The Ravens hire Todd Monken for OC, taking one of Eric Bieniemy’s potential landing spots away

Washington is scheduling an interview for later this week.

The list of teams still looking for a new offensive coordinator has been pared by one. The Baltimore Ravens announced that they have hired Georgia OC/QB coach Todd Monken for the job that opened up after the team and former OC Greg Roman mutually agreed to part ways. Head Coach John Harbaugh said that the team conducted 21 interviews with 14 candidates as they searched for the guy to “fix” their offense as they likely prepare to franchise tag QB Lamar Jackson. The Ravens were expected to be one of the teams interested in Kansas City Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy after Sunday’s Super Bowl victory, but they got their guy and are moving in a different direction.

This is good news for Ron Rivera and the Washington Commanders. They are working on setting up an interview with Bieniemy, and that will likely take place later in the week, after the Chief’s second Super Bowl parade in four years. Rivera said he had heard that Bieniemy wanted to work with a defensive-minded head coach, and he wanted to explore that opportunity. Washington wanted to interview him last month, but Bieniemy was still trying to get the head coaching job that has eluded him for years. Eagles OC Shane Steichen was announced as the next head coach for the Indianapolis Colts this week, and Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon is considered the favorite to get the Arizona Cardinals job. That would end this year’s head coach hiring cycle, and would mean that Bieniemy will remain an OC for another year.

The advantage of going to a team with a defensive head coach is that Bieniemy will finally get out of the Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes shadow and either succeed or fail based on his playcalling. Not having Mahomes performing weekly magic tricks on the field will obviously take some of the wow out of anyone’s offense, but he will probably need to succeed somewhere other than Kansas City if he wants to make that big next step in his coaching career.

There are still 6 teams looking for a new offensive coordinator. The Colts will likely hire an OC, but with Shane Steichen calling plays. The Broncos traded for former Saints HC Sean Payton, and he will also be calling the plays in Denver. The Panthers hired former Colts HC Frank Reich who has said he is open to giving up playcalling duties, but that doesn’t look like a fit for what Bieniemy wants to accomplish by leaving the Chiefs. That leaves the Buccaneers who fired Byron Leftwich after the season and are still coached by Todd Bowles, and if the Texans hire Jonathan Gannon, that would create another option to work with a defensive head coach. Neither of those teams have been linked to Bieniemy yet, and they might not be interested.

The Washington Commanders have already interviewed 6 candidates for their open OC job, with one of them, Charles London, taking another job already. They are interviewing Greg Roman today. He was requested earlier in the process, but it’s unknown why he hadn’t taken any interviews since leaving Baltimore. Eric Bieniemy will likely be the final interview before Ron Rivera makes a decision on who will be leading the offense for his fourth season in Washington.