New England

Patriots

As Albert Breer notes, Glenn now has interview requests from all six teams in need of a new head coach. He and fellow Lion Ben Johnson are the two hottest names on the coaching circuit this time around. If Glenn wants to leave Detroit, he will have his choice of jobs, save for Johnson possibly being the preferred option by some teams. The Patriots gig would come with Drake Maye and a top-five draft pick but more holes than talent on the roster elsewhere, making it largely a page one rewrite for Glenn.

The cynical way to look at this is that the Patriots have fulfilled their obligation to the Rooney Rule by interviewing Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton today and are now moving on to their main target. Guess we’ll see just how cynical things are. Vrabel has been rumored to be the main target of the Patriots for weeks ahead of Jerod Mayo’s firing and has already been linked to interviews for the Jets, Bears, Raiders, and Saints jobs. This is, of course, an obvious fit of former team and a highly-respected head coach who seems to be the top choice for many teams this hiring cycle.

Covington, who turns 36 in March, was one of the league’s youngest defensive coordinators last year for the Patriots. He has permission to interview for the job despite still being under contract in New England. The unit struggled, but dealt with major multiple injuries and Covington oversaw Christian Gonzalez’s development into one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. It is possible that he has more upside to offer when separated from Jerod Mayo, and the Bengals seem interested in exploring the idea of making him their main defensive mind after firing Lou Anarumo.

The former Colts and Texans offensive coordinator and DC Defenders head coach has not coached professionally since being fired at the end of the 2022 season, doing TV for local Houston stations while his child matriculates through high school. Hamilton would seem to be a strange fit as Patriots head coach at this point, but the Patriots appear to be blitzing through a deep roster of interviews today so we expect some more candidates that are not exactly known quantities to pop up as well.

Leftwich, who nearly landed the Jaguars head coaching job three years ago, will be among the many candidates the Patriots talk to about their head coaching job after parting ways with Jerod Mayo. Leftwich’s NFL coaching experience includes one year as Arizona’s OC and four years as Tampa’s coordinator, calling plays for the Tom Brady-era Bucs and winning a Super Bowl during the 2020 COVID season. In New England, Leftwich would work with Drake Maye after an up-and-down rookie season.

Kraft opened his Monday presser by taking full responsibility for the firing of former head coach Jerod Mayo, who Kraft said was put in an “untenable” situation. Shortly after, he announced that Wolf and senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith would return to their roles next season while adding they will be “looking for people working together.” Kraft dodged any questions about the possibility of Mike Vrabel being at the top of his coaching wish list, but nobody would be surprised to see the former Patriots linebacker and Titans head coach return home if the two sides came to an agreement. It will be a busy few days in New England as the team looks to sort itself out and find the next coach to usher in the post-Belichick era.

With the Lions on bye during the NFC Wild Card round, Johnson will speak with both the Bears and Patriots. Johnson clearly has interest in both jobs, where he would have a chance to work with either the No. 1 or No. 3 overall pick of the 2024 draft. Having a talented, young signal-caller appears to be at the top of the list for Johnson wherever he lands. Both Caleb Williams and Drake Maye would meet that requirement, as Johnson is sure to be a hot candidate this coaching cycle. He felt like a near lock to land the Commanders’ job last season before bailing on them while they were en route to a second interview with him.

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.

So much for that. The Patriots’ plan to move on from Bill Belichick but not really with one of his most trusted lieutenants predictably did not pan out. It was ol’ Bill, of course, who haunted the 2024 proceedings, as this roster simply was not ready for prime time. Horribly understocked on offense, it suffered from the loss of Belichick’s unmatched defensive acumen on the other side of the ball. As for Mayo, he had trouble picking a lane in too many critical areas, including at quarterback to begin the year. Mayo seemed to grow increasingly frustrated and bewildered as the season wore on, never giving the sense he had the right answers. He was in a tough situation, but one where he decidedly did not rise above his circumstances. The attention now turns to another sort-of Belichick acolyte, Mike Vrabel. 38-year-old Mayo, who has never even served as a defensive coordinator, faces an uncertain coaching future.

It was the first catch of Baker’s career, which is certainly not the start to his professional career that the fourth-round pick out of UCF expected. As a day-three draft pick, it’s not a surprise that Baker began the year down on the depth chart, but it’s a bit concerning that he was never able to claw his way up despite the Patriots struggling all year long. Baker is just 22 years old, posted 1,139 yards and seven touchdowns on 52 receptions in his senior season of college, and was a highly-touted recruit out of high school, so there is some talent there. Even if New England adds talent on the perimeter this offseason, Baker figures to get a chance to compete for snaps with Kayshon Boutte and any rookie in the 2025 season. However, it would be foolish to count on him for a big role unless we see a major improvement in OTAs.