snap share on special teams last season, a 15-tackle slate. The Seahawks ranked second in veteran NFL writer Rick Gosselin’s annual special teams assessment in 2022; they have ranked in the top three in each of the past three years.

Nick Rallis To Call Cards’ Defensive Plays

February 22nd, 2023 at 3:09pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Cardinals hired a defense-oriented head coach, Jonathan Gannon will cede play-calling responsibilities to his young lieutenant. Nick Rallis will be Arizona’s defensive signal-caller, Gannon said Wednesday.

Rallis, 29, is the league’s youngest active coordinator. Rather than rising a level to a non-play-calling post under Gannon, the ex-Eagles linebackers coach will be set for a significant responsibility bump. This certainly shows Gannon’s confidence in the rising assistant, and the new HC’s decision differs from the other former Eagles coordinator’s.

Shane Steichen will call the Colts’ offensive plays, but Gannon will step into a CEO role in his first Cardinals season. Gannon spent the past two years calling defensive plays in Philadelphia, helping the Eagles to top-10 rankings in total defense and points allowed. Gannon did not close the show well, seeing his defense allow 24 second-half points in the Eagles’ 38-35 Super Bowl LVII loss to the Chiefs, and he will try his hand at overseeing on game days.

The Broncos also showed interest in Rallis for their DC gig, but the former Vikings assistant was on the quality control level as recently as the 2020 season. Rallis worked as a quality control assistant on Mike Zimmer‘s staff from 2018-20, before Gannon — also an ex-Zimmer assistant — brought him to Philly in 2021.

Gannon’s decision will make the Cardinals even more interesting to observe next season. The NFC West team will have a first-time play-caller on the offensive side of the ball as well. Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, who also coached with Gannon in Minnesota, served as the Browns’ tight ends coach from 2020-21 before being moved to quarterbacks coach last year. While Petzing had interviewed for a coordinator job previously, Rallis’ Cardinals DC interview was his first.

Titans Release LB Zach Cunningham

February 22nd, 2023 at 2:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

Making a fourth major cut Wednesday, the Titans will now move north of $10MM in cap space. They are jettisoning veteran linebacker Zach Cunningham, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

A waiver claim in 2021, Cunningham has been a regular starter for most of his career. The former second-round pick has spent his six-year NFL run in the AFC South, moving from the Texans to the Titans. The 28-year-old off-ball ‘backer will have an early chance to catch on somewhere else, perhaps in another division this time around. The Titans cut Cunningham with a failed physical designation, Aaron Wilson of KPRC tweets.

Over the past few hours, the Titans have released four starters — Cunningham, Taylor Lewan, Robert Woods and Randy Bullock — and cleared more than $35MM in cap space. This purge of veterans will give the quartet opportunities to land elsewhere before free agency’s March 13 soft opening.

Cutting Cunningham creates $8.9MM in room for Tennessee, which entered Wednesday more than $20MM over the cap. This move will cost $4.5MM in dead money, thanks in part to a 2022 restructure. The team has now moved well under the $224.8MM salary ceiling, with the Cunningham transaction giving the retooling squad more than $12MM in space as of 2pm CT.

Teams still have until the start of the new league year — 3pm CT March 15 — to comply with the 2023 salary cap, but new Titans GM Ran Carthon is moving early to create space. The team is almost definitely not done on this front.

While Woods and Lewan’s positional markets are not especially strong, Cunningham’s is. A host of off-ball linebackers — fellow Titans starter David Long, ex-Tennessee starter Rashaan Evans, Bills standout Tremaine Edmunds, Bucs stalwart Lavonte David among them — are set to be available once the market opens. Cunningham should still be able to find a gig, though his next contract should not be expected to approach the four-year, $58MM deal the Texans gave him in August 2020.

Cunningham led the NFL in tackles in 2020, totaling 164 in the league’s final 16-game season. He racked up an NFL-most 106 solo stops that year as well, but the Texans’ 2021 regime change altered his standing with the organization. Cunningham’s playing time yo-yoed during the ’21 season in Houston, and he finished his tenure there as a healthy scratch. The Titans claimed the Vanderbilt alum off waivers that December, and Cunningham became an instant starter for his new team. He started Tennessee’s final four regular-season games that year and logged a playoff start.

Injuries slowed Cunningham in 2022, however, and he joined numerous Titan starters on IR. An elbow injury sidelined him at multiple points this season. The Titans used one of their injury activations on Cunningham, bringing him off IR late in the season, but he finished the year back on the injured list because of the elbow issue. As such, Cunningham will not hit street free agency with much momentum.

AFC Coaching Notes: Ventrone, Browns, Broncos, Joseph, Raiders, Dolphins, Texans

February 22nd, 2023 at 2:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

After the Colts changed coaching staffs, Bubba Ventrone will have an opportunity to land on his feet. The Indianapolis special teams coordinator is on track to interview with the Browns, and ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder tweets the Colts are expecting to lose him to the Cleveland job. Ventrone spent five seasons in Indianapolis and is a well-regarded ST coordinator. The Browns are also interviewing Giants assistant special teams coach Anthony Blevins, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports tweets. That meeting is expected to commence via Zoom today, per CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson (on Twitter). The Browns fired ST coordinator Mike Preiffer earlier this week. Blevins has been with the Giants for the past five years.

Here is the latest from the coaching ranks:

  • Prior to the Cardinals making Nick Rallis the NFL’s youngest active coordinator, at 29, the Broncos had him on their radar. Denver showed interest in the former Philadelphia linebackers coach, Troy Renck of Denver7 notes. Rallis is a cool 31 years younger than the favorite to land the Denver job (Rex Ryan), but the Broncos are still eyeing Vance Joseph. Despite being fired after two seasons as Denver’s HC, Joseph is interested in coming back, Renck adds. The Eagles also have eyes on the ex-Cardinals DC; they are finishing up a two-day interview Wednesday.
  • The Colts are hiring University of Cincinnati offensive coordinator Tom Manning as their tight ends coach, Aaron Wilson of KPRC tweets. This will be a reunion for Manning, who was on Frank Reich‘s first Colts staff as tight ends coach. Manning had recently accepted Cincinnati’s offer to be its OC, coming over after a four-year stay on Matt Campbell‘s Iowa State staff. The ex-Cyclones OC drew interest from multiple NFL teams, per Wilson.
  • The Browns will look to the college ranks as well. They are set to hire Utah State defensive coordinator Ephraim Banda to be their safeties coach, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel (Twitter links). Prior to his two-year run in Utah, Banda spent the previous two seasons as the University of Miami’s co-DC.
  • To fill their safeties coach post, the Dolphins are adding Eagles assistant Joe Kasper, Cameron Wolfe of NFL.com tweets. Kasper joined the Eagles’ staff in Nick Sirianni‘s first year; this will be a move up the ladder, bringing positional responsibilities Kasper’s way for the first time.
  • The Raiders fired defensive line coach Frank Okam, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal notes. A former NFL D-lineman, Okam came to Las Vegas after two years on Matt Rhule‘s Carolina staff. The Raiders struggled on defense for most of the season, dropping from 14th to 28th in total defense. Rather than can DC Patrick Graham, the team is moving on from one of his lieutenants.
  • In addition to ST coordinator Frank Ross, the Texans are also retaining wide receivers coach Ben McDaniels, Wilson writes. The younger brother of Josh McDaniels, Ben has been with the Texans since Nick Caserio‘s 2021 arrival. While Ben McDaniels has never worked for the Patriots, Caserio has been close with Josh McDaniels for many years. The Texans promoted Ben McDaniels from assistant wideouts coach in 2022.

Titans Release K Randy Bullock

February 22nd, 2023 at 12:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

Tennessee’s early start to clearing cap space now includes Randy Bullock as well. In addition to cutting Taylor Lewan and Robert Woods, the Titans are releasing their kicker.

The Titans had re-signed Bullock on a two-year, $4.68MM deal in April 2022. The team will create just more than $2MM by moving that contract off its payroll. Between its three Wednesday cuts, Tennessee will create $28.9MM in cap space. While more work will be ahead for new GM Ran Carthon, the Titans are now just more than $4MM under the cap.

Bullock, 33, had been the Titans’ kicker for the past two seasons. Making 85% of his field goal tries last season and 84% in 2021, Bullock stabilized Tennessee’s wayward kicker situation. In 2019 and 2020, the Titans used a host of kickers. Their 2019 season made the kicker spot a crisis point, and Stephen Gostkowski wrapped his career after the ’20 campaign. Bullock came in and contributed, but he will look to do so elsewhere in 2023.

A former Texans draftee back in 2012, Bullock has now kicked for six NFL teams. The Titans initially signed him after a four-plus season Cincinnati stay. The Texas A&M product missed five of his field goal tries from 40-49 yards in 2021 and only attempted three 50-plus-yarders during his two-year Tennessee stay, making two (both from 51 yards out). Bullock did not miss an extra point last season.

The Titans may have an in-house replacement lined up. They gave Caleb Shudak a reserve/futures contract last month. Shudak kicked in only one game last season, as a Bullock injury replacement, and missed most of the slate due to injury himself. But the young specialist may have an opportunity to win the job in 2023. Shudak, 25, should be expected to face competition for the gig.

Titans Cut WR Robert Woods

February 22nd, 2023 at 11:52am CST by Sam Robinson

Ten months after trading for Robert Woods, the Titans will make the veteran wide receiver a cap casualty. Tennessee is releasing Woods on Wednesday, Jordan Schultz of The Score reports (on Twitter).

The Titans will save just more than $12MM by cutting Woods, whom they acquired from the Rams last year. The team made Woods a key part of its post-A.J. Brown plan, but its passing attack struggled throughout the season. Woods, who suffered an ACL tear in November 2021, could not recapture his pre-injury form. Between the Woods and Taylor Lewan releases, the Titans created more than $26MM in cap room Wednesday.

Woods was a constant for the Sean McVay-era Rams prior to his injury. The former Bills draftee broke through upon joining McVay in Los Angeles in 2017, reeling off his four highest receiving yardage totals from 2017-20. Woods surpassed 1,100 yards in 2018 and ’19 and caught 90 passes for 936 yards in 2020. After sweetening Woods’ contract previously, the Rams gave him an extension in September 2020. Landing Woods for just a 2023 sixth-round pick, the Titans took on that contract weeks before dealing Brown to the Eagles.

In Woods’ defense, the Titans were not readily equipped to produce a full-fledged bounce-back season. The team started an unready Malik Willis in three games and was without Ryan Tannehill for five in total. Woods, 30, finished his 10th NFL campaign with 53 catches for 527 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-foot receiver’s 9.9 yards per reception was a career-low figure.

The USC product did not establish much momentum in Tennessee, but he did play all 17 games. On a thin receiver market, Woods catching on with a fourth team is not difficult to foresee. Any deal will not come close to the $16.25MM-per-year pact the Titans are shedding, but Woods would make sense as a veteran auxiliary target. The longtime starter will now have an early start in free agency. As a street free agent, Woods signing somewhere would not affect the compensatory formula.

Tennessee’s Brown decision backfired quickly. Deemed too costly by ex-GM Jon Robinson, the former second-round pick broke the Eagles’ single-season receiving record and caught a deep touchdown pass in Super Bowl LVII. The Titans, who also let Corey Davis walk in 2021, had no receiving presence on Brown’s level. Woods, who came to Nashville a year after the team traded a second-round pick for Julio Jones, led Tennessee’s 2022 edition in receiving, with Treylon Burks‘ 444 yards second among the team’s wideouts. The Titans ranked 30th in passing last season.

While Burks should be expected to play a centerpiece role for the 2023 team, new GM Ran Carthon will have work to do in assembling a receiving corps. The Woods and Lewan cuts will save the Titans more than $26MM, though they still have cost-clearing tasks ahead of the market opening. These transactions moved the team’s cap-space total to barely $2MM, according to OverTheCap.

Eagles Interviewed Jim Leonhard For DC Vacancy

February 22nd, 2023 at 11:19am CST by Adam La Rose

FEBRUARY 22: Leonhard will not move forward in the Eagles’ interview process. Both sides decided this would not be a good fit, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. The former Wisconsin DC and interim head coach planned to undergo hip surgery and skip this season, per Fowler, but the Eagles job opening changed his plans. After discussion, however, the Eagles will choose another candidate.

FEBRUARY 20: A few veteran assistants have already been connected to the defensive coordinator vacancy in Philadelphia. Their list of candidates to replace Jonathan Gannon has grown once again, with another reported interview having taken place.

Philadelphia met with Jim Leonhard to discuss their DC position, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (Twitter link). The 40-year-old has been mentioned as a potential coordinator hire at the NFL level before, while establishing himself as a candidate for an NFL posting during his time at Wisconsin. He has been with the Badgers since 2016, leading the team’s defense for the past six years and taking over as interim head coach this past campaign.

Leonhard was offered the Packers’ DC job in 2021, but turned it down. That illustrated how he was on the radar for a jump to the pro level, something which was repeated when he was mentioned as a candidate in Baltimore for their defensive coordinator vacancy last offseason. Given his track record at Wisconsin, the 10-year NFL player is likely to land an NFL gig soon, and the Eagles would certainly represent a desirable opening.

Philadelphia’s defense played a large role in their 2022 success under Gannon. The unit racked up a remarkable 70 sacks and excelled defending the pass. That made Gannon a late finalist for the HC position in Arizona, one which he accepted not long after the Super Bowl. His absence has left the NFC champions in need of a replacement late into the 2023 cycle.

One of their targets is ex-Cardinals DC Vance Joseph. Before the 50-year-old had been let out of his Arizona contract, it was reported that the Eagles would request an interview with him. Providing an update on that front, Troy Renck of Denver7 tweets that Joseph will interview Tuesday and Wednesday with the Eagles. He remains in the running for the DC position in Denver as well, so the outcome of those meetings will be important for both teams.

Here is how the Eagles’ DC search is shaping up:

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