Seahawks hire Ravens coordinator, 36, to replace Carroll
The Seattle Seahawks waited for their chance to interview Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald in their head-coaching search.
Their patience has paid off. The Seahawks are expected to hire Macdonald, barring any last-minute snags in completing a contract, an NFL source said. Macdonald will replace Pete Carroll, 72, who reluctantly agreed to step aside.
The Seahawks become the seventh NFL team to select a new head coach this offseason. Only the Washington Commanders continue their search.
Macdonald, 36, gets his first NFL head-coaching opportunity after only two seasons as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator. He had a previous seven-year stint on the Ravens’ coaching staff in various roles.
Macdonald becomes the NFL’s youngest head coach. Recently hired New England coach Jerod
Mayo is 37, as is Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay.
Macdonald inherits a Seahawks team that’s coming off a second straight 9-8 season.
BRADY WON’T BE IN 3-MAN BOOTH
Tom Brady is set to replace Greg Olsen as
Fox’s lead NFL analyst for the 2024 season, and not join him in a three-man booth with play-by-by man Kevin Burkhardt, Brady told Front Office Sports.
It’s been more than two years since Brady reached a 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox. He retired from the NFL after the 2022 season and took off the 2023 season.
Meanwhile, Olsen earned rave reviews while working on the No. 1 Fox team with Burkhardt.
Brady taking the lead role was always part of the plan, said Olsen, a former NFL tight end who played at the University of Miami. Olsen could take another role on Fox’s NFL coverage.
ELSEWHERE
Browns: Running back Kareem Hunt is recovering from sports hernia surgery, ESPN reported. The surgery was to repair a ruptured adductor that apparently plagued him much of the 2023 season. Hunt, 28, becomes a free agent in March and has indicated he would like to return to Cleveland, where he grew up. This season, he helped to make up for the loss of Nick Chubb — who had a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 — rushing 135 times for 411 yards with nine TDs. He also caught 15 passes for 84 yards.
Cowboys: Dan
Quinn is expected to leave the Cowboys before the week is done if Washington offers him its headcoaching position, people with knowledge of
Quinn’s thinking told The
Dallas Morning News.
Quinn has made it known he would be happy to return to Dallas for a fourth season as defensive coordinator if the Commanders turn elsewhere. But he’s ready to tackle another chance at being a head coach.
The Cowboys and head coach Mike McCarthy hold Quinn in high regard and are willing to wait to see how this plays out. While some outside candidates have contacted the club to express their interest in a potential defensive coordinator opening, the Cowboys have made no inquiries.
Vikings: The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that quarterback Kirk Cousins — who will turn 36 during this summer’s training camp and is rehabbing from surgery to repair a torn right Achilles tendon — would eschew free agency and stick with the Vikings the next two seasons if they meet his asking price of $90 million through 2025.
While that could prompt some sticker shock, Cousins was No. 15 in average salary at $35 million on his existing contract with Minnesota. If he nets another guaranteed contract and the cap hit for 2024 comes in at $45 million, he would be eighth in the league between Josh Allen (Buffalo, $47.1 million cap number in ’24) and Derek Carr (New Orleans, $35.7 million).
Cap gymnastics make it feasible to reduce Cousins’ cap figure to a more palatable number for next
For late results, go to the eEdition at MiamiHerald.com.
WILD-CARD PLAYOFFS
SATURDAY, JAN. 13
Kansas City 26, Miami 7
Houston 45, Cleveland 14
SUNDAY, JAN. 14
Green Bay 48, Dallas 32
Detroit 24, L.A. Rams 23
MONDAY, JAN. 15
Buffalo 31, Pittsburgh 17
Tampa Bay 32, Philadelphia 9
DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS SATURDAY, JAN. 20
Baltimore 34, Houston 10
San Francisco 24, Green Bay 21 SUNDAY, JAN. 21
Detroit 31, Tampa Bay 23 Kansas City 27, Buffalo 24
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS SUNDAY, JAN. 28
AFC
Kansas City 17, Baltimore 10 NFC
San Francisco 34, Detroit 31
SUPER BOWL LVIII
SUNDAY, FEB. 11
At Las Vegas
Kansas City vs. San Francisco, 6:30 (CBS) season. But the Vikings also have critical contracts to negotiate with wide receiver Justin Jefferson and edge rusher Danielle Hunter, among others.
Among teams potentially in the market for a quarterback this offseason, Cousins’ previous team, the Commanders, are projected to have the most cap space at nearly $77 million.
New England has space — projected at nearly $66 million — but is expected to closely consider top available quarterbacks in the draft with the No. 3 overall pick.