Agent’s Take: Which quarterback will be under center for the Vikings next season?
Bradford has the talent, Keenum the health and Bridgewater the youth, so what do the Vikings do?

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/agents-take-which-quarterback-will-be-under-center-for-the-vikings-next-season/

The Vikings have one of the NFL’s most interesting quarterback dilemmas in quite some time. Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater and Case Keenum appear to be on the verge of free agency. After Minnesota had four passers under contract for almost all of the season, undrafted rookie Kyle Sloter, who signed a three-year contract in September, is the only quarterback assured of returning in 2018.
Decisions made at the quarterback position could be franchise altering. The direction taken will dramatically affect whether the Vikings can replicate this season’s success, which concluded with a disappointing 38-7 loss to the Eagles in the NFC Championship game after going 13-3 to win the NFC North.
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer wasn’t ready to address the quarterback situation at the end-of-season press conference held earlier in the week. A more pressing issue is finding an offensive coordinator to replace Pat Shurmur, who left to become the Giants’ new head coach. Quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski will be given consideration. Darrell Bevell, who was the Seahawks offensive coordinator for the last seven seasons before his recent firing, will be interviewed. Bevell was Minnesota’s offensive coordinator from 2006 through 2010 under Brad Childress. Former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo is also a potential candidate.
Dissecting 2017
Bradford seemed poised for a big year with good health. He began this season picking up where he left off in 2016, when he set an NFL single-season record with a 71.6 completion percentage and threw for a career high 3,877 yards while getting comfortable with Minnesota’s offense on the fly after a surprising trade from the Eagles in the days leading up to the regular-season opener.
Bradford earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors after completing 84.4 percent of passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns in a season-opening victory over the Saints. He played a total of only six quarters of football this season due to issues with his left knee, having previously suffered two ACL tears. Bradford was put on injured reserve at midseason after a minor arthroscopic procedure on his knee, which didn’t reveal any structure damage. He was activated during the playoffs to serve in a backup capacity.
When Keenum signed a one-year, $2 million contract with $250,000 in incentives, which he earned, a month into free agency to backup Bradford, it was thought to be an inconsequential NFL transaction. But the acquisition proved invaluable because of Bradford’s knee problems. In 15 games, Keenum threw for 3,547 yards with 22 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. He connected on 67.6 percent of his passes, which was second in the NFL, and had the league’s seventh-best passer rating at 98.6.
The Vikings were 12-4 with Keenum as a starter, including the postseason. Keenum was named NFC Offensive Player of the Month for November after guiding the Vikings to a 3-0 record by completing 71.1 percent of his passes (69 of 97) for 866 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions to post a 114.0 passer rating.
Bridgewater recovered from the gruesome, career-threatening knee injury he suffered at the end of the 2016 preseason, which prompted the Vikings to give the Eagles a 2017 first-round pick and a 2018 fourth-round pick for Bradford. Minnesota’s 2015 starting quarterback was activated from the Physically Unable to Perform list at midseason to be Keenum’s backup for the final eight regular-season games. Bridgewater’s only game action was mop-up duty in a decisive Week 15 victory over the Bengals. He was relegated to third string during the playoffs when Bradford returned.
Considering Keenum
Keenum changed his career trajectory this season. He’s no longer viewed as strictly a quality backup. Keenum’s postseason didn’t measure up to his regular-season performance, although his 61-yard walk-off touchdown pass against the Saints propelled the Vikings to the NFC title game. Keenum’s completion percentage dropped to 60.2 percent, his passer rating was 73.5 and he threw more interceptions (three) than touchdowns (two).
Nonetheless, Keenum’s salary floor should be the three-year, $45 million deal Mike Glennon signed with the Bears last offseason in free agency as a less-proven commodity. Keenum is also more accomplished than Brock Osweiler was when he received a four-year, $72 million contract containing $37 million fully guaranteed from the Texans in 2016 free agency after just seven rather pedestrian career starts. The average contract packages for expected 2017 starting quarterbacks signed as veterans (i.e.; not under a rookie contract) is approximately $20.4 million per year and contains slightly more than $45.5 million in guarantees. Just under $30.75 million is fully guaranteed at signing with 3.39 years as the average length.
Concern about regression, since it’s unknown whether this season has been a true breakout performance for Keenum or an anomaly, could make a transition tag or a non-exclusive franchise designation a distinct possibility, despite a subpar game against the Eagles. The non-exclusive quarterback franchise tag should be $23.307 million with a $178.1 million 2018 salary cap, which is the high end of cap projections given to teams at a December league meeting. The transition designation would give the Vikings a right only to match another team’s offer sheet. That tag is expected to be $21.029 million at this cap figure.
Considering Bradford
Bradford was probably going to be in an enviable position had he remained healthy. A contract similar to Derek Carr’s ($25 million per year with $70 million in overall guarantees) as a free agent would have been a possibility provided he could have can maintained or improved upon his 2016 performance. Renewed concerns about durability make Bradford a risky proposition. There could be reluctance for any team to commit more to him than his current two-year, $35 million contract (worth up to $40.5 million through salary escalators and incentives) containing $26 million in guarantees, even though he cleared for action in the playoffs.
It would be smart for interested teams to insist on large annual game-day active roster bonuses in Bradford’s contract given his injury history. The per-game amount is payable only if a player is on the 46-man active roster for that particular game. For example, Colin Kaepernick’s 2014 extension with the 49ers had $2 million worth of roster bonuses annually. When Kaepernick was put on injured reserve after nine games in 2015, it cost him $875,000 while providing the 49ers financial relief because he didn’t earn seven games worth of the roster bonuses. Part of the extension quarterback Aaron Rodgers signed with the Packers in 2013 included $600,000 of annual game-day active roster bonuses ($37,500 per game). Two stints on injured reserved this season have cost Rodgers $337,500 because he didn’t collect nine games worth of the roster bonuses.
Considering Bridgewater
The Vikings declined a $12.198 million option for a fifth year with Bridgewater in 2018 because of the uncertainty in his recovery. Bridgewater’s situation is more complicated than Bradford or Keenum’s. There is a possibility that he could still be under contract in 2018 anyway at his 2017 salary of slightly more than $1.35 million.
The NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement provides for a player’s contract to be tolled when placed on PUP in the last year of the deal if he still can’t perform football services by the sixth regular-season game. Players who are put on PUP in connection with the roster cutdown, like Bridgewater, aren’t eligible to start practicing or come off the list until the week of his team’s seventh game.
Bridgewater’s health at the sixth game should be the determining factor in whether his rookie contract is extending another year so he doesn’t hit the open market until 2019. Returning to practice at the earliest possible instance allowed by PUP rules suggest that the 25 year old was capable of performing football services at an earlier part of the season and will have the same free-agency status as Bradford and Keenum. The NFLPA would surely file an expedited grievance on Bridgewater’s behalf asking that he be declared an unrestricted free agent this offseason should tolling apply to him.
Bridgewater hasn’t taken any meaningful snaps since 2015, when the Vikings made the playoffs as a wild card with an 11-5 record. He completed 65.3 percent of his passes for 3,231 yards. Bridgewater threw 14 touchdowns passes and nine interceptions. His passer rating was 88.7.
Bridgewater should be the cheapest option assuming tolling doesn’t occur. A short-term contract at the top of the compete-for a-starting-quarterback-job range, much like Robert Griffin III signed with the Browns in 2016, could be in order considering he hasn’t played in two years. These deals have been topping out at $7 million to $7.5 million per year recently, with performance bonuses that can increase the value to as much $12 million per year.
Another option
The Vikings will be in a salary-cap position to look outside the organization for a quarterback. There should be over $55 million of cap space if the high end of projections are accurate or exceeded. A pursuit of Kirk Cousins would be feasible provided he isn’t given a third franchise tag, which would effectively take him off the market because he would be prevented from soliciting an offer sheet from other NFL teams. Signing Cousins will likely require making him the NFL’s highest-paid player over Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who signed a five-year, $135-million contract extension with an NFL-record $92 million of overall guarantees during the preseason.
Vikings tendencies
The Vikings are one of the most proactive teams in extending contracts of core players. Linebacker Anthony Barr, wide receiver Stefon Diggs, defensive end Danielle Hunter and linebacker Eric Kendricks are entering a contract year. Some of the cap room will be devoted to their extensions. It remains to be seen who is prioritized for new contracts. Paying a quarterback at the level that will be required for Cousins could ultimately cost the Vikings one or more of these key pieces.
Ideally, the Vikings could combine Bradford’s talent with Keenum’s health and Bridgewater’s youth. Since all three players consider themselves starting quarterbacks, retaining more than one will be a difficult task.
Bradford may be the biggest risk while having also the potential to pay the biggest immediate dividends. Signing a quality veteran backup would also be a necessity since Bradford is a reminder that the best ability sometimes is availability.
Elevating Stefanski to offensive coordinator could be a sign that every effort will be made to keep Keenum for at least the 2018 season. His promotion would ensure continuity of a scheme in which Keenum had success.
Bridgewater’s contract tolling would be Minnesota’s easiest solution but is far from a certainty. He is more of an unknown quantity than Bradford or Keenum at this point. Bridgewater being the quarterback of choice when Zimmer first became Vikings head coach in 2014 shouldn’t be ignored. Minnesota traded 2014 second- and fourth-round picks to move back into bottom of the first round to get him.

Agamemnon wrote:

I thought OT was strong?

wv wrote:

I have seen lists that make the OT class look pretty good.

w
v

Yeah I have the same impression. BUT there are no elite, surefire top of the draft LOTs. It’s more like, pick your guy to develop, with some intriguing possibilities.

Vince McMahon Says He Will Revive the XFL, With a Very Different Look

link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/sports/football/vince-mcmahon-xfl.html

Television ratings for the N.F.L. have fallen 17 percent over the past two seasons. The league is embroiled in a continuing crisis over concussions, and youth participation rates are falling.

All of this suggests a difficult future for the sport, yet the N.F.L.’s most notorious competitor, Vince McMahon’s XFL, has a comeback in the works.

McMahon, the chairman and chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, announced on Thursday that he would take a second crack at professional football, with play scheduled to start in early 2020.

McMahon first tried to reimagine pro football 17 years ago. The old XFL was a joint venture between the World Wrestling Federation (W.W.E.’s former name) and NBC, which had lost rights to broadcast N.F.L. games.

Violence was amped up: An opening scramble replaced the coin toss and fair catches were banned. So was the sex appeal, with cheerleaders who were even more scantily clad than the ones in the N.F.L., and advertising that included innuendo about them.

“Where is my smash-mouth, wide-open football?” McMahon asked rhetorically at the news conference announcing plans for the original XFL “This will not be a league for pantywaists and sissies.”

After the league drew huge television ratings its first week, disorganization plagued the operation, and fans became disenchanted by the confusing, sloppy brand of football played by inferior players. The league collapsed after just one season, with NBC and the W.W.F. losing tens of millions of dollars. Four years later NBC paid $3 billion to get back into the N.F.L.

Now McMahon says he wants to reimagine the game. “Not reinvent,” he said in an interview last week. “It’s football. But you want to reimagine it.”

Other than the name, this version will have little in common with the old XFL, he said.

There will be no cheerleaders, McMahon said. Players with criminal records will not be welcome. Political statements, such as kneeling during the national anthem, will be prohibited.

President Trump, who has denounced N.F.L. players’ protesting racial injustice by refusing to stand during the anthem, has long been involved with the McMahons and W.W.E. Linda McMahon, Vince’s wife, was appointed by Trump to run the Small Business Administration.

Trump has hosted wrestling events at his properties and has been involved in the showmanship, once shaving McMahon’s head in the middle of a ring. Trump was also involved in an alternative professional league in the 1980s, owning the New Jersey Generals of the short-lived United States Football League.

But McMahon said that he had not consulted with Trump about the XFL, and that the ban on politics during games would extend to the president’s positions.

“Democrat, Republican, Independent, I don’t care, and no one should,” said McMahon. “We come to the field not to state what I am pro or against, that’s not why we’re there. We are there to play football.”

This XFL also won’t be affiliated with wrestling, at least not officially. McMahon has formed Alpha Entertainment to run the league with completely separate management. He recently sold off about $100 million in W.W.E. stock to fund it.

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“I am very committed to this, and it’s going to take more than $100 million to do this league,” he said.

McMahon did not further estimate what amount of capital — including media rights fees, ticket sales and sponsorships — would be required to start the league. He said that he was not actively seeking other investors and that the league was already fully funded.

As for other details of the league, only the outline is currently visible. Eight teams — all owned by McMahon’s company — will compete in a 10-game regular season, likely on Sunday afternoons, he said. Four teams will make the playoffs, setting up semifinals and a championship game.

Active rosters will consist of 40 players, McMahon said, promising to pay them enough to play full time and to offer bonuses for wins. McMahon suggested that games would be much shorter and the rules simpler.

But he could not say where the teams would play, or specifically what media outlets might show the games.

McMahon’s plan has a decent shot at succeeding, said David Carter, a professor who runs the University of Southern California’s Sports Business Institute.

“The landscape for sports and entertainment has changed dramatically, I think you could argue, in McMahon’s favor,” Carter said, as digital media companies now compete to stream sports and young people become turned off by the length of games. “I think part of the failure of the XFL the first time around is it didn’t live up to unreasonably lofty expectations, and they lost the expectations game.”

The original XFL was announced just a year before its debut, and McMahon said he deliberately allowed two years between Thursday’s announcement and the league’s restart in 2020, because he believes the league will need more time to secure deals for stadiums and media rights.

He also said that he would consult with football experts to design rules that might make the game safer, a promise that duplicates an effort by the N.F.L.

The old XFL needed to be popular enough to justify broadcasts on NBC, but the advent of companies that stream sports digitally means the XFL might find a deal more suited to its size.

There are “so many more opportunities that were never there before,” said McMahon.

McMahon said he would not run the league day to day or be its public face. He was not supposed to be the public face of the old XFL, either. But on opening night, at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, he was screaming to the crowd and television audience: “This. Is. The. XFL!”

“Forget what we did with the XFL,” McMahon said, laughing. “That was a long time ago.”

Predicting where 10 QBs who could hit the market this offseason will be in 2018

Jason La Canfora

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/predicting-where-10-qbs-who-could-hit-the-market-this-offseason-will-be-in-2018/

In less than a month, the NFL universe will assemble in Indianapolis, where the groundwork for a wild and likely unprecedented flurry of quarterback activity will take shape. Also in less than a month, the window will open for teams to begin applying the franchise and transition tags.

The Super Bowl has yet to be played, but the madness of the offseason is already looming, and the chatter among general managers, coaches and agents about which QB will end up where is already robust. Teams are trying to get plans in the works, determining which options are likely to come into focus, figuring out contingencies. Ultimately, many of the top potential targets will stay where they are — the laws of supply and demand at this most needy of positions almost dictates as much — but it’s also fairly uncanny to consider all of the 2018 possibilities.

Of the 12 quarterbacks who reached the postseason, one future Hall of Fame quarterback is primed to hit the market (Drew Brees), while the quarterback he lost to in the postseason (Case Keenum) is also a potential unrestricted free agent; two AFC playoff quarterbacks are widely considered to be available via trade (Alex Smith and Tyrod Taylor) while another (Blake Bortles) is wondering if he’ll keep his job and/or face stiffer competition next season. And that’s just among the playoff participants. Will Eli Manning definitely be back with the Giants? There’s still the matter of Kirk Cousins vs. the Skins, Round 3, to sort through. Oh, and in a few weeks we’ll get clarity on whether AJ McCarron is deemed a restricted or unrestricted free agent. A recent first-round pick like Paxton Lynch has his future hanging in the balance pending what other moves the Broncos make. Another recent first-rounder, Ryan Tannehill, faces some uncertainty in Miami as he comes back from another devastating injury. Yet another recent first-rounder (Teddy Bridgewater) hits the market having not really played in two seasons. No one was better than Jimmy Garoppolo once the 49ers finally played him — and now surely they’ll have to pay the impending free agent.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t recall an offseason filled with anything close to this much quarterback intrigue. Not even close. And that’s not even taking into account all of the hand wringing that comes along with the inevitable selection of likely five passers in the first round of the draft this April. Ice up, son. It’s going to get crazy out there. Which is why the preparation is already under way within front offices to determine a plan of attack. The options are myriad and the stakes could not be higher, with teams with legit Super Bowl aspirations like the Saints and Vikings grieving their playoff exits while also having to plot what they’ll do next season at the all-important position.

I have some early hunches as to how this might all play out. Certainly, things will crystalize at the combine — the seeds of multiple trades will be sown and the decisions on franchise tags will be formalized — and we’ll all have a more firm sense of what’s about to go down as the conversations between teams and agents escalate. Here’s how I could see it all going down:

Drew Brees
NO • QB • 9
Prediction: Three-year deal with Saints

Brees is the best free agent-to-be out there, regardless of position, by a long shot. A number of teams that believe they are an upgrade at QB away from a Lombardi would have to explore his market. But he is also nearing 40, and the Saints are one of those teams on the cusp of glory. It’s just too good of a fit, especially with New Orleans not sitting on a Pat Mahomes-type in its quarterback bullpen. It won’t be cheap, and it never is with a QB of this caliber, but there is a strong sense among other GMs in the QB market that Brees is going nowhere. I’m thinking a three-year deal worth a little more than $75 million, with the first two years guaranteed at the time of signing.

Kirk Cousins
WAS • QB • 8
Prediction: Transition tag with Redskins

This saga is already ridiculous and the Skins have allowed it to fester in a way most organizations could never fathom. They’re right back in the same spot for three straight years with a top-10 quarterback (top seven or eight, I would surmise). So at this point you have to try to think how Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen would approach this backward quandary, and not just let logic and reason be your guide. After giving Cousins $44 million for two years, and fostering a hostile climate with their fanbase in the process, they can’t just let Cousins just walk now. Cousins won’t entertain any offers until the tag window closes, and this owner will be destroyed in Washington if he doesn’t at least retain Cousins’ services then.

The transition tag saves them potentially $6 million and, with these sides nowhere close on Cousins’ fair market value, it allows another team to set that market for them. Sure, if the Skins can’t match an offer sheet they get no compensation (as opposed to a likely third-round comp pick in 2019 should they merely let him hit the market), but that’s almost beside the point now. If someone else structures a deal in the way Washington deems too rich, then the team can leave the situation on its terms. And maybe a trade comes from a tag. As for the interested teams, the Browns’ previous front office would have been at the head of the list, but I don’t see that now with John Dorsey at the helm (more on him next). The Broncos and Cardinals might make sense too, but the team I believe will make the most concerted effort to land Cousins is the Jets. They have the want and the ability and more cap space than you would ever need, and they won too many games to have a top QB fall to them in the draft.

Alex Smith
KC • QB • 11
Prediction: Trade to Browns

Dorsey traded for Smith from San Francisco not that long ago, he knows how Andy Reid thinks and works after spending years by his side and he knows K.C. has a stud in Mahomes ready to go. Would he trade two second-round picks for an older Smith now? Seems too steep to me. But he needs a bridge quarterback to hold them over while the QB he drafts first overall develops, and Smith is the perfect man for the job on both counts. The Browns always have a bevy of picks at their disposal and they could improve significantly with adequate quarterbacking. Other teams will be interested, but trading him within the division to the Broncos doesn’t seem like a Reid move to me and the Bills want a younger guy to groom as a franchise quarterback.

Case Keenum
MIN • QB • 7
Prediction: Transition tag with Vikings (with Teddy Bridgewater back, too)

The season ended with a thud, with Keenum undone amid crumbling pass protection. But with only a practice-squad QB on the roster for 2018 and with a Super Bowl-ish roster and expectations high, the Vikings can’t afford to hit March without Keenum’s rights secured. Given how late he blossomed, I’m going with the transition tag here, which allows someone else to do a contract for them if the market forms. And it saves a few million bucks off the franchise tag. Maybe they just franchise him. But the way he clicked with all of their skill players was no fluke and when Mike Glennon just made $19 million in the first year of his free-agent deal with the Bears only to lose his job in October, nabbing Keenum for $21 million for one year doesn’t seem crazy to me. The Broncos would be the team I would expect to most heavily pursue Keenum if he is allowed to hit the market, but I suspect they end up going in a different direction.

Tyrod Taylor
BUF • QB • 5
Prediction: Trade to Broncos

Perhaps the Bills are just forced to cut Taylor before his $6 million roster bonus is due in March. But he has done enough, I believe, to merit a pick in return on a contract that is very team friendly. John Elway’s right-hand man, Gary Kubiak, knows Taylor well from his time with him in Baltimore and he fits the model of offense they would like to run there. He could hold things down while Lynch tries to finally get over the hurdles that have stalled his progress. Elway could still draft another quarterback, as well. But with the defense they still have there, landing a functional veteran QB who protects the football above all else seems like a good fit. And it won’t cost much in terms of salary or trade compensation.

Eli Manning
NYG • QB • 10
Prediction: Starter with Giants

After messing up the entire situation with benching Manning and ending his starts streak, I can’t fathom ownership would send mixed messages to him again. And the message they sent in the final weeks of the season and now that Pat Shurmur has been made coach is that they are plenty comfortable with him as their guy in 2018, while they prepare to draft a quarterback of the future. And I anticipate they do exactly that. If they wanted to move him, the trade return would be limited, and the team that would have been the most logical fit, Jacksonville, doesn’t seem quite as needy after a deep playoff run.

Blake Bortles
JAC • QB • 5
Prediction: Back with Jaguars on his fifth-year option

This owner wants the selection of Bortles to prove sage. He wants this to work and it has to some degree, given the playoff wins this season. Bortles still has limitations but given how this team is constructed, his cutting down on the turnovers late in the season was imperative. They don’t want to discard Bortles, and having him at $19 million precludes doing anything else too sexy at the position. I do expect them to have a more formidable backup in place, however (Josh McCown would make a lot of sense to me; the Jets will have interest in keeping him unless they land Cousins from what I gather). Perhaps there is a team-friendly, pay-as-you-go extension possible (in the vein of Andy Dalton’s deal), but doing anything with substantial future guaranteed money could get tricky … and come back to bite them.

Ryan Tannehill
MIA • QB • 17
Prediction: Back with Dolphins

Coach Adam Gase loves this kid and believes he can be highly productive in his system, if he could just keep him healthy and on the field. He won’t discard Jay Cutler now, but he also can’t go with the veteran as his Plan B again. They have to find a younger alternative who could be groomed, and I wonder if McCarron makes some sense as an insurance policy should he be deemed an unrestricted free agent when his arbitration case is ruled on next month.

Sam Bradford
MIN • QB • 8
Prediction: Signs with Cardinals

If things play out anything close to how I’ve projected, a team or two will be left without one of the top free agents. Waiting out the Brees and Cousins stuff will pay dividends for Bradford. Yes, the injuries are a constant and will likely result in a deal with guaranteed money only in 2018 and significant incentives for games played and production. The Cardinals aren’t going to have a top-three QB fall to them in the draft and they are nowhere at that position right now, having stuck with Carson Palmer too long and failed to draft his replacement. Bradford could be a great contingency for them and someone who could help rookie head coach Steve Wilks navigate through a season or two (again, should he avoid injury). Buffalo seems more inclined to go with a young guy, while Bradford’s health history could scare off some other teams.

Jimmy Garoppolo
SF • QB • 10
Prediction: Franchised by 49ers (then signed long term)

The kid was nothing short of transformational when he took over in Kyle Shanahan’s offense and there is plenty more where that came from. They should’ve tried to sign him long term immediately after the trade — he was open to talking — but they passed and now you are looking at the franchise tag. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Everyone in the league knows it. And then by July 15 — the deadline to extend a franchise player — once the dust settles on most if not all of the impending QB deals (and perhaps an extension for Aaron Rodgers as well), Garoppolo will have a deal that I expect to average north of $25 million a year.

Agamemnon wrote:

I am using a tablet thing. I find it extremely hard to use.

How long till you get back home?

Rams Hire Jedd Fisch as Senior Offensive Assistant

Myles Simmons

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Rams-Hire-Jedd-Fisch-as-Senior-Offensive-Assistant/b05aeab2-3fa5-4895-817f-bacccb4dd7ef

The Rams have added to their coaching staff, hiring Jedd Fisch as senior offensive assistant.

Fisch has extensive coaching experience in both college and the NFL. He was most recently the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at UCLA in 2017, making him instrumental in the development of Josh Rosen. Widely thought of as a likely early first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Rosen completed 62.1 percent of his passes as a junior for 3,717 yards with 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Fisch was promoted to interim head coach of the program after Jim Mora was dismissed in November. The Bruins went 1-1 with Fisch at the helm.

Prior to that, Fisch was the QBs coach, wide receivers coach, and passing game coordinator for Michigan under Jim Harbaugh from 2015-2016.

Fisch’s last stop in the NFL was in Jacksonville, where he served as the offensive coordinator from 2013-2014. He’s also coached for the Seahawks, Broncos, Ravens, and Texans in the pros..

He's a good coach and he's not replacing anyone, so they essentially created a job for him.

— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) January 24, 2018