Six playoff video games this weekend, and most of your questions had been about head coaches and coordinators on groups that did not make it. Let’s go …
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From ryan (@ryloose): Is the thought of Watson to Miami lifeless?
Ryan, the reply is not any. Deshaun Watson’s want to play for the Dolphins, as I’ve heard it, was bolstered by Brian Flores’s presence there. However that was hardly the solely factor Miami had going for it—there’s additionally a superb core group on the roster, cap flexibility to permit for guys to include the quarterback, no state earnings tax and, sure, the easy indisputable fact that it’s South Florida (which helps in getting guys to need to be part of him).
In the end, I feel it’s in all probability harmful at this level to go off final 12 months’s assumptions.
Final 12 months, possibly he didn’t like the thought of going again (shut to) house and becoming a member of the Panthers, however may the proper offensive coordinator get him to come round? Does the 12 months the Eagles simply had below Nick Sirianni enhance their standing in his thoughts? And the Broncos don’t also have a coach proper now, which appears related.
In the finish, if readability comes on his authorized state of affairs, then I feel there’ll be loads of suitors for Watson, and my guess is that Watson would reassess the place each workforce concerned stands. And bear in mind, he has a no-trade clause, which might help him steer the course of.
From Random Particular person (@mmillsrat): Bisaccia preserve the job?
Random, I feel Wealthy Bisaccia has an opportunity. He has the assist of the locker room. He has the assist of GM Mike Mayock. And the proprietor actually likes him. After I talked to Mark Davis about his workforce’s state of affairs a couple of month in the past, Davis conceded to me that the Raiders had began performing some background work on potential candidates for the job (“There’s at all times work being carried out”), then added, on the place Bisaccia stands, “He’s the coach of the Raiders.” I do suppose Davis meant it—he’s needed to give Bisaccia an actual shot at profitable the job.
Has Bisaccia carried out sufficient is one other query, and on benefit I’d say the reply is sure. The Raiders had misplaced two straight and had been in the throes of the Jon Gruden e mail mess when he was elevated to head coach. He refocused the workforce, and acquired wins in Denver and over the Eagles. After that, the Raiders went by way of a 1–5 stretch. After which they rebounded to win 4 straight to shut out the season.
Are these types of ups and downs superb? No, they aren’t. However they did present the gamers ample alternative to disengage, and chalk one other dropping season up to the chaos round them. That didn’t occur, even after the tragic Henry Ruggs III state of affairs. And Bisaccia deserves loads of credit score for that. Clearly, he acquired these guys enjoying for him.
Now, with a reworked enterprise aspect—interim president Dan Ventrelle has served as the workforce’s interim president—is there an opportunity that the idea of a splash (Jim Harbaugh? A coach commerce?) may win out? Completely there may be. But when Vegas’s search is like the others on the market, I’d suppose Bisaccia would have greater than a puncher’s probability of staying proper the place he’s.
From Jason B (@HeelofaPanther): What if Matt Rhule doesn’t rent a rockstar OC as Jay Glazer reported? Why hasn’t Tepper spoken and mentioned Matt’s coming again?
Jason, there are two issues to know on the Panthers’ offensive coordinator search. One, they’re centered on coordinators by commerce—that means they in all probability won’t venture a younger man or college-rooted assistant into the job. Two, they’re going to solid a large web, which is why you’ve already heard all kinds of names (Invoice O’Brien, Jay Gruden, Pep Hamilton).
And the needle that I imagine they’ll have to thread right here is getting a really concerned proprietor offered on a man who matches philosophically with what Rhule needs to do.
To me, that’s the crux of it. I haven’t talked to Glazer about it, however what I feel he was saying right here is that the proprietor could have to purchase in on Rhule’s imaginative and prescient for that aspect of the workers, which aligns with what I imagine—and wrote final Friday. The very fact is, as a result of Rhule and Tepper are such sturdy personalities, nothing was going to be for positive till they talked by way of the route of the workforce in wanting again at Rhule’s first two years and ahead into his third.
There was at all times the probability, and possibly there nonetheless is an opportunity, that this goes the method Philly did final 12 months, when proprietor Jeffrey Lurie and coach Doug Pederson merely couldn’t get on the identical web page by way of every week of conferences, and the Eagles let Pederson go eight days after the season ended. May that also occur with Carolina and Rhule? I don’t suppose it’ll. However the coordinator search ought to a minimum of make everybody sure the match between proprietor and coach continues to be there.
From Danny (@BetTheOver85): Is McCarthy gone if Cowboys are one-and-done?
Danny, Mike McCarthy went 12–5 in his second 12 months, gained the NFC East and landed the convention’s third seed. He’s additionally nailed his second shot at a defensive coordinator rent and began to develop a brand new wave of younger stars (Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs). So, it could appear, he’s given himself some respiratory room.
And but, my reply is … possibly. Why? Effectively, as I perceive it, the Joneses love that coordinator of McCarthy’s, and Dan Quinn has already drawn loads of head-coaching curiosity from different groups (the Dolphins, Jaguars, Broncos and Bears have put in for interviews with him). Quinn, it ought to be famous, continues to be getting paid by the Falcons, so the Cowboys can’t actually give him a increase to entice him to keep. Would they make him the head coach to guarantee it?
In the end, I don’t suppose they’d undergo with one thing like that. I bear in mind after they had been in that kind of spot in 2008, standing to lose a coordinator they actually preferred (Jason Garrett), and did all they might, monetarily a minimum of, to cease him from going to Baltimore or Atlanta. However they didn’t really pull the plug on Wade Phillips for one more two and a half years after that. That mentioned, it wouldn’t shock me in the event that they’d be tempted to do it.
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From Marco (@Marco_Mier1976): So if David Culley is gone, is the remainder of the teaching workers gone too? Are you able to consider anybody not named Josh McDaniels that might be a match?
Marco, if Culley’s gone, I wouldn’t essentially say the remainder of the workers is—offensive coordinator Tim Kelly may definitely stick round if Nick Caserio had been to rent McDaniels or Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo. Keep in mind, Kelly was a holdover from the Invoice O’Brien workers, so he’s a kind of cousin to that household and would possible match up philosophically with a New England–centric rent. Additionally, Kelly had a extremely good relationship with Deshaun Watson and has carried out a pleasant job teaching Davis Mills this 12 months.
If Culley’s out and it’s not McDaniels? The 2 apparent names are Mayo and Josh McCown. Caserio and Houston EVP Jack Easterby know Mayo nicely from New England, and Easterby took a liking to McCown after the former quarterback spent 2020 as the workforce’s emergency quarterback. McCown was provided a spot on the Eagles’ teaching workers after spending a year-plus there, and interviewed for the Houston job final 12 months.
From Keath Okay (@kclubkeath): Are you coming to Cellular for the Senior Bowl? I’m not as free and simple as @thekapman and can’t give you a spot to keep, however I’ll purchase you a drink.
Keath, sure! Planning to be in Cellular early that week and might’t anticipate it. I’ll be downtown, and round. At all times an superior week there.
From Jonathon Williams (@Big_J_Will23): All Shad Khan has to do is decide up a cellphone and name actually anybody in the NFL and know that Trent Baalke isn’t the reply for this franchise so as to WIN like Khan says he’s so enthusiastic about. Why is Khan so obsessive about Trent Baalke? Actually anybody else is best.
Jonathon, I’ve been by way of the reply to this earlier than, however right here it’s: Baalke cultivated a robust relationship with Shad and Tony Khan after his early 2020 rent. So that they elevated him to interim GM after firing Dave Caldwell final 12 months, then made him the full-time GM after hiring City Meyer (Meyer conceded on selecting his personal GM, as a result of he needed funding in a brand new facility, his teaching workers and sport science upgrades extra).
And after the Meyer rent blew up, the feeling from the Khans was that Baalke wasn’t at fault and shouldn’t have to pay the worth for what went unsuitable over Meyer’s 11 months on the job.
After all, the worth the Jaguars have had to pay for protecting him is apparent. Sure coaches simply aren’t going to go there. Why? The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami dug up this staggering truth: At the finish of every of Baalke’s final 5 years with NFL groups, the coach has gotten fired (Jim Harbaugh, Jim Tomsula, Chip Kelly, Doug Marrone and Meyer), and solely as soon as did Baalke wind up out with him (Kelly).
Backside line, he’s a survivor, and the implications that include which were sufficient to preserve others away. Now, Baalke’s capacity as a expertise evaluator is certainly there. He had ups and downs, in fact, as a GM, however helped to construct a Tremendous Bowl workforce in San Francisco, and there’s promise in his first draft class as Jaguars GM. Would which were sufficient for me to preserve him, if I had been the Khans? Based mostly on the monitor report, it wouldn’t have been. So I’m with you.
From Matt Ramas (@matt_ramas): Is the Jim Harbaugh curiosity in the NFL an actual factor or is he simply making an attempt to leverage a brand new contract from Michigan?
Matt, I feel his curiosity in the NFL has at all times been actual. I didn’t suppose when he left San Francisco in 2014 for Michigan that he was carried out as an NFL coach. The shut loss to his brother in Tremendous Bowl XLVII left him with some unfinished enterprise. And his report in the execs is definitely exemplary. His profession profitable proportion of .695 ranks fifth (!) all-time (with the apparent caveat being that he coached solely 4 seasons in the league).
Do I feel he needs to go now, over staying at Michigan? I don’t know. I’ve heard he wasn’t comfortable about having to take a pay reduce at Michigan final 12 months, and so this kind of state of affairs could have been inevitable—whether or not it was to get a increase at the faculty and make the folks there squirm, or to return to the NFL.
Taking all of that under consideration, if the proper NFL alternative comes alongside, the query for Harbaugh would have to be, if not now, then when? He’s 58. Final 12 months, when he sniffed round a bunch of jobs at the professional degree (the Jets and Chargers had been two), he didn’t discover a lot curiosity. He is aware of in addition to anybody that having one other shot isn’t automated. So we’ll see whether or not somebody offers him one thing to take into consideration earlier than Michigan locks him down.
From Joe Cirillo (@Jessica3112012): Do the Jets goal a WR with one in every of their two top-10 picks?
Joe, taking a look at the roster and the state of the draft class, I’d say in all probability … not.
They’ve the fourth and tenth picks. The protection nonetheless wants loads of assist in the secondary and with edge rushers, and this draft class (which isn’t nice at the prime) will afford New York some choices there. Assuming Aidan Hutchinson and Kayvon Thibodeaux are passed by No. 4, there’d be defensive again choices there in LSU nook Derek Stingley Jr. and Notre Dame security Kyle Hamilton. After which possibly you could have Purdue rusher George Karlaftis at 10 (although some scouts aren’t as excessive on Karlaftis as the basic public).
The receiver group this 12 months does have actually good choices, and depth, however lacks an actual top-10 man, notably after Jameson Williams tore his ACL in the title sport. Which suggests, in case you’re GM Joe Douglas, the worth would possibly be higher to deal with your protection in the prime 10 and double again to receiver in the thirties together with your second-rounder.
From Not_DB_Cooper (@_Not_DBCooper): How possible is it that the Tremendous Bowl is moved from L.A. to Dallas?
I may provide you with six billion explanation why it’s unlikely, Coop.
From Kodiak (@Slicenger7): Would Invoice O’Brien taking the OC job at Carolina strengthen the Panthers’ probabilities on getting Deshaun?
Kodiak, that’s a enjoyable query. O’Brien and Watson had a superb relationship when O’Brien was fired in October 2020. So I definitely don’t suppose his presence in Carolina would be an obstacle to Watson’s doubtlessly going there. However what may be is the concept that the complete workers would possibly be combating for survival in ’22. Which is to say, yeah, I feel a well-recognized face would assist, however possibly not sufficient to overcome concern that wholesale change would possibly be coming in a 12 months’s time.
Like I mentioned earlier, my guess is Watson will reset and take a look at the panorama for 2022 when determining the place he would possibly (or won’t) invoke his no-trade clause.
From Ricker81 (@D_Ricker81): If Choose is feeling strain to produce important wins so as to preserve his job, and the new GM needs to take a gradual and regular rebuild method, and understands these wins could not are available Yr 1, how will that dynamic work? Look like there would be loads of battle between the two.
Clearly, this query was requested earlier than Joe Choose’s firing late Tuesday. However, Ricker, I feel it does illustrate one purpose why the Giants felt compelled to transfer on from Choose: The GM job turns into extra enticing to candidates if they’ll decide their very own man.
From Ngoc Giang (@NgocedUp40): Will the Patriots deviate from their “script” if they begin off gradual. This has been obvious in the previous few video games.
Ngoc, I feel you’ve really seen it extra in the losses to the Payments, Colts and Dolphins—after they’ve had to come from behind, you’ve seen loads of psychological toughness from Mac Jones, but in addition regular rookie inconsistencies (one really ties into the different, with Mac’s capacity to compartmentalize the latter revealing the former). So ought to the Patriots put the sport in Jones’s arms earlier on?
It’s a harmful sport to play. I feel the Patriots have carried out a masterly job nurturing Jones’s improvement this 12 months—and it’s been largely by protecting him from having to play from behind or in unmanageable down-and-distance conditions a lot. If you happen to begin flinging it round on first down, the apparent danger is he’d wind up in long-yardage extra, after which the potential to fall behind early may grow to be very actual.
It’ll be an attention-grabbing dynamic to preserve monitor of Saturday evening, for positive.
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From Raymond Nuznoff (@raynuzzy): What NFL groups that missed the playoffs have the most to look ahead to subsequent season?
Raymond, listed here are 5!
1) Chargers: Brandon Staley did a very nice job in his first 12 months in cost, and Justin Herbert is simply scratching the floor. They’ve some enterprise to have a tendency to (Mike Williams is a free agent), however there’s rather a lot to be enthusiastic about right here.
2) Saints: Sean Payton acquired New Orleans to 9–8, and an time beyond regulation interval performed in L.A. away from the playoffs, with one in every of the messiest quarterback conditions in the league and his No. 1 receiver on the shelf all 12 months. I’m excited to see how the Saints’ offseason performs out—this appears to be like like a rattling enticing state of affairs for a veteran QB to stroll into.
3) Broncos: That is one other workforce that appears prefer it’s a quarterback away. These Broncos, like the 2012 Broncos, have a rising younger group of talent gamers, and a few cornerstone items on protection to lure the proper quarterback in with. The teaching rent right here will be attention-grabbing, for positive.
4) Browns: That is nonetheless one in every of the most well-rounded rosters in the NFL, with various rising younger gamers. My expectation is that they’ll usher in a few previous execs, like the Cardinals did final 12 months, to assist the workforce study to play higher in vital spots, and assist the younger guys proceed to develop. There’s rather a lot to like right here.
5) Ravens: Once they’re down, they don’t keep down for lengthy; I do know that. And also you’d have to assume their damage luck won’t be fairly so terrible in 2022.
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