NFL Player News

This being Fitz, maybe Jeff Bezos is preparing to send him into space. It is hardly a surprise the league’s media partners are beating down Fitzpatrick’s door. It was undoubtedly a factor in the 39-year-old’s decision to hang it up. Long a kinetic personality who also oozes intelligence — you may be familiar with his college — Fitz will start out in the Thursday Night Football streaming streets before perhaps eventually making his way to the networks.

The Bills activated Oliver along with WR Curtis Samuel (elbow, neck) from injured reserve earlier this week. While Oliver has missed all but three games this year, he recorded a sack in all three of those contests. Even in limited snaps, he should provide run-stuffing ability and pass rush juice while he’s out there.

While Rodgers’ future in the NFL remains uncertain, it’s become clear he’s unlikely to continue quarterbacking the Steelers next season. Rapoport’s report that the 42-year-old signal caller isn’t expected to return to Pittsburgh comes on the heels of Steelers owner Art Rooney II saying as much at his press conference earlier this week. Rooney made it clear that Rodgers joined the Steelers last year to play for Mike Tomlin, who stepped down immediately following the team’s loss in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Without Tomlin, there’s almost no chance of the Rodgers-Steelers partnership continuing. If Rodgers does ultimately decide to keep playing, there should be plenty of openings this offseason with the draft and free agency light on starting options. He’s still one final stop in Minnesota away from completing the Full Favre, though he engaged in discussions with the Vikings last offseason.

Evero met virtually with the Raiders this week and will have an in-person interview sometime next week. The 45-year-old defensive coordinator also has an interview with the Steelers coming up. Evero has been a defensive coordinator for the last four years (three with the Panthers, one with the Broncos) with mixed results, though he remains respected around the league.

Morton was fired as offensive coordinator of the Lions after the season, though he was stripped of play-calling duties midyear. The 56-year-old coach has coached under Sean Payton in New Orleans and Denver before, so his arrival with the Broncos this week isn’t a big surprise. Morton could find himself on Payton’s staff again next year as well.

Hafley is interviewing with the Steelers on Saturday and has fielded requests from the Raiders, Titans, Cardinals and Falcons as well. The 46-year-old coach has led a top-12 defense in each of his two seasons as the Packers’ defensive coordinator. Hafley is a natural fit with the Dolphins given his relationship with new Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan, who worked in the Packers’ front office for many years. Before joining the Packers, Hafley had a 22-26 record in four season as the head coach at Boston College.

Schefter says the Seahawks still believe Darnold will be OK for the Divisional Round matchup against the 49ers on Saturday. Seahawks coach Mike McDonald remained optimistic that Darnold would be able to play Friday, though he acknowledged the possibility of the injury limiting the 28-year-old quarterback and dodged questions about if Darnold actually threw the ball during the team’s walkthrough. Picking up an oblique injury two days before the biggest game of the season is far from ideal, but Darnold is still expected to play. Seattle would prefer to lean on its defense and running game with Darnold at less than 100 percent, though.

This comes on the heels of a report from SNY’s Connor Hughes on Friday that Stefanski is the favorite for the Falcons job. Schefter passes along that the Falcons are Stefanski’s next interview, getting him in the building again before the Titans can do the same. Stefanski has dealt with less-than-stellar quarterback situations in the past and the Falcons roster is strong in other areas, potentially making him a strong fit under new President of Football Matt Ryan.

Duggan reports that while Harbaugh coached the Ravens for 18 seasons, the 63-year-old head coach reported directly to owner Steve Biscotti and not the general manager. While that has not been the Giants’ chain of command historically, it appears Harbaugh prefers that same setup rather than reporting to Giants GM Joe Schoen. Harbaugh is the first major domino to fall in this offseason’s coaching carousel, which gives the Giants some options if this deal were to fall through, though that’s not seen as likely at this point. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the negotiations are heading in the right direction, according to a source, and the Giants hope to introduce Harbaugh at a press conference on Tuesday.

Reporting among the top NFL news-breakers that Green Bay is expected to workout a contract extension with LaFleur has been consistent over the last week. The 46-year-old Packers coach has one year left on his contract, but Green Bay intends to extend LaFleur and avoid lame-duck status. The same appears to be true of Gutekunst, who Schefter reports is also more likely than not to receive a contract extension soon. The Packers are 76-40-1 and have made the playoffs six times in seven years under LaFleur, who was hired by Gutekunst in 2019. Gutekunst helped usher in a new era of Packers football by drafting Jordan Love, trading future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers and acquiring three-time All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons. Packers President Ed Policy was spotted with LaFleur and Gutekunst earlier this week, according to Schefter. While no deal is done yet, Green Bay continues to trend towards keeping the band together.

Shula, 39, will also interview for the Titans, Steelers, Giants, Cardinals and Raiders’ head-coaching vacancies. The Rams face the Bears’ explosive offense on Sunday, in a contest that will determine one of the two representatives in the NFC Championship Game.