Yahoo Sports The NFL has lots of bad teams — and lots of coaches on the hot seat
The billionaires are growing restless.
The NFL trade deadline has passed, meaning the chance to get other teams to take salary off your hands has expired. And if the chasm between the haves and have-nots in a league that champions parity over quality seems more distant than ever, that’s because indeed it is. Congrats, 2024 NFL season! A whopping nine teams (more than a quarter of the league!) have two or fewer wins heading into Week 10. Over the last five seasons, an average of just six teams entered Week 10 without three wins. And only once this century have even eight teams failed to reach three wins after 10 weeks. That mark probably won’t be beaten this season - the Giants and Panthers meet on Sunday, and one of them will most likely get a third win - but it could be equaled.
(By the way, how rich is it for owners to reward themselves during this time of widespread slop by expanding the playoff field, forcing virtually every team into at least one prime time window and playing more games abroad than ever? Gluttony knows no bounds in a monopoly.)
I bring this up because - after a week in which a second NFL head coach was sent packing, along with another team’s offensive coordinator - the poor records might be a leading indicator of an oncoming trend. Who do you think is going to pay for so many teams being hopeless and helpless this early in the season - and for the empty seats? Head coaches. So despite a quarter of the NFL’s teams just hiring new head coaches last offseason, buckle up. Because there is a strong sense among executives and coaches around the league that the owners will duplicate that turnover this offseason, if not exceed it.
Here's how the landscape is shaping up:
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New York Jets
Woody Johnson beat everyone to the punch, whacking Robert Saleh a mere five weeks into this season. Whether Aaron Rodgers stays or goes in 2025, a coaching search is about to begin. Former Jets stalwart defensive back Aaron Glenn would be an interesting hire, with his Lions defense quite stout and Detroit perhaps equipped to break a generational Super Bowl slump. Proven winners will stay away from this dead-end job, as they always do.
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New Orleans Saints
Dennis Allen never performed like an NFL head coach with the Raiders or Saints, but even with their cap situation a mess, their roster in tatters and seven straight losses, people in the league say football boss Mickey Loomis is considered bulletproof with ownership. Interim head coach Darren Rizzi - like Antonio Pierce a year ago in Vegas - could land this job full time if the Saints show life down the stretch. “Mickey is going to be able to do whatever he wants,” said one NFL GM, who is not permitted to speak publicly about another team’s hiring process. “Nothing has changed there.”
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Las Vegas Raiders
Pierce just brought in a bunch of out-of-work guys to fill out his offensive staff for the rest of the season, and the magic he conjured this time a year ago is long gone. “That’s a wrap in Vegas,” said one longtime NFL executive who has been a part of multiple coaching hires over the years. One NFL coaching agent, who does not represent Pierce but who could be involved in the Raiders’ next hire said: “Look at the division - Andy Reid [with the Chiefs], Sean Payton [Broncos], Jim Harbaugh [Chargers]. That’s what you’re going to compete with. And now Tom Brady is a part of that ownership group. Mark Davis needs to get a coach with some gravitas.” Let the Bill Belichick rumors begin!
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New York Giants
This is another obvious potential landing spot for Belichick. He has deep ties to the franchise and the Mara family. The failure to develop Daniel Jones - or add a better quarterback option - and the stinging departure of Saquon Barkley, coupled with the Commanders’ immediate ascent with a rookie quarterback, has the current Giants regime on life support. It would be shocking if there is not a reboot here, despite any past or pending proclamations from ownership.
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Jacksonville Jaguars
There was a sense around the league that had Doug Pederson lost both games the Jaguars played in London last month, he was getting fired. Several NFL figures close to Jaguars ownership believed that to be the case. Jacksonville survived against the Patriots in England and Pederson kept his job, but his offense is inept and quarterback Trevor Lawrence is a problem despite getting a massive pay raise. Some rival executives believe Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson would get a blank check here, though questions remain as to whether he wants to be a head coach after last year’s flirtations that preceded his return to Detroit.
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Dallas Cowboys
Believe Jerry Jones when he tells you how comfortable he is with Mike McCarthy and how much he likes working with him. It’s true. But above all else, Jones is a business man, and the business of the Cowboys is in peril as they get repeatedly blown out at home, going back to their ugly playoff exit against the Green Bay Packers last season. “He knows he has to throw his fans a bone,” said the longtime executive, who knows Jones well. “He can’t run it back.”
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Chicago Bears
Matt Eberflus has coached 21 road games with the Bears; he has had a halftime lead in two of them and been tied in four more. They have lost 18 straight Sunday road games. The first overall pick, Caleb Williams, is being outplayed by other rookie passers, and the Fail Mary situation in Washington two weeks ago was a fireable offense in and of itself. Locker room morale in Chicago is beyond poor and players are essentially calling out this staff. “I didn’t think he was ever going to get more than one year with Caleb Williams anyway,” another NFL GM said. “They should have blown that up a year ago when they knew they were getting the quarterback with the first pick.” Yup.
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Carolina Panthers
Dave Canales just got there, you say. And after firing Frank Reich a few weeks into his tenure a year ago, no way could Carolina fire another head coach after a season or less. Nobody does that … right? And to that I’d say: Don’t tempt David Tepper. “Sure, he could do it again,” said the first GM, whose instincts on the Panthers have been impeccable over the years. “He’s going to take another quarterback [at the top of the first round]. And nobody else wanted to talk to Canales a year ago, and Tepper didn’t want him in the first place.”
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Philadelphia Eagles
Sure, they’ve won four straight games, but Nick Sirianni really can’t stay out of his own way for long; taunting Philly fans is dangerous work. He was hanging by a thread after last season, and even last week’s win over the lowly Jaguars came with more drama and doubt than it should have. A failure to advance in the playoffs would be damning. If I could bet on Belichick’s next team, I’d put my money on the Eagles.
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Cleveland Browns
Is Kevin Stefanski to blame for the colossal mistake of acquiring and extending disgraced quarterback Deshaun Watson? Nope. Will some coaches and executives have to pay for another lost season in Cleveland, especially when the tempestuous billionaire owner is also grousing about the pushback to his plans for a sweetheart deal to get a new stadium financed? Stefanski lasting five years with Jimmy Haslam is like 50 years in Pittsburgh - and he’s in year five. A firing is far from a sure thing, but some sort of shake-up is coming after all that spending for naught.
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