We now know the names of at least two teams that have inquired about interviewing Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury for their head coaching vacancy: Chicago and New Orleans.
According to Josina Anderson, both the Saints and Bears have requested to interview Kingsbury, whose offense helped Jayden Daniels blossom into the likely NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and led Washington to a 12-5 record and Wild Card spot.
Anderson had said Wednesday afternoon that ‘at least four teams had interest,’ but so far, only Chicago and New Orleans have made formal requests.
Due to NFL rules about teams in the postseason, Kingsbury cannot interview until at least Jan. 14. If the Commanders are knocked out on Sunday, he can do a virtual interview of up to three hours in length starting Jan. 14, and then can interview in person on Jan. 20; if they defeat the Bucs, however, he cannot interview in any fashion until the day after the team is eliminated.
Chicago may be the more attractive job in Kingsbury’s mind, as he worked with QB Caleb Williams at USC in 2023 as a senior offensive analyst. Chicago also has a projected $80 million in cap space to add to the team, while New Orleans is more than $60 million over the cap already, with $48 million of that in dead cap money.
Kingsbury was 28-37-1 in four seasons (2019-22) as the head coach in Arizona, and had said last week when asked about his head coaching future that ‘maybe at some point, but I’m very happy here.’