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Edmunds is likely to take over the role vacated by C.J. Gardner-Johnson after he left for the Lions on a one-year contract. A former first-round pick by the Steelers in 2018, Edmunds has appeared in 15 or more games through his first five seasons in the league but has struggled at times in pass coverage. He allowed a career-high four receiving touchdowns last season while opposing receivers have converted 67.2 percent of their targets into receptions when facing him.

Sorensen was not invited back as the defensive coordinator in San Francisco but appears to be close to a bounce back in his coaching career with the Cowboys close to hiring him to fill their vacant special teams coordinator position. Sorensen worked his way up the ranks with the 49ers after starting as a defensive assistant, having also served as the special teams coordinator for the Jaguars during the 2021 season.

Caley interviewed for the Texans offensive coordinator job before they hired Dave Canales heading into the 2023 season. He has also interviewed with the Patriots and has been linked to the Jets this hiring cycle, seemingly a name to remember as teams continue filling in their coaching vacancies.

Nixon previously worked for the Panthers and Giants in various offensive roles including running backs coach, interim offensive coordinator, and assistant head coach before taking the job with Syracuse in 2024. He led Syracuse to their first 10-win season in six years, landing him an interview with the Texans. He hails from a long lineage of run-first football coaching, something that could hint at coming expectations out of Houston.

“I’m really good with the X’s and O’s,” Schottenheimer said, “but I’m great with people.” Cool. This was expected after the hiring. Schottenheimer finished second in points scored with the Cowboys as offensive coordinator in 2023, but of course, he did not call those plays. He hasn’t called plays in the NFL since the 2020 season with Seattle. The Seahawks used play-action at a top-10 rate in that season and had Russell Wilson finishing second in the NFL in quarterback scrambles while tying for the league lead in time in the pocket. Those statistics are colored by the quarterback, of course, but they give a few clues as to what to expect from Schottenheimer’s offense. Without significant free-agent additions, it will be hard to believe in Dak Prescott or CeeDee Lamb to rebound all the way back to 2023 form.

Leonard has a holdover from the Josh McDaniels/Antonio Pierce regimes and first joined the Raiders in 2023. An 11-year vet as an NFL coach, Leonard entered the league as a defensive assistant coach with the Giants in 2013 and has also spent time with the Dolphins and Ravens. He has never held a title as defensive coordinator and seems like a long shot to land the Raiders gig at this time.

The Jaguars didn’t bring in Coen to delegate offensive play-calling to somebody else. The 39-year-old head coach got where he is today by dialing up explosive plays and coaching Baker Mayfield to the best offensive season of his career (4500-41-16), and was long expected to call the plays for Jacksonville once his hiring was announced. With ample weapons at his disposal and a quarterback in Trevor Lawerence, who has just four years under his belt, Coen should have plenty of plays to dial up this upcoming season.

It sounds like this one could be finalized soon. According to Schefter, Morton is traveling to meet with the team for a second time after interviewing with them recently. Morton’s last offensive coordinator role came in 2017 with the Jets, where Josh McCown was the team’s QB1. Since that season, Morton has gone on to work for the Raiders, Lions, and Broncos in a variety of roles and spent 2022 as the Lions’ senior offensive assistant. His familiarity with Dan Campbell and several key figures on Detroit’s roster should make for a seamless transition as he hopes to provide more of a spark than he did in his lone year with the Jets.

A wide gamut of possibilities. The basic crux of the situation is that Andrews has a $17 million cap hit and moving on from him would save the cap-strapped Ravens $11 million in cap room. Zrebiec writes that it “seems highly unlikely” Andrews would be released, but that the team could consider trading him “if they can get back quality draft capital in return” or extending him in a move that would lower his 2025 cap figure. Ominously, Zrebiec ends the section talking about Isaiah Likely entering the final year of his rookie deal and writes “it would be very hard to have both Andrews and Likely on big-money tight end deals.” It sure reads like there’s some rubber that needs to meet the road on Andrews’ contract this year, even if, as Zrebiec concedes, it would “be nearly impossible to say the Ravens would be better” without Andrews.

Tucker Kraft definitely showed flashes of star-level talent in his 2024 season, so we can understand wanting him to have a more featured role in a Packers offense. Green Bay arguably doesn’t have another star-caliber receiver on the field every down — at least unless they let Jayden Reed out of the slot-only receiver box — and Kraft would offer some physicality at the catch point. But for every 20 of these types of quotes, maybe one or two actually happen. Kraft isn’t going to start getting a Trey McBride level of targets just because LaFleur said this ... but perhaps it is the start of some momentum towards that kind of role.

Rooney added that the team hopes they “can have (Watt) for the future, beyond this year.” That sounds about right. One of the most decorated pass rushers in the league, Watt has amassed 108 sacks during the first eight years of his career and racked up 11.5 sacks along with 19 TFLs this season while earning Second-Team All-Pro honors. He will be 30 at the start of next season and should still have plenty of high-end years to offer the Steelers. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if the two sides re-upped under another lucrative deal before the start of next season.