While Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are, arguably, the top two quarterbacks in the NFL right now, many executives and coaches around the game would rather have the Buffalo Bills job and the reigning MVP than lead Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
The Bills and Ravens have been two of the absolute best franchises in the NFL over much of the last decade. Since Allen became their starting QB in 2020, the team has double-digit wins in every season since, including two years with 13 victories and a pair of trips to the Conference title game.
As for the Ravens, after the eventual two-time MVP became their QB1, they have had five double-digit win seasons, including years with 13 and 14 victories. They also have a trip to the AFC Championship game during that time.
Suffice it to say, both the Bills and Ravens are well-run organizations that know how to find and develop talent. However, with so much winning over the last decade, standards become very high. And, oddly enough, both franchises are looking for new head coaches after neither team has reached the Super Bowl with elite QBs in their prime.
They are now among the 10 teams that have been looking for a new head coach over the last couple of weeks. In a new report from The Athletic, 10 coaches and execs not affiliated with those teams ranked the various head coach openings around the game.
When it comes to Baltimore, the participants were very complimentary. “Best overall organization,” one coach said in their rankings. “Baltimore is the model of stability,” a team executive also told the outlet. Yet, the Ravens were not viewed as having the best head coach opening.
The Ravens received just two first-place votes. However, the Bills received the most, with seven first-place votes. The common thread among those polls was that they placed a higher value on having Josh Allen as the starting QB.
“Not even close,” a former head coach told The Athletic about working with Allen and the Bills compared to other vacancies around the NFL.
The top five in the outlet’s head coach vacancy rankings can be found below:
- 1. Buffalo Bills
- 2. Baltimore Ravens
- 3. New York Giants
- 4. Atlanta Falcons
- 5. Pittsburgh Steelers
