NFL Playoffs/Early Offseason

[The Great Hambino]

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

So as expected, the Browns made the most uninspiring head coaching hire this off season, brining Todd Monken on board. A lot of guys pulled their names from consideration, it's the Browns, so that seems logical, but I also wonder if the Browns told the candidates that either they have to use Deshaun Watson, or they have to use Shadeur Sanders. Basically, some variation of 'We already have our starting QB on the roster and you have to coach him'.

I don't know why any HC candidate would be shying away from the Browns' QB situation.  You get to choose between two Pro Bowlers!!

[Vanimal46]

#OldFriend 

maybe if KOC crashes and burns, we hire Mannion as HC with Kirko Chainz as OC 

[Aggies7]

41 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

#OldFriend 

maybe if KOC crashes and burns, we hire Mannion as HC with Kirko Chainz as OC 

He’s only 33? All I remember about him is that he was one of the least mobile looking quarterbacks I’d ever seen. Thought he’d be like 40 now

[Vanimal46]

2 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

He’s only 33? All I remember about him is that he was one of the least mobile looking quarterbacks I’d ever seen. Thought he’d be like 40 now

He certainly didn’t stick around NFL rosters as long as he did because of his god given athleticism lol 

[Vanimal46]

2 old friends in 1 post. Andrew Booth Jr was a PFF darling who can’t make a UFL roster 4 years later after being drafted 42nd overall. UDFA Gabe Murphy is a name for the sickos who look at the fringe of the roster in preseason… Happy for him to get an opportunity 

[nicksaviking]

15 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

#OldFriend 

maybe if KOC crashes and burns, we hire Mannion as HC with Kirko Chainz as OC 

Cousins doesn't strike me as the play calling type. If he's involved in football after he's done playing, I'd guess it's either in broadcasting or some kind of front office consultant.

[gunnarthor]

16 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Cousins doesn't strike me as the play calling type. If he's involved in football after he's done playing, I'd guess it's either in broadcasting or some kind of front office consultant.

Broadcasting for sure. Lots of money in it and I think he's been auditioning for it. Did anyone see the long, two minute answer that went viral where he discussed progression passing games? 

[Vanimal46]

15 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Cousins doesn't strike me as the play calling type. If he's involved in football after he's done playing, I'd guess it's either in broadcasting or some kind of front office consultant.

Agreed. He's already laying the ground work for a TV career after football. I'm guessing the 2026 season will be his last year playing, then he'll sign a lucrative contract to be on one of the network pregame shows... Which all of them could use an overhaul of new people. Terry Bradshaw needs to retire, and Gronk is still acting like a frat boy at nearly 40 years old on FOX. 

[Parfigliano]

8 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Agreed. He's already laying the ground work for a TV career after football. I'm guessing the 2026 season will be his last year playing, then he'll sign a lucrative contract to be on one of the network pregame shows... Which all of them could use an overhaul of new people. Terry Bradshaw needs to retire, and Gronk is still acting like a frat boy at nearly 40 years old on FOX. 

Gronk knows the target demographics sweet spot.

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Agreed. He's already laying the ground work for a TV career after football. I'm guessing the 2026 season will be his last year playing, then he'll sign a lucrative contract to be on one of the network pregame shows... Which all of them could use an overhaul of new people. Terry Bradshaw needs to retire, and Gronk is still acting like a frat boy at nearly 40 years old on FOX. 

It's intolerable. I mean, he plays the idiot frat boy instead of the arrogant entitled frat boy, so I guess he's got that in his favor, but it's so ridiculous. And enough with those ads. Ugh.

And yeah, Bradshaw is past his expiration date. Which is hard for me to say. It's not that I've ever thought too fondly of him, but I mean I've listened to the guy and known who he is ever since I started following football in the mid 1980's. He was THE Sunday color guy before doing the pregame stuff.

Crazy how an athlete who no one under 50 remembers watching play became such an enduring media presence.

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

It's intolerable. I mean, he plays the idiot frat boy instead of the arrogant entitled frat boy, so I guess he's got that in his favor, but it's so ridiculous. And enough with those ads. Ugh.

And yeah, Bradshaw is past his expiration date. Which is hard for me to say. It's not that I've ever thought too fondly of him, but I mean I've listened to the guy and known who he is ever since I started following football in the mid 1980's. He was THE Sunday color guy before doing the pregame stuff.

Crazy how an athlete who no one under 50 remembers watching play became such an enduring media presence.

Fox used to be such a gold standard for fun broadcasting and it is a full blown tire fire now.

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, TheLeviathan said:

Fox used to be such a gold standard for fun broadcasting and it is a full blown tire fire now.

I honestly barely see pregame stuff anymore. Maybe it's because of streaming, or maybe it's because I've realized I don't need to waste my morning hearing people talk about football before I waste my whole day watching football.

[Vanimal46]

Old friend Sean Mannion is officially the OC for Philly 

[Vanimal46]

2 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

I honestly barely see pregame stuff anymore. Maybe it's because of streaming, or maybe it's because I've realized I don't need to waste my morning hearing people talk about football before I waste my whole day watching football.

Yeah same. These days I’m catching the last 5 min of those shows before kickoff. Where Terry Bradshaw really shows his age is trying to keep up with the highlights during the half time show 

[gunnarthor]

6 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

I honestly barely see pregame stuff anymore. Maybe it's because of streaming, or maybe it's because I've realized I don't need to waste my morning hearing people talk about football before I waste my whole day watching football.

Generally, same. But I do like the "You got Mossed" section and College Game Day's last ten minutes is usually pretty good. 

[Parfigliano]

7 hours ago, TheLeviathan said:

Fox used to be such a gold standard for fun broadcasting and it is a full blown tire fire now.

I don't watch pre game shows

[Parfigliano]

4 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Old friend Sean Mannion is officially the OC for Philly 

Since it's Philly I hope he is as good as an OC as he was a player.

[Autist75]

11 hours ago, TheLeviathan said:

Fox used to be such a gold standard for fun broadcasting and it is a full blown tire fire now.

     Just listening to their annoying music and sound effects is enough to drive one to the nut house.

[nicksaviking]

Joe Flacco = first time Pro Bowler. 

Yes, we should all have a problem with the fact that Flacco is a Pro Bowler.

But we should all have a bigger problem with the fact that he was chosen after Sheduer Sanders. Who was worse by pretty much any way you want to measure the two.

[Cap'n Piranha]

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

Joe Flacco = first time Pro Bowler. 

Yes, we should all have a problem with the fact that Flacco is a Pro Bowler.

But we should all have a bigger problem with the fact that he was chosen after Sheduer Sanders. Who was worse by pretty much any way you want to measure the two.

Or we should all understand that the Pro Bowl stopped being relevant 20 years ago (if not before), and just kill the thing all together.  Have the All-Pro teams and be done with it.

[nicksaviking]

So in shocking news (to me), it sounds like John Harbaugh is zeroing in on Brian Callahan or Kliff Kingsbury for Giants OC.

The talents of both might be overrated, but they are absolutely not if the Todd Monkin/Greg Roman/Arther Smith mold.

I can maybe retract my old dog old tricks gripe.

[Danchat]

On 1/28/2026 at 11:58 PM, Vanimal46 said:

2 old friends in 1 post. Andrew Booth Jr was a PFF darling who can’t make a UFL roster 4 years later after being drafted 42nd overall. UDFA Gabe Murphy is a name for the sickos who look at the fringe of the roster in preseason… Happy for him to get an opportunity 

Murphy was one of many UDFA prizes that Kwesi found, but all of them have flopped (even Pace) except for Ryan Wright, who is about to be one of the highest paid punters in the league.

[Vanimal46]

I'm going to start a race discussion here, spoiler alert...

10 NFL HC openings and only 1 person of color filled the role. Do you know how many non-white people are offensive coordinators heading into the 2026 season? Zero. Nil. Nada.

What's the quickest path to a HC in the NFL today? Being the hot shot young OC who's ideally calling their own plays. 

[nicksaviking]

12 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

I'm going to start a race discussion here, spoiler alert...

10 NFL HC openings and only 1 person of color filled the role. Do you know how many non-white people are offensive coordinators heading into the 2026 season? Zero. Nil. Nada.

What's the quickest path to a HC in the NFL today? Being the hot shot young OC who's ideally calling their own plays. 

Yeah, it's a real struggle. And one of the defensive guys hired this year has been DC for only two seasons. And I have no clue what anyone sees in Hafley. Must be because he looks the love child of Nick Sirianni and Matt LaFleur?

Look out for Ashton Grant though. He's the Patriots QB coach and if he wasn't only 29 he would be a hot name. I went down a rabbit hole last week watching his interviews. He sounds like a high school science teacher in that he gives off the vibe that he just really loves his job, he doesn't lose his patience and he gives really good detailed answers to even the most bland questions. 

Plus, he's coaching the hottest young QB on the planet. 

He should stay under Vrabel a bit longer to learn more about head coaching, but I think he's going to push through the black offensive coach barrier.

[nicksaviking]

***********Moderator Note************

That's enough, posts have been removed, so back on topic please.

[nicksaviking]

The Vikings lost Passing Game Coordinator Brian Angelichio to Pittsburgh, as he has been hired as their OC.

If the Falcons release Kirk Cousins, he's going to Pittsburgh. 

I've seen reports that Atlanta may try to restructure Cousins contract, then cut him to save money then re-sign him. But I don't know why Cousins would want to go back to Atlanta. Not just because of the Penix stuff, but because they hired Stefanski. 

It's going to be an Arthur Smith run-heavy approach. I think everyone forgot that Stefon Diggs wanted out the year Stefanski was the Vikings OC. No idea if Cousins had any issue with him too, but it was easily the most conservative offense the Vikings have deployed since the Christian Ponder era. The team barely had 450 pass attempts all year. Normally they throw 550-650.

Also, I guess that's my warning against drafting Drake London in fantasy next year.

[nicksaviking]

Joe Flacco is sounding like he may be at a point where he'll only continue playing if he has a starting job.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/joe-flacco-well-see-whats-out-there-dont-want-to-sign-with-someone-for-the-sake-of-it

“At this point, I don’t want to just sign up with anybody, I don’t want to just play football or be on the sideline for the sake of being out there,” 

In fact this quote almost makes it sound like he also no longer wants to play for a garbage team, which has pretty much what he has been doing since he left the Ravens.

This all seems to be a departure from his last half decade or so in the league. Maybe it finally could be the end of the road if a non-dumpster fire team doesn't come calling this year.

[Vanimal46]

I’m not sure what happened but Philly’s legendary OL coach left their organization. I don’t care if we just agreed to promote the assistant OL coach a few days ago. It’s worth calling Jeff Stoutland to see if he wants to come here. 

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

I’m not sure what happened but Philly’s legendary OL coach left their organization. I don’t care if we just agreed to promote the assistant OL coach a few days ago. It’s worth calling Jeff Stoutland to see if he wants to come here. 

I seriously don't understand how you so badly mistyped "Drive a dump truck full of cash to his house and offer to put him in the Wilf will"

[nicksaviking]

13 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

I’m not sure what happened but Philly’s legendary OL coach left their organization. I don’t care if we just agreed to promote the assistant OL coach a few days ago. It’s worth calling Jeff Stoutland to see if he wants to come here. 

Yeah, the entirety of his post sounded like he loved the Eagles and he was retiring. But noticeable absent from his quote was the word 'retire'. And then this line.....

“I’ve decided my time coaching with the Eagles has come to an end. 

I wonder if he's still under contract though as the Eagles likely wouldn't allow him to make a lateral move if he is. Not sure why he'd leave Philly unless he DID want to retire, or at least take a year off, so it's possible he just didn't form his goodbye properly. I did find this nugget in a local Philly paper though:

Stoutland is expected to maintain some involvement with the organization despite bowing out as offensive line coach, although other teams are reportedly interested in hiring him.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nfl/article-15529595/philadelphia-eagles-coach-jeff-stoutland-jason-kelce.html

Edit;

Well, after that line, you find this one:

New Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion will be bringing in his own staff this offseason after a poor year for the team in 2025, which cost predecessor Kevin Patullo his job.

Stoutland was also the run game coordinator for the Eagles since 2018. If Mannion is bringing in his own staff, that probably means he has say in the run game coordinator. So if he wanted to name a new one, that could certainly be an impetus for Stoutland to want to leave. I doubt anyone would be opposed to the Vikings having a new run game coordinator.

Wow, in the ten minutes it took to write and research this post I went from this is cute but never going to happen, to hey, this legitimately could happen!