The New England Patriots saw plenty of their 2017 key contributors leave the team over the course of the offseason. Among the group of high-profile exits is defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, who is now the head coach of the Detroit Lions. Patricia was nearly joined by a second Patriots’ coordinator: offensive play caller Josh McDaniels was nearly hired as the next head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.
However, a last-second turnaround guaranteed that the Patriots’ offensive coordinator of the last six years remained in New England. Earlier today, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport shared details of how the organization made sure to keep McDaniels around:
The Patriots gave him a five-year contract, which is huge [and] basically never happens for a coordinator.