Josh McDaniels still a candidate for Cleveland Browns job?

As coaching vacancies begin to fill up around the NFL, the Cleveland Browns job still remains open after they fired Rob Chudzinski after one season on the job, and one candidate who continues to be linked to the job despite claims he’s not leaving his current job is New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

According to Pro Football Talk, at least one league insider thinks there’s still a chance that McDaniels won’t be in New England in 2014, and that as the Browns’ coaching search continues to meander, the guy who reportedly pulled his name once he was told he wasn’t the front runner could still become the front runner.

The league insider’s belief contradicts what McDaniels said earlier on Tuesday about being in New England for 2014 after he addressed questions as to why he withdrew his name from consideration.

"“I’ll definitely be here [next year]. This is the right time for me to be here,” McDaniels said, via NESN.com. “It just means that I made a decision to be here. I’m very happy here. Sometimes you have to make choices for what’s best for you and your family, and that’s what I tried to do.”"

The Browns losing reputation and quick trigger to fire Chudzinski after one year on the job are two reasons why candidates aren’t flocking to interview with Browns’ front office personnel, but until the job is filled, McDaniels will have his name linked with the job.

Some have speculated he could be the successor to Bill Belichick whenever he decided to retire, but that could be a long ways away. McDaniels, 37, has an 11-17 career head coaching record. He was fired 12 games into his second season with the Denver Broncos who the Patriots face in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.

If the Patriots are eliminated it will be interesting to see if McDaniels interviews with the Browns after all or if he truly is content waiting for a better opportunity that what Cleveland presents.