Have you ever made plans with a friend, but then another friend presents even better plans for the same day, but you're already committed to the former? That conundrum, or something similar, is probably going through the heads of recently hired New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh and new Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski. The Buffalo Bills fired Sean McDermott on Monday following the Divisional Round, and now the opportunity to coach Josh Allen and a potential Super Bowl contender is now available.
Of course, that's a bit of an oversimplification of the situation. The Bills are retaining general manager Brandon Beane, who many have called at least part of the problem in Buffalo (if not the ringleader of the whole problem). Moreover, as a result of many of Beane's decision, the roster is questionably built. At the same time, there's that Josh Allen guy, who has been trying to knock down the door to the Super Bowl for several years now. And you have to wonder if Harbaugh and Stefanski are regretting not waiting out that opportunity, even if they'd never been able to know it was coming.
How much should John Harbaugh regret not waiting on the Bills job?
When it comes to Harbaugh and his fit with the G-Men as opposed to what he would've potentially had in Buffalo, I actually do wonder if there's really any regret at all. Both situations come with questionable general managers, as there aren't many Giants fans who were in favor of retaining Joe Schoen, much like Bills fans with Beane. However, Harbaugh's reported power structure in New York seems to largely supercede the GM's power, which is something of an advantage to him.
In that same light, there actually might be some credence to the notion that the Giants are more enticing than the Bills right now situationally, even though New York doesn't have Josh Allen.
Sure, I have no doubt that Harbaugh would love to go from coaching one MVP-winning quarterback to another MVP-winning quarterback, and there's no guarantee we ever see Jaxson Dart get to that level. At the same time, however, the Giants' overall core appears to be much better positioned to build toward future success than the Bills'.
New York has Dart as a potential franchise quarterback on a rookie contract, but there is also a fantastic young defensive line with Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeaux for at least one more year. There's Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo in the way of offensive skill positions. And while the offensive line and secondary need some serious work to improve, there is a core in place, which also gives the Giants and Harbaugh a clear direction for elevating this team to the next level.
Can we really say the direction is clear with Buffalo, especially with Beane manning the controls in the front office? Allen is phenomenal, a player who has a legitimate argument as the best quarterback in the NFL. But look around him. James Cook is great and the offensive line is good (though certainly not great). Outside of that, the holes are immense. The defense needs a wholesale restructure, and the wide receiver room is among the worst in the league.
That's not to say there isn't a thought crossing Harbaugh's mind about what he could do working with Allen and the Bills. At the same time, if he earnestly looks at where he's at with the Giants and the reality of the job he's taking over, I surprisingly come down on the side that he should prefer the job he took over the one that just opened.
Would Kevin Stefanski be better suited for the Bills than the Falcons?
The same reality that exists for Harbaugh in New York does not necessarily exist for Kevin Stefanski after taking over the Atlanta Falcons.
If there's one thing that does work in Stefanski's favor in Atlanta, it's the division. The NFC South is pure mid. It's an extremely winnable division and has been for years now, so the opportunity to elevate to the throne in the South does make it somewhat enticing. The problem for me, however, is that there is no guarantee that the Falcons have the pieces for that to be the case.
Michael Penix Jr. is the biggest part of that equation. The Falcons obviously took a monstrous risk by drafting him with the eighth overall pick immediately after they'd just signed Kirk Cousins. And suffice it to say, that hasn't really worked out ideally. Penix has not yet reached the heights that he did in college with the Washington Huskies, and there are viable questions about whether or not he can be the guy.
Furthermore, while Atlanta finally invested in edge rushers — perhaps too aggressively so — last offseason, the fact of the matter is that this roster is also incomplete. The skill positions are infinitely superior to what Buffalo has, but the defense is still not fully formed, and obviously the quarterback dropoff from Allen to Penix is almost incalculable.
For Stefanski, in particular, as an offensive mind, it does feel like having a surefire star at quarterback would've been a superior landing spot. I'm sure that watching him utilize Bijan Robinson and Drake London will be phenomenally fun, and maybe even successful for the Falcons. At the same time, there's a reason that quarterback is the most important position on the field, and it does seem that Stefanski's ceiling for what he can accomplish would've been higher in Buffalo than it will be in Atlanta.