Despite another heartbreaking playoff loss, it was still mildly surprising that the Buffalo Bills decided to fire head coach Sean McDermott shortly afterward. During his nine seasons, the Bills made the playoffs eight times, won the AFC East five consecutive years, and were among the best teams in the NFL, though they never reached the Super Bowl during his tenure.
Almost as surprisingly, with multiple NFL head coaching jobs available during this hiring cycle, McDermott, despite his long record of success, does not seem to be a candidate for any of them. That includes the Cleveland Browns.
That may be because McDermott did not have any real interest in joining the Browns, specifically. It also could be that Cleveland was already moving along in its search to replace Kevin Stefanski and did not want to add another candidate at that point in the process.
However, if the Browns do have an interest, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport gave some discouraging news about McDermott as a candidate, saying the coach may be leaning toward taking a year off before pursuing another job.
“Let’s focus on the Buffalo Bills and Sean McDermott, who was surprisingly fired recently. No doubt would be one of the top candidates for basically any job around, if he wanted to take one. It remains unclear what Sean McDermott will firmly decide to do, but, to my knowledge, he has not engaged in any of these openings. Based on the conversations he’s had and the people he’s talked with who have taken a year off after a long head coaching stint, all have said it was beneficial and worth it. We’ll see if that is the way Sean McDermott goes. I believe it is likely that he ends up taking a year off,” Rapoport said.
Sean McDermott is "likely" to take a year off from coaching, per @RapSheet. pic.twitter.com/XLdRlxLCYj
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) January 25, 2026
McDermott’s desire for a gap year may have no effect on the Browns at all. It is possible that Cleveland is ready to make a head coaching hire.
The Browns reportedly are interviewing their last remaining finalist, Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, and could offer him the job at that meeting. Though the second interview had already been scheduled, Scheelhaase became available for hire immediately after the Rams lost the NFC Championship Game to the Seattle Seahawks and were denied a chance to play in Super Bowl LX.
He is in the running with other finalists Jim Schwartz, the Browns’ defensive coordinator, and Grant Udinski, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive coordinator. Interestingly, Udinski also interviewed with the Bills as a contender to replace McDermott.
Though there have been many unexpected developments during the Browns’ search, it is entering its fourth week with a chance to be completed very soon.
NEXT: Two Former Browns Executives Are Headed To The Super Bowl
