Former Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott has closed the door on one head-coaching opening on the NFL coaching carousel, showing no interest in the Las Vegas Raiders or Arizona Cardinals jobs.
After failing to reach the Super Bowl with quarterback Josh Allen, the Bills decided to move on from McDermott, pivoting to new leadership and hoping a new voice can deliver results.
While he did not manage to get the team over the top, the head coach certainly showed the ability to build a team, bringing a defense-first mentality and earning the players’ buy-in.
For teams with a roster nearing contention, McDermott stands out as an ideal coach considering his experience, and his status around the league will put him in a favorable spot with a good choice of interested teams.
According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, McDermott is not looking to join a rebuild, like what will be happening in Arizona or Las Vegas, but rather he wants a team farther along in its development.
“If we talk about where could Sean McDermott potentially land next, it doesn’t make a ton of sense for him to go into a total rebuild,” Pelissero said on “The Rich Eisen Show.”
“He’s 51 years old. He’s been there every year, been in the playoffs, every season here in recent years. I don’t really see him [saying], ‘I’m gonna go to Arizona, or I’m gonna go to Las Vegas.’
“I think the teams to watch for Sean McDermott, potentially the Steelers, though that would be outside of their normal bucket in terms of who they look to hire.
“Baltimore is certainly one that I could see making a lot of sense for Sean McDermott.”
The Raiders are picking first overall after finishing with the worst record in the NFL, while the Cardinals also finished among the worst teams in the league.
They are far from even making the postseason, requiring a ton of work to get them into contention, which is something McDermott is not looking to undertake.
There would be some advantages for McDermott in taking these jobs; however, giving him a ton of resources and room to patiently instill his way of doing things, rather than being thrust right into the pressure cooker.
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