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AFC North Offseason Chaos Predictions

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madinsomniac

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So on Sunday, one of the Steelers or Ravens will go to the playoffs... the other will go home..

neither had a good year..

The Browns and Bengals had woeful seasons..

As such, all four Head Coaches have been listed as hot seat candidates

Moreover, questions have suddenly arisen at every single starting QB slot.

So lets predict what may happen after the regular season ends Sunday

1.Steelers:
HC- Mike Tomlin: with a loss sunday, Tomlin will have blown two solid division leads this year. Fans will be livid. He is one win short of Chuck Noll for the regular season franchise lead and 9 off the overall Franchise Wins lead. The Steekers brass almost certainly gives him another year here to get that, but The Giants abd a couple other teams will try to pry him loose ...
verdict- he will be back... fans will hate it.. but the Steekers wont cut him loose a year shy of setting all those records.

QB- Aaron Rodgers: If the Steelers make the playoffs and dont get embarrassed round 1, he retires, if not he comes back, but maybe not here.. he really wanted to play in Minnesota this year... that opportunity may be there next season
Verdict- I think he plays as a Viking next year
2. Ravens.
HC John Harbaugh- this is his second stint on the Hot seat... he had a three year playoff drought from 15-17.. in 2018 the Ravens were 4-5, his seat was warming... the Steelers were 7-2-1... and of course Tomlin's team collapsed down the stretch, letting him win the division and make the playoffs by .5 games... This years squad woefully underperformed, and rumors of locker room issues persist.. if he misses the playoffs, they may well fire or trade him

Verdict- if they miss the playoffs either he or Jackson will be gone

QB Lamar Jackson- Jackson has reached the point in his career that running has to take second string to passing.. he has lost between 3 and 5 mph abd has been getting injured a ton.
Rumors are with an early playoff exit, the Ravebs wont shop him, but they wont not listen to offers either..

Verdict: he will likely be back... barring an offer of Watson proportions... he is too marketable

3. Bengals:
HC Zac Taylor- Taylor is well regarded, but he has missed the playoffs the past 3 years... he is at the point a team typically parts with a super bowl losing HC... his inability to rebuild their D or Oline could doom him

Verdict- the guy signed an extention through 2027, so cheap *** Mike Brown probably keeps him another year

QB- Joe Burrow.. the only way he leaves is if he wants to, but he may want to... barring Mahomes going on the market, Burrows would return the biggest return in a trade.. a new Head coach may want to cut out WRs to focus on the D or Ol... that may be less than ideal for Burrow...

Verdict- if Joe is smart, he opts out before he gets overly broke and wastes his career

4. The Browns:

HC- Kevin Stephanski- KS is still highly regarded, and he has gotten the browns to the playoffs twice in his 6 years, but has finished 3rd or 4th in the division every year but 1... and there just arent enough quality coaches candidates this year and they are expected to get trade offers for him... they also are interested in McDaniels if he gets fired

Verdict - safest bet to be gone this offseason... hopefully they clean house and

QB- Good gosh, who even knows?
Sanders has been atrocious but has a lot of fan backing cause of who he is...
Dillion Gabriel is a short 3rd round pick.. if Stephanski is gone, he probably is too..
Deshawn Watson? That dude will have to take a roster spot or get cut this year... at a huge cap hit...

Verdict- Stefaski leaves and they draft a new guy
 
1. Steelers
All the smoke is a tease and the Steelers will just run it back. Maybe a new DC, but it'll be an underwhelming hire who no other team would take on as a DC, and a new positional coach or two--nothing of consequence (not a new OL coach). Rodgers was fine this year and I'm glad we signed him, however, I don't get the sense he will be back if for no other reason the Steelers cannot wait 3 months for him to make a decision.

2. Ravens
It really feels like it'll be Harbaugh or Jackson leaving Baltimore. I think they'll keep status quo unless it's truly ugly between Jackson and the team behind closed doors.

3. Bengals
I don't anticipate any major changes here. They need to make some serious changes with their roster construction, but it won't be with the HC or QB--though Burrow should request a trade to the Steelers.

4. Browns
A lot of talk Stefanski is on the hot seat and could even be traded. Typically, when there's smoke around the Browns changing a coach, it's happening. That win over the Steelers really pushed them out of the QB range, especially with a lack of depth.
 
If a miracle happened ( it won’t) who do you like to replace ol Mike now that the season is winding down and we had time to look at coaching possibilities? Give me Kubiak or Shula.

Shula would round table his grandads pimping of this one fine coach I know.

I would trust their decisions on who to bring in opposite of their specialties.
 
madinsomniac said:
4. The Browns:
HC- Kevin Stephanski- KS is still highly regarded, and he has gotten the browns to the playoffs twice in his 6 years, but has finished 3rd or 4th in the division every year but 1... and there just arent enough quality coaches candidates this year and they are expected to get trade offers for him... they also are interested in McDaniels if he gets fired

Verdict - safest bet to be gone this offseason... hopefully they clean house and
QB- Good gosh, who even knows?
Sanders has been atrocious but has a lot of fan backing cause of who he is...
Dillion Gabriel is a short 3rd round pick.. if Stephanski is gone, he probably is too..
Deshawn Watson? That dude will have to take a roster spot or get cut this year... at a huge cap hit...

Verdict- Stefaski leaves and they draft a new guy
Click to expand...
I can't see the Browns cutting Watson. Ignoring the fact the Browns are not all that rational, they still have to pay Watson regardless, so may as well have him on the roster. The only reason to cut him would be if they wanted to wash the rest of his contract through the cap in 2026 and have a clean slate in 2027. The Browns already have so much tied up in existing dead money ($45m), and contracts that void in 2026 ($75m), I can't see anyway they can write off the remaining $130m cap hit of his contract against 2026 cap. If anything the Browns need to extend or restructure Watson's contract to push some of his 2026 base salary into future years for cap purposes.

As far as the Browns coaching situation goes - who in their right mind would want that job? It will take two years just to bring the salary cap under control and most of their starting OLine are on contracts that void prior to the new league year, so their 2026 coach will have the job of building a new O'Line.
 
The Steelers need a fresh start and a new coaching staff. It's about 10 years past due. Anything less is a waste of time.


p.s. Don't go signing a bunch of has beens in the offseason again. Draft&develop. Get yourself a stable of coaches who can do just that. You need teachers,tactical brilliance and perfectionists,not cheerleaders and empty promises.
 
The chaos I predict is minimal changes

Steelers lose to Rats and Austin is next scapegoat up. Grady Brown is your next scapegoat in waiting as the new DC. Head rolls and everything fixed. Mike goes for another Tomlinship next year to set the franchise records with Rodgers coming back for another go at it (after receiving very minimal interest from other squads in free agency)

Rats beat the Steelers and it saves Harbaugh and Lamar returns. Even if the Steelers somehow manage a win I predict the Harbaugh/Jackson combo returns.

Bungles gonna Bungles
Coach comes back cuz owner cheap AF
Burrow returns as no team makes a ridiculous enough offer for the oft injured QB

Stains gonna make mistakes, whatever they do it will be the wrong decision. So expect Sanders back as QB. Who knows what those idiots will
Do at HC. Just expect the dumpster to keep burning and smell like ****.
 
Oddly enough, if all 4 coaches got fired, all 4 would be top candidates for other job openings.
 
slashsteel said:
If a miracle happened ( it won’t) who do you like to replace ol Mike now that the season is winding down and we had time to look at coaching possibilities? Give me Kubiak or Shula.

Shula would round table his grandads pimping of this one fine coach I know.

I would trust their decisions on who to bring in opposite of their specialties.
Click to expand...
Slash, I’m with you here on Shades’s replacements.
I really like Clint Kubiak a lot and he would be my first choice. Would love if he could hire Bobby Slowik as his OC.
Next, I like Chris Shula the DC of the Rams. Bright, innovate defensive coach.
Then I like Minter the young DC of the Chargers. Bright, innovative DC has done great job for the Bolts.
I also like Marcus Freeman the young energetic charismatic coach at ND. Think he would relate well with the players.
So as far as that nonsense of who you going to get if Tomlin leaves? Here’s at least four names and sure there are more.
 
I’m at the point I hope they lose tonight. I hope for weeks Pittsburgh radio goes hard on Tomlin and they don’t opt for his 27 year.

I just can’t see this team winning a playoff game so I’d just assume not even make the postseason.
 
Even if the Steelers win today they lose next week to who ever they play. Cut Tomlin. Both sides need a fresh start.

Rats? Who cares.

Bengals, let's face it, when Burrow went down so did their season. I think Taylor gets another chance because of that. Unless Burrow says early that he wants out.

Clowns? See Rats
 
steelhurt said:
Slash, I’m with you here on Shades’s replacements.
I really like Clint Kubiak a lot and he would be my first choice. Would love if he could hire Bobby Slowik as his OC.
Next, I like Chris Shula the DC of the Rams. Bright, innovate defensive coach.
Then I like Minter the young DC of the Chargers. Bright, innovative DC has done great job for the Bolts.
I also like Marcus Freeman the young energetic charismatic coach at ND. Think he would relate well with the players.
So as far as that nonsense of who you going to get if Tomlin leaves? Here’s at least four names and sure there are more.
Click to expand...
I thought Freeman just got a contract extension? So I figured they threw enough money at him that he wouldn’t jump ship.
 
steelhurt said:
I also like Marcus Freeman the young energetic charismatic coach at ND. Think he would relate well with the players.
Click to expand...

You want a young, defensive, players coach who loves to run the ball and has multiple inexcusable losses to 20+ point underdogs?

Feels like we've seen this movie before.
 
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