AP source: Seahawks expected to hire Durde as new DC
The Seattle Seahawks are expected to hire Aden Durde as the defensive coordinator for new coach Mike Macdonald, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Friday.
The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the hire. NFL Network was the first to report Seattle’s plans.
Durde has been the defensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys since 2011, but he won’t have a chance at calling plays by coming to Seattle. Macdonald, who made his name as one of the top defensive minds in the game, said he plans to continue calling plays for the defense in Seattle at least initially.
Durde worked closely with now Washington coach Dan Quinn during their time together with the Cowboys. Quinn was interviewed twice by Seattle for its head coach opening prior to the Seahawks going with Macdonald.
Durde, 44, also spent three seasons as a defensive assistant in Atlanta and was a coaching intern with the Cowboys in 2014-15.
Durde will have a big task along with Macdonald in turning around a defense that has struggled badly in recent seasons. Seattle finished the 2023 season ranked 30th in total yards allowed, 31st at stopping the run and 25th in scoring defense.
■ PLAYOFFS ON PRIME:
Amazon Prime Video will carry an NFL postseason game next season, people familiar with the matter confirmed to The Associated Press.
The three people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Friday because neither the league nor the streaming platform has made the announcement.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that Amazon is getting a playoff game.
It will be the second straight year that an important NFL game will be carried exclusively on a streaming platform. The Jan. 13 AFC wild-card game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins streamed on Peacock.
According to various reports, NBCUniversal paid $110 million for the rights to the game, with Amazon expected to pay higher.
Under the NFL’s contract, each of its four broadcast partners — NBC, CBS, Fox and ESPN/ABC — gets at least one wild-card game. Of the two remaining games, one rotates each year between NBC, CBS and Fox, while the other is up for bid.
This season’s 16-game package on Prime Video averaged 11.86 million viewers, according to Nielsen, a 24 percent increase over last year’s inaugural season. Twelve games averaged more than 10 million, doubling 2022, and triggering some performance clauses allowing it to carry a playoff game.
Despite some rancor among fans, the game on Peacock was the mostwatched event on a streaming service. According to Nielsen, the Chiefs’ 26-7 victory averaged 23 million viewers on Peacock, NFL+ and on NBC affiliates in Kansas City and Miami, and had a total reach of 27.6 million.
NFL IN SPAIN: The NFL is headed to Spain in 2025 for the first regular-season game ever in that country.
The league announced Friday at the Super Bowl that its international slate of games for the 2025 season will feature a game at Real Madrid’s iconic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
The teams that will play in that game will be announced at a later date but Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s head of international affairs, said the host team would likely be an AFC team because teams in that conference will have an extra home game that season.
The NFL has been expanding its international presence in recent years with owners voting in December to authorize the league to host eight games internationally each season.
In 2024, the NFL will have three games in London — including a home game for the Jacksonville Jaguars — along with one in Germany and the first game ever in Brazil.
The NFL has also hosted several games in Mexico City and plans to return there in 2026 following the World Cup that year after renovations are finished at Azteca Stadium.