You gotta take the wins when you can.
The Dallas Cowboys finalized a deal with Philadelphia Eagles passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Christian Parker to be their next DC.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport was the first to share the news on social media.
That eliminates America’s Team from the Jim Leonhard defensive coordinator sweepstakes, which is great news for New York Jets fans.
More Good News Pours in for the Jets
Dallas provided a multi-pronged amount of good news for Jets fans.
Namely, they hired Parker, who wasn’t even one of the eight people the Jets interviewed for their vacant DC role.
Dallas has some gravitas as one of the iconic franchises in the NFL. The Cowboys had done interviews with half of the names on the Jets’ list, which naturally struck some fear into Jets fans that they could lose out on one of their top targets.
Dallas didn’t hire any of those individuals.
That is one of the many DC coordinator jobs now accounted for, which is one less place for Leonhard to go. He had already interviewed with the Cowboys during this cycle.
Patience Is a Virtue
The Jets have moved onto the next phase of their process to identify the next defensive coordinator.
The first round for the Jets involved candidates participating in a virtual Zoom interview. This week, the Jets are selecting a handful of those candidates to bring back for second interviews, but this time in person.
Leonhard was one of those initial eight. However, they are restricted, as are the other 30 NFL teams, from speaking with him in person until Monday, January 26.
At that point, his team, the Denver Broncos, will have been eliminated from the playoffs by losing to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. Or his team will be enjoying a bye week before the Super Bowl.
Are the Jets willing to wait for Leonhard? Clearly, the Cowboys weren’t, and maybe other teams will follow suit.
For the green and white, this process has to be about finding the right guy, regardless of how long it takes.
Leonhard is the most attractive candidate that the Jets have spoken with for this DC position.
He is a former player with 10 years of experience. Leonhard has called plays for a defense, albeit at the college level, during his time at Wisconsin. He has worked under some brilliant defensive minds, highlighted by Vance Joseph in Denver.
Last year, head coach Aaron Glenn opted for experience with Steve Wilks. That failed miserably. Normally, NFL teams go in one direction; if it fails, the pendulum swings the other way.
It’s unclear how much AG got right in year one. However, one of those things was taking a chance on Chris Banjo. He had just two years of coaching experience, but he was overflowing with upside.
AG hit a home run with that hire. If you are going to go down, you want to go down swinging. A Leonhard hire would be exciting and a swing for the fences move to see if you can connect.
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The post Jets Get Good News in Jim Leonhard Sweepstakes After Cowboys Move appeared first on Heavy Sports.