Washington was hired by the Bears before the 2024 season and is officially one-and-done with the team. His dismissal can be partially blamed on the overturn at head coach, as Ben Johnson appears ready to bring on his own group of guys as he preps for his first run as a head coach. Washington didn’t begin calling plays for the Bears defense until Week 14. In his short stint as defensive coordinator, his team allowed 26.0 points per game and three games of 30-plus points. They also ranked 27th in EPA per play and 30th in success rate over that span. A veteran defensive line coach who joined the NFL ranks in 2008, Washington should have a decent market for work now that he’s available.

The good news is that the Jags can now attract the top head coaching candidates of this hiring cycle. They’re all gone? Oh. Jags owner Shad Khan initially chose to retain Baalke and fire head coach Doug Pederson after another failed season. He later expressed some flexbility on retaining Baalke if it prevented the team from landing a new head coach. Despite Baalke being an obvious deterent for potential hires, Khan held strong and kept Baalke in town, only to watch both Lions coordinators take jobs elsewhere and Bucs OC Liam Coen turn down Jacksonville to stay in Tampa Bay. These decisions made the message to Khan undeniable. Baalke had to go. Now the Jags get to pair their next head coach annd general manager together, hopefully building some cohesion within the building. Baalke’s run in Jacksonville ends with a 25-43 record plus an iconic playoff win over the Chargers two years ago.

The connection of Glenn to the Jets has been made for months and came into focus earlier this week when the team brought him into New York for an interview with the plan of hiring him on the spot. Glenn’s ties to the franchise run deep. The Jets drafted Glenn, a former cornerback, in the first round 30 years ago and he even spent time in the organization as a scout after his playing days were over. Glenn served as a DBs coach in New Orleans and followed Dan Campbell to Detroit in 2021, accepting the position of defensive coordinator. In 2024, Glenn led the Lions to top-10 ranks in EPA per play and total points allowed despite the team being bombarded by injuries on the defensive side of the ball. He now joins a Jets team with plenty of talent on defense including Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams. The offensive side of the ball is the bigger issue, meaning Glenn’s choice of offensive coordinator will be crucial.

Saleh is scheduled to meet with the Jags’ front office and ownership on Thursday and Friday. He may now be considered a favorite for the Jacksonville job after Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen — who had been considered a strong candidate for the Jags job — signed a new deal with Tampa on Wednesday morning. A defensive minded coach, Saleh was 20-36 over three and a half seasons with the Jets before being fired. Jacksonville’s defense in 2024 allowed the league’s fifth most points and second most yards.

After the Chargers’ devastating loss to the Texans in the Wild Card round, Mack said he wasn’t sure if he would return for his 12th NFL season. Mack, entering his age-34 season, will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said last week that the team would be interested in bringing back Mack for 2025 after he recorded six sacks and 35 quarterback hurries over 16 games in 2024. LA had the league’s sixth lowest QB pressure rate (19 percent) in 2024.

The Jets and Aaron Glenn have been flirting with each other through the coaching cycle and the Divisional Round elimination of Glenn’s Lions is speeding things up. He interviewed with the Jets on Tuesday and is expected to be named their head coach soon. Rosenblatt adds the Jets’ staff “has been operating as if it will get done” and the team is “informing candidates that they are going in another direction.” Glenn has been the Lions’ defensive coordinator since 2021, keeping the team afloat through major defensive injuries this season, prior to the playoff exit. The 52-year-old will be a first-time head coach, faced with rebuilding the Jets after a short-lived Aaron Rodgers era.

We can’t say that comes as a real surprise. McDaniels reportedly completed an interview with the Patriots for their offensive coordinator vacancy today. The former Pats OC from 2006-2008, then again in 2012-2021 obviously has a ton of familiarity with how things operate in New England. The Raiders head coaching role was a tough fit for him and exposed him as a little rigid at times — there were certainly games where Davante Adams disappeared in the process — but he has the best resume of anyone we’ve seen connected to this job. McDaniels did not coach in 2024 after being fired in November 2023. He was tied to the Patriots often last offseason as well. Now we’ll get to see if he can take Drake Maye to the next level in 2025. If the Patriots add some more weapons around Maye, they could be an intriguing fantasy offense next season.

There has been no official reports of contract years added or money, but O’Connell was entering the final season of his coaching contract and gets a huge multi-year extension after starting his career 34-17, including a 14-3 record in 2024. O’Connell turned Darnold into wine before the scrapheap quarterback fell apart in his final two starts of the season against the Lions and Rams and is likely on the shortlist for Coach of the Year honors. The #sources are going off about an extension for GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as something that is down the road as well. It’s a well-earned reward for O’Connell, one that ends a few wishful thinking storylines out of places without a locked-in head coach. After wrapping up a Adofo-Mensah extension, the Vikings will get to work on how to build on their upstart campaign.

The smoke has been strongest on Coen and Robert Saleh for the Jaguars since Ben Johnson signed on with the Bears. Coen has also been linked to the Raiders, but has not had an official interview with the club yet. The Jaguars would certainly boost Trevor Lawrence’s short-term outlook with Coen, a creative screen-designer who excelled with the Buccaneers last year as they finished seventh in offensive DVOA. The Jaguars are reportedly set to meet with Coen tomorrow.

Hess worked with Josh Allen to refine Allen’s rough early-career throwing mechanics. The changes that stemmed from Allen’s work with Hess made him one of the NFL’s most efficient, accurate passers. Entering a phase of his career in which his viability as an NFL starter is in question, Richardson will reportedly look to refine “his throws on short and intermediate routes” and work on his short-area touch, which was severely lacking in 2024. Only Dorian Thompson-Robinson was more inaccurate than Richardson on passes between 0-10 yards last season. “I’ve just got to make sure I’m on point,” Richardson said, “doing everything I can to help this organization go in the right direction.” Holder reported this week that the Colts could pursue Justin Fields in free agency — a move that would likely create a Week 1 starting competition between Richardson and Fields.