Who has the most at stake in 2025 NFL stretch run? Coaches, QBs and rising stars under pressure to deliver
Jobs, contracts and future opportunities are on the line
By
Jared Dubin
•
6 min read
We're heading into the stretch run of the NFL season now, and the stakes are getting higher. For everybody. Not just the teams, in terms of their playoff positioning or even the draft. But also for individual players and coaches, whether in terms of their performance on the field or their potential futures.
With that in mind, we thought now was as good a time as any to take stock of the people in the league with the most at stake over the final third of the season. We separated the candidates into three separate groups: the coaches, the quarterbacks and the other players.
Without further ado...
The Coaches
- Mike McDaniel, Kevin Stefanski, Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly, Raheem Morris
McDaniel is reportedly safe for the rest of the season. Supposedly, Dolphins ownership wants to keep him around beyond this year as well. But not having alignment between the front office and the coaching staff is always dicey, and whoever is hired as the new general manager could decide to go in a different direction. How the Dolphins play down the stretch could have a significant effect on that decision, whenever it comes.
The Browns remain a disaster. They're now 5-22 over the last two seasons. It wouldn't be surprising if they decided to make a change this offseason, even if it was expected that they'd be bad this year. Beyond that, it wouldn't be surprising if Stefanski decided he wanted a change this offseason and decided to chase one of the other open jobs, given how bleak the prospects are in Cleveland.
The Raiders are also a disaster, and it really looks like they don't have much of a clue what to do on either side of the ball. Particularly on offense, things are... brutal. They don't have a plan to get the ball to their best players; they can't block; the Geno Smith experiment has been a failure. The Raiders reportedly have confidence in the John Spytek-led front office, but it's not hard to see them pivoting away from the oldest coach in league history after a season that's gone the way this one has so far, assuming it continues this way for the rest of the year.
Terry Fontenot was one of the general managers on the hottest seats in our hot seat rankings earlier this week, and one way for a GM to take the pressure off himself is to lay it off on the coaching staff. The Falcons have regressed pretty badly from one year to the next and it's not like Morris has an extensive track record of success as a head coach to fall back on here. If Atlanta plays its way into a top-five pick that is headed to the Rams, we could definitely see a change here.
The Quarterbacks
Tagovailoa has been extremely up and down this season, and it's been mostly down. He's gone from leading the NFL in passing yards two years ago to leading the league in interceptions this year, and his yards per attempt average has plummeted since his career high all the way back in 2022. His contract is massive, but the Dolphins can't really save money by cutting him this offseason, though they can do so by trading him.
The Colts traded two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner and reportedly believe enough in Jones that they want to give him a new contract this coming offseason. But we've seen some signs over the last few weeks of Jones regressing into some bad habits in terms of sacks, fumbles and interceptions, and if that continues down the stretch of the season, it could change Indianapolis' plans. We saw something similar happen with Sam Darnold in Minnesota last year. Indy doesn't have a McCarthy type waiting in the wings, but that might not matter if Jones falters. If he stabilizes, though, he's likely going to get paid a handsome amount.
McCarthy is already getting the "well, we don't know about his future in Minnesota" type of reporting, just five starts into his career. It's been pretty bleak out there for him, so it's not hard to see why that's been the case. The Vikings moved on from Darnold to hand him the job and that looks like the wrong decision so far, but McCarthy has a chance to show down the stretch why they were willing to do so. If he continues to struggle, though, the Vikings could be looking to move on pretty quickly. It'd be wild, but it's possible.
Cousins is going to start down the stretch for the Falcons and this following slate of games is likely going to determine whether he sticks in the league or his career is over. The results when he's been counted on this year and last haven't been encouraging and he won't have top target Drake London for at least a week, so it's hard to see him making a run at a significant contract this offseason. (The Falcons are clearly going to cut him given the financial realities they'd face by keeping him around, and nobody is going to trade for him at his base salary.)
The Others
These players are all pending free agents, so they have a lot to play for down the stretch of the season.
Hendrickson has yet to return to practice for the Bengals, who are 3-7 and set to play the Patriots this week, without Ja'Marr Chase. If Hendrickson doesn't return soon and the Bengals continue to stack losses, he may decide just to shut it down for the rest of the year to preserve his body ahead of his foray into the market. He's going to be 31 years old in a few weeks, but there should be plenty of time left for him as a premium edge rusher if he gets a three- or four-year deal -- it's just a matter of how much that deal is worth.
Pitts has underwhelmed through the first five seasons of his career, regressing badly amid injuries and limited playing time after his spectacular rookie year, when he caught 68 passes for 1,026 yards. But he has an opportunity over the next few weeks, with Drake London likely out, to prove that he can be a top-level target if featured in the passing game.
Hall was reportedly available for a third-round pick at the trade deadline, but nobody paid that price. He's flashed extremely high-level rushing ability throughout his career, but he's also had periods where he looked extremely ordinary. If he can put together a nice stretch run with Tyrod Taylor under center, maybe he can earn himself a sizable free-agent contract this offseason from one of the running back-needy teams.
Andrews is probably in his final season with the Ravens, given the team is more likely to re-sign, well, Isaiah Likely, given the players' ages and Andrews' declining production in recent seasons. But he's still auditioning for a new contract. He probably needs to perform better than his current 8.6 yards-per-catch average over the next few weeks to earn himself a multi-year deal worth a significant amount of money.
Phillips is already excelling for the Eagles and has the potential to earn himself a ton of money by continuing to play at that level for the next several weeks and into the playoffs. He has occasionally been an electric edge rusher throughout his career and again looks like that right now, but injury issues have plagued him going all the way back to college and it might be viewed as a significant risk to give him a long-term, big-money deal. If he plays well enough, though, teams could be willing to overlook that history.
