Browns Free to Pursue Josh McDaniels, Brian Daboll After Their Teams Lose Saturday

The Cleveland Browns are free to pursue the offensive coordinators of the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills after their teams lost Saturday. The team is scheduled to speak with Brian Daboll Sunday and is slated to speak with Josh McDaniels this coming week.

With losses in the wildcard round of the playoffs on Saturday by the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills, the Cleveland Browns are free to interview their offensive coordinators for their head coaching position and should they want to go that route, hire them. The Patriots lost to the Tennessee Titans 20-13 while the Buffalo Bills lost to the Houston Texans 22-19 in overtime.

The Browns were scheduled to speak with Brian Daboll Sunday, regardless of the result of the game. McDaniels is still to come. The other coordinator's status that could be impacted by a result in the first round of the playoffs is Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski. Their team has the difficult task of taking on the New Orleans Saints on the road on Sunday. The Browns are scheduled to speak with him sometime next week.

McDaniels is reportedly finally ready to leave the Patriots after he pulled out of a deal with the Indianapolis Colts two years ago. Quarterback Tom Brady is set to become an unrestricted free agent and is determined to continue playing. Whether that's with the Patriots or someone else is up in the air, but between his status and the overall state of the Patriots, the oldest roster in the league, McDaniels has to decide if he wants to stay with the Patriots through what appears to be a time of transition or lead a build of his own.

Daboll, meanwhile, is part of a Bills team that appears to be headed in a positive direction. Even if he's ultimately passed over for head coaching job this year, assuming he wants one, he should be able to continue building his resume. The one potential hitch is the remarkable inconsistency of quarterback Josh Allen, which could prove to be a limiting factor.