Russell Wilson plans to sign with Pittsburgh Steelers

Russell Wilson’s next chapter in his tumultuous NFL career will be written with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Russell Wilson, the nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback who was recently released by the Denver Broncos, will sign a team-friendly deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers when the new league year begins on Wednesday, per multiple reports.

The news seemed to be confirmed by Wilson himself.

Wilson had been traded to the Broncos by the Seattle Seahawks in 2022, and it was a deal that did not work out for Denver. In two seasons with the Broncos, he completed 63.3% of his passes with 42 touchdowns and 19 interceptions, but he clashed with head coach Sean Payton last season, and was ultimately benched to end the season.

For the Steelers, it’s a move that can only be good. As Wilson will be paid $38 million of his salary by the Broncos in 2024, Wilson can sign for peanuts. And given the Steelers’ quarterback situation over the last few years, Wilson could be an immediate net positive, though he’s been an inconsistent player of late. The end of Ben Roethlisberger’s career made way for 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett, who hasn’t really distinguished himself.

Last season, the 10-7 Steelers finished 28th in points scored, and sixth in points allowed. They have a dynamic defense, an above-average run game, and an offensive line and receiver corps with potential. They also have a head coach in Mike Tomlin who can get along with just about anybody, and a new offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith, whose play-action/explosive play preferences would seem to fit with Wilson’s attributes.

Perhaps this is what Wilson needs to resuscitate his career, and what the Steelers need to put themselves back over the top.

Seahawks to hire former Ravens DC Mike Macdonald as their new head coach

The Seahawks hired Mike Macdonald to be their new head coach, and to fix a defense that lost its way. They got the right guy.

In 2010. the Seattle Seahawks hired Pete Carroll, a defensive mastermind, to be their new head coach.

14 years later, the Seattle Seahawks have hired another defensive mastermind to replace Carroll.

Mike Macdonald, the former Baltimore Ravens and Michigan Wolverines defensive coordinator, was tabbed for the job right around the time he flew to Seattle for his second interview with general manager John Schneider, per multiple reports.

It’s a massive hire for a team that had absolutely lost its way on defense under Carroll and former defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt. Last season, the Seahawks ranked 28th in Defensive DVOA, a number once thought impossible under Carroll in the Legion of Boom days. But bad draft picks and free-agent signings on that side of the ball, as well as a lack of coaching oversight, left Seattle’s defense in a bad way.

That will certainly change now. The Ravens finished their 2023 season ranked first in Defensive DVOA, and it was the ways in which Macdonald was able to raise the profiles of relatively unknown players that pushed him into status as perhaps the most coveted coach in this hiring cycle.

The 36-year-old Macdonald becomes the youngest head coach in the NFL, and he’s exactly half Pete Carroll’s age. He began his coaching career at Cedar Shoals High School in Georgia in 2008 as a running backs/linebackers coach, and then became a member of the Ravens’ coaching staff in 2014 as a coaching intern after four years on the Georgia Bulldogs’ staff. He worked with the Ravens as a defensive assistant and linebackers coach before becoming Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2021, and then, Baltimore’s defensive coordinator in 2022.

The perfect head coaching candidates for each vacancy

The perfect head coaching candidate for every current vacancy around the NFL.

There have been a plethora of teams around the NFL that decided to move on from their now former head coaches. From the totally expected to the outright shocking, there are currently eight head coaching vacancies around the NFL- each one with a candidate that could help turn their tides.

Side note: I don’t think Bill Belichick or Mike Vrabel take any current vacancy.

Pete Carroll reinvented himself, and he helped me do the same thing

Pete Carroll’s reinvention in Seattle was an inspiration to many, and proof positive that you can make of your life whatever you want.

On the occasion of his departure from his 14-year position as the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach, it’s worth remembering that very few people were excited about Pete Carroll’s hire. Carroll had been wildly successful at USC, but he had failed in a relative sense with the New York Jets and the New England Patriots in the 1990s, and he was thought of at the time to be the kind of coach without the gravitas to make it all the way in the NFL. 

2010 was Pete Carroll’s first year in Seattle. It was also my first year covering the Seahawks in an official sense. I had been on the outside for years until my time with Yahoo Sports broke me though with the team’s public relations staff, and I could finally be what I had always wanted to be – an actual credentialed reporter. About halfway through his first season, I asked Carroll – probably with less tact than I should have – why people should believe that he was different than he was before. 

Some coaches would have spit the bit at such a question. I once asked Jon Gruden why his play call names were so long, and he stormed away from the podium. Not Pete Carroll. He gave a long, thoughtful answer about the year 2000, when he was between gigs after the Patriots and before USC. Carroll wrote some columns for NFL.com in that year, but he also re-read his John Wooden books and took a very deep look at himself, and what he needed to do, and be, better. 

I walked away from that press conference impressed with Carroll’s answer. I had no earthly clue what was coming over the next half-decade. Carroll and general manager John Schneider went through literally hundreds of transactions over the next couple of seasons, just trying to get a good team together. Former GM Tim Ruskell had left the cupboard just about bare, but in a short time, the new braintrust had assembled a team worthy of contention. The 2010 trade with the Buffalo Bills for running back Marshawn Lynch, now one of the more interesting fleecings in recent NFL history, manifested itself in the “Beastquake” run against the New Orleans Saints in the 2010 playoffs, when the 7-9 Seahawks snuck in the back door of the postseason and shocked the defending Super Bowl champions. 

Over time, Carroll and Schneider built one of the greatest defenses in NFL history, and they got themselves a franchise quarterback in the person of third-round draft pick Russell Wilson, and sooner than anybody thought, they were no longer sneaking in through the back door – they were busting the damned thing down. 

In my life, such wins with such self-confidence meant a lot, and became an example. 

When I started covering the Seahawks in 2010, I was the only caretaker for my mother, who had been sick for years. It was a complicated relationship that’s best left out of this discussion, but the ability to finally live a dream at a time when the rest of my life was a disaster meant more than anyone I was covering will ever know. 

My personal ascent out of that particular hell started about the same time the Seahawks were rising to the top. My mother passed away on February 1, 2012. I was busy covering my first Super Bowl in person, and I got the call at my hotel room at 2:30 that morning. 

I knew, as Pete Carroll knew a couple years before, that I now had a clean slate, and that I could make of the world what I wanted. 

The pinnacle of our shared experience was the week of Super Bowl XLVIII. By then, I was writing for Sports Illustrated when that still meant something, and to work from the old SI offices in Manhattan for the full week, and then go to see the team I had watched grow from infancy demolish the Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos was a watershed moment. I was no longer a fan of any NFL team – you get that beaten out of you after a point in time – but to watch my two hometown teams (I grew up in Denver) was quite something, especially given why and how I was there to observe it. 

Our paths started to diverge after the next Super Bowl, when the Seahawks lost to the Patriots on what I still believe was the worst play call in the history of sports. Not because my interest in the team had dwindled; I was just covering the NFL at a national level at that point, and when that’s your beat, you have to keep your head on a swivel for the Next Big Thing. 

In the half-decade after that, the Seahawks made several personnel decisions that ultimately led to what happened on Wednesday morning. But Pete Carroll never stopped being interesting to me. I remember sitting with him at an event a few years back. It was an informal interview setting with no real time constraints, and we were just shooting the breeze. Somehow, the conversation came around to Abraham Maslow’s theories of self-actualization, which I had leaned on heavily as I tried to make my way into the world after my mother’s death. Carroll was all over that – it turned out that he had written his doctoral thesis on that exact subject. That opened a door into his mind, and I got to see a different side of the ball coach. But there was a sameness to it, because there would have been no Super Bowls, no Legion of Boom, and no Russell Wilson without Pete Carroll’s ability to reshape himself in the way he wanted. 

Carroll also gave me the most remarkable interview I’ve ever had with any coach when he talked openly and honestly about race relations in America and in the NFL at a time when most people in power were trying to sweep reality under the rug. 

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is making a push for racial equality in the NFL

At his final press conference on Wednesday, Carroll was asked what advice he’d give to other coaches. He responded that you have to know who you are before you know what you can do.

Those words made me want to write this piece. I doubt that Pete Carroll will ever know that he helped me know who I am, and what I can do. It was not a personal relationship; you could call it one of direct inspiration by word and deed. 

Pete Carroll talked at length before his departure about how fortunate he felt to have gone through this particular ride. 

I feel the same way, because I wouldn’t be who I am today, doing what I do today, without that direct inspiration.

Pete Carroll is ousted as Seahawks’ head coach; social media reacts to the shocking news

Pete Carroll was relieved of his duties as the Seahawks’ head coach after 14 years, and social media was buzzing with the shocking news.

If you were shocked by the Wednesday news that the Seattle Seahawks have made the decision to move on from Pete Carroll as their head coach after 14 seasons, you are not alone.

Based on his comments after Seattle’s 9-8 season — the second in three years in which the team didn’t make the playoffs — Carroll might have been one of those shocked by the news, which came after Carroll’s annual postseason meeting with Seahawks owner/chairperson Jody Allen.

“I plan to be coaching this team,” Carroll told Seattle Sports 710 AM this week. “I told you that I love these guys, and that’s what I would like to be doing and see how far I can go. I’m not worn out. I’m not tired. I’m not any of that stuff. I need to do a better job and I need to help my coaches more and we need to do a better job of coaching, and there’s a lot of area for improvement.”

Now, Carroll will move to an advisory role, per the team.

As you would expect, social media was humming with this one.

Pete Carroll will be replaced as Seahawks’ head coach

Pete Carroll is out as the Seahawks’ head coach, per multiple reports. A former assistant could be first in line to replace him.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who has redefined the franchise since 2010, but has missed the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, is not expected to return in 2024 as the team’s head coach. This per a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who also reported that Carroll may still be part of the organization in some form or fashion. Carroll has also been the team’s Executive Vice President.

Every year after the season, Carroll meets with team owner/chairperson Jody Allen, and it was at that time that the decision was made. It was likely a surprise to Carroll, give his comments as the regular season came to a close.

Initial reports from Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network indicate that Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who was Seattle’s defensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014, and the team’s assistant head coach and defensive line coach in 2009 and 2010, could be a prime candidate to replace Carroll.

Carroll has said that his team played better in 2023 than they did in 2022, when they did make the playoffs. That was true to a point on offense, but Seattle’s run defense was an embarrassment, and given Carroll’s status as a legendary defensive mind, that wasn’t the best look.

Over the last two seasons, Carroll and general manager John Schneider made adroit draft picks and trades after a five-season stretch in which things did not go well. The trade of Russell Wilson to the Broncos was a masterstroke, but it was offset to a great degree by the awful trade for defensive back Jamal Adams, which cost Seattle two first-round picks. That refocus has brought a lot of young talent back to the roster after a long stretch of mistakes, and this is one of the more attractive jobs in the NFL based on those factors.

Carroll finishes his career as Seattle’s head coach with a 137-89-1 regular-season record, and a 10-9 postseason record, including a win in Super Bowl XLVIII, and a near win in Super Bowl XLIX.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: End-of-season quarterback decisions lead to surprising picks

How many NFL teams will stick with their current quarterbacks? A high number could make for an interesting first round of the 2024 draft.

Now that the 2023 NFL regular season is over, every team turns its attention to the draft — even those teams that are part of the postseason. Area scouts will start to move to the home facility to interact with scouting directors and general managers, and with the scouting combine less than two months away, it’s time to start putting your big boards together.

This applies especially to those teams with crucial quarterback decisions to make. For the purposes of this mock draft, we’ll assume that the Chicago Bears are sticking with Justin Fields, the Arizona Cardinals are committed to Kyler Murray, the Tennessee Titans think they have a future franchise quarterback in Will Levis, and the New York Jets think that eventually, Aaron Rodgers will stop shooting his mouth off long enough to play quarterback in 2024.

Conversely, the Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, New York Giants, and Atlanta Falcons will avail themselves of the best draftable quarterbacks possible in the interest of turning things around.

So, four quarterbacks go in the first round here, with more teams looking to build around the guys they’ve already got. That makes for one notable omission (Oregon’s Bo Nix), and a whole bunch of talented prospects at other positions pushing themselves up the boards.

Geno Smith rallies Seahawks to victory over Titans

The Seahawks rallied for another victory, this one at Tennessee

The Seattle Seahawks picked up their second cardiac victory in less than a week on Sunday.

The NFC West team got a TD pass from Geno Smith to Colby Parkinson with 57 seconds left for the 20-17 victory.

Watch as Parkinson uses his 6-foot-7, 251-pound frame to shield the Titans defenders from the ball.

The game-winning drive covered 75 yards in 14 plays and only took 2:24 on the clock.

On Monday, Drew Lock led Seattle to victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Drew Lock’s game-winning TD to Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a schematic win for Seahawks

Drew Lock’s game-winning touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba against the Eagles was a master class in in-game scouting.

On Monday night on their home turf against the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, the Seattle Seahawks were 6-7, and looking the near-end of their season in a competitive sense. If they wanted to save their season, the Seahawks would have to drive 92 yards, down 17-13, with 1:52 left in the game. And they’d have to do it with backup quarterback Drew Lock, who was subbing for the injured Geno Smith.

No big deal, right?

Turns out it wasn’t. Against an Eagles defense that had been struggling to the point where head coach Nick Sirianni elevated Matt Patricia to the defensive play-caller position at the expense of defensive coordinator Sean Desai, Seattle marched right down the field. And with 33 seconds left in the game, Lock took a deep shot to rookie receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for all the Tostitos. A 29-yard touchdown was the result.

Did that save Seattle’s season, at least for now? I’d say so, and NextGen Stats would agree.

An inside look at the play shows not only the mistakes Philly’s defense made, but how Seattle understood what this play could mean.

The killer for the Eagles here was that they were rushing just four, and because safety Sydney Brown dropped down to the box, Philly’s defense was short a safety to the boundary side. Because the Eagles were in Cover-1, Brown most likely had running back Zach Charbonnet out of the backfield, and there was no help up top for deep safety Reed Blankenship. Moreover, because the Eagles had to man up on Seattle’s trips receivers to the back side. Furthermore, linebacker Nick Morrow moved to bracket D.K. Metcalf at No. 2 to the trips side. Blankenship was on the opposite hash at the start of the play, and with all due respect, he’s not Ed Reed in his prime. So, Bradberry wasn’t going to have any help. Basically, this was a 2-Man disguise that turned into Cover-0 without a blitz. Add that to cornerback James Bradberry squatting at the sticks, and it was pitch-and-catch.

Less than ideal.

Philly’s coverage issues notwithstanding, how did the Seahawks know that this play would work? Because they had run the same play earlier in the game, and things went differently. But Seattle offensive coordinator Shane Waldron told Lock to be alert for something else the second time around.

Emotional Drew Lock says “I’ll remember that play call for the rest of my life”

“It was actually sweet,” Lock said of the two plays. “Shane came back to that call. We ran that call on the first third down, first drive. We didn’t use the element of one-on-one go ball to Jax on that. We had man that first time. My plan going into it was we’re going to work the concept side first, first third down I get this call. I’m breaking the huddle. Shane gives me the reminder in the headset, don’t forget Jax is one on one if you got him. All right, turn around, hey, you’re getting the ball if you get one on one here.

“We already played that frontside. Who knows how they’re going to play that concept that they’ve kind of seen and felt the same thing earlier in the game. Sure enough, they gave us one on one. Kind of a perfect look. We had an off corner, Jax kind of tempoed it off the ball, hit the jets, put that thing in the back corner.”

This was third-and-9 with 5:19 left in the first quarter, and the ball at the Seattle 26-yard line. This time, Smith-Njigba had cornerback Kelee Ringo pressed right up on him, The Eagles rushed four here as well — Morrow faked a rush pre-snap, but dropped out to defend Charbonnet in the flat. So, when Brown dropped down this time, we can assume he was a robber, because he was all over the backside slant to D.K. Metcalf. The Seahawks got eight yards on that third-and-9 play, so it wasn’t a success, but they saw something they might be able to boomerang at a later point.

“I knew just by preparing all week that if it was man-to-man, I was the go-to on that play,” Smith-Njigba said. “We ran it before and they did play man, but you know, stuff happens. The next play we were able to get it down, so I’m happy I got the same look.”

As for Bradberry, all he could do was to look back with regret.

“He just ran past me because I was sitting at the sticks.”

Alas.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys go deep into both plays, and what the result means for both teams.

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You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os,” featuring all of Week 16’s biggest NFL matchups, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Previewing Week 15’s biggest NFL matchups

In the latest “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into Week 16’s biggest matchups, the BIlls’ run game, and the Eagles’ backslide.

It’s time for Week 16 of the 2023 NFL season, and Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, are here to get you ready for the most important games and interesting matchups:

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings — How rookies Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs have come to define the Lions’ offense, and what the Bengals may have taught the rest of the NFL about how to attack Brian Flores’ crazy-quilt Vikings defense.

Dallas Cowboys at Miami Dolphins — Why the Cowboys had best be ready for Raheem Mostert and Miami’s run game, and the keys to the Dolphins’ drastic defensive improvement in the second half of the season.

Baltimore Ravens at San Francisco 49ers — Speaking of drastic defensive improvement in the second half of the season, did you know that the 49ers rank first in the NFL in Defensive DVOA since Week 10? A severe test for Lamar Jackson and Baltimore’s offense, especially without rookie running back Keaton Mitchell.

The guys also get into how the Seattle Seahawks beat the Philadelphia Eagles with the same play twice, and the Buffalo Bills’ amazing journey into becoming a force in the run game.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.