Rams assistant head coach and passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant might have a new job before this hiring cycle ends.
Pleasant is interviewing for a defensive coordinator job with both the Cardinals and Browns today, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
Pleasant was a candidate for the Chargers’ defensive coordinator job.
He has spent the past three seasons with the Rams, on the staff with new Cardinals’ head coach Mike LaFleur.
Pleasant has coached in the NFL for the past 13 seasons, also spending time in Washington, Cleveland, Detroit and Green Bay.
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Charlie Bullen served as the Giants’ interim defensive coordinator last season, and new head coach John Harbaugh is believed to want him back on the staff in some capacity. But Bullen has options.
The Browns have requested an interview with Bullen to be their defensive coordinator, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
Cleveland needs a new defensive coordinator because Jim Schwartz says he doesn’t want to be back in Cleveland after he was passed over as head coach. Schwartz says he doesn’t plan to coach in 2026, although it may not turn out that way.
Bullen could be a good candidate for the Browns job, and he is also a candidate to be the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator. And if he doesn’t get one of those jobs, he’s likely to be back with the Giants.
The Seahawks won Super Bowl LX less than 24 hours ago and some have already turned their attention to Super Bowl LXI.
Sportsbooks have set the odds for who will be raising the Lombardi Trophy in SoFi Stadium on February 14, 2027. The Seahawks are at the top of the list, but they aren’t the only team on that rung.
They aren’t even the only NFC West team. The Rams join the Seahawks at +950 at DraftKings at the moment.
The Bills have the top odds of any AFC team with the Eagles, Patriots, and Ravens tied for the fourth spot. The Packers, Lions, Chargers, and Chiefs round out the top 10.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Cardinals and Dolphins are both at +25000.
When the 2026 regular season begins on the Thursday night after Labor Day (there’s a chance it’ll start a day or two earlier given the long trip the 49ers and Rams will make to Australia), the Seahawks will be hosting the game and hanging their newest banner.
The options include a potential Super Bowl rematch with the Patriots.
Other candidates are the Chiefs, Chargers, Bears, Cowboys, Giants, and Seattle’s NFC West rivals — the Rams, 49ers, and Cardinals. (Again, the 49ers and Rams could be meeting in Melbourne in Week 1.)
Ten years ago, the Broncos and Panthers had a Week 1 rematch following Super Bowl 50. So it’s not unprecedented.
Still, based on tonight’s outcome, there may not be much appetite for an immediate rematch.
Kliff Kingsbury has found his next landing spot.
Kingsbury is joining the Rams’ offensive staff, according to a report from ESPN.
Kingsbury, 46, spent the last two seasons with the Commanders as the team’s offensive coordinator. While he received some interest for head coaching vacancies and other offensive coordinator vacancies, Kingsbury will instead be headed to Los Angeles for 2026.
ESPN’s Peter Schrager reports that head coach Sean McVay and Kingsbury have spent the last two weeks talking about a potential role. With the Giants going with Matt Nagy as offensive coordinator, the path was cleared for Kingsbury to join L.A.
While Kingsbury’s title has not yet been reported, the Rams do have a vacancy at offensive coordinator as Mike LaFleur departed the organization to become Cardinals head coach. However, the club’s passing game coordinator, Nate Scheelhaase, is widely expected to be promoted to that role.
Kingsbury amassed a 28-37-1 record as Cardinals head coach with a 0-1 postseason record from 2019-2022. He spent the 2023 season in Los Angeles as USC’s senior offensive assistant before being hired as Washington’s offensive coordinator in 2024.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame welcomed five new members on Thursday night at NFL Honors.
Quarterback Drew Brees, running back Roger Craig, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, linebacker Luke Kuechly and kicker Adam Vinatieri will have their busts in Canton.
Brees and Fitzgerald are first-ballot Hall of Famers, and Kuechly and Vinatieri were in their second year of eligibility.
Craig has waited 28 years for his knock on the door. He was one of three seniors candidates in a group that also included Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft as the coach and contributor candidates, respectively.
For the second consecutive year, only one of the five finalists in that group made it into the Hall of Fame. Sterling Sharpe was the only inductee of that group in the Class of 2025.
Seniors L.C. Greenwood and Ken Anderson, like Belichick and Kraft, did not receive the 80 percent required for induction in the Class of 2026.
After much criticism about the selectors’ failure to enshrine Belichick in his first year of eligibility, the elections of Brees, Craig, Fitzgerald, Vinatieri and Kuechly were met with a standing ovation when announced at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
Brees learned of his election from Dan Fouts; Ronnie Lott and Charles Haley surprised Craig with the news; Morten Andersen had the honor of telling Vinatieri; Randy Moss informed Fitzgerald; and Julius Peppers was the Hall of Famer who welcomed Kuechly into the Hall.
The Hall of Fame’s membership now stands at 387.
The newest members’ enshrinement will take place Saturday, Aug. 8 in Canton.
Cardinals safety Budda Baker won the 2025 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, which was announced during NFL Honors on Thursday night.
The award is presented each year to an NFL player who best demonstrates the qualities of on-field sportsmanship, including fair play, respect for the game and opponents and integrity in competition.
This marked the third consecutive year Baker was a finalist for the award, which was created in honor of the late founding owner of the Steelers and Pro Football Hall of Famer Art Rooney, Sr.
The winner of the NFL Sportsmanship Award is determined by a vote of current NFL players. This marks the second time a Cardinals player was named the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award winner after wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald took home the honor in the award’s inaugural season in 2014.
As the winner, Baker received a $25,000 donation from the NFL Foundation to a charity of his choice.
The other finalists were LB Lavonte David (Tampa Bay), LB Demario Davis (New Orleans) and OT Brian O’Neill (Minnesota) in the NFC, and DT DeForest Buckner (Indianapolis), DT Harrison Phillips (New York Jets), DT Zach Sieler (Miami) and LB Kyle Van Noy (Baltimore) in the AFC.
Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur has filled another spot on his coaching staff.
According to multiple reports, the Cardinals will hire Matt Merritt as their running backs coach.
Merritt spent the last two seasons as the running backs coach at the University of Miami. Hurricanes starter Mark Fletcher posted 1,192 yards and 12 touchdowns on 216 carries during the 2025 season.
Merritt has also worked for USF, Georgia Southern, Tennessee, James Madison, and Ohio State. He has done two NFL coaching fellowships, including one with the 49ers when LaFleur was on that team’s staff in 2019. The other one came with the Bengals in 2016.
Texans defensive backs coach Dino Vasso is a candidate to become the defensive coordinator in Arizona.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the Cardinals have requested an interview with Vasso. There was also word of interview requests on Wednesday for Giants outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen and Rams assistant head coach/defensive pass game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant.
The Titans spoke to Vasso about their coordinator job after hiring Robert Saleh, but they opted to go with Gus Bradley for that role.
Vasso has been in his current job since the 2024 season and he was the cornerbacks coach in Houston for the previous three seasons. He has also worked for the Eagles and Chiefs.
The Cardinals hired Nathaniel Hackett as their new offensive coordinator. Their search for a defensive coordinator continues.
The team has requested to interview Giants outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen and Aubrey Pleasant, the Rams assistant head coach and defensive pass game coordinator, NFL Media reports.
Pleasant was a candidate for the Chargers’ defensive coordinator job.
He has spent the past three seasons with the Rams, on the staff with new Cardinals’ head coach Mike LaFleur.
Pleasant has coached in the NFL for the past 13 seasons, also spending time in Washington, Cleveland, Detroit and Green Bay.
Bullen served as the Giants’ interim defensive coordinator last season after the team fired coordinator Shane Bowen. New coach John Harbaugh retained Bullen as the outside linebackers coach.
Bullen previously coached in Arizona from 2019-22. He was with the Dolphins from 2012-18.
