NFC North Notes: Walker, Doubs, Tom, Wyatt, Byard
This past weekend, Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker was arrested at LaGuardia Airport on gun charges, per a report from multiple contributors at the New York Post. On Friday morning, Walker was taken into custody after trying to check a bag that contained a handgun and ammunition.
Arthur Aidala, Walker’s attorney, explained that Walker legally owned the firearm but that it is licensed in Wisconsin, and he didn’t know that he couldn’t travel with the gun to New York. It was actually Walker’s attempt to disclose the contents of the locked gun box in his luggage that led to his arrest.
Walker was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm. After an appearance at criminal court, Walker was released on his own recognizance with a return date of March 19. Aidala is confident that the case will be dismissed.
Here are a few other recent rumors from around the NFC North:
- In the Packers’ young receiving corps, pending free agent Romeo Doubs has been perhaps the most consistent contributor in the talented position group. When asked if he would be returning to Green Bay in a recent appearance on the Up & Adams Show, Doubs wanted to make it known that he “would love to be a Green Bay Packer” but that he knows the nature of the business.
- Packers right tackle Zach Tom was unable to finish out the season with his team in the playoffs this year due to a knee injury, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Tom tried to get back on the field using a PRP injection, but he didn’t feel he would be able to pass block with it. He’s expected to undergo surgery to repair a partially torn patellar tendon with a recovery timeline of approximately six months.
- Silverstein also reported on the injury to Packers defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, who reportedly suffered a broken fibula and torn ligament in his ankle. The soft tissue injury certainly lengthens any recovery time, but per Silverstein, Wyatt expects to be back in time for training camp.
- Following a surprising late-season run into the playoffs, Bears pending free agent safety Kevin Byard made it known that he “would love to be back” in Chicago on a new deal, according to Bears writer Gabby Hajduk. Byard expressed a desire to “finish what (the Bears) got started this year” as he “wants to be on a team that wants to win.” There’s no doubt Chicago will want to retain Byard, but the question will be if they can afford it. Byard led the NFL in interceptions this year for the second time in his career, earning a third first-team All-Pro selection as a result. Two picks in the two years before this season seemed to indicate a fall off as Byard ventured into his thirties, but he turned back the clock just in time for it to pay off in a big way on his next deal.
Broncos’ Davis Webb Receives Three OC Interview Requests
Following the Broncos’ loss in the AFC Championship this weekend, pass game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Davis Webb became available to interview for head coaching opportunities with the Raiders and Bills. After Buffalo pulled the trigger on promoting offensive coordinator Joe Brady, a few teams reached out hoping Webb might be available to interview for a lesser role. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Eagles, Giants, and Ravens all requested to interview Webb for their open offensive coordinator positions. 
We’ve sees our fair share of meteoric rises in the coaching world, but what Webb has people saying at this point in his career feels unprecedented. A former quarterback, Webb was a third-round pick in 2017 but didn’t make his NFL debut until 2021. He played four snaps that year with the Bills then made his first and only start the next year with the Giants. Those two games were Webb’s only NFL action as a player, but he clearly must’ve seen a better road ahead in coaching, as ESPN’s Jordan Raanan can testify to.
The next season, Webb joined Sean Payton‘s staff in Denver as the quarterbacks coach. Under Payton and Webb, veteran Russell Wilson had a resurgent season in Denver following a rough first year away from the Seahawks. In Webb’s second season coaching, he was handed a first-round rookie quarterback in Bo Nix. In two years, Nix has impressed, averaging a 64.8 completion percentage, 3,853 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 11.5 interceptions. With Webb adding the pass game coordinator title in 2025, the passing offense improved from 20th in yards gained in 2024 to 11th this year.
An impressive early résumé and what must be some serious inside coach speak have made Webb a serious candidate for head coach jobs and offensive coordinator positions. He hasn’t even gotten an opportunity to call plays yet, and all three openings requesting his interview would require him to do just that. With head coaching jobs dwindling, more and more candidates will need to look for lower positions soon, if they’re not already under contract. And, if Webb doesn’t end up landing a head coaching position, one would wonder if he doesn’t end up just staying in Denver to replace recently fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi.
NIL, Eligibility Issues Could Revive The Supplemental Draft
The ever-evolving landscape of college football has had several residual effects on the NFL, and nothing has forced more evolution in college football than the allowance for players to profit on their name, image, and likeness. NIL has already had some intriguing side effects on the NFL, but there’s some thought that the next new effect we may see could include the revival of the supplemental draft. 
At the collegiate level, NIL has brought a bit of parity back to an NCAA that had seen SEC power Alabama with a stranglehold on the sport of football with short stints of relevance from other SEC powers like Florida, LSU, and Georgia and with the occasional popup of an Ohio State or Clemson. The more these programs won, the better they would recruit, and the strong recruiting would beget more winning which would beget more strong recruiting.
With the onset of NIL, schools whose alumni base could form large enough coalitions through which student athletes could find NIL opportunities suddenly were able to attract more and better recruits without the championship-winning pedigree necessary to draw them in. The ability for players to make large amounts of money in the amateur ranks also made it to where promising, young players who would make too early, blind jumps to the NFL in hopes of ascending at their self-perceived peak or avoiding the pitfall of a career-ending injury pre-career could stay in school without fear of no compensation.
Those two factors, combined, made it to where the transfer portal became one of the most influential tools in the sport. This past year alone, though some of the usual suspects, like Alabama and Georgia, found their way into the College Football Playoff’s 12-team tournament, we saw a couple new, well-funded teams like Texas Tech and Miami make a run, while other new teams like Ole Miss and Indiana made their runs relying on older transfers. A common stat quoted throughout the CFP was that the average age of the Hoosiers’ championship-winning roster was only two years younger than the average age of the Packers’ roster, though those numbers may be a bit exaggerated.
As for Ole Miss, throughout the second half of their season, transfer backup quarterback Trinidad Chambliss emerged as an electric talent in his fifth year of play. Before arriving in Oxford, Chambliss spent four years at Ferris State. He didn’t play in his first two years with the Bulldogs and only got a few snaps as a redshirt sophomore before leading his team to a Division II championship victory in Year 4. He transferred to Ole Miss for his redshirt senior season, exhausting his final year of collegiate eligibility, but despite having a successful season in which he put up some great film, Chambliss is suing the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility.
This lawsuit puts Chambliss in an unfortunate situation. There’s every chance that he could come out on the winning end and return to the Rebels for another run at the CFP, but there’s also a chance that the proceedings could be slow and lengthy, extending past his opportunity to declare for the NFL Draft but denying him the ability to return to school. Hence the potential for the return of the supplemental draft. Since 1993, the supplemental draft has only been an option for players who planned to attend college but, for whatever reason, were not able to. If Chambliss’ attempts at another year of eligibility fall short after a lengthy process, he would fit that description to a T.
We’ve also seen a similar situation emerge out of Durham, where transfer quarterback Darian Mensah is attempting to transfer a second time. Joining the Blue Devils by way of Tulane, Mensah had a phenomenal season and, after a brief consideration of an NFL declaration, announced his intention to return to Duke for 2026. On the very last day that the transfer portal was open, though, Mensah made the decision to enter the portal with a new intention of transferring to Miami.
After initially seeming to be willing to play ball, Duke opted to sue Mensah on the grounds that his NIL deal was a two-year contract and, by transferring, he was violating the terms of his deal. As Mensah continued to pursue amenable compensation to settle outside the courtroom, the university pressed on with the lawsuit. Ultimately, Duke and Mensah were able to come to a settlement agreement outside of court, and Mensah has been permitted to pursue his transfer, but Tony Pauline of EssentiallySports posed a hypothetical wherein Mensah could’ve lost his suit, not wanted to play for the team that sued him out of a richer NIL deal, and been past the point to declare for the draft, making him another candidate for the NFL’s supplemental draft.
The picture painted by Pauline, combined with the current legal actions of Chambliss, show why the potential for more supplemental draft candidates is growing as a result of NIL. The NFL hasn’t seen a player drafted in the supplemental draft since 2019. Before this, the longest droughts between picks were three different occasions in which two players were picked three years apart. It’s been seven years since the last supplemental draft pick, but as NIL encourages players to seek more time in college, we could see an increase in cases that don’t get resolved until it’s too late for a player to join the regular draft, leading to an increased pool of candidates for the supplemental draft.
Falcons OC Tommy Rees To Call Plays
New Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski was on staff in Minnesota for 13 years before he got an opportunity to call plays in the NFL for the first time as the team’s interim offensive coordinator. After only a year in the full-time role, he was hired to serve as the head coach of the Browns, with whom he would assume primary play-calling duties. In parts of each of the last two years, though, Cleveland has seen Stefanski cede play-calling duties to his coordinators. 
For this new chapter in Atlanta, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Stefanski has opted to start the season with his coordinator calling plays. Lucky for him, the offensive coordinator to whom he is ceding play-calling duties to is Tommy Rees, who has a bit of experience calling plays from when he was the offensive coordinator Stefanski ceded play-calling duties to last year in Cleveland.
Rees’ history as a play-caller in the NFL came only in the second half of last year. Before that, his only play-calling experience came with collegiate entities, from his time at Notre Dame and Alabama. After his career as an undrafted NFL quarterback came to a fairly swift end, Rees turned to coaching as a graduate assistant at Northwestern. He made his NFL coaching debut the next year as an offensive assistant for the Chargers before returning to his alma mater to coach quarterbacks at Notre Dame.
At the end of his third year coaching for the Fighting Irish, Rees was given an opportunity to call plays in the team’s bowl game and retained the duties after getting promoted to offensive coordinator for the next season. After three years calling plays for Notre Dame, Rees took over the offensive coordinator job at Alabama for a season before getting hired back to the NFL as the Browns’ pass game specialist/tight ends coach. Following the dismissal of Ken Dorsey, Rees was promoted to his first offensive coordinator job in the NFL.
After the Browns’ bye week, Rees took over play calling, starting out with Dillon Gabriel for two games before moving on to Shedeur Sanders. Working only with rookie quarterbacks, Rees was able to help Sanders to a few strong performances including three impactful wins and a 364-yard day in a loss to the Titans. Following the season’s end, Rees found himself getting some interest as a potential head coach, first interviewing for the job at Penn State before being considered a candidate to replace Stefanski in Cleveland.
Now, in Atlanta, it appears Stefanski is getting out of the way early for Rees, letting him call plays from the onset instead of as a later resort. He’ll get to work with a slightly improved quarterbacks room that features a veteran Kirk Cousins and a recovering Michael Penix Jr. The offense also includes one of the league’s top, young running backs in Bijan Robinson and impressive pass catchers, pending a few contract decisions that will need to be addressed in the offseason. It will be interesting to see what Rees will be able to do in his first full year of calling plays in the NFL with a new group of weapons.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/27/26
Tuesday’s reserve/futures contracts in the NFL:
Chicago Bears
Denver Broncos
Jim Schwartz ‘Gaining Momentum’ For Browns’ HC Job
JANUARY 27: Shortly after Stefanski’s firing, Schwartz is believed to have spoken with some Browns defenders in an effort to land the HC job. The veteran DC told multiple players to “talk him up” as a head coaching candidate, Outkick.com’s Armando Salguero notes. Schwartz completed his second interview for the job more than a week ago.
Schwartz, who has not been a head coach since the 2013 season, has received ownership backing to at least remain DC. This component may or may not be impacting some of the candidates’ exits from this search. But it remains clear Schwartz is a key presence in the Cleveland HC derby three-plus weeks after Stefanski’s ouster.
JANUARY 26: By completing an in-person interview with Nate Scheelhaase on Monday, the Browns have satisfied their Rooney Rule requirements and are now free to hire their next head coach.
Their decision, however, is not expected to come until at least Tuesday, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. And despite Scheelhaase’s star seemingly rising in recent days, incumbent defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is “gaining momentum” to get the job, according to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.
Several coaches have withdrawn from consideration for the Browns’ head coaching job in the last week, including Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski on Monday morning. That effectively narrowed the list down to three finalists who have all interviewed with the team twice: Scheelhaase, Schwartz, and outgoing Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
If the Browns want to follow other teams’ recent trend of hiring young Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay assistants as head coaches, Scheelhaase is their man. He may, however, be wary of a job that multiple respected coaches passed on. Udinski joined Mike McDaniel and Jesse Minter in bowing out of this HC search.
Between a meddlesome owner, a roster lacking many pieces on the offensive side of the ball, and what seems to be a cumbersome hiring process (as described by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero on the Rich Eisen Show), Scheelhaase may follow other young coaches’ recent trend of waiting to land a preferred head coaching job, rather than the first one they are offered. He may even have a chance at a better opportunity this year after interviewing with the Bills on Monday as well.
Cold feet from Scheelhaase could be one reason that Schwartz’s name is making a late surge. But the longtime defensive coach was an obvious candidate for a promotion from the moment Kevin Stefanski was fired. Schwartz’s defenses have been the team’s stronger side of the ball for all three of his seasons as the team’s DC.
The Browns made no secret of their desire to keep him in Cleveland, and bumping him into the top job is the only way to guarantee that. The team would prefer to retain Schwartz as their defensive coordinator if they go in another direction for their head coach, but he could bristle at being passed over for a relatively inexperienced candidate. Scheelhaase has just two years of NFL experience with only one year as a coordinator at the college level; Schwartz has been coaching football as long as the young Rams coach has been alive.
Cardinals Interview Ron Rivera For HC
Three head coaching jobs remain vacant, and they have been unfilled since Black Monday. As the Ravens, Dolphins, Steelers and Bills made hires after post-Black Monday firings, the Browns, Cardinals and Raiders’ searches drag on. An unexpected name has emerged amid Arizona’s process.
Ron Rivera completed an interview for the Cardinals’ HC position, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports. The former Panthers and Commanders HC is currently serving as Cal’s GM. Rivera, 64, took the Cal position in 2025; he has not coached since the 2023 season. This hiring cycle has seen two coaches over 60 hired, with John Harbaugh and Mike McCarthy landing jobs.
This is not Rivera’s first interview since being ousted in Washington. The Bears, Jets and Raiders met with him about their openings in 2025. Rivera has 13 years’ experience as an NFL head coach. The former Coach of the Year has a Super Bowl appearance on his resume, though the back half of his Panthers tenure and most of his Commanders years did not go especially well.
Rivera is 102-103-2 as an NFL HC. He guided the Panthers to four playoff berths in a five-year span, backing Cam Newton with a few stout defenses during that span. The Panthers stormed to Super Bowl 50 after a 15-1 season, but after losing to the underdog Broncos, the team did not approach those heights again. After making one playoff appearance from 2016-18, Rivera received his walking papers — by second-year owner David Tepper — during the 2019 season.
Receiving personnel control to help a Washington franchise find some stability late in Dan Snyder‘s tenure, Rivera did lead the then-Washington Football Team to the 2020 playoffs — albeit at 7-9. The team could not find a quarterback during Rivera’s tenure, missing on Carson Wentz and Sam Howell. Another new owner, Josh Harris, booted Rivera after the 2023 season. That ’23 campaign ended badly enough — with eight straight losses following the trades of Montez Sweat and Chase Young — it helped the Adam Peters-Dan Quinn regime land Jayden Daniels with the No. 2 overall pick in 2024.
The Cardinals have already seen Jonathan Gannon and Drew Petzing land on their feet. The three-year coworkers will be coaching against each other in the NFC North, with Gannon now the Packers’ DC and Petzing the Lions’ OC. Arizona’s search passed the three-week mark Monday, and a few names are out of the process. Joe Brady, Anthony Campanile, Jeff Hafley, John Harbaugh, Jesse Minter and Robert Saleh landed elsewhere or, in Campanile’s case, bowed out of the search. Via PFR’s HC Search Tracker, here is how the search stands as of Monday evening:
- Joe Brady, offensive coordinator (Bills): To conduct in-person interview
- Thomas Brown, tight ends coach (Patriots): Interview requested
- Matt Burke, defensive coordinator (Texans): Interviewed
- Anthony Campanile, defensive coordinator (Jaguars): Conducted second interview 1/22; staying with Jaguars
- Jeff Hafley, defensive coordinator (Packers): Interviewed 1/14
- John Harbaugh, former head coach (Ravens): Contacted
- Vance Joseph, defensive coordinator (Broncos): Interviewed 1/10, considered “strong candidate”
- Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator (Seahawks): Interviewed 1/10
- Mike LaFleur, offensive coordinator (Rams): To conduct second interview 1/26-7; leading candidate?
- Jesse Minter, defensive coordinator (Chargers): Interviewed 1/13
- Raheem Morris, former head coach (Falcons): Interviewed; leading candidate?
- Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator (Chiefs): Interviewed 1/9
- Ron Rivera, former head coach (Commanders): Interviewed 1/27
- Robert Saleh, defensive coordinator (49ers): Interviewed 1/15
- Chris Shula, defensive coordinator (Rams): Interviewed 1/16
- Arthur Smith, offensive coordinator (Steelers): Interview requested
- Anthony Weaver, defensive coordinator (Dolphins): To conduct second interview 1/26
Steelers To Interview Jake Simmons, Patrick Graham For DC Job
The Steelers have officially hired Mike McCarthy as their next head coach. Now, he will have to build his new coaching staff, starting with his coordinators.
Commanders pass game coordinator Jason Simmons and Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham are Pittsburgh’s first two candidates for their DC job, per Mark Kaboly of the Pat McAfee Show.
Simmons, 49, has multiple connections with the Steelers. The 1998 fifth-round pick spent the first three years of his playing career in Pittsburgh. After he retired, his first coaching job was under McCarthy in Green Bay. Simmons worked for the Packers for nine years, primarily coaching the secondary with a two-year stint as an assistant special teams coach. He then took on defensive pass game coordinator roles with the Panthers and Raiders before joining Dan Quinn’s staff in Washington.
Graham, 47, has been the Raiders’ defensive coordinator since 2022. He started his coaching career in college before landing his first NFL job with the Patriots. After seven years in New England, he spent two years as the Giants’ defensive line coach before joining the Packers in 2018, McCarthy’s last year in Green Bay. Since then, Graham has held defensive coordinator jobs with the Dolphins and Giants. He was then hired by former colleague and then-Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels
Hiring Simmons would continue the Steelers’ pattern of investing in players and coaches that have a history with Pittsburgh – the franchise or the city. Outgoing defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, for example, grew up 60 miles outside of Pittsburgh and played college football at Pitt. McCarthy grew up in the city, which appeared to be a factor in his hiring, and current starting cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is the son of legendary Steelers linebacker Joey Porter. That is not to say Simmons is not a worthy candidate; he quickly reformed the Commanders pass defense after arriving in Washington, though the unit regressed significantly this past season.
Graham brings no direct connections to the Steelers outside of his one year under McCarthy in Green Bay. In the last three years, the Raiders’ defense has been their stronger side of the ball by far with three middle-of-the-pack finishes in yards allowed. The offense, by contrast, has been a bottom-10 unit.
Bills Expected To Pursue Broncos’ Jim Leonhard For Defensive Coordinator
Although the Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott after another disappointing postseason defeat, they didn’t venture outside the building for his replacement. The Bills promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady on Tuesday, though it doesn’t appear he’s content to run it back with McDermott’s staff.
Bobby Babich has been the Bills’ defensive coordinator since 2024, but his job is now in serious jeopardy. Broncos assistant head coach and defensive pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard is expected to emerge as a leading candidate for the Bills’ D-coordinator role, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. The Bills may become the fourth team this offseason to pursue Leonhard for that position.
Leonhard, 43, interviewed with the Cowboys and Jets earlier this month. The Cowboys have since hired Christian Parker, but the Jets’ gig is still available. Leonhard was also reportedly a finalist to become the Giants’ defensive coordinator before they hired Dennard Wilson.
An NFL defensive back from 2005-14, Leonhard spent a decent chunk of his career in Buffalo, where he played from 2005-07 and again in 2013. He went into coaching at his alma mater, Wisconsin, in 2016. Leonhard’s first (and only) experience as a defensive coordinator came with the Badgers from 2017-22. He also led the Badgers to a 4-3 record as an interim head coach in 2022, but he left after they hired Luke Fickell for the full-time post.
After Leonhard spent a year as a senior football analyst at Illinois, Broncos head coach Sean Payton offered him his first NFL coaching opportunity. Leonhard was the Broncos’ defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator in 2024, when cornerback Patrick Surtain II earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. The Broncos are now coming off a season in which they finished with the league’s seventh-ranked pass defense, earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC and advanced to the conference title game. Although the Broncos’ pass defense allowed just 86 yards to MVP candidate Drake Maye on a snowy Sunday, injured quarterback Bo Nix‘s absence proved too much to overcome in a 10-7 loss.
With Denver’s season over, Payton may soon have to replace Leonhard. If Leonhard returns to Buffalo as a coach, he’d grab the reins of a defense that ranked first against the pass, seventh in yards, 12th in scoring and 15th in takeaways in 2025. Those are solid to great numbers, but the Bills will need to repair a porous run defense and an unspectacular pass rush. Only four teams allowed more yards on the ground than the Bills, who finished a below-average 19th in sacks.
The Bills’ lack of pressure on Nix proved costly in a 33-30 loss to Denver in the divisional round. After failing to sack Nix in an elimination game, the Bills could turn to one of the Broncos’ coaches to lead their defense in 2026.
Mike McCarthy Wants Aaron Rodgers Reunion, Will Call Offensive Plays
As soon as the Steelers decided on Mike McCarthy as their next head coach, talk about an Aaron Rodgers reunion began to swirl.
Rodgers signed with the Steelers largely due to Mike Tomlin, so the longtime coach’s resignation seemed to signal the end of the veteran quarterback’s time in Pittsburgh. Hiring McCarthy, who coached Rodgers for 13 seasons in Green Bay, has changed all that.
During his introductory press conerence on Tuesday, McCarthy said that he was “definitely” interested in bringing Rodgers back to Pittsburgh for another year.
“I don’t see why you wouldn’t,” he added (via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero). The two have already spoken about the possibility, but Rodgers will likely spend another offseason courting attention about his next career move.
If Rodgers does not run it back in Pittsburgh, the Steelers do not have a clear starter for the 2026 season. Currently rostered are Mason Rudolph and Will Howard, neither of whom profile as a starting quarterback for a team that, presumably, plans to compete next year. McCarthy said (via Pelissero) that he was “really excited” about working with Howard, a 2025 sixth-round pick who did not see a single regular-season snap as a rookie.
Regardless of the Steelers’ QB (or offensive coordinator), McCarthy plans to call the team’s offensive plays. He held that role in Green Bay and later in Dallas (after Kellen Moore‘s departure in 2022). That could affect McCarthy’s search for an offensive coordinator who may be seeking play-calling duties to boost their own resume.