On the NFL coaching carousel, when one door closed, another opened.
One day after the Patriots hired Mike Vrabel, the Cowboys joined the five other teams still searching for a new head coach by parting ways with Mike McCarthy more than a week into the interview process for top candidates.
Will Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn — the only candidate to be interviewed by all of the Jets, Saints, Raiders, Jaguars and Bears — eventually get a sixth interview request from the Cowboys?
Will Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson — who is being selective in taking interviews — have a new attractive option to consider?
Could McCarthy — who interviewed with the Jets in 2019 before Adam Gase was hired and is on the Saints’ and Bears’ radar — quickly pivot elsewhere before the Cowboys can replace him?
Here is how the NFL’s six vacancies compare in four major categories. On the six-point scale, the higher the score, the better.
1. Cowboys
Quarterback situation: 5
Ownership: 5
Non-QB assets: 5
Path to success: 4
Total: 19
The biggest challenge is managing win-now expectations: The last two coaches were let go despite winning percentages of .559 (Jason Garrett in 10 seasons) and .583 (Mike McCarthy in five seasons).
But Jerry Jones isn’t the quick-trigger owner he was in the 1990s, letting both Garrett and McCarthy leave on expired contracts rather than firings. He still creates occasional headaches by speaking out regularly on how the team is run.
The NFC East hasn’t had a repeat champion since 2004, so it’s up for grabs. But the rising Commanders have elevated into making it a three-team race with the Eagles.
QB Dak Prescott, 31, is only one year removed from a second-place finish in the MVP vote and is signed through 2028.
The roster is in danger of getting too top-heavy with WR CeeDee Lamb, CB Trevon Diggs and RT Terence Steele signed to big deals and EDGE Micah Parsons due for a top-market extension.
2. Jaguars
Quarterback situation: 4
Ownership: 4
Non-QB assets: 4
Path to success: 6
Total: 18
Even if Trevor Lawrence, 25, isn’t the can’t-miss prospect or $50 million-per-year stud he was advertised to be, he has the tools that the right quarterback-minded coach can unlock.
If Lawrence clicks, everything falls into place for an offense with homegrown young pieces at WR (Brian Thomas Jr.), RB (Travis Etienne Jr. and Tank Bigsby) and OT (Walker Little and Anton Harrison). The defense could be very good with EDGEs Josh Allen-Hines and Travon Walker, LB Devin Lloyd and a No. 1 CB in Tyson Campbell.
The AFC South — maybe the NFL’s worst division — is built for quick turnarounds, as the Texans showed. The Jaguars have the second-best 2025 weighted draft capital of all teams (five top-105 picks), per Tankathon.com.
Owner Shad Khan kept embattled GM Trent Baalke but sounded open to empowering the head coach with personnel input. He will write the big checks necessary to lure free agents to one of the NFL’s smallest markets.
3. Saints
Quarterback situation: 2
Ownership: 6
Non-QB assets: 2
Path to success: 5
Total: 15
Owner Gayle Benson’s reputation is to provide support from afar, leaving the franchise in the hands of trusted longtime GM Mickey Loomis.
The Saints could be a couple smart moves from competing atop the mediocre NFC South, especially as the Falcons lick their wounds from the Kirk Cousins mistake and head coach Todd Bowles holds back the Buccaneers.
The drawbacks begin with the roster: Most of the Saints’ most productive players (RB Alvin Kamara, EDGE Cam Jordan, LB Demario Davis) are near the finish line. The makings of a good offensive line — Taliese Fuaga, Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz — are a starting point. But the best young playmaker, WR Chris Olave, is coming off a two-concussion season.
The two-year Derek Carr experiment hasn’t worked, but moving on will cost a $50.1 million dead-cap charge and neither recent mid-round pick (Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener) has staked a claim to be next. The Saints’ kick-the-can salary-cap-management style is a risk.
T-4. Bears
Quarterback situation: 6
Ownership: 3
Non-QB assets: 3
Path to success: 1
Total: 13
For the amount that QB Caleb Williams was criticized, you’d expect a much worse statistical rookie season than completing 62.5 percent of his passes for 20 touchdowns and six interceptions in making all 17 starts. He is the Bears’ No. 1 draw.
The McCaskeys represent ownership stability, but their track record of ill-timed firings creating GM-coach-quarterback misalignment is alarming. George McCaskey actually just said, “I don’t believe that’s a key factor” when asked about alignment.
If you believe in positional value, the Bears have building blocks in key places: Williams, EDGE Montez Sweat, LT Darnell Wright, CB Jaylon Johnson and WRs D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze.
But the path to the top of the NFC North is (forgive the pun) a bear. The Packers are one of the NFL’s youngest teams, the Lions draft well every year and the Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell (34-17) is a quarterback-minded rising star in coaching.
T-4. Jets
Quarterback situation: 3
Ownership: 1
Non-QB assets: 6
Path to success: 3
Total: 13
Even if the Jets opt for a full rebuild and part with QB Aaron Rodgers, WR Davante Adams, LB C.J. Mosley, CB D.J. Reed and other veterans, CB Sauce Gardner, WR Garrett Wilson, RB Breece Hall, LT Olu Fashanu, RG Alijah Vera-Tucker, DT Quinnen Williams and EDGEs Will McDonald and Jermaine Johnson provide a winning nucleus. There is strength in the trenches.
Rodgers’ future looms over the whole organization. The new GM and coach must decide their timeline and how a still-can-play 41-year-old with a divisive personality fits compared to the other (less than appealing) replacement options.
The Bills are a powerhouse, but there is no obstacle to annual second-place finishes when starting from a similar place as the Patriots, and the Dolphins could be a house of cards with a quarterback (Tua Tagovailoa) whose health is a constant concern.
Owner Woody Johnson’s desired input into football decisions is a complicating factor. Recent reports of his teenage sons’ involvement, and some of his uncomfortable suggestions, such as benching Rodgers after Week 5 of this season, raised red flags.
6. Raiders
Quarterback situation: 1
Ownership: 2
Non-QB assets: 1
Path to success: 2
Total: 6
What’s the selling point here? Come work under minority owner Tom Brady because Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter proved that GOATs on the field make winning decision-makers? Sense the sarcasm.
Majority owner Mark Davis isn’t as meddlesome as his father was. On the other hand, the Raiders have ranked No. 23 or worse in cash spending in three of the past four seasons despite the revenue from spectacular Allegiant Stadium.
The risk for criticism is high when matching wits six times a year against the Chiefs’ Andy Reid, Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh and Broncos’ Sean Payton when quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and even rookie Bo Nix provide a clear advantage when you have no obvious path to acquiring a long-term upgrade over incumbents Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell.
EDGE Maxx Crosby sounds open to a trade after supporting fired head coach Antonio Pierce. All-Pro rookie TE Brock Bowers only counts for so much.