Mike

LaFleur

LaFleur said he “missed it” during his three years as Sean McVay’s offensive coordinator and noted that “the worst playcall is a late playcall.” Stapled to an ineffective Zach Wilson early in his career, it’s hard to fully understand LaFleur’s upside as a playcaller at this point. It’s certainly possible he does better in Arizona than he did in New York.

Evidently impressed with LaFleur’s development, Kyle Shanahan hired LaFleur as the 49ers’ passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach after Shanahan was hired as the team’s head coach in 2017. LaFleur shed the wide receivers coach title in 2019, and later accepted the Jets’ offensive coordinator position in 2021 after former 49ers DC Robert Saleh was hired as the Jets’ next head coach. LaFleur parted ways with the Jets in 2023 and was hired by Rams head coach Sean McVay as the Rams’ offensive coordinator. He has served in that capacity in each of the last three seasons, notably ceding play-calling duties to McVay, unlike his time in New York under Saleh. The Rams’ offense led the league in yards per play this season (6.1), while using creative play designs featuring play action, shifts and motion. LaFleur signed a five-year contract with his new team. The overall design here will likely be vaguely Shanahan-ish, and we expect LaFleur to call plays here. How effective he is at that is an open question after his work with the Jets.

According to Rapoport, LaFleur will meet in-person with the Cardinals on Monday and Tuesday. The 38-year-old has spent the last three seasons as the Rams’ offensive coordinator after a failed two-year stint with the Jets. LaFleur has not called plays with the Rams, but his time with the Jets wasn’t exactly a resumé builder. The Raiders also requested an interview with LaFleur, who is now available to speak with after the Rams loss in the Conference Championship game to the Seahawks this past weekend.

LaFleur was fired by the Jets in the midst of a dreadful 2022 season. He landed on his feet in LA and immediately oversaw a top-10 scoring offense. Things went even better in 2025. The Rams led the league in scoring this year and Matthew Stafford will likely win his first career MVP. LaFleur is well-connected with a strong resume behind him and hasn’t gotten his shot at a head coaching gig yet. In a relatively weak hiring cycle, this could be his year.

Teams cannot yet request to interview LaFleur, but it seems as though he may have a few suitors when he is made available via the NFL’s interview rules. LaFleur has served as the Rams’ offensive coordinator since 2023. The offense boasts two top-four finishes in yards per play across the full NFL season during that span. They rank second this season (6.2) and lead the NFL in passing touchdowns (46).

Stefanski certainly couldn’t be blamed for wanting to exit Cleveland after another season spent coordinating a dead-on-arrival offense hamstrung by Deshaun Watson’s contract. Especially after he didn’t appear to be on Andrew Berry’s page about giving up Joe Flacco to the Bengals in a midseason trade. As we hit silly season, Stefanski’s status will be one of the more important dominoes to watch. Hughes also mentions as names to watch for the job: Packers DC Jeff Hafley, Rams OC Mike LaFleur, Eagles OC Kevin Patullo (??), Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo, Vikings DC Brian Flores, Former Raiders HC Antonio Pierce, and Texans DC Matt Burke.

LaFleur was fired by the Jets this month after a 2022 season in which New York did not a viable starting quarterback. A creative play caller and schemer, LaFleur was a favorite to land the Rams job. LaFleur will work under head coach Sean McVay, who will likely maintain a heavy hand in offensive decision making. Under LaFleur, the Jets were 30th in EPA per play, ahead of only the Texans and Colts.

Breer writes that “my sense is that’s still the direction this is going in.” Breer also notes that the Rams have interviewed former Colts OC Marcus Brady and Eagles QBs coach Brian Johnson for the job as well. This is the first real mention we’ve seen about the Rams candidates for this job after Sean McVay finally opted in to returning next season. LaFleur could restore some luster for his future prospects under McVay, though it’s unlikely he’d get quite as much credit if things went right under McVay’s watch.

This was first reported by KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson earlier in the day, but the team didn’t confirm it until later in the evening. LaFleur’s dismissal was inevitable after the Jets finished the 2022 season with one of the worst offenses in the league. In addition to having the third lowest EPA per play, the Jets also finished 29th in the league in points per game (17.4) and 25th in yards per game. Whoever takes over as the next offensive coordinator will have their hands full figuring out the team’s quarterback position, but enough offensive weapons are in place to make for a potentially less painful turnaround.

Reports of LaFleur’s firing surfaced Wednesday morning but were quickly knocked down by Jets beat writers. That doesn’t mean LaFleur is locked in to return as the team’s coordinator in 2023. Without a viable quarterback, the otherwise-talented New York offense was hideously ineffective for most of the 2022 season, posting the league’s third lowest EPA per play (only the Colts and Texans were worse). LaFleur’s creative play designs would probably work better with a major QB upgrade in 2023.