Nathaniel Hackett is in place to reprise his role as offensive coordinator of the Jets in 2024. The maligned play-caller has been the subject of considerable speculation this offseason, though, with New York reportedly seeking out a de facto replacement.
Hackett had success alongside Aaron Rodgersas a non-play-calling offensive coordinator in Green Bay. He took his first head coaching opportunity with Denver in 2022, but that resulted in his firing before the campaign came to an end. The 44-year-old reunited with Rodgers in New York last season, but his performance guiding the Jets’ offense was met with criticism.
Head coach Robert Saleh was connected to exploring a hire to whom Hackett would cede at least some of his authority this winter, but to date no such move has been made. The latter feels he still has the support of the former, and that is also the case with respect to Rodgers. Healthy following his Week 1 Achilles tear, the future Hall of Famer provided a public endorsement of Hackett during an appearance on Mad Dog Sports Radio.
When asked by host Adam Schein why the Jets should trust Hackett, Rodgers replied, “Well, you should trust me and I trust Nathaniel. So, to me, that’s end of story. There’s been a lot of BS that’s been said out there. There’s a lot of things that have gone on the last couple years that he’s dealt with that I think he’s handled very professionally. And at the end of the day, I think you gotta trust his and my working relationship and the conversations that we have” (h/t ESPN’s Rich Cimini).
Saleh, Hackett and general manager Joe Douglas have faced questions about their job security, but the trio received a mulligan from owner Woody Johnson following a 2023 season in which Rodgers was sidelined for all but four snaps. The latter will be a central figure in New York’s ability to rebound this year, and Hackett too will receive plenty of attention as the season goes on. Cimini confirms the Jets sought out an experienced staffer, though he adds Hackett’s status as play-caller likely would have been safe in any case.
“We gotta believe in Nathaniel,” Rodgers added. “At the end of the day, his and my partnership is one that’s been fruitful in the past, and it’s gonna be fruitful again.”
Representation in Super Bowls has not stretched wide in the AFC over the past decade. Since 2013, all of four franchises — the Broncos, Patriots, Chiefs and Bengals — have represented the conference in Super Bowls. The NFC in that span has produced seven Super Bowl entrants.
Since 2001, QB-driven graphics regarding Super Bowl participation primarily feature four faces — those of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Patrick Mahomes. An AFC team employing a QB outside that quartet has only reached the Super Bowl three times (2002 Raiders, 2012 Ravens, 2021 Bengals) in 24 seasons. As the NFC has rolled out 21 Super Bowl QB starters since Brady’s first appearance, it has been quite difficult for outsiders to forge a path in the AFC.
This space used to ask which team was best positioned to KO the Patriots in the AFC. The Chiefs ended up getting there, first loading up around Mahomes’ rookie contract before assembling a low-cost (but highly effective) defense to help a team suddenly limited — beyond the Mahomes-Travis Kelce connection’s enduring brilliance — following the Tyreek Hill trade. As the Chiefs aim to become the first team since the mid-1960s Packers to threepeat (part one of Green Bay’s offering occurred before the Super Bowl era), which conference challenger is best built to disrupt their path back?
The AFC North appears a good place to start. The Ravens open the season with an Arrowhead Stadium trek and held the AFC’s No. 1 seed last season. Lamar Jackson skated to MVP honors, and Mike Macdonald‘s defense led the league in scoring. But familiar issues resurfaced for the team in the AFC championship game. An oddly pass-focused Baltimore effort ground to a halt, as Jackson committed two turnovers. Macdonald has since departed — the first Ravens coordinator to leave for a head coaching job since Gary Kubiak in 2015 — and ex-Baltimore linebacker Zach Orrmoved into the DC post. The team also lost three starters up front. Although quiet in free agency (in terms of outside hires) beyond the splashy Derrick Henryaddition, the Ravens added likely cornerback starter Nate Wiggins in Round 1 and kept Justin Madubuike off the market via the franchise tag and a quick extension.
Cincinnati has shown superior mettle against Kansas City since Joe Burrow‘s arrival, beating the Chiefs thrice in 2022 before falling as both teams battled key injuries in the January 2023 AFC title game. The Bengals losing Burrow in November removed a key obstacle in the Chiefs’ path, but the NFL’s highest-paid player is back. The team also retained Tee Higgins, being the only team left to have a player on the tag, and added new tackles inTrent Brown and Amarius Mimsto join Orlando Brown Jr. The team revamped its safety corps by bringing back Vonn Bell and adding ex-RavenGeno Stone. Not many glaring issues are present in Cincinnati’s lineup, with longer-term matters — the receiver situation chief among them — the top roster storylines here.
Creeping into the playoffs despite a host of high-profile injuries on offense, the Browns showed their roster strength by shrugging off the injuries to Deshaun Watson, Nick Chubb and their tackles. Cleveland acquired Jerry Jeudy via trade and then extended him, and other than adding some Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah supporting pieces at linebacker, returns the starters from a No. 1-ranked pass defense. Watson’s struggles, for the most part, since arriving via trade will continue to define where the Browns can venture.
Although the Bills parted with Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, looking past Buffalo — a four-time reigning AFC East champion that defeated the Chiefs in three straight seasons in Kansas City — would probably be a mistake. The Bills made some cost-cutting moves, most notably disbanding its seven-year safety duo of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer (though Hyde remains in play to return), and saw concerning form from Von Miller following his second ACL tear. The Bills also lost Leonard Floyd in free agency. Focus will understandably be aimed at Buffalo’s WR crew, which now housesCurtis Samuel, second-rounder Keon Colemanand ex-Chief Marquez Valdes-Scantling(who certainly places a premium on QB talent). The Chiefs’ issues staffing their wideout spots last year provided a lingering problem; will the Bills make a higher-profile addition down the line?
With their backs to the wall, the Joe Douglas–Robert Saleh regime will count on Aaron Rodgers belatedly delivering. The duo may or may not have attempted to strip power from OC Nathaniel Hackett, who is coming off a brutal two-year stretch. The Jets effectively replaced Bryce Huff with a more proven rusher inHaason Reddick and added Mike Williamsas a supporting-caster on offense. The team will hope its pair of 33-year-old tackles — Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses — holds up, while Olu Fashanu looms as a long term tackle piece and potential short-term guard. Can the Jets do enough offensively to capitalize on their defensive nucleus of the past two seasons?
The Texans sit as a fascinating piece of this puzzle, given their outlook going into the first three seasons of Nick Caserio‘s GM tenure. After low-key offseasons from 2021-23, Houston added Diggs and a few notable defenders to the DeMeco Ryans-led roster. Danielle Hunter and Denico Autry join ex-Ryans 49ers pupil Azeez Al-Shaairas key defensive additions. Although Diggs struggled down the stretch in his final Bills season, he certainly played a lead role in elevating Josh Allen‘s stature. The Texans, who have C.J. Stroud on a rookie deal through at least 2025, will hope the Pro Bowler pairs well with Nico Collins and the returning Tank Dell.
Miami and Jacksonville’s roster equations figure to change soon, as respective extension talks withTua Tagovailoa and Trevor Lawrenceare ongoing. The Dolphins have faded badly under Mike McDaniel and did not seriously threaten the Chiefs in a frigid wild-card game, though they have obviously shown elite offensive capabilities in the right environment. Handing the play-calling reins to OC Press Taylor in 2023, the Jaguars did not build on a strong 2022 finish. The Steelers also present one of the highest floors in NFL history, and they have upgraded at quarterback by adding two options — in Justin Fields and likely starterRussell Wilson. But they also have not won a playoff game since the six-field goal offering against the Chiefs — a game that represented the final shove for Kansas City to trade up for Mahoemes — seven years ago.
The Texans emerged from the NFL’s basement last season. Is there a stealth contender lurking? The Chiefs’ division does not look particularly imposing, once again, though Jim Harbaugh now overseeing Justin Herbert is certainly an interesting development. The national championship-winning HC has authored turnarounds everywhere he has gone.
No team has qualified for five Super Bowls in a six-year period, and none of the Super Bowl era’s threepeat efforts have reached the final stage; the 1990 49ers came closest, losing on a last-second field goal in the NFC title game. Who is poised to be the best Chiefs deterrent on their path to a threepeat? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your AFC thoughts in the comments section.
Terry and Kim Pegula shared equal ownership of the Bills upon buying the team in 2014, but the heart attack Kim suffered in June 2022 has brought a belated update to that status. A February 2023 Terry Pegula filing led to Kim being ruled incapacitated and her husband serving as her guardian, according to The Athletic’s Tim Graham (subscription required). Kim Pegula is not expected to be back with the Bills, Graham reports. Days after the ruling, Laura Pegula — Terry’s daughter from his first marriage — represented the Bills at owners meetings. Soon after, Terry transferred a “small percentage” of the team to Laura to comply with NFL rules regarding succession planning, Graham adds.
While this is an obviously concerning update regarding the health of Kim Pegula, 54, Graham indicates many Bills employees are in the dark about her prognosis and Laura Pegula’s role. Each May, teams are required to have succession plans in place. Previously, Kim was set to act as Bills principal owner as a bridge to the couple’s children; Terry is 73. The succession setup may soon become an issue. Bills employees had assumed tennis prodigy Jessica Pegula, Kim’s oldest child and the WTA’s No. 5-ranked player, and her husband, Taylor Gahagen, would eventually run the team. Jessica wrote a Players’ Tribune piece about her mother’s condition in February 2023, informing the public Kim had suffered brain damage from the heart attack. Months after that column, Graham reports Gahagen had been removed from his position as Bills director of corporate development and Laura had been given an equity stake in the franchise.
Remaining in place as CEO of the Bills and Buffalo Sabres, Terry Pegula has not answered questions publicly about the team since 2019. This update certainly calls into question, particularly in light of how the Broncos ended up being sold, the 11th-year owner’s succession view. Here is the latest from the AFC East:
Nathaniel Hackett believes, despite reports the Jets attempted to have some his power stripped this offseason, Robert Saleh still has full confidence in him as OC. “I don’t know what those reports are and I don’t know where their sources came from,” Hackett said, viaSNY. “I know what happened with us. It was great. We had a lot of conversations, got to talk to a lot of different people. It’s that simple. It’s already been addressed. … We had a lot of changes, so we were talking to a lot of people.” No known change to the Jets’ offensive plan came about this offseason, though the team has added some new position coaches. Aaron Rodgers has stumped for Hackett on many occasions, and the duo’s relationship from their Green Bay days is largely why the embattled play-caller remains in place. After a rough year as Broncos HC and losing Rodgers four plays into his debut as Jets OC, Hackett joins Saleh and GM Joe Douglas on the hot seat.
Bills right tackle Spencer Brown will not participate fully in OTAs due to undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, Sean McDermott said (via ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg). The Bills battled injuries at many positions last season, but they were healthy along their offensive front. Brown, who has been the team’s primary RT starter since his 2021 rookie year, played all 17 Buffalo games in 2023.
This offseason has brought changes to the wide receiver market, but a host of wideouts chosen early in the 2020 draft have taken center stage. Most NFL teams have authorized a big-ticket (by today’s standards) deal for a wide receiver. Ranked by guaranteed money and excluding rookie contracts and accords acquired via trade, here is the most lucrative WR deal in each franchise’s history.
Larry Fitzgerald‘s seven-year, $113MM extension (August 2011) holds the Cardinals standard for total value, but Hopkins’ pact checks in higher in terms of guarantees and AAV.
In total, Michael Crabtree‘s 2018 deal (worth $21MM) and Derrick Mason‘s 2005 agreement ($20MM) surpass Beckham’s. But the 2023 Baltimore rental’s guarantee came in higher.
The Browns have featured three higher-paid receivers on their roster since Landry’s contract, but both Odell Beckham Jr. and Amari Cooper arrived via trade and played on contracts designed by other teams. Jerry Jeudy‘s AAV ($17.5MM) on his 2024 extension also outpaces Landry’s, though the recent trade pickup’s total guarantee falls short here.
JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s 2023 deal trails Agholor’s in AAV but carried the same full guarantee. Danny Amendola‘s full payout ($28.5MM) in 2013 tops both deals.
Allen Lazard‘s 2023 deal and Santonio Holmes‘ contract back in 2011 brought more in total value ($44MM and $45MM, respectively) but did not match Davis’ for guarantees.
Mike Evans; March 9, 2018: Five years, $82.5MM ($55MM guaranteed; $38.26MM guaranteed at signing)
Chris Godwin‘s 2022 deal beats Evans’ for at-signing guarantees ($40MM), while the all-time Bucs receiving leader’s 2024 agreement leads the way in AAV ($20.5MM).
The Jets will have a trio of players compete for their two starting safety spots. Coach Robert Saleh told reporters (including ESPN’s Rich Cimini) that the Jets will have an open competition at the position, with Chuck Clark, Tony Adams, and Ashtyn Davis competing for the two starting roles.
With two-year starter Jordan Whitehead having returned to Tampa Bay, there is some uncertainty atop the positional depth chart. Adams got the longest look of the trio in 2023, having started all 15 of his appearances while compiling 82 tackles and three interceptions. However, Pro Football Focus only ranked him as a middle-of-the-road safety (41st among 95 qualifiers), and the former UDFA doesn’t have the resume to justify a definitive starting nod.
Davis saw a progressively larger role as the 2023 season went on, and while he didn’t earn enough snaps to qualify for PFF’s leader board, he would have graded out as a top-20 safety. The former third-round pick has seen an inconsistent role through his first four seasons in the NFL, starting 21 of his 54 appearances in New York. However, he’s become a favorite of Saleh, and the team showed some trust in the defensive back when they re-signed him this offseason.
“It is funny, all Ashtyn does is find the ball,” Saleh said last season (via the team’s website). “I am a big fan of his. He has done nothing but work. He was a valuable and very underrated piece of this defense. The way he goes about his business and the way he works, that play embodies everything that he represents for this defense.”
Clark is the true wildcard, as the veteran is coming off a torn ACL that ended his 2023 season before it began. Clark was a consistent starter during his final few years in Baltimore, and while the Jets didn’t give up a whole lot to acquire the veteran last offseason, they were still counting on the former 100-tackle defender to lead their safeties room.
The Jets will also be welcoming a new player to the position grouping. According to Brian Costello of the New York Post, Isaiah Oliver is moving to the safeties room. After spending the first five seasons of his career in Atlanta, Oliver spent the 2023 campaign in San Francisco, serving as the 49ers’ nickelback. He started six of his 17 appearances, finishing with 67 tackles and one interception. He’ll be competing with the likes of 2023 sixth-round pick Jarrick Bernard-Converse and 2024 seventh-round pick Jaylen Key for one of the final spots on the depth chart.
Earnest Brown was a fifth-round pick by the Rams back in 2021. He collected 14 tackles in 12 games through his first two seasons in Los Angeles, but he didn’t get into a single game with the big-league club during the 2023 campaign. He wasn’t retained via a futures contract this offseason, allowing him to catch on with the 49ers. He was waived by San Francisco earlier this month.
He’ll be taking the roster spot previously held by Patrick Laird, who spent the past two seasons on Tampa Bay’s practice squad. The former UDFA previously got into 37 games for the Dolphins between 2019 and 2021, collecting 533 yards from scrimmage. The Buccaneers added a pair of undrafted running backs in D.J. Williams and Ramon Jefferson, so the team may prefer to opt for a rookie on the taxi squad.
While woeful two-year coaching stretches have occurred throughout NFL history, Nathaniel Hackett is coming off a uniquely brutal period. The short-lived Broncos HC’s rebound effort fizzled four plays into last season, and although Aaron Rodgers‘ presence has effectively kept the embattled play-caller in place as Jets OC, the team does not appear pleased with its top offensive coach.
A report in January mentioned Robert Saleh exploring ways to strip some of Hackett’s authority, going so far as to say the fourth-year HC explored adding to his staff to limit his current OC’s power. It appears such an exploration did, in fact, occur. The Jets are believed to have pursued a hire that would have overseen Hackett on the offensive side, according to SNY’s Connor Hughes. No known hire has occurred at this point.
This shadowy search looks to have been aimed at an assistant HC-type hire, as opposed to a new OC. The latter effort would have required the Jets to comply with the Rooney Rule and dismiss Hackett, whom they hired largely to woo Rodgers in 2023. Unlike the Broncos, the Jets did manage — thanks to the Packers deeming Jordan Love ready to play by 2023 — to reunite Rodgers and Hackett. But the former ended up losing a season due to an Achilles tear. Rodgers’ repeated endorsements of Hackett have almost definitely kept the veteran coach employed.
The Jets actually making such a hire would have brought an extraordinary step, and it is interesting the team would even try this given the NFL’s OC landscape and this type of staff addition’s potential impact on Rodgers. The 20th-year QB certainly wields considerable power with the Jets. Among the 32 NFL teams, play-calling duties either run through a head coach or offensive coordinator. It is not certain the Jets were seeking a new play-caller, but it certainly sounds like they sought someone who could oversee Hackett on this front. With Saleh a defensive-minded HC, guardrails associated with Hackett are not in place.
If the Jets had truly made such an addition, it would have brought another ignominious chapter for a coach whose stock has tumbled since his Broncos stint. Beating out Dan Quinn for the Denver HC job in 2022, Hackett quickly proved overmatched. His bizarre decision to attempt a 64-yard field goal in his Broncos opener preceded a Week 2 game in which Denver fans counted down the play clock, as procedural penalties — or timeouts used to prevent them — piled up. This led to Broncos GM George Paton insisting Hackett hire a game management coach (Jerry Rosburg). A disjointed Broncos season still ensued, as the Hackett-Russell Wilson partnership dropped the team to 32nd in scoring offense. The Broncos made Hackett just the third post-merger HC to be fired before his first season ended.
Jets brass was not impressed with Hackett’s ability to adjust the offense to Zach Wilson last season, and the team’s 10 offensive TDs through 12 games marked the fewest any team had compiled since 2000. The Jets finished 29th in scoring and 31st in yardage last season, putting just about every key team decision-maker on thin ice.
Rodgers’ injury prompted ownership to give Saleh, Hackett and GM Joe Douglas a pass for 2023. It would seem Woody Johnson‘s patience will run out if the Jets extend their NFL-leading playoff drought to 14 seasons.
Saleh is among only six 21st-century HCs to retain his job after beginning a tenure with three sub-.500 seasons. Hackett, who operated as a non-play-calling OC in Green Bay for three years, will be counted on to maximize Rodgers’ age-40 season. Even when Rodgers was healthy last summer, Hughes adds the four-time MVP would repeatedly change a play Hackett called. With Rodgers being just about all that stands in the way of Hackett being axed, this will be an interesting partnership to follow as the Jets hope to justify the 2023 trade for the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Front offices around the NFL continue to chip away at their draft pick signings. That was no exception today, as a number of teams inked players to rookie contracts:
The Jets entered Monday without any of their 2024 draft picks having been signed. That has now changed, however, with first-round offensive tackle Olu Fashanuinking his rookie deal.
As ESPN’s Field Yates notes, this four-year pact will carry a value of $20.51MM. Like with all other Day 1 draftees, New York will have the ability to extend the contract by one more season via the fifth-year option. If the team does so, Fashanu will remain in place through the 2028 campaign.
Offensive line was a concern for the Jets entering the 2023 season, one in which Aaron Rodgers‘ debut New York campaign was cut short four plays into the season opener. After struggling with poor performance and injuries up front, adding at the tackle and guard spots was a priority this offseason. As a result, Morgan Moseswas re-acquired via trade to regain his old right tackle spot.
That move was followed in short order by the signing of Tyron Smith. The former Cowboys All-Pro joined on a one-year deal, and he is in place as New York’s starter on the blindside. Both Moses and Smith are 33, however, and the former is also a pending free agent. A long-term investment at the tackle spot was thus a main concern entering the draft. While New York was high on wideout Rome Odunze, it came as little surprise when the team used the No. 11 pick (acquired in a swap with the Vikings) on Fashanu.
The Penn State product was seen as one of the top tackle prospects in the 2023 class, and it came as a surprise to many when he elected to remain in school for one more year. Nevertheless, Fashanu was squarely on the first-round radar this year despite being part of an extremely deep O-line class. The Jets also had interest in fellow tackle Troy Fautanu, but like other teams they had injury concerns which steered them elsewhere.
Fashanu does not have an immediate path to playing time as a rookie, but injuries have been a constant in Smith’s career and the usually-durable Moses missed three games last season. The 6-6, 313-pounder could therefore find himself on the field in relatively short order this year. Even if not, though, Fashanu should be a fixture up front for the team in 2025 and beyond.
