Josh McDaniels/Mike Lombardi/Ryan Mallett team up in Cleveland
Mike Florio was the first to bring this idea to the forefront and he was met with some skepticism. Now Greg Bedard, a trusted source in Boston media, is chiming in more on this. Bedard initially wrote a few weeks ago that Lombardi was a candidate for the general manager job in Cleveland, he now believes that Josh McDaniels is a likely candidate to join him.
Bedard writes today that the top candidates for the Cleveland head coaching job would be Nick Saban, Chip Kelly and Josh McDaniels. In that order. McDaniels is the most likely of the three. He also adds in that his sources tell him that if Lombardi and McDaniels team up, they will try to trade for Ryan Mallett.
Lombardi always seems to love New England back up quarterbacks. He used to rave about Brian Hoyer and said that if he became GM of the 49ers he would've traded for him. However, Hoyer was cut by the Patriots this year and has yet to find a starting gig anywhere, even on the Cardinals.
Still, to be fair, I also really liked what Hoyer did for the Patriots in the limited chances he got to play. Lombardi was very high on Ryan Mallett coming out of the draft so the trade for him in Cleveland would make a lot of sense. Mallett is a bit of a question mark since we have barely seen him play other than this preseason, where he was up and down.
Bedard adds that the replacement for McDaniels, if this were to happen, would likely come from within. He points to current Wide Receivers coach Chad O'Shea as the top candidate but it's obviously early to speculate.
Would you have a problem with Josh McDaniels leaving after only one year back with the Pats? I wish the best for McDaniels. A second chance where he has less involvement in personnel would be a good fit for him. I've also always really enjoyed the analysis of Michael Lombardi on the NFL network and on BS reports and also hope he finds a job as a GM, though I will miss hearing his thoughts on the NFL.
What about you?
