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Bills To Hire Joe Brady As QBs Coach

February 2nd, 2022 at 4:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Not long after the Bears met with Joe Brady about a staff position, the Bills will be the team that lands the former Panthers offensive coordinator. Brady will sign on as Buffalo’s quarterbacks coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

While the Sean McDermott–Brandon Beane Bills have brought in many ex-Panthers players in recent years, this Brady hire does not stem from past connections. Brady joined the Panthers as their OC well after McDermott and Beane were in Buffalo, but the former architect of LSU’s record-setting offense represents an interesting hire for a team that just lost play-caller Brian Daboll to the Giants.

Brady, 32, will team with new Buffalo OC Ken Dorsey as McDermott’s top offensive staffers. Dorsey will be in line to call plays for the Bills, a role Brady had with the Panthers for most of the past two seasons. Bringing nearly three full seasons’ worth of coordinator experience, Brady stands to help the cause as Josh Allen‘s new position coach. This will be Dorsey’s first season as a coordinator at any level.

After Brady helped Joe Burrow set a record with 60 touchdown passes for a national championship-winning Tigers team in 2019, his Panthers quarterback situations were not on that level. Brady booked five head coaching interviews in 2021, but the Panthers dropped from 21st to 30th in total offense from Brady’s first Carolina season to his second. Carolina’s Sam Darnold–Cam Newton QB situation doubled as one of the league’s worst; Allen will be a considerable step up for a coach attempting to rebound after a December firing.

Bills Name Ken Dorsey Offensive Coordinator

February 1st, 2022 at 12:43pm CST by Adam La Rose

After spending a bit of time looking at external candidates for their offensive coordinator vacancy, the Bills have landed on the internal name they were first linked to. Ken Dorsey, the team’s quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, has been promoted to OC (Twitter link via Mike Garafolo of NFL Network). 

[Related: Tee Martin, Edgar Bennett To Interview For Bills’ OC Position]

It had been expected that Dorsey would soon become an OC; the question was simply whether or not it would be in Buffalo or New York, after Brian Daboll was named the new head coach of the Giants. Rather than hiring one of the two outside coaches they interviewed, allowing Dorsey to follow Daboll to New York, the Bills have kept the 40-year-old in house to keep a degree of stability on offense.

Buffalo certainly had competitors for Dorsey’s services. As WGRZ’s Vic Carucci tweets, there were “at least a half-dozen teams” interested in him. If he had left the Bills, that means it actually may not have been a guarantee the Giants would have been his ultimate destination.

Dorsey has been with the Bills since 2019, beginning with the same QBs coach role he held for five years with the Panthers. For the past two seasons, he has had the added title of passing game coordinator, helping lead the team to a third place finish in points per game in 2021. More generally, he has played a crucial role in developing Josh Allen into an MVP candidate following the accuracy concerns early in his career.

Meanwhile, for the Giants, the list of their preferred (remaining) candidates is down to three, according to Garafolo. He tweets that the finalists are Pep Hamilton, the QBs coach/passing game coordinator for the Texans, Mike Kafka, who holds the same titles with the Chiefs, and Chad O’Shea, the WRs coach/pass game coordinator with the Browns.

Ravens’ Tee Martin, Raiders’ Edgar Bennett To Interview For Bills’ OC Position

January 31st, 2022 at 3:35pm CST by Adam La Rose

With Brian Daboll off to the Giants as their newest head coach, the Bills continue to search for a new offensive coordinator. The second name on the list of candidates is Tee Martin, the Ravens’ wide receivers coach, who is set to meet with Buffalo for the vacancy (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec). Not long after that came out, ESPN’s Dan Graziano tweeted that Edgar Bennett, who holds the same title with the Raiders, will also interview for the role. 

[Related: Ken Dorsey To Be Considered For Bills, Giants OC Jobs]

The Martin announcement was made by Ravens HC John Harbaugh when he addressed the media on Monday. Martin, 43, has only been an NFL coach for this past season. He has a decorated college resume, though, highlighted by work as the wide receivers coach at Kentucky, USC and Tennessee dating back to 2010. Those stints have also included the roles of passing game coordinator, OC and assistant head coach along the way. The 2021 season, while disappointing overall for the Ravens, offered cause for optimism at the receiver position with Marquise Brown recording his first 1,000-yard season and Rashod Bateman demonstrating, once he was healthy, why he was worthy of a first round pick.

Bennett has been an NFL coach since 2005, the year he started working in Green Bay. That lasted until 2017, and included a three-year stint as the team’s OC. Part of a major overhaul on the offensive staff in 2018, the 52-year-old was let go in January of 2018. For the past four years, he has been the WRs coach with the Raiders; the 2021 campaign saw Las Vegas rank sixth in the league in passing yards.

These announcements come after it was reported that Ken Dorsey, the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for the Bills, would likely be promoted to OC with Daboll gone. The only alternative, it is believed, would be if Daboll convinced Dorsey to follow him to New York. With Buffalo looking at two external candidates, the team will have options if that does in fact happen.

Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order

January 31st, 2022 at 8:54am CST by Adam La Rose

Championship Sunday has come and gone, and with it, we now know the matchup for Super Bowl LVI. The Rams’ win on Sunday guarantees that the Lions’ other first round pick will be in the bottom two, slightly devaluing it relative to if they had lost. Still, it is one of the bargaining chips they hold if they were to attempt to move up into the top spot, from their current position of second. As one of four teams with multiple picks in the opening round, Detroit will certainly be a squad to keep an eye on in April.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.

Here is the updated order after this weekend’s results:

  1. Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-14
  2. Detroit Lions: 3-13-1
  3. Houston Texans: 4-13
  4. New York Jets: 4-13
  5. New York Giants: 4-13
  6. Carolina Panthers: 5-12
  7. New York Giants(via Bears)
  8. Atlanta Falcons: 7-10
  9. Denver Broncos: 7-10
  10. New York Jets (via Seahawks)
  11. Washington Football Team: 7-10
  12. Minnesota Vikings: 8-9
  13. Cleveland Browns: 8-9
  14. Baltimore Ravens: 8-9
  15. Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
  16. Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)
  17. Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8
  18. New Orleans Saints: 9-8
  19. Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8
  20. Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1
  21. New England Patriots: 10-7
  22. Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7
  23. Arizona Cardinals: 11-6
  24. Dallas Cowboys: 12-5
  25. Buffalo Bills: 11-6
  26. Tennessee Titans: 12-5
  27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4
  28. Green Bay Packers: 13-4
  29. Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)
  30. Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5
  31. Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7*
  32. Detroit Lions (via Rams)

* = Remaining playoff teams

Ken Dorsey To Be Considered For Bills, Giants OC Jobs

January 29th, 2022 at 8:55am CST by Ben Levine

Following Brian Daboll‘s hiring in New York, another Bills coach will likely be getting a promotion. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), Bills passing-game coordinator and QB coach Ken Dorsey will likely earn a promotion to OC.

As Schefter notes, that opportunity could come from two places. Dorsey could easily slide in to the OC vacancy with the Bills, and ESPN’s Dan Graziano tweets his believe that Dorsey will ultimately get the job in Buffalo. However, as Lindsay Jones of The Athletic tweets, the Rooney Rule will require the organization to interview at least one minority candidate for the job, so Dorsey won’t be a shoo-in.

Alternatively, the coach could join Daboll in New York and become the Giants new OC. Dorsey worked alongside Daboll for three seasons in Buffalo.

Dorsey has been an NFL QBs coach since 2013. He spent five years with the Panthers before following the pipeline up north, joining his former bosses in Buffalo. Dorsey was with Carolina during the franchise’s most recent Super Bowl season, when Cam Newton soared to MVP honors in 2015. Since then, he’s raised his stock even further, taking Josh Allen from an inaccurate prospect to an MVP candidate.

 

Giants To Hire Brian Daboll As Head Coach

January 28th, 2022 at 5:20pm CST by Adam La Rose

The league’s third head coaching hire has reportedly been made. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets that the Giants are hiring Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as their new HC. 

Daboll was thought to be the favorite for the job when he became the first candidate to receive a second interview in New York. That, along with the obvious connection to newly-hired GM Joe Shoen, had many speculating that the position was his to lose.

Of course, the Giants weren’t the only suitor for the 46-year-old’s services. He was named as one of three finalists for the Dolphins’ HC vacancy, and recently considered the favorite in Miami. Rapoport’s colleague, Tom Pelissero, tweets that the Saints also wanted to interview him.

Instead, he will be replacing Joe Judge in an attempt, along with Schoen, to reset the Giants on an organizational level. The two hires prove that the franchise’s stated goal of looking from outside New York to find its next HC and GM has been fulfilled.

Daboll will be tasked first and foremost with improving the Giants’ lackluster offense in what could very well be a make-or-break year for quarterback Daniel Jones. His job developing Josh Allen would certainly represent cause for optimism on that front.

Meanwhile, this news drops the number of remaining candidates set for second interviews with the Dolphins down to two: Mike McDaniel and Kellen Moore, the OCs for the 49ers and Cowboys, respectively.

Here’s a final look at the Giants’ coaching search:

Brian Daboll Favorite For Dolphins HC Job?

January 26th, 2022 at 8:38pm CST by Ben Levine

Brian Daboll is beginning to pull away from the pack in Miami. According to Adam H. Beasley of ProFootballNetwork.com, the Bills offensive coordinator “has emerged as a top target — and potentially the top target” for the Dolphins head coaching vacancy.

[RELATED: Giants To Conduct Second HC Interview With Brian Daboll]

While the Dolphins appear to be zeroing in on Daboll, the OC would still need to accept the job. That’s one of the “hurdles” that remains in the Dolphins’ search, per Beasley. Daboll is also a candidate for the Giants HC gig, a job that he’s interviewed for twice.

The potential hiring would reunite Daboll with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who played under Daboll when the two were at Alabama. A Daboll hiring would also be a bit of a homecoming for the coach after he served as Miami’s offensive coordinator in 2011. Dolphins GM Chris Grier worked alongside Daboll during the coach’s stint with the team.

Recently, Daboll has made a name for himself in Buffalo. Following an inconsistent first season in the role, the Bills offense has been among the top-10(ish) units over the past three years. That includes a passing offense that ranked second in points scored in 2020 and third in points scored in 2021.

Bills’ Leslie Frazier Books Second Giants HC Interview

January 25th, 2022 at 9:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Not long after Brian Daboll concluded his second interview with the Giants, the now-Joe Schoen-run team will meet with the Bills’ defensive coordinator a second time.

Leslie Frazier will meet with the Giants for the second time in less than a week, with Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reporting (via Twitter) this second interview will occur Friday. Frazier previously spoke virtually with the Giants late last week.

Frazier, 62, has previous HC experience, from his time leading the Vikings in the early 2010s, and has attracted interest from multiple other teams during this cycle. Frazier interviewed with the Bears and Dolphins. Despite his early connection to the Bears and history with the franchise as part of their storied 1985 squad, Frazier is not believed to be a finalist for the Chicago HC gig.

Frazier worked with Schoen since their respective Buffalo arrivals in 2017. Daboll arrived in 2018. The Giants have zeroed in on both Bills top coordinators and Brian Flores for their HC job, and New York’s search will continue through at least Friday. Buffalo’s issues containing Kansas City’s high-powered offense in the teams’ historic divisional-round shootout aside, Frazier’s unit ranked first in both points and yards allowed this season. The Bills also deployed a top-three defense in 2019.

Here is how the Giants’ HC search looks as of Tuesday night:

Falcons TE Lee Smith Retires

January 25th, 2022 at 8:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

Lee Smith managed to play tight end in the NFL for 11 seasons, despite none of those including 100 receiving yards. The well-regarded blocker announced his retirement Tuesday.

Smith spent his NFL days with the Bills, Raiders and Falcons, playing in Atlanta for one season. He will walk away after 16 games with the Falcons, having assisted in Cordarrelle Patterson‘s late-career running back breakout.

“I couldn’t feel more blessed that I get to step away on my terms,” Smith said, via AtlantaFalcons.com’s Scott Bair. “It just doesn’t happen that way very often. Yet here I am, a stiff-as-hell fifth-round draft pick who found himself a niche-y role and figured out a way to stay around.”

A 2011 Patriots draftee out of Marshall, Smith landed with the Bills via waiver claim that September. He signed a three-year, $9MM deal with the Raiders in 2015. In Oakland, Smith worked alongside a three-Pro Bowler offensive line to help Latavius Murray to a 1,000-yard season. The Raiders re-signed him in 2018, but Smith rejoined the Bills a year later — on another three-year deal worth $9MM — and was part of the team’s resurgence.

Buffalo traded Smith to Atlanta during the 2021 offseason. Although the Falcons rostered Hayden Hurst and top-five pick Kyle Pitts, Smith played 311 offensive snaps this season. Smith finished his career with 73 catches for 523 yards and 11 touchdowns.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/24/22

January 24th, 2022 at 5:51pm CST by Ben Levine

Here are Monday’s reserve/futures deals:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

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