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The Commanders interview Chiefs defensive line coach Joe Cullen; could be underrated hire that improves Washington’s defense
Cullen has been a defensive coach since 1991 and has extensive experience calling plays as a defensive coordinator, most recently with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021. Quinn will likely want
an experienced defensive coach as the next defensive coordinator, rather than a young coach like David Blough on offense.
The players like Cullen, and he brings an intensity on defense that Quinn would love to have around his scheme. Cullen is another old-school coach who would mesh well with what Quinn wants to do.
Cullen has done a great job with the Chiefs’ defensive line over the last few seasons, and even in a down year this season with a top-10 defense under Steve Spagnuolo. The Chiefs allowed the ninth-lowest rushing yards per game, and that starts up front with Chris Jones, George Karlaftis, and others in the trenches. The Commanders had the third-worst rushing defense in the league, even with the majority of the team’s salary cap invested in Daron Payne and Javon Kinlaw.
The Chiefs haven’t invested a lot of draft capital or salary cap on the defensive line, and Cullen still got a lot out of others outside of Jones. The Commanders need to invest and revamp the defensive line this offseason, and not just at the edge position. The defensive tackles have been very disappointing, and hopefully, Cullen could get the most out of Javon Kinlaw and Johnny Newton, while Adam Peters decides on Payne.
Heavy.com
Commanders want Bryce Young mentor to coach Jayden Daniels
The Washington Commanders seemingly aren’t done with reshaping their coaching staff on offense, with an emphasis on surrounding star quarterback Jayden Daniels with familiar faces, even one whose biggest claim to fame in the NFL is helping Carolina Panthers signal-caller Bryce Young live up to his draft status.
Young finally played like a No.1 overall pick this season, and assistant quarterbacks coach Mike Bercovici is credited with having “played a big role” in his development. That’s according to NFL Insider Jordan Schultz, who reported on Monday, January 12 “The #Commanders have requested to interview Panthers assistant QBs coach Mike Bercovici for their QBs coach position on OC David Blough’s staff.”
Bercovici is an ideal candidate to step into the role vacated when David Blough was promoted from Daniels’ position coach to offensive coordinator. As Schultz pointed out, Bercovici “crossed paths with Jayden Daniels at Arizona State in 2019.”
Heavy.com
Commanders bring Jonathan Gannon in for DC interview
They could do a lot worse than recently fired Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, who will be in for an interview this week and will be a hot commodity for several teams looking to fill their defensive coordinator spots.
“Former Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon has a busy week ahead,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on X. ” … his interview schedule is as follows: Cowboys for DC (Tuesday) — Commanders for DC Thursday — Titans for HC Sunday.”
Gannon spent a decade-plus as an NFL defensive assistant before he was hired by the Cardinals as head coach following the 2022 season and following 2 seasons as defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Commanders.com
5 things to know about Commanders OC David Blough
He has a receiving touchdown.
Not many NFL quarterbacks can say they have a receiving touchdown on their resume. Blough only made one career catch during his professional career, but it was a memorable one.
Blough ended up starting the final five games of the Lions’ 2019 with the season finale being a home matchup against the Green Bay Packers. The Lions, who entered the game 3-11-1, were looking for anything to jolt their offense, and that’s exactly what they got on their second drive of the day.
With the ball at the Packers’ 19-yard line, Blough faked a handoff to running back Ty Johnson before flipping the ball back to wide receiver Danny Amendola. Amendola rolled out to his right before passing the ball to Blough, who was wide open for the touchdown. Blough chucked the ball into the stands as a celebration for giving the Lions an early 7-0 lead.
Commanders.com
Commanders 2025 position review | Running back
The Commanders had a strong rushing offense for the second straight season, ranking fourth in the league with 134.7 yards on the ground per game. While the loss of Ekeler for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon forced the Commanders to change their plans, they still tied for fourth in the league with 4.7 yards per carry and eighth in rushing touchdowns (20). Even more impressive was that the Commanders pulled this off with just 345 combined carries from their running backs.
Bill and who else? Croskey-Merritt is set to be the only running back on the Commanders’ roster when the new league year begins in March. Rodriguez is a restricted free agent, which means that the Commanders have the right to match any offer he receives in free agency. Rodriguez could come back, but the Commanders would still need to add to the room even if he does re-sign with them. There are some intriguing players set to be available, including Najee Harris, Travis Etienne and Javonte Williams. However, what players the Commanders target will depend on new offensive coordinator David Blough’s vision for the offense.
Washington Post (paywall)
Commanders offseason roster guide
Washington will undergo significant construction this offseason. “We got a lot of work to do,” Coach Dan Quinn admitted.
Washington doesn’t have much money tied up into the future. For the three most expensive players in this category — McLaurin, Sam Cosmi and Javon Kinlaw — 2026 is the final season on their respective deals with any guaranteed money.
This will be a pivotal year for Daniels. Players on rookie contracts are eligible for an extension after three seasons. His play — and availability — in 2026 will dictate how much he’s able to command in the offseason of 2027.
Daron Payne also could be looking for a new deal, but the Commanders might not have the same urgency to extend him. He finished with 46 tackles, seven tackles for loss, three sacks and a pressure rate as a pass rusher of 7.5 percent (27th among defensive tackles who played at least 500 snaps).
If the Commanders trade Payne, they will save roughly $16.8 million in salary cap space.
Salary cap
The NFL hasn’t set the salary cap for the 2026 season, so cap space can only be estimated at this point. Contracts website Spotrac projects the league will increase the salary cap from $279.2 million to $304.3 million. Based on that number, the Commanders would have about $93.6 million in cap space (fifth most in the league). NFL salaries website Over the Cap projects a salary cap of $295.5 million. Based on that number, the Commanders would have about $80.5 million in cap space.
Washington will have ample cap space, and it can create even more by releasing players, making trades, restructuring contracts and signing players to extensions.
Heavy.com
Jake Martin : Career-high 5.5 sacks in 2025
Martin had 5.5 sacks among his 39 tackles (17 solo) while playing in all 17 regular-season games in 2025. Martin set new career highs in both sacks and tackles while tacking one pass defensed and one forced fumble onto his ledger. He started 14 games, matching his total from the 2021 season in Houston. Outside of those two campaigns, Martin has only one regular-season start in six other NFL seasons. His career-best output in 2025 should help Martin earn some attention in free agency this offseason.
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The lingering question: Is the Eagles’ offensive breakup inevitable?
There is no worse-kept secret in the NFL than the frustration internally and externally with the Eagles’ offensive coaching this season. Coordinator Kevin Patullo, promoted to replace the outgoing Kellen Moore, has been a longtime assistant for coach Nick Sirianni. But Patullo was evidently underqualified for his role. Wide receiver A.J. Brown was visibly upset to varying degrees throughout the year. Running back Saquon Barkley was not nearly as productive as he was last season. Quarterback Jalen Hurts continued to struggle with throwing to the middle of the field.
There will almost certainly be a new offensive coordinator in Philadelphia next season — the fifth in five years. But perhaps the greatest question is if anything else will be new in the Eagles’ offense? Brown, who went over 20 minutes of game clock in the second half without a target and was seen arguing with Sirianni on the sideline, was a rumored target for many teams at the trade deadline. His contract represents a substantial dead cap ($66.9 million) if he’s traded, and he would likely have to collaborate with the Eagles’ front office and finagle the finances if he demands a trade.
Other than Brown, tight end (and key red zone option) Dallas Goedert will be a free agent. At 31, he’ll want to cash in on what probably will be his final good years, and the Eagles don’t have a ton of cap space to pay him. But they also don’t have a good TE2 waiting in the wings. Right tackle Lane Johnson, a franchise mainstay for more than a decade, missed the end of the season because of a foot injury and will turn 36 this spring. How much longer does he want to play — and how effective would he be? It feels like a bigger change than a mere coordinator switch is on the horizon for Philadelphia’s offense as the Eagles look to get back on top of the NFC.
allphly.com
Bowen: Thank God that’s over, now the Eagles need to fix this
Looking to this offseason, I have two main points, which are probably the same as your main points – we all watched the same crap.
The first is offensive scheme and playcalling, big surprise. There is just no way forward with this unimaginative, dreary, poorly sequenced attack. The problem isn’t just Kevin Patullo, a lot of it is what Nick Sirianni is comfortable with and what Jalen Hurts is comfortable with. Going forward, I’m fine with them both being uncomfortable. Bring in a fresh offensive mind and give that person total control.
I don’t care about Sirianni’s feelings, and I don’t care how many offensive coordinators in how many years Hurts has had. It would be absurd to fire Sirianni a year after a dominating Super Bowl victory, but if he wants to quit rather than give up say over the offense, I’d be fine with that. Someone asked me this after Sunday’s game: “If the Eagles fired Nick Sirianni, who hires him as their head coach?” Quite possibly nobody, which is kind of amazing and probably worthy of another column at some point.
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Texans-Steelers on Wild Card Weekend Monday: What We Learned from Houston’s 30-6 win
Houston’s S.W.A.R.M. defense suffocates Steelers. The Texans’ calling card has long been their league-best defense and the unit did not disappoint Monday night, keeping Houston in a tight, low-scoring contest by repeatedly shutting down Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers and eventually breaking the door down by getting involved in the scoring themselves.
Defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins took a tense game and turned it permanently in favor of the visiting Texans when he split a sack with Will Anderson Jr., forced a fumble, snatched the live ball from the pile of bodies and sprinted to the end zone, giving the Texans a 17-6 lead early in the fourth quarter. The 11-point advantage instantly felt insurmountable for the Steelers because of the elite resistance they faced.
Houston held Pittsburgh to 2 of 14 on third down on the night, forced six punts, shut down Pittsburgh’s two most promising drives short of the Houston 10-yard line (resulting in two Chris Boswell field goals) and slammed the door definitively by scoring two defensive touchdowns in the final period, punctuating a run to the playoffs that has been powered by DeMeco Ryans’ elite unit.
Rodgers’ storybook run fizzles out. The 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers entered Wild Card Weekend on a bit of a roll of late, helping the Steelers win four of their final games to secure the AFC North title and a home playoff game.
Yes, their offense had issues, but Steelers fans had reason to feel optimistic entering the first round of the postseason. Unlike previous playoff runs, Pittsburgh had a veteran quarterback capable of throwing it to victory. But clues of an eventual demise first surfaced two weeks earlier when the Steelers managed just six points in an upset loss to a team with another strong defense in Cleveland. This time around, they were facing a defensive beast that was vastly upgraded by comparison and the results proved it. Rodgers leaned into the quick-fire approach that propelled the Steelers to the playoffs early in the contest, leading a promising first-quarter drive that covered 58 yards before stalling in Houston’s red zone. It would end up being their most productive possession of the night.
Rodgers found himself under frequent duress from there, facing pressure on 45.9% of his total dropbacks. He was sacked four times, fumbled twice, lost one of them, completed just 5 of 13 attempts under pressure for 47 yards and didn’t end up standing a chance against Houston’s defense, throwing a pick-six on his final attempt of the night. Instead of using his arm and two decades’ worth of experience to guide the Steelers to their first postseason victory since 2016, Rodgers became the latest Pittsburgh quarterback to spend his final moments in a somber, expressionless state on the bench. We’ll see if it was his last time on an NFL field.
ESPN
Bills lose Gabe Davis to torn ACL
For the second straight year, wide receiver Gabe Davis suffered a major left knee injury, this time a torn ACL, coach Sean McDermott said Monday.
Davis returned to the Bills this season after he played 10 games with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2024 before suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee. He was able to return to the field with Buffalo in Week 11, playing in six regular-season games and Sunday’s wild-card win at Jacksonville.
Buffalo also will be without starting safety Jordan Poyer on Saturday after a hamstring injury kept him out of the second half against the Jaguars.
