NFL players and coaches who are on the hot seat in 2020

No coaching seat is warmer than Quinn's in Atlanta. After starting last year 1-7, it was a tremendous surprise to see Quinn finish the season let alone come back for another year. Despite strong finishes the last two years, the Falcons are coming off back-to-back 7-9 seasons. Quinn fired himself as defensive coordinator in 2019, and one has to believe anything less than competing for a playoff spot in December will mean he loses the Falcons head coaching position too.

It's easy to forget, but the Lions started 2-0-1 and would have been 3-0 if not for blowing an 18-point fourth-quarter lead to begin 2019. But then they lost 12 of their last 13 games, including their last nine contests. Injuries, including an upper thoracic spine fracture for quarterback Matt Stafford, and bad calls led to the losing streak, but still, Patricia finds himself on thin ice after a 9-22-1 record in his first two seasons.

Marrone was arguably a Top 10 coach after taking the Jaguars to an AFC Championship Game appearance during the 2017 season, but Jacksonville owns a 11-21 record since then, which is the worst two-year span in Marrone's coaching career. Blake Bortles, and now even his original replacement, are gone. Rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew showed promise early, but defenses held the Jaguars offense to under 16.0 points per game in the second half of last season. At a certain point, Marrone must receive more of the blame for the lack of offense in Jacksonville.

Despite a better than expected 7-9 finish, all the drama around Gase and the Jets made his return for a second season somewhat surprising. Gase had trouble coaching talented players in Miami, and he had a rocky relationship with Le'Veon Bell last season. In retrospect, Ryan Tannehill's development with the Tennessee Titans last season doesn't reflect well on Gase as a quarterback developer either. Gase needs to help Sam Darnold take a big leap forward in his third season.

From reigning NFL Coach of the Year to the hot seat, such is life in the NFL. Everything that went right for Nagy during his first season went wrong in 2019. The Bears finished fourth-to-last in yards and points last year while seemingly lacking the offensive innovativeness Nagy brought to Chicago in 2018. It didn't help that quarterback Mitchell Trubisky took a huge step backwards in his development during Year Three. He might not even start this fall, but regardless, Nagy needs to produce more offense or the Chicago fanbase could quickly turn on him.

O'Brien has led the Texans to four division titles in the last five years, and yet, he's arguably on the hot seat because of how he's mismanaged the assets in Houston as general manager. First, he traded All-Pro Jadeveon Clowney for far less than he was worth and gave up two first-round picks, a second-rounder and two players for offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, wide receiver Kenny Stills and two Day 3 selections. This offseason, he allowed star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to walk out the door in a trade essentially for aging running back David Johnson. Then, O'Brien replaced Hopkins with Brandin Cooks, trading for him with a second-round pick.

If this backfires in O'Brien's face, the Texans will at least need to replace him as general manager.

The Patriots are in a win-win situation with Cam Newton. They offered him little guaranteed and only a one-year contract. If it works out, perhaps a longer-term deal will come to fruition, and if it doesn't, at least Newton will bring more experience to the position than Jarrett Stidham. 

But Newton is not in the same win-win position. He barely found a job this summer, and if he doesn't perform, he will have to settle for a backup role in 2021.

Cousins signed the first fully-guaranteed NFL contract prior to the 2018 season. At that time, he was viewed as the missing piece to the Vikings' Super Bowl hopes. But since he arrived, Minnesota has yet to return to the NFC Championship Game and is 1-2-1 against the Packers. With an aging, expensive roster, the window is closing for the Vikings, and Cousins enters 2020 in his final season of that big deal.

Unlike the first two quarterbacks on our list, Mayfield will likely not be on a different team if he doesn't play well in 2020. But Mayfield suffered from a serious sophomore slump last fall, posting 22 touchdowns versus 21 interceptions, and if he doesn't significantly improve under new coaching in 2020, the Browns may no longer believe they have their franchise quarterback on the roster.

The Bears defense led Chicago to a 12-4 record in 2018, but Trubisky did enough to help the offense win those games. Last season, he threw seven fewer touchdowns despite playing more games and saw his yards per attempt average drop by 1.3 yards. By September, Trubisky may be Chicago's backup behind Nick Foles, but given that Foles has never played a full season, Trubisky has to be ready to shine when he has the opportunity in 2020.

After a third consecutive season of missing the playoffs, rumors swirled around Carr that the Raiders were ready to move on. Outside of his 12-3 season in 2016, Carr owns a 27-52 record as an NFL starter. Statistically, he did improve in 2019, posting career highs of 7.9 yards per pass and a 70.4 completion percentage. Carr also had 21 touchdowns versus only eight interceptions. But to get off the hot seat, Carr needs more wins.

It doesn't take long for a first-round quarterback to land on the hot seat -- just ask Josh Rosen. Haskins enters just his second season, but with a new regime in Washington, it's hard to see the coaching staff staying loyal to him if they have a Top 5 pick next April. Maybe Haskins isn't the worst part of the Washington franchise at the moment, but he won't be viewed as the answer without a solid 2020 season.

Jones led the NFL with 16 rushing touchdowns in 2019 and a 5.5 yards per carry average during 2018, and yet, the Packers drafted Boston College running back AJ Dillon in the second round. Jones and fellow running back Jamaal Williams are entering the last season of their rookie contracts. With Dillon now in the fold, the Packers will not be keeping both Jones and Williams. It's possible they depart with both. Jones will be playing for his Packers future and next contract this season.

In a similar situation to Jones, Ingram is coming off a great season -- 1,018 rushing yards, 15 total touchdowns and a 5.0 yards per carry average -- and yet the Ravens picked Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins in the second round. Ingram will turn 31 years old this season, though, so it's understandable to see Baltimore plan for the future, and Ingram has often been better in his career when in a committee anyway. Still, there's tremendous pressure on Ingram to perform to hold off the talented rookie.

The other big rookie running back -- Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor -- landed in Indianapolis. So even after his first 1,000-yard season, Mack enters 2020 in a contract year and on the hot seat. Mack hit a season high in rushing during 2019 but only averaged 4.4 yards per carry. If Taylor outperforms Mack this fall, Mack will be searching for a new home next spring.

The Steelers didn't draft Chase Claypool to directly replace Juju Smith-Schuster. In fact, there's belief that with Claypool in the fold, Smith-Schuster can go back to lining up more often in the slot, which is where he excelled when Antonio Brown was on the roster. But coming off an injury-plagued season and in a contract year, Smith-Schuster is out to prove he truly can be a No. 1 receiver.

After a lot of rumors circled that the two sides were about to break up, the Bengals brought back Green on a one-year contract. At the very least, the veteran receiver could be a great asset to developing Joe Burrow. However, after only playing nine games over the last two years, Green also wants to prove he can still be a Pro Bowl receiver at 32 years old. He'll have to at least be healthy this season to receive another significant contract.

Just like Smith-Schuster and Green, Sanu enters the 2020 season in a contract year, but Sanu isn't on the hot seat just for that reason. The Patriots gave up a second-round pick for Sanu at the trade deadline last year, and after the trade, Sanu only recorded 207 receiving yards and one touchdown. The Patriots need him to produce more this season, plus, they will be asking him to help along whomever becomes the next starting quarterback in New England.

Williams started a majority of the last two seasons at left guard for the Cowboys, but the Dallas offensive line may be changing with the arrival of the new coaching staff. Connor McGovern is expected to push for the left guard spot, and either one of the young interior linemen could become the starter at center since Travis Frederick retired. Regardless, the Cowboys want to see more from Williams to commit to him as a full-time starter.

The Broncos declined Bolles' fifth-year option; whenever that happens, the player immediately goes on the hot seat. During his three-year NFL career, Bolles has been known as one of the most penalized offensive tackles in the league. There's little doubt that Bolles will be out of Denver if he doesn't improve significantly in 2020.

Just like Bolles, Thomas did not receive a fifth-year option from the 49ers. Although Thomas was part of perhaps the best defensive line in the NFL last season, he only started three games, and San Francisco drafted South Carolina defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw in the first round. Maybe trading DeForest Buckner to the Colts will open up enough opportunities for Thomas to prove he still deserves to be a key part of San Francisco's future.

Although he willing signed with the Raiders knowing their draft class (he signed his contract in May), Amukamara still enters this season on the hot seat. His contract with the Raiders is only a one-year deal, and first-round rookie Damon Arnette could push Amukamara for the starting role. That might not be the worst thing for Amukamara, though, since he excelled mostly as a slot corner in Chicago the last two seasons. Still, either way, Amukamara is playing this year for another contract in 2021.

The Chargers traded back into the first round to select Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray. That's never good for the incumbent at that position. Perryman has played well in five years for the Chargers, but he's dealt with a lot of injuries, and he seems headed for a reserve role this fall if he doesn't outplay Murray during training camp.

Talk about dealing with injuries, Mills has missed 15 games over the last two seasons and played hurt during a lot of the contests in which he did dress. Despite those struggles, the Eagles re-signed Mills this season, but the deal was for one season, and Mills is expected to move from cornerback to safety. Whether he can successfully transition to safety will not only impact his future in Philadelphia but also the NFL.

Maybe the unusual offseason will save Butler's roster spot, but in a normal year, he would enter training camp as a cut candidate. While the Titans may decide to keep him another season for secondary stability, Tennessee drafting LSU cornerback Kristian Fulton in the second round and signing Johnathan Joseph signals Butler's placement on the hot seat.