Category: 2025 season

Report: Cowboys, McCarthy to ‘open talks’ on new contract as deadline nears

From @ToddBrock24f7: After three days of talks, the two sides are apparently ready to move forward on negotiating a contract to keep McCarthy in Dallas.

The two sides have supposedly been talking for three days already, but the Dallas Cowboys and Mike McCarthy will only just now get around to the details of a new contract that will keep him installed as the team’s ninth head coach.

That news comes Friday morning from NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, who notes that “there have been no negotiations yet and still are other issues to work through.”

McCarthy coached the 2024 season on the final year of a five-year deal that brought him to Dallas in 2020 and saw his teams go 49-35 in the regular season and 1-3 in the playoffs. The Cowboys missed the postseason this year, finishing a disappointing 7-10 after three consecutive 12-win campaigns and back-to-back-to-back postseason berths.

Pelissero reports that McCarthy and team owner Jerry Jones have had “several days of discussions about the 2024 season and the future” and “remain open to moving forward together.”

McCarthy’s contract officially expires on Jan. 14, with the organization maintaining his rights until then. The team has already rebuffed a request from the Chicago Bears to interview McCarthy for their head coach opening, signalling to many that the front office was looking to bring the 61-year-old back to Dallas in 2025.

The timing of the announcement would indicate that the Cowboys are eager to finalize a new contract for McCarthy before Tuesday, when he would be free to enter into talks with any other club about a coaching position.

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“Time is of the essence,” Pelissero points out, since McCarthy’s staff in Dallas will also become available to other teams on Tuesday. Earlier reports suggested that Cowboys assistants were already out from under their expired contracts and on the open market.

The sooner McCarthy and the team can come to terms on his own employment, the sooner he can move to secure the staffers he wishes to retain.

Nothing about the process has been urgent up to this point, but it appears there is now, just four days before a hard deadline, some sense of movement at The Star.

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Report says it may come down to Saints vs. Jets for top head coach candidate

Aaron Glenn is in high demand, with five head coach interviews within 48 hours. But this report says it may come down to a Saints-Jets bidding war:

Where will each of the candidates end up on the NFL head coach carousel? NFL insider Josina Anderson reports from a league source whose belief is the race for Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn will come down to two teams: the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints.

Glenn is a busy man; he’s scheduled head coach interviews with five different teams within a 48-hour window, meeting with every team with a vacancy except the New England Patriots. They sought out an interview, but Glenn declined the request.

If it comes down to the Saints and Jets, that’ll be an interesting battle. Each team has their history with Glenn that could pull at his heartstrings. The Jets drafted Glenn, and he spent eight of his 15 years in the league in New York. He also worked for the Jets as a scout.

Glenn spent his last season as a player and five additional years as a coach with the Saints, so he’s tightly connected to both teams.

Beyond his links to each organization, what does each team have to offer Glenn? The Saints are entering a rebuild and may showcase more patience. They also don’t have to compete with the Buffalo Bills annually, which could lead quicker results.

Still, the roster needs talent. The lines of youth and impact intersect at Bryan Bresee, Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed and Taliese Fuaga. The list isn’t long, but that’s why the Saints are in the place they are right now.

New York has been going through their rebuild, and picked up some really good pieces in the draft recently. The 2022 draft yielded them Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner. Davante Adams and Quincy Adams are a pair of former All-Pro players as well.

The Jets win in the talent department, but both teams need a quarterback. That along with a previous connection to Glenn is what the Jets and Saints share in this race. It’ll be on Glenn to decide what differentiating factors he values the most.

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If the Cowboys return to London in 2025, it will be against this team

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Browns, Jaguars and Jets have been revealed as “host” teams for London’s 3 games in ’25. Of those, the Cowboys will face just one.

The NFL is returning to London three times in 2025. But if the Cowboys are going to make their first trip to the United Kingdom in over a decade, there’s only one possibility.

The league announced on Friday its designated home teams for next season’s London games. The Cleveland Browns and New York Jets will act as honorary hosts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a game each, and the Jacksonville Jaguars will welcome an opponent to Wembley Stadium for the 14th time.

Of those, only the Jets are scheduled to play the Cowboys.

NFL.com’s Tom Blair calls that one of his “dream matchups” for the London slate.

The Jets, of course, have some major question marks at the head coach and quarterback positions. And while Mike McCarthy isn’t a lock to return to the Cowboys sideline next season, Blair points out that “Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons, and CeeDee Lamb should be plenty capable of providing some spice” to the matchup.

But Blair admits, “In reality, the schedule-makers might not be able to resist showcasing this game stateside in prime time.”

A game at Tottenham against the Jets isn’t the Cowboys’ only chance at an international showing in 2025, as the league will also stage a pair of contests on the European mainland. While the home teams for those games have not been announced, one can look at the Cowboys’ finalized list of opponents and do some narrowing down.

It is believed that AFC teams will serve as the host squad in all international games next season, since that conference has the extra home date on the 17-game schedule. If that holds true, the Cowboys’ only remaining possibilities would be facing either the Broncos or Raiders in either Berlin or Madrid.

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Of the 55 regular-season games ever played outside the U.S., the Cowboys have appeared in just one: a 2014 tilt against the Jaguars at London’s Wembley Stadium. Tony Romo led Dallas to a 31-17 win that day with two touchdown passes to Dez Bryant and another to Jason Witten.

Dates for the 2025 International Series games have not been announced.

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The Saints are, in fact, requesting an interview with Kliff Kingsbury

The New Orleans Saints are, in fact, requesting an interview with Kliff Kingsbury. New reporting confirms their interest in the former Cardinals head coach:

The New Orleans Saints are, in fact, requesting an interview with Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. New reporting from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and NewOrleans.Football’s Mike Triplett confirms their interest in the former Cardinals head coach, as NFL insider Josina Anderson said earlier this week.

Kingsbury didn’t have a ton of success as the Arizona Cardinals head coach, but he’s shown a knack for developing young quarterbacks and his work with Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels has put him back on the NFL’s radar. Whether the Saints are looking to maximize Derek Carr’s potential, help Spencer Rattler round out his game, or target another passer in this year’s NFL draft, Kingsbury could be a good fit.

We’ll see how it goes. Washington is preparing for a playoff push after their surprisingly strong season and a win or two would really strengthen Kingsbury’s resume. As for his ties to the Saints? He spent the 2004 season on their practice squad as a quarterback and returned for their 2005 training camp, though he didn’t make the team. Maybe that history means something to longtime general manager Mickey Loomis.

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Saints’ pursuit of Aaron Glenn may be more difficult than first expected

Aaron Glenn starts his interview process Thursday and the Saints have much more competition for his services than expected months ago

The New Orleans Saints and Aaron Glenn have been connected since New Orleans moved on from Dennis Allen in the middle of the season. Now that the regular season is over, that process has gotten a bit murkier.

Darren Rizzi got his chance to make his case as the interim head coach. Even if given the benefit of the doubt for working with a limited cast of players, it’s hard to make an argument he did enough to pass Glenn as the Saints’ favorite.

The murkiness comes into play when you look at what’s in front of Glenn after the Detroit Lions finish their season. When conversations around Glenn coming back to New Orleans first began, it wasn’t clear how many options he would have in this coaching carousel.

The Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets have all requested to interview Glenn. The Bears and Jaguars look like better situations than New Orleans on paper. The appeal of Caleb Williams and a talented band of receivers is attractive. Trevor Lawrence is a divisive, young quarterback that can either entice or push you away from the job.

The Saints aren’t necessarily the top job out there. As Detroit’s season closed, Glenn became a better candidate. The Lions’ injuries were documented, and they closed the regular season with a suffocating performance against the Vikings.

Without their top pass rushers and cornerback, Detroit held the Vikings to their lowest point total of the season. These are the type of performances that get noticed. Now that there’s more competition for Glenn, there’s a bigger chance he decides wants to go somewhere else.

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Former NFL head coach’s name has popped up in Saints’ search

Former Arizona Cardinals head coach and Washington Commanders play caller Kliff Kingsbury popped up in the New Orleans Saints’ search, but there are more conflicting reports:

Here’s another name for the New Orleans Saints head coach search: Kliff Kingsbury, per NFL insider Josina Anderson. The Washington Commanders offensive coordinator and former Arizona Cardinals head coach has shown a knack for developing talented quarterbacks, but a lack of team success has led to some thought that he’s best suited as a coordinator, not a top-level decisionmaker.

However, The Times-Picayune | Advocate’s Matthew Paras (a former Commanders beat writer) says the Saints “have to make a request to speak with him at this time.” That would make Kingsbury the third head coach candidate to reportedly receive an interview request from the Saints only for that to not be the case this week alone, joining the Denver Broncos’ David Shaw and Davis Webb.

Kingsbury must be a great interview. He only went 35-40 (.425) as a college coach at Texas Tech but parlayed that into a jump to the NFL, where he went 28-38-1 (.467) with the Cardinals. Arizona only competed in a single playoff game, which was a lopsided first-round loss to their division-rival Los Angeles Rams. He’s faced criticism throughout his career for fielding offenses that start hot and cool down as the season continues, failing to make adjustments once opponents stock up on film to study.

But maybe he’s learned some things after taking a year off from the NFL to work with Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans. He’s certainly put rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels in a great position, with the No. 2 overall draft pick going into a playoff game with a Rookie of the Year award waiting on him. We’ll see if this goes further than an initial interview or if the Saints are truly interested at all. Anderson adds that several other teams are interested and the Chicago Bears, who drafted Caleb Williams out of USC, have also formally filed an interview request.

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Report: Saints coach ‘a name to keep an eye on’ in Browns OC search

A new report links New Orleans Saints coach Klint Kubiak to the Browns offensive coordinator search. We can’t rule out a lateral move with a new head coach coming in:

A new report linked New Orleans Saints coach Klint Kubiak to the Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator search, with The MMQB’s Albert Breer suggesting Kubiak is a candidate “to keep an eye on” with Cleveland gearing up to find Ken Dorsey’s replacement.

We can’t rule out a lateral move with a new head coach coming in. The Saints would probably like to keep Kubiak on staff after he modernized the offense Pete Carmichael carried over from Sean Payton, but whoever they hire to replace Dennis Allen may not feel the same way. If their new head coach — whoever they may be — has a new vision for the offense, Kubiak may not be part of it. At the same time, Kubiak himself could be a candidate; he has an endorsement from Drew Brees for the job.

So it’s something to watch in the days and weeks ahead. Injuries hammered the Saints at every position group this season, but Kubiak’s unit finished the regular season ranked near the middle of the pack in yards per play (5.3), a marginal improvement over their 2023 pace (5.1). They were a bottom-10 offense in points scored (338, after finishing top-10 the season before at 402) and while the run game greatly improved to 4.4 yards per carry over last year’s second-worst rate of 3.6, it was hardly the dominant force we expected. We can’t overlook their bottom-5 showing on third downs, either (35.2%). Kubiak could very well return to the Saints in 2025, but this report at least suggests he has other options.

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Saints’ projected salary cap space after Ryan Ramczyk news

Ryan Ramczyk agreed to cut his 2025 salary this week, which sets him up for retirement. But how does it set up the Saints and the salary cap?

Ryan Ramczyk agreed to cut his 2025 salary this week, which sets him up for retirement. But how does it set up the New Orleans Saints and the salary cap? Let’s break it down.

To start, Ramczyk agreed to waive his $18 million base salary for the 2025 season in exchange for the veteran’s minimum at $1,255,000. Because he’s being forced into a medical retirement, he isn’t getting that money either way, but doing it like this gives the Saints immediate savings of about $16.7 million.

That left Ramczyk with a $12.3 million cap hit, and it puts the Saints at roughly $326 million in cap commitments for 2025. The NFL hasn’t yet announced where the cap will be this offseason but most experts agree it will fall at about $270 million. That means the Saints are probably in the hole by $56 million, or somewhere close to it.

This was just the first of several expected moves they’ll make this offseason. Restructures are coming for young, productive players — guys like Erik McCoy (saving up to $6.7 million), Cesar Ruiz ($5.2 million), and Carl Granderson ($5.2 million). Tougher decisions are ahead for older veterans like Cameron Jordan, Taysom Hill, Demario Davis and Tyrann Mathieu, all of whom have salary cap hits between $20 million and $10 million.

And the elephant in the room is Derek Carr. He has the biggest cap hit on the team at $51.4 million, and he’s made it clear he won’t accept a pay cut. The Saints could restructure his deal and save $30 million but that effectively locks him in as their starting quarterback for 2025 and 2026. Don’t bet on him waiving his no-trade clause to join a new team, either. It’ll cost as much to cut him as to keep him, at least until June 2, but that would mean finding a way to get under the cap and work through free agency and the NFL draft with a $51.4 million albatross around the neck. That just isn’t realistic.

The decisions Mickey Loomis has made have put the Saints in a bind. Overpaying Carr like this and restructuring aging players so many times has taken a toll, and now the Saints have to pay it.

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Former Saints All-Pro effectively signed his retirement papers

Ryan Ramczyk effectively signed his retirement papers this week. The Saints saved a lot of salary cap space, but his departure won’t be processed until June:

It’s a shame Ryan Ramczyk’s career ended this way. The New Orleans Saints’ former All-Pro right tackle effectively signed his retirement papers this week, having missed the entire 2024 season with a chronic knee injury. This was expected even if it’s unpleasant at best.

Per Over The Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald, Ramczyk agreed to waive his $18 million base salary for 2025 while reducing it to the league minimum, which saved the Saints a little more than $16.7 million against the salary cap. He’ll remain on the roster until June 2 with a cap hit of $12.3 million (instead of $29 million before this move), at which point they’ll formally release him and process his retirement.

That timing is all about cap purposes; we’ve seen the team use this same approach before for retiring players like Malcolm Jenkins and Drew Brees. When Ramczyk’s release and retirement are officially processed in June, the Saints will get that $1.2 million base salary back as a cap credit with about $11 million left behind in dead money for 2025 and $11.9 million in 2026. Then he’s off the books for good in 2027.

Still, it’s a disappointing end for Ramczyk’s career. He won recognition as an All-Pro three times, with two spots on the second team (2018 and 2020) and a place on the first team in 2019. He’s done really well for himself after going from welding school to playing for his old high school coach at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, which put him on the recruiting radar. He transferred to join the Wisconsin Badgers, started a full season for them at left tackle and then was drafted by the Saints in 2017’s first round. He switched to the right side without much prep time and went on to enjoy an impressive seven-year career.

If his knee had held up, Ramczyk would still be starting for the Saints today. But they tried everything to improve it without success, and the best thing for his health is to shed his playing weight and move on. We’ll wish him the best in retirement.

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Cowboys Crossroads: Coaching indecision again places franchise behind provervial 8-ball

The decision the Cowboys make at coach will dictate everything. Deciding on scheme maven or leader is the first step in fixing what’s wrong. | From @ReidDHanson.

The Dallas Cowboys are at a crossroads with their franchise. Much like the prior season, when they had to decide whether or not to re-sign quarterback Dak Prescott, the Cowboys need to determine which direction their team goes at head coach.

Will they re-sign Mike McCarthy to a new contract and stay the course, or will they bring in a new coach and start a new chapter in Dallas? If they choose the former and keep McCarthy, who will they add to the staff to make things better? And if they choose the latter and let McCarthy leave, what style of head coach will be replacing him?

Assuming Jerry Jones’ patience stays intact for the next hire, whoever the head coach hire is in 2025 is likely to be the head coach throughout the rest of the Prescott era. That’s a significant period of time because it coincides with the athletic peaks of players such as CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs. As such, the importance of this decision cannot be understated.

The value of coaching has ebbed and flowed throughout the years but in today’s day and age it’s at an absolute premium. The parity in roster talent is extremely tight, often making scheme, strategy, and play design the difference between winning and losing. It’s an area the Cowboys have historically struggled in considerably throughout the last few coaching regimes and an area that’s repeatedly ended in embarrassment.

The importance of such factors has given rise to the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree. Nearly half the NFL now employs some branch of the San Francisco mastermind. His is a system that makes things easy for its signal callers. It simplifies reads, schemes players open, plays out of unpredictable formations and personnel groups and still values the big plays. Different product lines of the Shanahan brand lean on different strengths, but overall, it’s a system that seeks to make things as easy as possible on the offense and as confusing as possible on the opposing defense.

Master-schemers such as Shanahan are en vogue in the NFL right now but curiously so are their polar opposites. Running concurrently to the brainiacs of the NFL are the meatheads, so to speak.

Dan Campbell has taken the NFL by storm with his success in Detroit. The former NFL tight end embodies leadership and inspiration at the coaching ranks. Tough guys like Mike Vrabel and Campbell fit a completely different profile at the head coach position. Their ability to keep order, dictate culture and demand respect has real value in the NFL today, providing a very different alternative to teams looking for a new coaching direction.

The impending split in Detroit will be telling as to which brand of coach is worth more. Both of Campbell’s assistants fall under the scheme-master category. It’s been said it’s their ability to design plays and strategize that makes Campbell’s leadership style work so effectively. But a case could also be made Campbell’s firm position at the top of the flowchart is what allows these brilliant men to get in the weeds and be brilliant in the first place.

The Cowboys have to determine which direction they want to go. They may not even want to go a new direction and choose to stick with McCarthy.

McCarthy isn’t the disciplinarian Campbell and Vrabel are, but he falls under the leadership brand of head coaching rather than scheme master.

That’s not a problem, unless he’s the one left to design gameplans and call plays, as has been the case the last two seasons.

There haven’t been many games where an evenly-matched Cowboys team was able to outcoach the opposing sideline. Whether it’s playoffs or top tier regular season matchups, the Cowboys have been outcoached consistently during the McCarthy tenure. It speaks to the importance of the scheme-master coach and shows that leadership without a gameplan doesn’t amount to much.

There are a number of directions and combinations the Cowboys can go at coach this winter but the one direction they can’t go ignoring the importance of scheme and play design. If they prioritize leadership at head coach, they have to find a way to upgrade and empower a new offensive coordinator to design plays.

The Cowboys’ shrinking window of opportunity depends on it.

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