Report: Deal for Jerry Rosburg’s return to the NFL falls through

Former Denver Broncos interim head coach Jerry Rosburg won’t be returning to the NFL after all.

At least, not yet.

One day after NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that Rosburg would reunite with John Harbaugh in Baltimore, it looks like it’s not happening after all.

Update: The #Ravens are now not expected to hire their former special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg to a staff position, I’m told. Talks did not end in a deal.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 6, 2024

Rosburg spent 11 seasons on the Ravens’ staff under Harbaugh as a special-teams coordinator before he retired in 2019. Baltimore’s special teams were among the league’s best throughout his tenure there.

But he returned to the NFL three weeks into the 2022 regular season when he joined Nathaniel Hackett’s staff in Denver to help with game management and streamlining the pre-snap process. The job arose after the Broncos offense bogged down in a deluge of false-start and delay-of-game penalties in that season’s first two games.

Rosburg focused on game management for the following 13 games until the Broncos promoted him to the interim head-coach role with two games remaining in the regular season. He immediately fired offensive-line coach Butch Barry and special-teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes. He handed play-calling responsibilities to Justin Outten with a mandate to tailor tactics to Russell Wilson’s strengths.

The result of Rosburg’s work was immediate. The offense notched two of its three highest point outputs on Rosburg’s watch — telling, because Rosburg coached just two games. Overall, the team looked crisper, leaving the 5-12 Broncos to lament what might have been had they dismissed Hackett earlier.

Rosburg had a chance to pitch himself for the permanent gig, but the Broncos opted to hire Sean Payton instead. Now, after sitting out the 2023 season, it looks like Jerry Rosburg still wants to be in the league, but it won’t be back in Baltimore.

Related

Report: Broncos linebacker broke his leg during win against FalconsBroncos get impact performances from a pair of rookies who leave a big impression‘You pee, you grab a banana’ — Sean Payton pulls back the curtain on play-callingSean Payton going viral after calling out Falcons fans during preseason openerSean Payton says Stidham had ‘resiliency’ in nice game after last season’s dudStidham makes statement early in Broncos’ backup QB derby