NFL rumors: Tom Brady-Bill Belichick flaw, Russell Wilson future, Jets' odd interview

With the first third of the wild card round in the books, 20 NFL teams are now fully onto the offseason. The Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers joined the party at home after Saturday's playoff escapades. In the end, the Bolts were no match for the Houston Texans and Mike Tomlin needs to go after the Steelers lost their sixth playoff game in a row, this time to the rival Baltimore Ravens.

As Pittsburgh begins to dust off its dirty mirror for once, teams like the Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Jets are used to the fumes that come from regularly using Windex. Unfortunately, neither Gang Green or the Silver and Black are great learners. Yes, they have had their moments, but that was before Madden was a video game, and you could have AFL games be cut short due to Heidi airings.

So the three NFL teams of focus in this latest healthy helping of NFL rumors are all about the AFC. Pittsburgh is trying to figure out how it can repackage Tomlin to increasingly frustrated fans for the umpteenth year in a row. Nobody has done a better job of selling hope out of a steaming pile of crap for years quite like the Raiders and the Jets. Misery loves company, and that is the theme of this post.

So let's dive face first into these bloated NFL rumors centered around the Jets, Raiders and Steelers.

New York Jets interview struggling Maryland head coach Mike Locksley

When the Jets said they were going to do a thorough search for their next head coach, they were not kidding. Why would they not? They have not been to the playoffs since 2010. A lot has happened since then, including Mike Locksley going to Maryland, leaving and then coming back. Yes, the Terrapins' struggling head coach was interviewed by the Jets for their head coaching position.

Locksley is a great offensive mind, but Maryland may be in the worst shape of any team in the Big Ten.

I do not know if bringing Locksley in for an interview is merely an end to a means of sufficing The Rooney Rule, but nobody even thought he was a candidate! Locksley failed to lead the Terps to a bowl game last year. While he knows offense, his Maryland teams often turtle up once the weather starts to change. He was a tremendous offensive coordinator at Alabama, but he also failed at New Mexico.

Overall, Locksley feels every bit the college coach. He knows offense, usually gets great play out of his quarterback and does a fantastic job of recruiting in The DMV. However, defense is normally what wins and decides championships in this league. Just because Locksley worked under Nick Saban does not mean he has any clue about what to do on that side of the ball, college, pro or whatever.

I would be shocked if Locksley got offered the Jets job, but he could be an NFL coordinator one day.

Russell Wilson's future with Pittsburgh Steelers seems rather bleak

I feel the Steelers collectively wasted everyone's time this season. Even if we were told to believe the combination of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields at quarterback would take this team to the promised land, Arthur Smith was still their offensive coordinator. More importantly, Mike Tomlin was their head coach. The Steelers went one-and-done in the AFC playoffs for the fifth time in a row. What a mess!

Not one for self-awareness, Russell Wilson channeled his inner Russell Westbrook with this remark.

"It's been of the best years for me personally to be a Pittsburgh Steeler ... Obviously, I hope I'm here."

The Steelers collapsed down the stretch and were a shell of themselves heading into the postseason. The fact the Ravens ran 13-straight running plays to pay dirt on this once-stellar Steelers defense is all you need to know. Wilson did play better than he had in recent years at times, but we may have seen the last snap of his playing career. He is not a starter, and does not see himself as a backup.

Ultimately, the Steelers need to reset this thing to give themselves a real shot at contention in the deep AFC before the end of the decade. The Mike Tomlin never-had-a-losing-season nonsense does nothing for me. The NFL is a what have you done for me lately type of league. If the Steelers want to remain beholden to the past, then by all means, run it back with Tomlin and Wilson next year.

Baltimore may be peaking at the right time, but the Steelers never had a high ceiling to begin with.

Why Tom Brady-Bill Belichick Las Vegas Raiders reunion will not happen

With Tom Brady having more say and influence in the Las Vegas Raiders organization than we ever thought, could a reunion with his former head coach Bill Belichick be in play? Not so fast... According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, fences have not been mended between Brady and Belichick to the degree to merit a reunion in Southern Nevada. Plus, do the Raiders have money to buy out Belichick?

The Raiders are one of the poorest teams in the NFL. They may be family owned, but are often cash-poor to put enough money in escrow to retain some of their best players. The other big key here is Belichick seems to be committed to the college game since taking over at North Carolina. His late father may be best known for his work with Navy, but Chapel Hill was where he got his first start.

Las Vegas needs to hire a new head coach and a new general manager to replace Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco, respectively. Brady being a part of the process could help the Silver and Black land a better candidate that expected. However, the chances of the Raiders landing Belichick are about as good as the Raiders' chances of winning next year's Super Bowl. At or approaching less than zero...

With the Raiders missing out on Mike Vrabel, where could the Silver and Black turn to lead them then?