What Robert Saleh’s Firing Means for Other NFL Coaches on the Hot Seat

Are there other coaches in danger of being let go? Plus, the favorite team to land Davante Adams, why it’s still too early to panic in Cincinnati and more in Albert Breer’s mailbag.

The Jaguars' 37–34 win over the Colts has taken some of the heat off Pederson. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

We’re barreling towards Week 6. And all of you brought it to the mailbag this week …

From Taylor Sims (@TaylorSims14): Who do you feel is the next coach to be let go? Robert Saleh was a bit of a shocker but any others you feel are on the hot seat this year? Also, would Bill Belichick be in the mix for any?

Taylor, this is a tough one to answer. Going into Week 5, I thought that if anyone was worth watching, it was Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson, based on the fact that the Jaguars were 1–9 in their previous 10 games. Plus, Pederson’s tone when speaking to the public seemed to shift.

The Jaguars’ win last week does serve to take some heat off Pederson. But that doesn’t make their next two games in London, where owner Shad Khan has invested a lot of money, less important. On Tuesday, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson lamented his team’s performance, calling the roster one of the best in franchise history. Khan has said similar things about the current Jaguars roster, which puts the onus on coaches to win with their existing talent.

After an exciting division win over the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville faces a pair of games in England against rookie quarterbacks that should be winnable, if the team is as good as Khan thinks. The first matchup is against the Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams, and the second is against the New England Patriots and Drake Maye. So, if the Jaguars return to Jacksonville at 1–6, discussion around Pederson could ramp up. I don’t expect that, though, based on how they just played.

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From David Gleeson (@davidrgleeson): It’s time for the @Broncos to be getting a little more national love, don’t you think?

David, sure. And let’s start with Vance Joseph’s defense. Here’s how that unit stacks up:

• Third in total defense.
• Second in yards allowed per play.
• Eighth in yards allowed per rush.
• Second in yards allowed per pass play.
• Third in sack percentage.
• Ninth in third-down defense.

Even more impressive? These aren’t your older brother’s Denver Broncos. There aren’t edge rushers like Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware or even Bradley Chubb screaming off the edge. This success comes in the unit’s first year in the post-Justin Simmons era. Outside of all-world corner Patrick Surtain II, there aren’t many big names, but a bunch of steady vets and emerging young players drafted outside the first round. Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto are the team’s sack leaders. A corner, Riley Moss, leads the team in tackles.

So Joseph can take a bow. And when I talked to Surtain postgame, he gave the team’s second-year coordinator the time to do that. He told me Joseph is allowing everyone on that side of the ball to be more aggressive. I asked Surtain how that’s come to life.

“He’s really allowed us to shine in our skill sets,” he says. “It goes hand in hand. It’s playing aggressively on my part, but aggressively in other units as well. The front is getting after the quarterback, getting tons of pressure. That allows us to be more aggressive. It’s complimentary football. We got a defense honed in on the game plan and understanding VJ’s system and what he’s trying to do.

“It allows us to really make plays and build that comradery as a unit."

Now, imagine what this could look like if Sean Payton can get rookie Bo Nix and a young offense going …

Joseph has Denver's defense humming, helping the Broncos to three straight wins. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

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From Glenjammin’ (@gharri69): Who are the leaders in landing Davante Adams now that the Jets and Saints are in flux?

Glen Jam, I’d say the Jets are still the favorite, and maybe even more so with Robert Saleh out and Jeff Ulbrich in as head coach. Aaron Rodgers wants it to happen, and there’s little question that Rodgers has leverage in that building. Plus, it’s Adams’s desired result, too. The Raiders don’t have to acquiesce, of course, but if a team is going to give up something of value for a guy of Adams’s age (he’ll be 32 on Dec. 24) and stature, that team will want him on board with the trade.

As for the New Orleans Saints, Derek Carr is hurt and the team is 3–2, with $3.07 million in cap space and around $375 million in cap commitments for next year (for context, this year’s cap is $255.5 million). New Orleans has been in this spot before, so it’s not like it couldn’t move the money around. The question in this case is whether it’d be worth it for them to do so, on top of giving up a draft pick.

The Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers are still monitoring the situation. I think Buffalo’s cap situation ($2.85 million in space) makes the Bills a less likely suitor. The Steelers, on the other hand, have a little more room (they’d need to maneuver some, too), and already have shown the willingness to bring on a big-ticket receiver earlier this year with their pursuit of Brandon Aiyuk, so they’re paying attention, too.

But, yeah, it’s probably the Jets.

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From Mark Habat (@habsjr): Is there a way out from Deshaun Watson? Or am I going to be in hell for the next two-plus seasons? Bonus? Can we trade Jimmy Haslam?

Mark, you can’t change the owner. And in all likelihood, you can’t change the quarterback, either. So, the $92 million fully guaranteed in cash for 2025 and ’26 is there. There’s also a whopping $172.77 million in cap charges still to be accounted for after this year. Which would cripple the team for at least a year or two from a cap standpoint.

The only way out is if Watson defaults on his guarantees, which would be triggered by a suspension arising from a situation the team didn’t know about at the time of the trade.

The overwhelming likelihood is that Watson will be the Cleveland Browns starter again in 2025. That’s why Haslam wants so badly to make this work and is pulling every lever to make it happen. To me, a big key would be having brutally honest conversations with Watson in the coming months—the kind of tough love he got from former Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien, to try and hit the reset button on his career.

If he still has the football smarts, and playmaking ability he had in Houston, it’s on the Browns to find it in him. Then again, they’ve had three years to do it, so it’s hard to count on that happening.

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From Kevin Kistner (@KistnerKev28995): Do you think Aaron Rodgers had a hand in Robert Saleh’s firing?

Kevin, I don’t.

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From Alchemjung (@Jungiter): If the Rams become sellers at the deadline, do you think they get assets for a potential QB move in the draft next year?

Alchemjung, the Los Angeles Rams still have a good young base of talent, and the few guys they have that aren’t in that ascending category (guys, by that logic, that they’d be willing to move) are aging and expensive. So, it sounds good. But I’m just not sure that there’s much, outside of maybe Cooper Kupp, where you’d say, yes, that’s a guy that they’d trade, and said guy is someone that would bring back the kind of capital that would help land a quarterback.

That said, I think the Rams are in play for a quarterback in next year’s draft, and not because Matthew Stafford’s done. Smart franchises with quarterbacks such as 36-year-old Stafford (he’ll be 37 on Super Bowl Sunday) try their best to go early to find a successor. It doesn’t always work out. But the work should be underway.

Stafford and the Rams are off to a disappointing 1–4 start, falling to the Packers in Week 5. / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

In fact, last year, there were rumblings in NFL circles that the Rams could take Nix. I figured out in time that the Rams were fine having those rumblings out there because Nix going in front of them (he did) would cause another player to fall to them. Nix was easy to link to L.A. since his dad was an Auburn teammate of Rams GM Les Snead. And though it wasn’t real, it was a reminder that the Rams’ radar will and should be up for young quarterbacks.

I’m just not sure things line up for them right now to trade vets to stockpile picks to land a QB.

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From Ronnie (@Tray4o): Where does Jayden Daniels rank in your early MVP candidates? Plus, Dan Quinn for Coach of the year?

Ronnie, Quinn would be my Coach of the Year, and Daniels would be my Rookie of the Year.

As for MVP, I’m not there quite yet. Maybe it’s bias against a rookie. But it’s hard for me not to see this as a year where it would go to Patrick Mahomes. He’s led the Chiefs to a 5–0 start despite the team’s offensive plan being blown up by injuries to Rashee Rice and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Just grab a box score and look who he’s throwing to. And that’s without getting into the troubles Kansas City has had at left tackle.

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From Henry Matthews (@henrymHuss26H): Could you see receiver George Pickens being traded? It just seems like he doesn't fit in Pittsburgh.

Henry, Mike Tomlin’s always been excellent at managing guys such as Pickens (very few people thought Antonio Brown was any sort of problem until very late into his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers). Plus, the Steelers have problems at that position. So I can’t see Pickens out unless serious reinforcements are coming in.

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From Kent Schrag (@TheBlockO): Is Zac Taylor’s seat getting warm?

Kent, no, not as I see it. The Cincinnati Bengals are historically very, very patient with their coaches. Marvin Lewis was given the equivalent of two long runs at getting it right there—the Carson Palmer era and the Andy Dalton era. And Lewis never made it to an AFC title game. Taylor has already been to two.

To me, the Bengals are at a natural point of transition, moving their quarterback off a rookie deal and onto a top-of-the-market contract. The defense has gotten older. The team is going to have to fill holes through the draft.

I also still think they could make the playoffs. But even if they don’t, things would have to get really bad for Taylor to be gone.

Taylor is facing scrutiny after the Bengals started the season 1–4. / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

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From Dave (@ChefdDds89): Are the Patriots already dysfunctional to the level of the Pete Carroll era? And how can they fix the front office and coaching staff in the offseason?

Dave, the New England Patriots went 10–6, 9–7 and 8–8 in Carroll’s three years in charge. This is a completely different situation and not comparable to 1997 to ’99. This Patriots team that Jerod Mayo and Eliot Wolf inherited needs the sort of rebuild that was always going to take more than one offseason. So, you have to stick it out for longer than that, even if there are some troubling signs in how the season has gone (and I’d agree those are there).

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From Derek Costa (@dc7234): Latest update on Adams and when is it expected to be done?

I’d say as soon as he’s healthy, teams will get more serious. Again, I think he ends up a Jet.

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From Joe Brenner (@BayAreaBrenner): This is the second year in a row that we’ve seen the Niners D decline. Some folks in local media think it’s because Kyle Shanahan wants a yes man to call Kyle’s defense, rather than letting them run their own scheme. Do you think there’s any merit to this?

I don’t agree with that, Joe. Shanahan seriously considered elevating Nick Sorensen to coordinator when DeMeco Ryans left in early 2023 after some guys he targeted (Ulbrich among them) didn’t materialize as real candidates. He brought in Steve Wilks because of the veteran makeup of the team and wound up regretting it. So he went back to his first instinct, and now has Sorensen learning his way as a DC.

I don’t think there’s much more to it than that.

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From kevbanger (@SirShowboat): Besides getting healthy, what needs to happen for the Rams to get back into playoff contention?

Kev, I think just continued development of the young guys on the defensive front and in the secondary, and more consistent play from the offensive line. And, like you said, better health.