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Coaching Notes: Fangio, Kocurek, Broncos, Dolphins, Falcons, Gray, Lions, Bills, Bears

February 2nd, 2023 at 3:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

The 49ers showed interest in Vic Fangio, joining almost every other DC-seeking team. But Fangio’s former team did not have the chance to bring him back in for an interview; Fangio finally committed to the Dolphins on Thursday morning. The 49ers were interested in a Fangio reunion, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle notes, and 9News’ Mike Klis adds Fangio was also intrigued by coming back to San Francisco. The 49ers’ usage of a 4-3 scheme throughout Kyle Shanahan‘s tenure would not have been a major issue regarding a reunion with the 3-4 guru, Branch adds. That would make sense, as the 4-3/3-4 divide is not nearly as big an issue — thanks to sub-packages’ rise — as it was several years ago.

San Francisco remains on the hunt for a DeMeco Ryans replacement, placing Steve Wilks and Chris Harris (not the cornerback) on its interview list. The 49ers also are considering promoting defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, Josina Anderson of CBS Sports tweets. The well-regarded staffer has been Nick Bosa‘s position coach throughout the All-Pro’s career and has fostered development from others as well. Ryans, meanwhile, is interested in bringing Kocurek to Houston as his DC.

Here is the latest from the coaching ranks:

  • Some recently dismissed assistants may be on the Broncos‘ radar. Ex-Sean Payton staffers Joe Lombardi, Kris Richard and Dan Roushar are in the mix for Broncos gigs under their new coach, Klis notes. Lombardi worked on Payton’s Saints staff for 11 years, the final five as QBs coach, but lost his Chargers OC gig recently. The Saints parted ways with both Richard and Roushar recently. The ex-Seahawks DC was in New Orleans for just one season (2021) under Payton, while Roushar had been on the Saints’ staff for the past 10 years. Richard may be in the running for Denver’s DC post, though Klis adds the Ejiro Evero-Payton talks began Wednesday night. The parties continued discussions today. Evero, who is under contract, staying on staff and leaving for a head coaching job in 2024 would net the Broncos two third-round picks.
  • The Falcons brought in former DC Jerry Gray as an assistant head coach. Gray, 60, spent the past two years as the Packers’ secondary coach but worked with Arthur Smith in Tennessee. Smith and Gray were both Titans staffers in the early 2010s, when the latter was Tennessee’s DC. The Falcons hired Ryan Nielsen as their defensive boss last week, but Gray will be a key assistant. Green Bay let Gray’s contract expire, with ESPN’s Rob Demovsky noting (via Twitter) Gray and DC Joe Barry were not on the same page.
  • Once again, the Dolphins will look for a new offensive line coach. Miami fired Matt Applebaum after one season, Outkick.com’s Armando Salguero notes (Twitter link). Mike McDaniel‘s next hire will be the Dolphins’ eighth O-line coach in nine seasons. Applebaum, 39, joined McDaniel’s staff in 2022 after spending his previous coaching years in the college ranks.
  • The Lions added two fairly recent NFLers to their staff. They brought in Dre’ Bly and Steve Heiden to coach cornerbacks and tight ends, respectively. Bly, who played for the Lions from 2003-06 and made two Pro Bowls with the team, has not coached in the NFL previously. He spent the past four seasons coaching cornerbacks at North Carolina, his alma mater. Heiden will come over from the Cardinals, who employed the ex-NFL tight end as their tight ends coach throughout Kliff Kingsbury‘s tenure. The ex-Cardinal had been on Arizona’s staff for 10 years.
  • Acting quickly after making a change late last week, the Bills filled their safety coach role by hiring Joe Danna. Working under Lovie Smith with the Texans this season, Danna was in Jacksonville under Doug Marrone and Urban Meyer for the previous five yeras.
  • After the Falcons hired Nielsen, they fired Jon Hoke. But the veteran position coach will land in Chicago. The Bears hired Hoke as their cornerbacks coach and passing-game coordinator. This is a reunion for Hoke, who coached Bears DBs for six seasons (2009-14) previously. The team also promoted Omar Young from the quality control level to assistant QBs and wide receivers coach. Young is a 14-year coaching veteran who spent time with OC Luke Getsy in Green Bay.

2023 NFL Cap Space, By Team

February 2nd, 2023 at 1:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

Earlier this week, the NFL revealed its 2023 salary cap. Teams can now budget for their offseasons, knowing a $224.8MM ceiling is in place. This year’s nonexclusive franchise and transition tag numbers also emerged, giving teams more clarity on those fronts as well. With that in mind, here is where every team stands in terms of cap space:

  1. Chicago Bears: $90.91MM
  2. Atlanta Falcons: $56.42MM
  3. New York Giants: $44.28MM
  4. Houston Texans: $37.56MM
  5. Cincinnati Bengals: $35.55MM
  6. New England Patriots: $32.71MM
  7. Seattle Seahawks: $31.04MM
  8. Baltimore Ravens: $26.87MM
  9. Las Vegas Raiders: $19.78MM
  10. Arizona Cardinals: $14.47MM
  11. Kansas City Chiefs: $13.96MM
  12. Detroit Lions: $13.83MM
  13. Indianapolis Colts: $12.59MM
  14. Denver Broncos: $9.07MM
  15. San Francisco 49ers: $8.28MM
  16. Washington Commanders: $8.24MM
  17. Philadelphia Eagles: $4.24MM
  18. Pittsburgh Steelers: $1.03MM
  19. New York Jets: $1.31MM over the cap
  20. Dallas Cowboys: $7.18MM over
  21. Carolina Panthers: $8.94MM over
  22. Los Angeles Rams: $14.19MM over
  23. Cleveland Browns: $14.64MM over
  24. Miami Dolphins: $16.45MM over
  25. Green Bay Packers: $16.48MM over
  26. Buffalo Bills: $17.88MM over
  27. Los Angeles Chargers: $20.38MM over
  28. Jacksonville Jaguars: $22.35MM over
  29. Minnesota Vikings: $23.43MM over
  30. Tennessee Titans: $23.67MM over
  31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $55.03MM over
  32. New Orleans Saints: $60.47MM over

These figures (courtesy of OverTheCap) will change dramatically in the coming weeks, but this is where each team stands ahead of Super Bowl LVII. After that point, cap-casualty cuts can begin taking place. Restructures, extensions and trades will commence as well, with the Saints of recent years doing well to prove there are a few roads to cap compliance.

While New Orleans is in its usual February place, the team actually was further over the 2021 and ’22 caps at this point on the NFL calendar. Using void years to load up its roster during Tom Brady‘s three-year stay, Tampa Bay has seen much of that bill come due. If Brady does not re-sign a procedural deal, which would allow for the Buccaneers to spread out his dead money, the team will be hit with a $35.1MM dead-cap charge this year.

The Browns led the league by a wide margin in cap carryover from 2022, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Cleveland carried over $27.6MM in cap space. The Browns paced the league in cap space throughout the 2022 season, bracing for the Deshaun Watson contract’s spike. As of now, Watson’s cap figure will balloon from $9.4MM to $54.9MM. No NFL player has ever played a season on a cap number higher than $45MM.

The Panthers, Broncos, Bears and Raiders rounded out the top five in carryover dollars, ranging from $10.8MM to $6.7MM. Chicago ate considerable dead money via the Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn trades. The rebuilding team is still paying most of Quinn’s salary, doing so in order to secure a better draft pick from the Eagles. The Bears will have quite the opportunity to bolster their roster in Ryan Poles‘ second year in charge, leading the league by a massive margin and holding the No. 1 overall pick. The Falcons still have $12MM-plus in Deion Jones dead money on their 2023 payroll, but the team is rid of Matt Ryan‘s record-setting dead-cap hit ($40MM).

Baltimore will have a major decision to make in the coming weeks. GM Eric DeCosta said he has not decided if the team will place the exclusive or nonexclusive tag on Lamar Jackson. Even the nonexclusive number — $32.42MM — will dramatically change the Ravens’ budget ahead of free agency. The exclusive tag, which prevents other teams from submitting an offer sheet to Jackson, is expected to come in just north of $45MM.

Seahawks’ Dave Canales Set For Second Ravens OC Interview

January 31st, 2023 at 7:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

A thorough search to replace Greg Roman now includes second interviews. The Ravens plan to bring in Seahawks quarterbacks coach Dave Canales for a second meeting about their vacant offensive coordinator position, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

The Ravens have sent out 10 interview requests about the job. Some went to internal staffers and others to current coordinators. Canales profiles as an up-and-coming option, but he has extensive experience. The veteran position coach has been on Pete Carroll‘s Seahawks staff since the HC arrived in Seattle in 2010.

Canales, 41, has not been connected to any other OC search yet, but it is not surprising the Ravens are showing interest. Geno Smith just completed one of the more surprising years by a quarterback in recent NFL history. Signed in April to a one-year, $3.5MM deal, Russell Wilson‘s former backup provided strong work replacing the franchise icon. Smith led the NFL with a 69.8% completion rate and threw 30 touchdown passes, piloting the Seahawks to a wild-card spot.

Wilson also worked under Canales, who served as the Seahawks’ QBs coach from 2018-19 and their passing-game coordinator from 2020-21. While Wilson struggled mightily in his Denver debut, he continued to lift Seattle squads to the playoffs during most of his time with Canales. Carroll saw plenty in Canales, bringing him from El Camino College — a JUCO program — to USC in 2009 and then installing him as a full-fledged position coach in 2010.

While the Ravens are progressing to second-round interviews with some candidates, they’re also set to conduct first interviews this week. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter), the organization will interview Bills wide receivers coach Chad Hall on Wednesday.

Hall started as an assistant with the Bills in 2017 and has spent the past four seasons as their WRs coach. Stefon Diggs has exploded during his three seasons with Buffalo, but Hall has also squeezed a career year out of John Brown in 2019 and has helped with the development of late-round wideouts like Gabriel Davis and Isaiah McKenzie.

Baltimore interviewed former OCs George Godsey, its current tight ends coach, and 2022 Broncos OC Justin Outten. The Ravens also spoke with Georgia OC Todd Monken this week; Monken is also on the radar to return to the Buccaneers. The Ravens sent Eric Bieniemy an interview request, but it is unclear if the longtime Chiefs OC is interested in a non-head coaching role. Baltimore has promoted from within to fill its OC role recently, hiring Roman and Marty Mornhinweg, but it appears to be seriously considering outside options this time.

Here is how the Ravens’ OC search looks:

Bills Notes: Miller, Edmunds, Poyer, Saffold

January 28th, 2023 at 12:44pm CST by Ben Levine

Von Miller‘s first season in Buffalo ended on Thanksgiving when he suffered a torn ACL. Unsurprisingly, Bills general manager Brandon Beane indicated that the veteran linebacker isn’t a lock to be ready for the 2023 season opener. Beane told reporters that it’s too early to know if Miller will be available for the entirety of the 2023 season, but the GM did express optimism that Miller should play a “good portion” of the year (per ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg on Twitter).

When Miller first suffered the injury on Thanksgiving day, he was expected to miss only a handful of games. However, exploratory surgery revealed that the linebacker had in fact suffered a torn ACL. The injury didn’t only prematurely end his 2022 season, but it also put the start of his 2023 campaign in doubt. Miller previously missed the entire 2020 season while recovering from a dislocated peroneal tendon.

After inking a six-year, $120MM deal with the Bills last offseason, Miller proceeded to start all 11 of his games for Buffalo. Following two-straight seasons of single-digit sack totals, Miller was well on his way to get back to that double-digit mark in 2022. He ultimately finished the season with eight sacks and 12 QB hits.

More notes out of Buffalo…

  • Speaking of injuries, defensive tackle Jordan Phillips revealed that he was playing through a torn rotator cuff that will ultimately require offseason surgery (via The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia on Twitter). The impending free agent is confident that he’ll be good to go for training camp. Meanwhile, quarterback Josh Allen is hoping he won’t have to go under the knife for his ailing elbow. The QB told reporters that he’s hoping to just rehab his elbow throughout the offseason (per Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News on Twitter).
  • Last offseaosn, the Bills made one of the biggest splashes when they inked Miller to that aforementioned contract. This time around, the Bills aren’t expecting as many fireworks. Beane told reporters that he’s not anticipating a major move at any point this offseason. “We’re going to have to work to get under the cap,” Beane admitted (via Getzenberg on Twitter). With more than $240MM on the books, the Bills are projected to be over the cap heading into the offseason.
  • One major move the Bills will have to consider is a new contract for linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. Beane acknowledged that the franchise tag could be in play for the impending free agent, but the GM also noted that the tag value may be prohibitive thanks to the inclusion of edge rushers (via Skurski on Twitter). Beane also said the team would happily welcome back impending free agent safety Jordan Poyer, although the GM cautioned that they’ll need clarity on the cap before proceeding. A two-time Pro Bowler, Edmunds continued producing in 2022, finishing with his fifth-straight 100+ tackle season. Poyer, meanwhile, completed his sixth season in Buffalo with 63 tackles and four interceptions, resulting in a Pro Bowl nod.
  • Guard Rodger Saffold told reporters that he intends to play in 2023 and hopes to re-sign with the Bills, according to Buscaglia on Twitter. The 34-year-old indicated that he’s not looking to break the bank with his next contract and simply wants to be paid a fair amount for his age and ability. The offensive lineman also acknowledged that he’s willing to do what he can to stick in Buffalo. Saffold started all 16 of his games during his first season with the Bills.

Patriots Rumors: Interviews, McCourty

January 27th, 2023 at 10:08pm CST by Ely Allen

The Patriots coaching staff are currently in Nevada for the East-West Shrine Game, and they plan on conducting a few interviews for a vacant spot on their staff while they’re there, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. New England will interview Bills assistant offensive line coach Ryan Wendell and Oregon Ducks associate head coach/run game coordinator/offensive line coach Adrian Klemm in Las Vegas this weekend.

Wendell played for the Patriots for eight years, winning a Super Bowl with them in 2014. The undrafted lineman out of Fresno State was a starter for them that season for the third straight year. He joined the Bills’ staff in 2019 as a coaching assistant and was promoted after a year to his current position.

Klemm was also an offensive lineman for the Patriots, wearing the red, white, and blue from 2000-04. Klemm was never a full-time starter but served as an important backup who started in multiple spots for New England over the years. Klemm’s coaching career has been much longer than Wendell’s and has mostly been in the collegiate ranks with stints at SMU and UCLA before his jump to the NFL. In 2019, Klemm accepted the assistant offensive line coaching position for the Steelers, eventually getting promoted to offensive line coach in 2021. Klemm left the team that year, though, with two games remaining in the regular season to join the Ducks in his current role.

Here’s one more rumor about the Patriots as they begin their offseason:

  • Veteran Patriots safety Devin McCourty is considering joining his brother, Jason, in retirement, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN. He said recently that he isn’t “sure either way.” He reportedly has a family vacation on his mind right now and may address his future after that, but it’s up in the air right now. The 13-year veteran has spent all of his career in New England and hasn’t missed a start since 2015. He has stayed a consistent contributor over the years with four interceptions this past season and 14 in the last four years.

Coaching Rumors: Payton, Flores, Evero

January 26th, 2023 at 2:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

By far the biggest name on this year’s coaching carousel, Sean Payton looks to have seen his momentum stall a bit. While Payton is interviewing with the Cardinals today, his candidacy has not produced a second interview anywhere yet. The Panthers met with Payton this week but just hired Frank Reich. While the Texans remain on the radar for the longtime Saints HC, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com does not get the sense much momentum is present for such a partnership. The Broncos have been connected to other names recently as well, but that path may be dwindling as well. There might not be a place for Payton — as odd as that sounds, given his track record — on this year’s market, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com offers (video link)

Trade compensation being required to land the Super Bowl XLIV-winning HC, with the price varying from a first-rounder and other early picks to two first-rounders, has affected teams’ plans here. Payton, 59, has also been mentioned as waffling on this year’s lot of jobs. Returning to FOX for another year and surveying the 2024 market, when two jobs he has long been connected to (Chargers, Cowboys), could be available might be what comes out of this run of interviews. Payton remains in this year’s mix, but buzz has died down.

Here is the latest from the coaching landscape:

  • Regarding the Cardinals‘ search, Brian Flores remains firmly in the mix. GM candidates received the impression Arizona is high on the three-year Miami HC-turned-Pittsburgh linebackers coach, Fowler notes. Previously mentioned as a frontrunner — due partially to the Cards hiring ex-Patriots exec Monti Ossenfort as GM — Flores may have a right-hand man on defense lined up. Some around the league expect the ex-Dolphins HC to bring Gerald Alexander, Miami’s defensive backs coach for the past three years, with him to Arizona, per Fowler. With the Dolphins looking for a new DC, Alexander may be on the move anyway. While ESPN colleague Dan Graziano points to Vance Joseph and Aaron Glenn remaining strong candidates, Flores has generated the most buzz to this point. Flores has also interviewed for the Falcons and Vikings’ DC posts.
  • Raheem Morris booked a second HC interview with the Colts and also met with the Broncos and Texans. Should the Rams‘ DC land a second HC opportunity, Albert Breer of SI.com notes Ejiro Evero is the team’s top candidate to replace him. The Denver DC is no lock to be available. He is under contract with the Broncos, who blocked a Falcons DC interview, and has gone through second HC interviews with the Colts and Texans. Denver could pass on retaining Evero by hiring a defensive-minded coach, of course. Evero came to Denver from Los Angeles; he spent five years on Sean McVay‘s staff.
  • The Browns considered bringing in Vic Fangio for a DC interview, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes, but they stood down and ended up hiring Jim Schwartz. Cleveland having run a 4-3 defense in recent years may have been a reason for passing on a Fangio meeting, Cabot offers. Fangio has remained quite popular still, having interviewed for three DC jobs — the Dolphins, Falcons and Panthers — already.
  • The Bills are making a change to their defensive staff. They fired safeties coach Jim Salgado, Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com tweets. Salgado had been on McDermott’s staff throughout the head coach’s six-season tenure.
  • Giants DC Don Martindale is attached to a three-year contract, Dan Duggan of The Athletic notes (subscription required). The Giants thought enough of the veteran coordinator, whom the Ravens did not bring back last year, they gave him the three-year deal as opposed to the more common two-year pact. Giants ST coordinator Thomas McGaughey also received extensive interest from other teams, with Duggan adding the Chargers joined the Panthers in offering him their ST coordinator jobs. McGaughey, who has been with the Giants since 2018, turned down a Bears interview and opted to stay and work for Brian Daboll.

Chargers Request OC Interview With Bills’ Joe Brady

January 24th, 2023 at 9:31pm CST by Ben Levine

Joe Brady is emerging as a popular name for offensive coordinator jobs, but it’s uncertain which organizations he’ll speak with. The Chargers are one of the teams that’s requested permission to speak with the Bills QBs coach about their OC vacancy, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo (via Twitter).

[RELATED: 2023 Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker]

Garafolo adds that Brady has “multiple requests” from teams, and considering his current title, we can assume these mystery suitors are eyeing the coach for OC opportunities. It’s uncertain which (if any) interviews Brady will consider taking, according to Garafolo.

Following a successful stint as LSU, Brady was named the Panthers offensive coordinator for the 2020 campaign. Carolina’s offense was unremarkable during Brady’s tenure, including a 2021 campaign that ultimately led to the coach’s firing (30th in yards and 29th in points). He was hired by the Bills last offseason to be their new QBs coach after Ken Dorsey earned a promotion to OC. Brady managed to rehabilitate his image thanks to Josh Allen‘s MVP-like season, and now he’s firmly back on the OC radar.

Joe Lombardi was canned following a disappointing end to the Chargers’ season. Since his firing, five candidates have emerged:

NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/23/23

January 23rd, 2023 at 6:30pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s reserve/futures deals, mostly featuring teams recently eliminated from the postseason:

Buffalo Bills

Dallas Cowboys

Jacksonville Jaguars

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/21/23

January 21st, 2023 at 5:51pm CST by Ely Allen

Minor moves and standard gameday elevations for the final two games of the divisional round:

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

San Francisco 49ers

NFL Discussed Bengals-Bills Neutral Site; Latest On AFC’s Atlanta Scenario

January 20th, 2023 at 10:56am CST by Sam Robinson

Had the Bengals beaten the Bills in Week 17, the four-loss team would have been on track to secure the AFC’s No. 2 seed. The results of Week 18 — Chiefs, Bengals and Bills wins — would have finalized that scenario. But only the Buffalo side of the “what if?” equation ended up factoring into the NFL’s neutral-site proposal.

The Bills controlled their own destiny for the AFC’s top seed, which would have been the franchise’s first since 1993, but the frightening Damar Hamlin scene leading to a cancelled game ended up nixing that path. While the Chiefs have drawn the 9-8 Jaguars in Round 2, despite losing to both the Bills and Bengals in the regular season, the latter two teams will face off Sunday. A third straight year featuring a Bills-Chiefs playoff matchup would take that game to Atlanta, and while the NFL discussed a second neutral site for a Bengals-Bills tilt, that game will be played in Buffalo.

“There was some discussion,” NFL executive VP Troy Vincent said (via the Buffalo News’ Clevis Murray) of Bengals-Bills being played in a neutral location, “but membership thought it was best for [only] the championship game to be at a neutral site.”

The Bengals’ main objection amid a swift push to shoot down the NFL’s compromise came as a result of the coin-toss scenario involving the Ravens, but they would have been part of the neutral-site scenario had the Chiefs lost to the Raiders in Week 18 and a rematch of last year’s AFC championship game ended up occurring. The team obviously voted against the proposal, with the Chiefs abstaining and the Bills being one of the 25 teams to submit a “yes” vote, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports notes. Barring a Jaguars upset of the Chiefs on Saturday, the Bengals will need their road whites for the remainder of the AFC playoffs.

Should the Chiefs hold seed and the favored Bills prevail in the teams’ first playoff matchup since the 1988 AFC championship game, the teams will head to Georgia for a game that has already seen 50,000 tickets sold — per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter) — to Bills and Chiefs season-ticket holders. One (or two) team’s fans would collect some sobering refunds depending on this weekend’s results, but should the league’s Atlanta contingency come into play, Bills and Chiefs fans would be seated on opposite sides at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Chiefs wanted an outdoor venue on grass, Jones adds, while it is not clear what the Bills preferred. Although both the Colts and Lions’ venues were floated as options, neither Lucas Oil Stadium nor Ford Field ended up being in play. The NFL selected Atlanta because of its fairly equal distance (893 miles from Buffalo, 801 from Kansas City) between the two cities, per Jones, while the NFC South stadium has been an in-case-of-emergency site for a bit now.

Speculation about the NFL using a Bills-Chiefs matchup as a test run for conference championship games to be played at neutral sites has emerged, and sources outside the league office floated to Jones that theory. Despite the draft and combine now rotating venues, the conference championships — played at the site of the team with the better record since 1975 — being held at neutral locations would mean the No. 1 seed would only come with a bye and one home game. The No. 2 seed having a path to host two games might be a nonstarter for the league. But the NFL has moved a wild-card game to Monday, despite the Monday game’s winner guaranteed a short week. The Atlanta scenario being a prelude to a drastic format change should not be entirely dismissed, though we are not there yet.

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