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    Winners and Losers NFL Black Monday 2023: New Orleans Saints and Jim Harbaugh Can Win Big, Houston Texans and Detroit Lions Lose Out

    We check out the winners and losers of NFL Black Monday -- they aren't always who you think.

    The final game of the regular season isn’t known for winners. NFL Black Monday is a tough time — even if fans want and deserve change, it means coaches and the rest of their staffs have to find new work to support their families. But it’s an inevitable part of the profession they signed up for. In that way, it’s natural that the “losers” of the day include all of those coaches and the people who rely on them.

    But the teams, fanbases, executives, coaches, and players who win or lose Black Monday extend far beyond those who were let go. The ramifications of each team’s decision extend far beyond their small bubble. The NFL is highly interconnected, and the effects of one winner means we’ll find more losers.

    NFL Black Monday does a great job of demonstrating how connected people are around the league, and because of that, we can dig a little bit deeper to find winners and losers.

    Winners

    Arizona Cardinals

    The Cardinals have been struggling to make good on their roster and the quarterback that they invested in — one that they think enough of that they provided a large, franchise extension for. But they haven’t been able to take advantage of their offensive talent to score points, and the defense has been a mess. Arizona’s personnel hasn’t come through, and investments made in the draft on that side of the ball haven’t turned into big talent.

    Among general managers who have had long tenures, Steve Keim has had the worst record over the past five years. Much of that has to do with coaching, but a good chunk of it has to do with talent acquisition. Given the tumultuous state of the front office aside from that, it helped the Cardinals that Keim took the decision to step down and focus on his health, an extension of his leave of absence starting in mid-December for the same reasons.

    Kliff Kingsbury has been unable to demonstrate an ability to keep the offense fresh and hasn’t adapted it to changing circumstances. Letting go of him was the right move.

    Monti Ossenfort, Director of Player Personnel, Tennessee Titans

    A hot name in the previous hiring cycle for general managers, Monti Ossenfort has his pick of teams to choose to land the general manager role, including his own. It’s a rare circumstance where the second in command of a front office that just fired its general manager is a hot commodity, but Ossenfort is well respected in league circles and is purported to have drawn interest not just from the Titans but the Cardinals as well.

    MORE: NFL Black Monday Tracker 2023

    Last year, he interviewed with the Bears, Giants, and Vikings for their GM vacancies and is already on track for several interviews this year.

    New Orleans Saints

    The Saints have not announced any decisions to let go of their coaching or front office staff, nor is there any reason to believe they’ll do so. Nevertheless, New Orleans comes out of Black Monday as winners because they hold the rights to Sean Payton’s contract.

    Payton has been in talks with the Denver Broncos — with the Saints’ permission — and could find himself courted by several teams when all of this is done. That’s good news for Payton, but it’s great news for the Saints, who stand to benefit because any team who wants to hire him will have to compensate the Saints with draft picks, which likely means an additional first-round pick, if not more.

    The Saints currently do not hold a first-round pick, having traded theirs to Philadelphia for another pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. That pick turned out to be offensive tackle Trevor Penning.

    Acquiring the Broncos’ first-round pick, the 29th overall selection, along with several others, would bolster the Saints’ draft capital in a serious way. Perhaps not enough to secure a franchise quarterback but enough to restock the cupboards after years of pushing cap space down the line.

    Cleveland Browns

    The Browns’ defense is not living up to its level of talent, and a big part of that has to do with defensive coordinator Joe Woods. This was not unexpected given the Browns’ level of defensive play, but it does give them an opportunity to improve their defense and even retain some key pieces.

    Cleveland will return a number of key starters from injury and should expect to see a boost from Myles Garrett next year, as he more completely recovers from his car accident. So they’ll see a change regardless of their next defensive coordinator.

    But with players like Jadeveon Clowney openly calling out the organization for their handling of players — something that might be linked to Woods — it’s good to get a change in there to maintain cohesion, even if Clowney doesn’t return himself.

    Russell Wilson

    Russell Wilson didn’t play well this year, and that’s on him. But it was clear that Nathaniel Hackett wasn’t putting him in a position to succeed. For all the memes about there only being “one Russell Wilson offense,” it still behooves offensive play designers to cater their offense to what their quarterback can do. Even a mid-season move from Hackett to interim head coach Jerry Rosburg resulted in a more efficient, smoother-operating offense.

    MORE: Broncos Head Coach Search

    Wilson is staying in Denver for the next few seasons just because of the nature of his contract. If they find the right offensive mind to guide his offense, then he might come out of this salvaging his reputation and the Broncos’ investment.

    Jim Harbaugh

    Even if Jim Harbaugh doesn’t land an NFL job this year, he’s already shown the ability to turn job offers into more money and more security. After the interview process with the Vikings last season went south, Harbaugh landed a five-year $36.7 million extension. Perhaps with more interviews come longer extensions, better terms, or even an outright raise yet again.

    If not, landing an NFL job could allow Harbaugh to avoid all the stressors of a college environment, including dealing with the byzantine NCAA rule structure and the headaches involved with recruiting. So far, multiple teams have already reached out or indicated an interest in him.

    Losers

    Houston Texans

    Lovie Smith might not be the right coach for the job, but given one year and a barren roster, it’s tough to make that determination. Firing their second consecutive head coach after a single year is a good signal that the Texans aren’t reliable employers.

    Houston has signaled a severe lack of stability within their organization. Candidates won’t have any sense of security when coming in for interviews, and there’s nothing that owner Cal McNair or general manager Nick Caserio will be able to say to assuage concerns that any coach coming in won’t have the full faith of the ownership as they ride through the normal struggles incumbent upon taking over a dismantled franchise.

    Houston may have the second pick in the draft and some intriguing rookies in Derek Stingley Jr., Jalen Pitre, and Dameon Pierce, but that’s not enough to convince the top candidates — who will have their pick of teams to choose from when coaching — to head over to Houston.

    There are only 32 teams, and this is the top of the profession, so the Texans will end up with a qualified candidate. But they won’t be able to attract the most in-demand options.

    Detroit Lions

    The Lions could lose both their offensive and defensive coordinators in this coaching cycle. DC Aaron Glenn has already been contacted by the Indianapolis Colts, and OC Ben Johnson has been contacted by the Colts, Carolina Panthers, and Houston Texans.

    Either of the two coordinators could end up getting contacted by other teams as well. In previous coaching cycles, Glenn had been interviewed by the Broncos, Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, and Saints. He’s been a commodity for a while and could be gone in this cycle.

    With how much Johnson did on the offensive side of the ball, making Jared Goff look like a starting NFL quarterback again and enabling Amon-Ra St. Brown to be a fearsome wide receiver, all while maintaining a deadly run game, he could see calls sooner rather than later. Additionally, both Johnson and Glenn might raid the Lions’ staff to fill out their new teams.

    Sam Darnold

    Without immediately committing to Steve Wilks, the Carolina Panthers have opened the door to the possibility that quarterback Sam Darnold won’t get the same support from a new coaching staff.

    After Wilks took over and instituted Darnold as the starter, Darnold has hit career highs in yards per attempt, touchdown rate, passer rating, adjusted net yards per pass attempt, and career lows in sack rate and interception rate. He didn’t just hit career bests in those marks but exceeded them by substantial margins and looked like a viable starting QB.

    MORE: Will the Panthers Re-Sign Sam Darnold?

    It’s entirely possible that the Panthers hire a good offensive coach who can provide a good quarterback environment for Darnold. But even if they hire a smart offensive mind, that person might not be committed to Darnold as a starter and could look elsewhere. Darnold’s best chance to revive his career will be dependent on an unknown coaching staff in a search he’ll have no say in.

    Matthew Stafford

    The rumors that Sean McVay has strongly considered retiring have become more insistent but have, in some ways, been swirling ever since he and Matthew Stafford won the 2022 Super Bowl.

    McVay got the most out of Stafford last year but couldn’t find a way to maintain that level of production this year. Stafford has already indicated that he’s not retiring, meaning he’ll probably have to bear a season without McVay and his contributions to the offense.

    Not only that, Raheem Morris’ name has been floated in head coaching searches, and there remains the possibility that Aaron Donald retires. Without draft capital, it will be tough for the Rams to restock themselves on defense, and they might not be able to bring in a qualified coordinator regardless, putting more pressure on Stafford. It could be a rough offseason for him.

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