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Josh McDaniels Didn't Get Browns' HC Job, Will Likely Stay with Patriots

The Cleveland Browns have reportedly hired Kevin Stefanksi to be their next head coach, which means the Patriots will likely retain Josh McDaniels.
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The New England Patriots are now one step closer to retaining Tom Brady. 

The Cleveland Browns have hired Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanksi to be their next head coach, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. 

What this new obviously insinuates is that Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels did not get the job, which means he will likely stay in New England as the team's offensive coordinator. I say "likely" because it's not 100%. But unless something crazy happens, McDaniels will be with the Patriots in 2020. 

After a roller-coaster ride over the past 48 hours, McDaniels, who is a Canton, OH native, has missed out on his "dream job." After having three scheduled meetings this past week with the Panthers, Giants and Browns for their head-coaching vacancies, McDaniels wasn't able to meet with Carolina or New York before they hired Matt Rhule and Joe Judge to be their head coaches. Cleveland ended up being the lone opportunity McDaniels had to interview for a head-coaching position. 

So why didn't McDaniels get the job? According to The MMQB's Albert Breer, while he's heard McDaniels' interview with Cleveland went very well, Breer's sense was that McDaniels wanted sweeping organizational changes, which may have been problematic to Browns' brass. 

With Tom Brady's potential departure this offseason looming, one key factor that would have played into Brady's decision to potentially leave New England would have been McDaniels' status as the Patriots' offensive coordinator. Brady and McDaniels have grown very close over the years, so if McDaniels had taken a head-coaching job elsewhere in the league, it would have made it less likely that the 42-year-old QB would stay with the Patriots. However, now that McDaniels will be part of New England's staff next season, it will give Brady one more reason to remain a Patriot.