Joe

Brady

Brady spent the past two seasons as the Bills’ offensive coordinator and play-caller after getting the interim offensive coordinator job in 2023. Garafolo reports that Brady will continue to call offensive plays after the Bills promoted him to head coach. Despite Buffalo aiming for some change after firing Sean McDermott, the team retains familiarity on offense. Brady’s offenses ranked top-three in EPA per play in both 2024 and 2025. With offensive play-calling settled, Brady will need to find a defensive play-caller and an offensive coordinator to work with in evolving Josh Allen’s offense.

It’s reportedly a five-year deal for Brady. While it’s hard to separate Brady’s play calling and offensive scheming from the all-world quarterbacking of Josh Allen, Brady’s Buffalo offenses have been productive. The Bills have been top-six in points scored and top-ten in total yards in all three of Brady’s seasons at the helm of the offense. Brady, 36, served as OC for the Panthers before coming to Buffalo in 2023. The Bills over the past three years lead the NFL in EPA per play and rank second in offensive success rate, trailing only Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers. Brady, at worst, will bring continuity to the team after they fired longtime head coach Sean McDermott following a Divisional Round loss to the Broncos.

Brady’s second interview with the Raiders was reportedly an in-person interview. The Bills’ offensive coordinator remains in play for head coaching openings with the Bills, Raiders, and Cardinals, although we can’t say with any amount of certainty if he has the inside edge for any of these jobs. Brady has been calling plays for the Bills since taking over for Ken Dorsey during the mid-way point of the 2023 season and also spent time calling plays for the Panthers from 2020-2021. If Brady doesn’t get a head coaching job, he should have plenty of suitors for offensive coordinator vacancies and may even return to the Bills in the right situation.

It’s an in-person interview per Adam Schefter. Brady is also still in play for the Bills and Cardinals jobs. This interview is apparently being conducted without Raiders owner Tom Brady, who is busy calling the NFC Championship Game. Brady was also involved in the Ravens, Dolphins, and Falcons searches before they all hired new head coaches.

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.

Hiring Brady would certainly make for a smooth transition. The Bills’ offensive coordinator has served in his current role for the past two seasons. He was the Bills’ quarterbacks coach in 2022 and 2023, and was promoted to interim offensive coordinator in the latter year.

Baltimore’s process drags on. The Ravens had a 16-coach list (that we know of), and are beginning the second interview phase shortly. Of Baltimore’s interviews, Kevin Stefanski and Robert Saleh have come off the board already. It looks like Anthony Weaver, Jesse Minter, and Joe Brady are early finalists for the position. It’s Campanile’s second head coaching interview, and with the Dolphins job now secured, his only active lead towards being a head coach.

Brady, who Mike Garafolo adds has a second interview scheduled with the Ravens, is now on the radars of Arizona, Las Vegas, and Baltimore. He had interviewed for the Miami and Tennessee jobs before they were filled yesterday, as well. Brady had seemed to have a down season on paper as Bills offensive coordinator. He struggled to create downfield pass plays with Josh Allen. But it doesn’t seem like the NFL as a whole has agreed that it was his fault.

“He’s really close to Josh Allen,” Pelissero says while noting the Bills are focusing on a more offensive-minded coach. Apparently multiple teams are waiting for the Broncos to be eliminated to get Webb in for a second interview per Pelissero’s reporting. Based on that, it sure seems likely that the 30-year-old former NFL quarterback stands a good chance of leaving the cycle with a head-coaching gig. The NFL Network reporter also says that Joe Brady is “a candidate, but I don’t know if he is the candidate” in Buffalo.

Another playoff loss to an AFC West team, this time the Broncos, was the final straw for McDermott. With the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson all watching from home. McDermott’s Bills again came up short in Saturday’s Divisional Round loss to the Broncos. McDermott heavily blamed a controversial interception on an apparent catch by Brandin Cooks for the latest shortcoming. He finishes his Bills tenure with a 98-50 record after being hired by the team in 2017 and had only one losing season in his nine years at the helm. McDermott led the Bills to five-straight division titles from 2020 to 2024, but finished second to an emerging Patriots team this season. The Bills will now become the most coveted job opening in the NFL, as they will likely line up several potential head coaching candidates in the coming days. Current offensive coordinator Joe Brady will likely receive an interview as a potential in-house candidate, but we would expect the Bills to cast a wide net in hopes of bringing in a coach who can capitalize on the remainder of Josh Allen’s prime in hopes of delivering the Bills their first ever Super Bowl. McDermott, should he wish to continue as a head coach in 2026, should also generate plenty of interest with seven other head coaching vacancies still open across the league.