Top 5 head coaching candidates for New York Jets

3. Mike McCarthy

McCarthy will be in the mix for several head coaching jobs, but there is lingering talk he’ll sit out next season if he doesn’t find a great fit. The Arizona Cardinals may be willing to give him full control over personnel, but Jason La Canfora has suggested McCarthy is no longer interested in that job after previous reports of mutual interest.

The Jets are easy to point to in the mix for McCarthy, and earlier this month Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported the former Packers’ head coach was “very high” on the team’s list of potential candidates to replace Bowles. That may have changed in the subsequent weeks, if McCarthy is indeed leaning toward sitting out next season and as the Jets have extended the tentacles of a likely search. Nonetheless, McCarthy is a candidate for the job until further notice.

A shift away from the Cardinals’ job may be rooted in perceived similarities between Josh Rosen and Aaron Rodgers, who turned up his thinly-veiled criticism of McCarthy in recent years. He needs to find a way to innovate his offense, or find assistant coaches who can help with that. But otherwise McCarthy could be a nice fit working with Darnold in New York, and the Jets have to see that too.

If there wasn’t some chance he’ll sit out this year’s interview cycle, with an eye on taking a year off, McCarthy would be higher on this list.