NFL coaching carousel buzz: What we’re hearing on who could get fired (and hired) and who’s safe

• Joined ESPN in 2011
• New Jersey native and author of two published novels

• ESPN staff writer
• Previously a college football reporter for CBSSports.com
• University of Florida graduate

This, the season of the 17th regular-season game, requires slightly more patience for this coaching carousel. In past years, we might have had more clarity on how many NFL head-coaching jobs will open. Heck, the 2019 season brought two head-coach firings in the first six weeks.

But the latest collective bargaining agreement brings us more football, which means more playoff spots — and more chances for coaches on the hot seat to save jobs. A little more than a month from now, 14 teams will have wrapped up a 17-game schedule and will prepare for the playoffs.

Couple that new dynamic with a pandemic that affected the wallets of team owners, and the hiring-and-firing cycle could be slimmer than usual. But who are we kidding? This is the NFL, where change is a formality and impatience is a way of life. There’s one current opening — the Raiders job — and more will follow.

After checking around the league, we bring you an updated look at the 2021 coaching carousel, all the moves that could happen as the season ends and the names you need to know:

If the Bears job opens up, there are already rumblings about a candidate

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