Around the League: Black Monday, Draft Order, Raiders London Rumors, Trick Plays, More

At this time last year, Chicago Bears fans were bracing themselves for a season-ending game on the road against the Vikings and staring directly into a future where a coaching search was about to take place. My, how things can change in just one year …

  • Fill in your brackets accordingly:
  • Perspective on what’s going down today with some notable teams that weren’t fortunate enough to make the postseason:
  • Now that we’ve got that in the open, here is a look at which teams are looking for head coaches:
  • Every opening here is unique, but I can’t get over the Cardinals being on the list. Sure, they took a step back under first-year head coach Steve Wilks and ended up with the first overall pick. But there is something that feels very wrong about Wilks being one-and-done in Arizona. To not allow Wilks to get a chance to see a second year in what was clearly a tear-down and rebuild job is a tough look for that organization. Further, it must be tough for Josh Rosen, who will probably be working with his third offensive coordinator before the second year of his pro career starts. That’s not how you want to go about developing a young quarterback prospect.
  • We’ll be keeping a close eye on what goes down up north with Green Bay. Their list of candidates is already an intriguing one:
  • That list doesn’t include Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald, a rumored target with ties to Packers CEO Mark Murphy. Fitzgerald’s Wildcats play in today’s Holiday Bowl against Utah. Will Coach Fitz go from tweeting #GoCats to #GoPackGo? 🤔🤔🤔
  • I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I’d want this job either:
  • The Andy Reid Coaching Tree could branch out even more in 2019:
  • Reports have surfaced that the Raiders could play their 2019 home games across the pond. The team is reportedly in talks with Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League to share their London-based stadium in a transition year while the franchise waits for its new Las Vegas digs to open up. As we have discussed before, the Raiders are scheduled to play one of their eight home games against … but don’t have a home field to play on. I was angling for a trip to San Francisco next year if the teams were going to play at AT&T Park, but a destination road trip to London sounds neat.
  • Elsewhere in Raider Nation, the team has a new GM:
  • Mike Mayock’s observations leading up to the draft were always intriguing. And his draft day coverage was top notch. From a viewer’s perspective, I’ll miss watching him on TV because I always felt I learned something when the camera was on him.
  • It’s nice to see an early draft order and not worry about where the Bears are:
  • The Bucs job looks more tantalizing than I’d openly admit, mostly because there is so much a team can do with a top-5 pick. And with Jameis Winston back in the fold, I suppose stability at the quarterback position doesn’t hurt. But this will be Jason Licht’s third head-coach hire, and the most important one at that.
  • Really makes you think:
  • If you were among the fans wondering why Roquan Smith stood his ground to ensure the guaranteed money on his rookie contract stayed that way, look no further than what the Jaguars are doing to Leonard Fournette. Mark Long of the Associated Press reports the team has let its star running back know the remaining guaranteed money on his rookie deal will be voided. This news comes as Jacksonville’s front office jumped through a loophole that allowed this possibility to happen because Fournette was suspended for a game after leaving the bench area to get involved with a fight in a game against the Bills. The Jaguars could stand to save some cap space with this move. But if Fournette challenges the ruling and wins, then this probably gets the ball moving on shipping him out of town.
  • As for things that happened in games yesterday:
  • So much for never watching the NFL again:
  • written by

    Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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