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Aditya Krishnan

AFC Staff Rumors: Canada, Steelers, Shaw, Broncos, Chargers, Jaguars, Titans

June 26th, 2024 at 2:31pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Steelers opted for an outside OC hire, adding Arthur Smith, but both halves of their interim setup from last season — Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan — remain with the team. Sullivan drew OC interest elsewhere, after calling the plays for a Mason Rudolph-led offense that ended up in the playoffs, but he is in place as a Steelers senior offensive assistant. Faulkner remains the team’s RBs coach. Smith should be considered likely to include the duo in his game plans, per The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly, who adds ousted OC Matt Canada was not known for a collaborative approach. Canada did not receive input from staffers especially well, Kaboly notes, before becoming the historically rare Steelers assistant fired in-season.

Here is the latest from AFC coaching staffs and front offices:

  • One of the Broncos‘ HC candidates in 2023, David Shaw is now in place to work remotely as a staffer under Sean Payton and George Paton. Shaw has coached with the former (on Ray Rhodes‘ 1997 Eagles staff) and began communicating with the GM more often since the January 2023 interview. Months after the longtime Stanford HC’s interview, SI.com’s Albert Breer notes he expressed an interest to Paton regarding work in NFL personnel. During the time between his Broncos connections, Shaw interviewed for the Chargers and Titans’ HC jobs. The Paton conversations, with likely help from the Stanford ties owners Greg Penner and Condoleezza Rice have, led to the longtime Stanford coach landing with the AFC West franchise.
  • Elsewhere on the Broncos’ staff, InsidetheLeague.com’s Neil Stratton notes Ty Murphy has moved from scouting intern to pro scout. Murphy initially caught on with the team in July 2023.
  • Four years ago, the Chargers were new on the analytics front. They hired Aditya Krishnan to lead that department in February 2020. Early in Jim Harbaugh‘s tenure, the Bolts are moving in a different direction. Krishnan, who held the title of football research and analytics director, is no longer with the team, according to ESPN.com’s Seth Walder. While new regimes shake up staffs, it will be interesting to see how Harbaugh goes about assembling an analytics department in Los Angeles.
  • The Jaguars are also losing an experienced staffer. Brian Squeglia, who worked as an area scout for the past six years and spent eight seasons in Jacksonville, is leaving the team, per Stratton. Squeglia is set to remain in the industry but is not planning to work for another team presently.
  • The Titans added two staffers recently, with Walder indicating they hired Erin Psajdl Davis and Alex Rogers as analysts. Psajdl Davis comes over from the Chiefs, having worked on the business side in Kansas City. She previously held a football-related role in Houston. Rogers interned for the Saints previously.

AFC Notes: Brady, Browns, Chargers

February 29th, 2020 at 9:54pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

There’s been a lot of Tom Brady talk over the past week, and it’s hard to determine what’s real. While there was one report that Brady was planning on moving on, it appears to still very much be up in the air whether he returns to the Patriots next season. One thing is for certain though, and that’s that there are a number of potential suitors who are interested should he not go back to New England. One interesting factor is that Brady will apparently have to take less money if he wants to stay with the Pats, as Jeff Howe of The Athletic reports that New England will “almost certainly not be the highest bidder” when free agency opens.

The Patriots are apparently waiting for the new CBA situation to play out, as that would impact how they would structure any potential Brady extension. But as Howe points out, that “doesn’t explain why the Patriots haven’t at least initiated significant discussions” with Brady’s reps. Howe also writes that the two sides “haven’t had any talks of substance” about a new deal. Buzz started to heat up at the combine this past week, and we should know a lot more about Brady’s future soon.

Here’s more from around the:

  • Andrew Berry is running the Browns’ front office now, and he’s getting paid handsomely. Cleveland gave the 32-year-old around $3.3MM a year to be their new GM, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. La Canfora writes that figure has a “lot of his peers around the league excited,” since it’s a big number for a first-time GM. Executive salaries across the league are increasing, and it sounds like they could take off even more in the coming years. As La Canfora points out, the Browns are still paying Berry’s predecessor John Dorsey, who they fired earlier this offseason.
  • The Eagles have had a mountain of injuries the past few years, and they parted ways with director of high performance Shaun Huls at least partially as a result. Huls is now landing on his feet, as the Browns are hiring him to the same role, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link). Huls had spent the past seven seasons in Philadelphia.
  • The Chargers are becoming the latest team to emphasize the importance of analytics in their front office. Los Angeles hired Aditya Krishnan away from Cleveland to become their director of analytics, according to Seth Walder of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Walder notes that the Chargers didn’t have any analytics employees prior to hiring Krishnan, and it’ll be interesting to see if this is the start of a new department to report to GM Tom Telesco. Krishnan had previously served as an analyst with the Browns.