NFL Player News

Wilson is an athletic, but undersized former sixth-round pick out of UConn. He’ll try to make the Saints as a special teamer. Eckerson spent last offseason in Chargers training camp. Pannell is a UDFA out of Penn State.

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.

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.

PFF Bobby’s offense suffered major setbacks in 2024. After an impressive 2023 debut that saw his offense rank 13th in points per game (20.8) and 12th in total yards, the Texans fell outside the top half of the league this season. Quarterback C.J. Strouds’ sophomore slump didn’t help, as one of the league’s top young passers looked like anything but that this season, specifically on short and intermediate passes. Slowik and the Texans still managed to make the playoffs out of a weak AFC South, but this was not the resumé building season for Slowik that many expected. Still, it was apparently enough for him to earn an interview from the Jets, who have largely spoken to veteran head coaches and retreads early in this process.

Berry said the team is still gathering information on Watson’s injury while adding that it’s “too early to tell” if Watson will be able to play in 2025. He also didn’t rule out the possibility of Watson needing another surgery. Watson is already expected to be with the Browns next season, but there have already been reports that the veteran quarterback “is almost certain to never play a meaningful snap for the Browns again,” after the team restructured his contract in late December. We’ll likely know more on Watson’s setback later in the week.

Borgonzi got his start in the league in 2009 as the Chiefs’ administrator of college scouting and has risen through the organizational ranks in the years since. He was promoted to assistant general manager in 2021 and continues to work closely with the team’s professional scouting operations while serving as an advisor to GM Brett Veach, per the team’s website. The Chiefs’ success with Borgonzi speaks for itself, and makes him a worthwhile interview for any team looking to upgrade their front office personnel.