Standing Pat? New England Patriots' Jerod Mayo Making Decisions on NFL Offers
The message is clear this offseason for the New England Patriots:
The play-making defense is good enough. The anemic offense needs an overhaul.
To that end, the historically tight-lipped Patriots made an uncharacteristically transparent announcement last week. That they are commencing the search for a new offensive coordinator. And that they are opening contract negotiations with defensive assistant coach Jerod Mayo in an attempt to keep him in Foxboro.
So far, so good.
While the Pats aren't expected to begin interviewing offensive coordinator candidates until next week, Mayo has reportedly already declined an offer from the Carolina Panthers to interview for their head coaching job. Another report predicts Mayo would also turn down similar requests from teams such as the Indianapolis Colts. He also is expected to not interview with the Cleveland Browns, who were targeting him as their next defensive coordinator.
Both Mayo moves would seem to indicate that the Pats have already convinced - via a juiced-up contract, promotion and possibly a new title - to stay put on Bill Belichick's defense. It's also possible that part of New England's agreement with Mayo is to target him as the successor to the 70-year-old head coach.
Because of his unit's game-changing production in Foxboro, Mayo has become a hot commodity.
The Pats led the NFL with seven defensive touchdowns and produced 30 takeaways, second to only the Dallas Cowboys (33). Of the NFL's 11 defenses creating the most turnovers, only the Patriots (2nd) and Houston Texans (7th) missed the playoffs.
Some of the team's plans on the offensive side of the ball will revolve around the landing spot of Sean Payton, who is scheduled to interview with the Denver Broncos next week.
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