After spurning the Indianapolis Colts to return to the Patriots last offseason, many assumed Josh McDaniels would be in New England for the long haul, perhaps being the heir apparent to Bill Belichick whenever the legendary coach wanted to hang up his whistle.
Fast forward to November and McDaniels once again is among the hottest names on the coaching market and could have his pick of jobs this offseason, including the Cleveland Browns opening or Green Bay Packers gig.
This, of course, begs the question: why would McDaniels leave the Patriots?
Albert Breer of The MMQB spoke to 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak and Bertrand” on Wednesday, and gave a reasonable explanation for why staying with the Patriots might not be as attractive as it sounds.
“I know there’s going to be demand for him. I know he’s going to be open to the idea of going,” Breer said. “I don’t know if he’ll leave for just anywhere, but here’s what you have to look at, OK? If you’re Josh McDaniels, would you rather be over the next five to 10 years: in Cleveland, where you’ve got Baker Mayfield? In Green Bay, where you’ve probably got five years of Aaron Rodgers, and as part of that, a nice long runway to find the next quarterback? Or here, where there’s a lot of uncertainty on what you’re going to do at the quarterback position going forward, you’re not going to have a high draft pick this year, right?
“And here’s the other part of it: if you win 10 games here you’re a frickin failure. Like go 10-6 in your second year here, do you think people are going to be celebrating that? If he goes to Cleveland and makes the playoffs next year, he’s going to have like three more years of job security behind that.
“The ownership here is great,” Breer continued. “Stability in the way they build the team, all that different stuff. I don’t know if you want to be the guy that succeeds Belichick … If Josh goes to Cleveland next year, and they go 9-7, that is a success and you’ve got something to build on. Say just for the sake of argument that Bill and Tom walk after this year, and Josh comes in here, and Josh goes 9-7 with Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback, you think people will be celebrating that? Probably not. So if I’m Josh, I don’t know if I want that.”
Breer makes a good point and both the Browns and Packers openings present solid opportunities for McDaniels to jump back into the head coaching ranks. Plus, no one wants to be left in Gillette Stadium when Brady and Belichick turn the lights out, whenever that might be.
