Carolina snags Steelers’ Suleiman
Samir Suleiman, the Steelers’ football administration coordinator who managed the salary cap among other duties, is now the lead contract negotiator for the Carolina Panthers and owner David Tepper, a former Steelers investor. The hiring was announced Monday by the Panthers.
Suleiman is the second high-ranking person in the Steelers front office to be lured away by Tepper in the past 13 months. Mark Hart, who was vice president of planning and development with the Steelers, left in December 2018 to become vice president of development with the Panthers.
Suleiman joined the Steelers in 2013 after spending two years with the Jacksonville Jaguars (199899) and 10 years with the St. Louis Rams (2000-09), the past five as director of football operations.
In addition to managing the salary cap, Suleiman also helped with player contract negotiations, team logistics and scouting.
General manager Kevin Colbert, whose contract runs through the draft in April, also has been targeted by Tepper over the past few months for a role with the Panthers.
Panthers
Phil Snow is rejoining head coach Matt Rhule in Carolina as the new defensive coordinator. Snow previously served as defensive coordinator under Rhule at Baylor from 201719 and Temple from 201316.
Snow has spent 37 seasons coaching college football, serving as a defensive coordinator at seven previous schools, including UCLA, Washington, Arizona State and Boise State.
The addition of Snow means the Panthers now have three coaches from the college ranks at their top three spots — Rhule, Snow as defensive coordinator and Joe Brady, who came from LSU, serving as offensive coordinator.
Browns
Cleveland interviewed Vikings assistant general manger George Paton for their GM opening. Paton, who worked with new Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, met with the team’s search committee — including Stefanski — Saturday.
Paton seems to be a natural fit with Stefanski, the Vikings former offensive coordinator hired last week by the Browns after a 6-10 season.
Cleveland fired coach Freddie Kitchens and GM John Dorsey resigned last month. Owner Jimmy Haslam and his committee have met with two other GM candidates: Philadelphia Eagles vice president of football operations Andrew Berry and New England Patriots college scouting director Monti Ossenfort.
The Browns made a coaching move Monday, hiring former Redskins interim coach Bill Callahan to handle the offensive line. NFL Network first reported the hiring. Callahan led the Redskins to a 3-8 record after Jay Gruden was fired following an 0-5 start. He joined Washington in 2015.
Callahan coached the 2002 Oakland Raiders to the Super Bowl before taking over the University of Nebraska program from 2004-07. He returned to the NFL in 2008 as an assistant head coach and offensive line coach with the New York Jets before being named Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator in 2012.
Titans
Mike Vrabel knows wins and losses are the only true measure for Tennessee. Coming up one win shy of the franchise’s first Super Bowl berth in 20 years even after a 2-4 start means they still have plenty of work ahead.
The Titans cleaned out lockers a day after being beaten, 35-24, by the Kansas City Chiefs in the team’s first AFC championship game in 17 years. Tennessee finished 11-8 after a fourth consecutive 9-7 record in the regular season, and the Titans haven’t won the AFC South or hosted a playoff game since 2008.
The Titans impressed in clinching their second playoff berth in three seasons with a win at Houston before upsetting the defending champs in New England in the wild-card round before knocking off top-seeded Baltimore in the divisional round.
Four road trips in four weeks took a toll. “We have a long way to go, and we have to host some of those games,” Vrabel said.
Packers
The 2019 season for Green Bay marked the dawn of a new era. Matt LaFleur took over and won more games than any firstyear coach in franchise history. But the final result again fell short of the Packers’ goal of winning it all.
This time, though, it had a different feeling, according to Aaron Rodgers.
The two-time MVP was on the losing end of the NFC championship game in his third consecutive appearance. But Rodgers said the latest loss isn’t like the others.
“It’s a lot different feel,” he said Sunday night. “I remember in those moments the emotion compared to this. I feel really confident in [general manager] Brian [Gutekunst] and the job that he’s done and his staff. I’m confident that he’s going to continue to add to this squad. So, that part is very exciting. It is a lot different feel than three years ago.”