NFL Players, Coaches Already on the Hot Seat As Free Agency Turns to Draft Window
The bulk of NFL free agency has concluded, and the looming 2024 draft will largely finalize rosters for the upcoming season.
Soon enough, hot-seat discussions will become prevalent again.
For some quarterbacks and head coaches, it's the product of recent underperformance. Context matters, so it might be either missing the playoffs altogether or bowing out quickly in the postseason.
For other franchises, a busy run in free agency has cranked up pressure on some quarterbacks and coaches. While a few teams aggressively added talent, the moves—or lack thereof—of other teams placed more pressure on someone who was already in the spotlight.
Here, we'll focus on a handful of quarterbacks and coaches who are basically entering a make-or-break season.
Matt Eberflus, Chicago Bears
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Midway through the 2023 season, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus sat on a steadily warming seat. However, the Bears forced a bunch of turnovers during a 5-3 stretch to close the campaign at 7-10, thus sparing Eberflus for now.
They must continue to improve in 2024 to keep him around.
Those five victories came against the NFL-worst Carolina Panthers, the Kirk Cousins-less Minnesota Vikings, the Detroit Lions—a legitimately good win!—and the mediocre Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons. Wins are wins, but beating almost exclusively bad teams won't be good enough in the future.
Entering his third season in charge, Eberflus holds a 10-24 record, including an abysmal 2-10 mark opposite NFC North competition. And he's running out of excuses.
Eberflus brought in a new offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, as Chicago is expected to select a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. The team landed six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen in a trade and added running back D'Andre Swift and tight end Gerald Everett in free agency. Chicago also re-signed star cornerback Jaylon Johnson this offseason.
This is the best roster Eberflus will have coached with the Bears. He needs to start winning.
Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
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New coach, new offense. New linemen, new receiver.
After hiring new head coach Dave Canales, Carolina added big-money guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis and traded for for wideout Diontae Johnson. The franchise's top priority seems to be building an improved supporting cast for second-year quarterback Bryce Young.
As a rookie, Young mustered only 5.5 yards per attempt while tossing 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions and taking 62 sacks. Part of that can be blamed on the previous coaching staff, but it wasn't a good debut for the No. 1 overall pick. It didn't help that No. 2 overall pick CJ Stroud guided the Houston Texans to a division title and a playoff berth as a rookie.
The reason why Young may open the campaign on a hot seat is that patience can quickly run thin for quarterbacks. Look no further than 2022 first-rounder Kenny Pickett, who's now a backup with the Philadelphia Eagles because the Pittsburgh Steelers gave up on him after only two years.
The revamped Panthers shouldn't be rushing to make a decision on Young's future. But if they're one of the NFL's worst teams once again, how could that conversation not come up?
Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys
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Despite a third straight 12-5 season, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy had an uncertain future after losing 48-32 to the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round. Team owner Jerry Jones needed to publicly announce that McCarthy would return.
As much blame deservingly falls at Jones' feet—after all, he's the one who controls their personnel—McCarthy hasn't won with the Cowboys when it matters most. Dallas is 1-3 in the playoffs under him, including losses at home in both 2021 and 2023.
With another letdown this season, a change may be inevitable.
The challenge for McCarthy is that Dallas lost running back Tony Pollard, offensive linemen Tyron Smith and Tyler Biadasz, pass-rusher Dorance Armstrong Jr. and a few other contributors while bringing in almost no one of note this offseason. Key cornerback Stephon Gilmore remains unsigned as well.
If Jones and the Cowboys don't nail the draft, he'll likely be disappointed with the results of the 2024 season and probably fire McCarthy within the year.
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Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
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Although the Miami Dolphins seem likely to sign quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to a contract extension at some point, the timing and cost of that investment are major questions.
Since the arrival of head coach Mike McDaniel, Tagovailoa has been among the NFL's most productive passers. However, he's routinely struggled against top competition. Two awful showings in the closing weeks of the regular season cost Miami a division title last year, and the offense stunk in the bitterly cold playoff loss at the Kansas City Chiefs.
Tagovailoa is unquestionably a starting-caliber NFL quarterback, but the Dolphins are poised to make a commitment that dominates their cap sheet for a half-decade. Tagovailoa has to show in 2024 that he's truly worth it, and there's more pressure on him anyway.
Miami added stars like wide receiver Tyreek Hill, edge-rusher Bradley Chubb and cornerback Jalen Ramsey in recent years, but the bill came due this offseason. The defense must replace a number of key contributors next season, including star tackle Christian Wilkins and linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel.
If Tagovailoa hasn't finalized an extension before the 2024 season kicks off, an underwhelming campaign could complicate his future in Miami—or at least his earning potential.
Daniel Jones, New York Giants
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Last offseason, the New York Giants faced a tough decision on whether to franchise-tag quarterback Daniel Jones or running back Saquon Barkley. They ultimately chose to re-sign Jones on a four-year extension that effectively includes an out after the 2024 campaign.
Unfortunately for Jones, a knee injury limited him to six appearances last season. He didn't have a full opportunity to show immense improvement.
Those six outings didn't go well, either. Jones threw for a career-worst 5.7 yards per pass attempt and had a career-high 3.8 percent interception rate. He also took a sack on a 15.8 percent of his dropbacks, which blew his previous career high out of the water.
New York added potential starting linemen Jon Runyan Jr. and Jermaine Eluemunor in free agency, but it otherwise didn't add much. The team chose not to keep Barkley—an uncomfortable but defensible choice—and replaced him with Devin Singletary.
The closer the Giants sit to an early selection in the 2025 NFL draft, the less likely that Jones is back beyond this season.
Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
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The reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles began the 2023 season with a 10-1 record. They weren't dominant by any means, but they continued to squeeze out nerve-testing wins.
Then they completely collapsed.
Beginning in December, the Eagles dropped five of their last six regular-season games. Both the San Francisco 49ers and Cowboys steamrolled the Eagles, who also coughed up fourth-quarter leads to the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals. In the postseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked all over Philly in a 32-9 Wild Card Round blowout.
The late-season swoon shouldn't have (and didn't) cost Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni his job, but it deservedly cranked up the scrutiny to come in 2024.
Longtime center Jason Kelce and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox both retired this offseason, and the Eagles will miss both of them. However, the Eagles upgraded from D'Andre Swift to Saquon Barkley in the backfield while adding edge-rusher Bruce Huff, linebackers Zack Baun, Devin White and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson on defense.
Philadelphia has a playoff-worthy roster with championship-level upside. At the very least, Sirianni needs to have the Eagles playing at a high level entering the postseason this year.
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