The playoffs are drawing near for almost half the NFL right now, but for a little over half the league, it's going to be time to evaluate for the future and move on to the offseason. We've already seen a number of teams move on from head coaches in the middle of the season (Jets, Saints, Bears) but who else could be in line to make a head coach change with Black Monday coming on January 6?
Teams that are going to fire or move on from coaches after the season have likely already made their decisions. Whether they have reached a proverbial dead end or simply have failed to meet expectations, there are a number of head coaches who could soon become "former" head coaches.
Who are the top five most likely head coaches to get canned after Week 18?
5 NFL teams who could move on from head coaches on Black Monday
1. Jacksonville Jaguars - Doug Pederson
This one is obviously a little surprising given how Doug Pederson and the Jaguars were one of the top teams on the rise as of the 2022 season. This team went into Kansas City and gave the Chiefs a game in the playoffs, looking like they would be well on their way to AFC South prominence heading into 2023.
The team has totally collapsed, and Trevor Lawrence has regressed. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see yet another changing of the guard for the Jags moving forward.
2. New York Giants - Brian Daboll
From the New York Giants' perspective, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have kind of embarrassed the organization. Even if there are a lot of dirty hands for the Daniel Jones situation/contract, the Giants clearly made a mistake by letting go of Saquon Barkley, who just ran for 2,000 yards as a member of the rival Philadelphia Eagles.
The Giants cut their $160 million quarterback in the middle of the year. They have watched Saquon Barkley crush it with a rival. I wouldn't be shocked if ownership decided to roll with a fresh start in 2025.
3. Las Vegas Raiders - Antonio Pierce
The Raiders finished the 2023 season strong enough that they decided to make interim head coach Antonio Pierce the full-time head coach. And this team has once again been finishing relatively strong, but the Raiders probably need an overhaul. And right now, there's no better time for it.
They are going to have to go after a new quarterback in the 2025 offseason and make sure that QB is surrounded with the best staff possible. I could see the Raiders looking for an upgrade in 2025 and someone who is more proven than Pierce overall.
4. Dallas Cowboys - Mike McCarthy
I would say the idea of McCarthy being brought back by the Dallas Cowboys at this point is a coin flip or better. I don't know if Jerry Jones has it in him to let McCarthy walk and risk the potential of so much change absolutely crippling this team. But McCarthy and the Cowboys have underachieved in the postseason when everyone was healthy, and they have been out of the playoffs for a couple of weeks at this point in 2024.
The issue here is, who is the right person to take over if McCarthy is not brought back? Does the ideal answer exist right now out there?
5. Cincinnati Bengals - Zac Taylor
Call this a scapegoat if you want, but I think the Bengals could do better than Zac Taylor in the head coach department, with all due respect. He and the Bengals have done some great things together but Taylor kind of lucked into this situation after getting hired in 2019 and Joe Burrow coming out in 2020.
The Bengals have so much star power offensively that this would likely be the most attractive job immediately. Someone's got to answer for a team with this much talent being so bad in one-score games and potentially missing the playoffs.