NFL Player News

Kolb was absolutely brutal as the Cardinals’ entire offense looked lost. He was mercifully removed in favor of Richard Bartel for the final drive, but was forcing passes all day long before that. It certainly didn’t help that the Cardinals were down 28-0 after the first quarter. Kolb heads into the bye as a weak QB2.

Flores was a finalist for the Cardinals’ head coaching job back in 2023 but ultimately lost out to Jonathan Gannon. Flores has spent the last two seasons building up the Vikings’ defense into a formidable unit. The Vikings finished the regular season ranked fifth in points allowed and 16th in yards allowed while ranking as a top-five rush defense. Flores spent three seasons as head coach of the Dolphins (2019-2021) and was dismissed after going 9-8 in his final season. He went 10-6 in his second season at the helm. Flores had the looks of a coach on the rise before his dismissal at the end of the 2021 season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him land another head coaching gig in the near future.

An 11-year veteran of the league, Griese retired in 2008 and didn’t dip his toes into the coaching pool until 2022, when he joined the Niners as their quarterbacks coach. His work with 2022’s Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, who is on his way to earning a massive contract extension, has undoubtedly caught the eyes of front offices, the Jets not withstanding. Interestingly, it was reported last month that Jets owner Woody Johnson intentionally asked for a worse draft pick during trade negotiations with the Broncos in the 2024 NFL Draft in the hopes of landing the next Mr. Irrelevant. The Jets ended up using that pick on a cornerback who was cut at the end of training camp. There’s likely more than Griese’s connection to a successful Mr. Irrelevant drawing the Jets’ interest here, but Griese’s name hasn’t generated much interest as a head coaching target in recent years.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport says it “sounds like [Flowers playing in the AFC Wild Card round] will be a challenge this week,” but we’ll see how things unfold in the coming days. Flowers suffered a knee sprain in the Ravens’ Week 18 win over the Browns and did not return to the field, meaning Lamar Jackson could be without his top pass-catcher when the Ravens host the Steelers in the Wild Card round on Saturday night. Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews both stand to see an uptick in targets if Flowers can’t go. The Ravens will release their first injury report of the week on Tuesday.

Nagy got his first start as a head coach in 2018 with the Bears and immediately led them to a 12-4 record while also being named the AP Coach of the Year. Unfortunately, Nagy hitching his coaching future to Mitchell Trubisky proved to be a fruitless endeavor, as he and the Bears toiled with back-to-back 8-8 seasons in 2019 and 2020 before falling to 6-11 in 2021. A long-time branch off the Andy Reid coaching tree, Nagy has more than 10 years of experience in working with Reid, which will make him an attractive hire for anyone looking for a head coach on the offensive side of the ball. Nagy will once again need to get the quarterback position right in his first season if he lands with the Jets, which could prove challenging with this year’s QB class.

Petzing has spent the last two seasons as the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator after previously serving with the Browns from 2020-2022. The 37-year-old play-caller saw his offense rank 24th in points per game in 2023 but was able to elevate them to 12th in scoring in 2024 while also ranking in the top 10 in EPA/play and success rate. Petzing could field a handful of other head coaching requests in the coming days, but the Bears are the first to get a request in.

The Patriots may be one of only a few teams that could have a legitimate shot at landing Johnson, who is expected to be selective throughout this coaching cycle. Rookie quarterback Drake Maye turned in a solid season despite having arguably the worst roster in the league to work with, and Johnson is rumored to only be interested in job who have a good, young quarterback on the roster. Johnson and Maye already have a connection as two University of North Carolina alumni and could make for an interesting pairing for a franchise set to enter a massive rebuilding phase. The Patriots having over $100 million of cap space to work with this offseason could also help lure Johnson. This will be an interesting situation to monitor as Johnson and the Patriots go through the interview process.

The Jets fired a flurry of requests off on Black Monday, with Brady becoming the latest to field a call. The Bills’ offensive coordinator has spent the last year and a half rebuilding his image as one of the top young offensive minds in the league after a tumultuous two years in Carolina (2020-2021) put a damper on his growing popularity. Brady’s work with Joe Burrow at LSU during the team’s national title run in 2019 put him squarely on the radar of NFL teams, but he joined the Bills in 2022 after former Panthers head coach Matt Rhule made him a scapegoat for the team’s struggles in his second season with the team. Brady has the benefit of working with Josh Allen and a solid group of playmakers, but his situational awareness in games and ability to scheme up plays that proved enough to knockoff the undefeated Chiefs is undeniable. At just 35 years old, Brady could once again be on track to land a head coaching gig after appearing to be on a similar path just a few years ago.

It didn’t take long for Smith to repair his image after a disappointing first stint in Atlanta. Smith, who interviewed with the Jets twice before landing his head coaching role with the Falcons in 2021, worked wonders with the quarterback duo of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields during his first season in Pittsburgh and had the Steelers off to a 4-2 start in Fields’ six starts of the season. Smith’s ability to make the most out of two castoffs was bound to draw the interest of a handful of teams this offseason. While things look impressive on the surface, we can’t overlook the fact that his offense still ranked 26th in overall success rate (40.7 percent) and 20th in EPA per play. The spreadsheet nerds would likely advise against the hiring of Smith, but there’s no denying the league views him in a favorable light. He’s a near lock to draw more interview requests.

Halaby had interview requests from the Panthers and Commanders last offseason and is again on the list for teams’ general manager roles. Halaby has spent 17 seasons with the Eagles and just completed his third season as the team’s assistant general manager. According to the Eagles’ team page, Halaby’s time with the team “has focused on player evaluation, roster management, and resource allocation,” three areas the Jets have come up short in recent years. A disciple of Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman feels like a potential home run hire if he the other pieces fall into place. Halaby is one of a handful of candidates to already have interviews setup with the Jets, who spoke with a handful of available candidates before the season concluded.