First, a Happy New Year to all of our readers out there in football land. Sadly, the 2025 NFL and College football regular seasons have all ended as of somewhere around midnight Sunday evening. But the good news is that the College and NFL playoffs are swinging into full bloom. And we have some Tuesday Morning Pigskin to get into.
Wild Card weekend is coming up this weekend, and the College Football Championship rounds are down to the Final Four. But more on all that related material and time to reconcile the reality is that it was…
Tuesday Morning Pigskin – 1/6/26
BLACK MONDAY
Black Monday, traditionally when disgruntled NFL team owners put a significant number of General Managers and Head Coaches on the chopping block. Now, the bright side of this is that it does open up new job opportunities near the top of NFL Franchise management teams. So here is the current head count and my short take opinion of each team’s moves.
CLEVELAND BROWNS
This might be the biggest surprise, but then again, team owners don’t fire themselves. They find someone below them to take the fall. And clearly Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, whose burning desire to sign VFA Deshawn Watson led to the trade of massive amounts of Browns Draft Picks and millions of guaranteed dollars to get WATSON in-house as his Franchise QB.
This happened even though Watson was available because of an onslaught of legal charges against Watson in the Houston area for molestation of multiple masseuses in his off time from football. And to compound the issue, Watson was given oodles of guaranteed dollars. He has turned into one injury issue after another and played very little under that smothering contract.
It was announced Monday morning that H.C. KEVIN STEFANSKI has paid for his owner’s blunders and been relieved from his duties with the team. I might be remiss if I failed to mention that Stefanski was twice named NFL Coach of the Year during his 6-year stay in Cleveland. I doubt he will be unemployed around the League, given his overall track record and reputation.
The team had been quite successful on Defense under the leadership of DC JIM SCHWARTZ, who should also be highly sought after in the coming months, unless HASLAM & GM ANDREW BERRY decide to try to put SCHWARTZ around and promote him. Stay tuned for more action from this franchise.
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
In a move deemed inevitable by many, PETE CARROLL was relieved of his duties as HC in Las Vegas. It seemed to me that this house cleaning by MARK DAVIS is the 4th in his 5 years in Las Vegas, where he seems determined to undermine any goodwill and excitement the Vegas area had for their first pro football franchise in Sin City.
Carroll brought a ton of pro football (and College as well) experience to the team, but to little avail on the playing field. The first major mistake by DAVIS was deciding to wash any fingerprints on their previous rosters when he fired Mike Mayock and replaced him with JOHN SPYTEK, who was well respected within the pro football ranks. Not all of MAYOCK’s draft picks were duds, but they were looked upon as such.
So this team’s current roster now looks like an expansion team at most positions. Here’s the good news, the team is projected to have $100millon in Cap Space for the 2026 League year. Will DAVIS spend it or pocket it? The team is also projected to have 10 Picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. If Davis leaves Spytek alone to run his team, things might get better. If he wants to pretend he’s the next Jerry Jones as Boss of Everything, then good luck, folks.
ARIZONA CARDINALS
JOHNATHAN GANNON is out as Head Coach of the CARDINALS after 3 seasons. Their G.M., MONTI OSSENFORT, should be safe for now. But he and Owner Mike Bidwell have somehow got to get out from under their biggest issue, and his name is KYLER MURRAY, who, of course, is their overpaid, overrated, and oft-injured QB.
But how do you get rid of a QB whose contract calls for over $53-million in salary next season, and only $21-million in projected Cap Space for next season? They have only 7 Picks in the next Draft, so spending their way out is unlikely. Look for Gannon to end up as a D.C. somewhere under a franchise looking for new blood and former success in that job.
ATLANTA FALCONS
The whole house was cleaned out by ARTHUR BLANK/Owner Chairman. C.E.O. RICH McKAY, G.M. JERRY FONTENOT, and H.C. RAHEEM MORRIS have all been let go. FONTENOT seemed to be pretty bold in trying to retool his team’s roster, but the QB slot has been a bit messy to be kind. And their opening has been excessive, with modest results to show for it.
The team projects to have a 4.3-million deficit over the Cap to show for next season under the projected League income for 2026. QB/COUSINS with a Cap hit of over $57-million for the 2026 season, and their young/injured QB PENIX due to be paid a bit over $6-million, their Cap will be rather tight for heavy VFA additions next season. And the team shows only 5 Draft Picks in the team’s personnel quiver. Good luck climbing out of these holes, and look for MORRIS to be running an NFL Defense somewhere else sometime soon.
OTHER NOTES
Lest you forget, job openings for Head Coaches with the TITANS & GIANTS, plus a G.M. job with the DOLPHINS. Those holes still need to be plugged.
The BENGALS have announced that Head Coach ZAC TAYLOR will return in that capacity for 2026. Of course, he will. As long as he has money and years left on his contract, he stays. The BROWN family does not pay coaches to not coach for them.
And also a reminder that the Dolphins are in the market for a new G.M. after firing CHRIS GRIER round about mid-season last year. Mike McDaniel‘s job as Head Coach is still up in the air, but the team did play hard for him late in the 2025 season.
Stay tuned, folks. Because it feels like another half dozen Head Coach or G.M. jobs could come open in the next few weeks, up through the Super Bowl.
NFL DRAFT TALK
Last week, I sent out a tweet that stated that my scouting eyes are projecting a very strong group of prospects to be available this April for the NFL Draft. It’s early until we know for sure which players are coming into the Draft. And which college prospects might stay in school. But here is my Top 10 list of defensive tackles. All of whom I would expect to be taken in the Top 100 Picks this year.
I will list them in alphabetical order for now…
CALEB BANKS Florida
DONTE CORLEONE Cincinnati
LEE HUNTER Texas Tech
DARRELL JACKSON Florida St
TIM KEENAN Alabama
KAYDEN McDONALD Ohio St
DOMINIQUE ORANGE Iowa St
ALBERT REGIS Texas A&M
A’MAURI WASHINGTON Oregon
PETE WOODS Clemson
SENIOR BOWL Update
Kinda seemed to me that those of you who care, but may not follow actively yet, might like an update on QBs who have Accepted Invites to participate in Senior Bowl week at the end of this month.
TAYLEN GREEN Arkansas
SAWYER ROBERTSON Baylor
LUKE ALTMYER Illinois
COLE PAYTON North Dakota St
DIEGO PAVIA Vanderbilt
And today they announced GARRETT NUSSMEIER of LSU.
The reality here, folks, is that none of the above are First Rounders.
I would also remind you that more than a few of the players accepting invites never show up for the game and must be replaced. We also have college football being played by some very fine QB candidates. A few who may swell this count to 8.
CFP
After watching more college football over the past few weeks, I want to present another potential QB name of someone who impressed me greatly when Ole Miss slipped past Georgia to move on in the College Play-Offs.
That would be QB Trinidad Chambliss, who had Georgia Head Coach KIRBY SMART at a loss for words at his speed and scrambling ability in avoiding UGA defenders most of the game. I can’t disagree with Kirby, and I would add that CHAMBLISS showed arm strength and throwing accuracy.
He’s played at multiple levels in the college games. Working his way up to his excellent 2025 season for the Rebels. His track record of climbing the competition level ladder is quite similar to last year’s top Pick in the NFL Draft named CAM WARD/QB. Don’t sleep on this young man, folks. If he’s at the NFL Combine and works out, he could blow scouts away with his athleticism! I think he’s the real deal if he comes out, or is forced out by NCAA eligibility rules.
Cheers and Happy New Year