Former Jets Coach Receives Huge Offer From NFC Team To Become Highest-Paid DC

Will Robert Saleh be a head coach next season or a defensive coordinator?

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As the New York Jets search for a new head coach, the man they fired is receiving a flood of interest around the NFL.

Robert Saleh was dismissed by New York five games into the 2024 season. He went 20-36 over three-plus seasons with the Jets and failed to make the playoffs.

However, the 45-year-old Saleh is still widely respected around the league. The Jacksonville Jaguars are reportedly high on Saleh as a head coach candidate.

Saleh’s also been interviewed by the Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys for their head coach vacancies.

But Saleh might forego these head coaching opportunities and return to a robust NFC organization in the role of coordinator, especially since he’s now reportedly received an offer from this team that would make Saleh the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the sport, per a new report from Bleacher Report’s Paul Kasabian.

“Former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh has a contract offer from the San Francisco 49ers to become the NFL's highest-paid defensive coordinator, per The Athletic's Matt Barrows,” Kasabian said.

For Saleh, the job would be a return home, since he served as San Francisco’s DC from 2017 to 2020 before taking the Jets job.

And according to Kasabian, the 49ers are making Saleh their highest — and perhaps only — priority as they look to fill the coordinator position.

“That news was reported Friday on the latest edition of The TK Show with Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard (3:30 mark),” Kasabian said.

“I think it's become obvious now that it's Saleh or bust really, because they haven't done much work with anybody else to this point," Barrows said (per Kasabian). "And I've already heard that they've told Saleh, you know, 'We will make you the highest-paid defensive coordinator in all the land if you sign with us.' And now it's just a matter of waiting for Saleh."

While it makes sense for Saleh to consider head coaching opportunities in Jacksonville, Dallas, and Las Vegas, he faces stiff competition for all three jobs, per Kasabian.

“In Dallas, Pro Football Hall of Famer, ex-Cowboys star and current Colorado head coach Deion Sanders could be the pick,” Kasabian said. 

“In Jacksonville and Las Vegas, Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, widely considered one of the top (if not the top) head coaching candidates, could be a pick.”

“The Raiders have also been linked with Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen, Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, per ESPN's Paul Gutierrez.”

It’s difficult to predict where Saleh will land, but it's clear that his firing from the Jets did little to erode Saleh’s perceived value.

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