Martindale was crowned the early favorite for the defensive coordinator role earlier this week by another Jets beat writer, ESPN’s Rich Cimini. Hughes also replied to a fan comment on Twitter about the Jets not letting Martindale leave Saturday with, “I doubt they do.” Martindale has previously held the DC title with the Giants, Ravens and Broncos in the NFL as well as at the University of Michigan on the college level.

While the Bills are just beginning their search for a new head coach after dismissing Sean McDermott earlier this week, McDaniel has already withdrawn his name from the Browns head coaching search and interviewed for multiple offensive coordinator positions before agreeing to sign on with the Chargers. Schultz says McDaniel and the Bills remain in contact for a potential interview, but there’s a “strong possibility” he moves forward with the Chargers. McDaniel’s presence in Los Angeles would be massive as fantasy managers could expect the 42-year-old coach to get the most out of Justin Herbert and the rest of the Chargers’ offense.

Dobbins is not yet ready to resume playing. He remained limited throughout all three practices this week after the Broncos opened his 21-day practice window on Monday. With Dobbins out, rookie RB RJ Harvey will again lead the backfield. He totaled 11 touches last week. Broncos RB Jaleel McLaughlin handled four and RB Tyler Badie had one.

The Seahawks cleared Darnold for action just as their Friday practice session was beginning, so we do not yet know his participation level. He was limited on Wednesday and Thursday after playing through the injury last weekend. Promisingly, no setbacks have been reported. He will also have LT Charles Cross (foot) active on Sunday.

The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and national champion didn’t take long to announce his decision. Just days after downing Miami in the College Football Playoff national championship game, Mendoza, who is widely believed to be the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, will leave college for the pros. Mendoza is a fourth-year prospect who got his start at Cal, before transferring to Indiana for the 2025 season. Under head coach Curt Cignetti, Mendoza showed tremendous improvement, throwing for career-highs across the board while finishing with a line of 3,535-41-6 through the air and leading the nation in yards per attempt (9.3) and touchdown passes. He’s a prototypical pocket passer standing at 6-foot-5, and weighing in at 225 pounds, but Mendoza also showed off the wheels at times, rushing for 76-377-7, per PFF, who does not account for rushing yards lost due to sacks. The Raiders, who currently hold the No. 1 pick in the draft, seem destined to take Mendoza come April in hopes of fixing the quarterback woes that have plagued them since Derek Carr left after the 2022 season.

Minter, 42, served as the Chargers’ defensive coordinator under head coach Jim Harbaugh over the last two seasons. He also held the same role with Harbaugh’s Michigan squad from 2022-2023. He had a one-year stint at Vanderbilt, serving as defensive coordinator and safeties coach. He worked for former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh before that, signing on as a defensive assistant in Baltimore from 2017-2018. He was promoted to assistant defensive backs coach in 2019 and promoted again to defensive backs coach in 2020. Bills OC Joe Brady and former Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury are reportedly “two names to keep an eye on” for the Ravens’ offensive coordinator role.

Robinson joined Atlanta two years ago when the team hired Raheem Morris as their head coach. He had previously worked under Sean McVay for five years, working his way up to pass game coordinator for the final two. Robinson started off strong, getting Atlanta to 13th in points scored despite Kirk Cousins struggling in his first year as a Falcon. The switch to Michael Penix in 2025 didn’t go as planned and the team cratered to 24th in scoring. The hope for Baker Mayfield and company will be that Robinson was simply dealt a bad hand in Atlanta. The hiring bodes particularly well for Bucky Irving. Atlanta ranked top-10 in rushing yards in both of Robinson’s seasons with the team.

Darnold was dealing with an oblique injury last week and he reportedly did not throw a football between suffering the injury Thursday and the Divisional Round on Saturday. However, he did not look hindered in the Seahawks’ win over the 49ers, tossing for 124 yards and a touchdown on 17 passing attempts. Darnold starts off the week limited in practice and is in line to play in the NFC Championship against the Rams.

Per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Nagy is exploring a few OC openings. In other words, none of the head coaching interviews worked out. That dream died when the Titans passed on him in favor of Robert Saleh. With his contract in Kansas City up and Eric Bieniemy expected to fill that role, Nagy is now on the search for a new OC gig. The Eagles are in desperate need of a creative coordinator to invigorate their stagnant offense, but it’s hard to see Nagy as the man for the job. He just coached Patrick Mahomes for three seasons and failed to finish better than 15th in points scored.

This was presumed to be the case when the 49ers put Aiyuk on the reserve/left squad list. It’s still stunning to hear about a player who signed a four-year, $120 million contract one season. San Francisco voided future guarantees in Aiyuk’s deal after he failed to meet certain contractual obligations. That should make it relatively easy for the team to release at some point in the offseason. He will be free to sign with any team, though the San Francisco fiasco will cost him an absurd amount of money in the long-run. NFL insiders have tabbed the Commanders and Steelers as potential landing spots for the mercurial wideout.