NFC East rival’s recent move opens a path for Commanders to hire defensive coordinator candidate
The Commanders have a path to hire Jonathan Gannon as the next defensive coordinator after Cowboys make their decision elsewhere.
Everyone is waiting to see which direction the Washington Commanders decide to go with for their next defensive coordinator, and dominoes continue to fall.
The Commanders are just one of many teams looking for a new defensive coordinator, and positions are starting to fill up, especially in the division. The Dallas Cowboys moved on from Matt Eberflus and had to find a new defensive coordinator. They just filled the position, and it wasn’t a candidate that both teams had similar interest in.
Now, the Commanders could hire a top defensive coordinator candidate they already interviewed if they want to, with the Cowboys out of the equation.
The Dallas Cowboys hire a new defensive coordinator
There are a lot of great defensive coordinator openings around the league, and teams will be fighting for who they want. The Cowboys decided to hire Philadelphia Eagles defensive passing game coordinator Christian Parker and took themselves off the market for any other candidate.
This impacts the Commanders because the Cowboys were heavily linked to Jonathan Gannon, who Washington recently interviewed. We don’t know how high Gannon is on the Commanders’ list, but hiring him just got a lot easier.
The Commanders could hire Jonathan Gannon as the next defensive coordinator
We haven’t heard of the Commanders being linked to Gannon since they interviewed him, but they could always pivot and turn to Gannon as a serious candidate. They already missed out on Jeff Ulbrich and were turned down by Brian Flores, so they’ve already had to expand their search. The Cowboys were linked to Gannon as a top destination by the national media, but that’s not a factor anymore.
Other teams are looking at Gannon, however, and the Green Bay Packers are interviewing him as well. The Packers are already a team pushing to hire Al Harris, so their decision could ultimately decide where the Commanders go for their final choice. Other dominoes around the league are still waiting to fall, which could put the Commanders in a waiting game, but they need to narrow down their options and hone in on who they want to fix the defense, and who is the best fit.
They could wait for a candidate still in the playoffs like Karl Scott, or they could pull the trigger on a candidate they already know, an dget the position filled. Gannon is one of the top candidates available who has experience running a defense and calling plays, and that could be a huge selling point for Quinn.