Sports Sunday

Breer: Why potential Ben McAdoo hire ‘makes sense' for Patriots

Would the former Giants head coach be a smart hire for New England?

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If you're a Patriots fan, you may not have been thrilled to see The MMQB's Albert Breer report New England is "in talks" to hire former New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo to its offensive coaching staff.

After all, McAdoo lasted just two seasons in New York, leading the Giants to the playoffs in 2016 but going 2-10 in 2017 before getting fired in early December. Since then, he's bounced between the Jacksonville Jaguars (quarterbacks coach in 2020), Dallas Cowboys (consultant in 2021) and Carolina Panthers (offensive coordinator in 2022) and was out of an NFL job last season.

But for a team like the Patriots with a first-year, defensive-minded head coach in Jerod Mayo, McAdoo could benefit the staff while working alongside new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.

"This makes sense," Breer said on NBC Sports Boston's Sports Sunday about the potential McAdoo hire, adding that the Patriots and McAdoo are still "working on" a deal.

" ... I get why this is one where people are kind of like, 'Ehh, I don't know.' But if you look at the track record, he was in Green Bay, he was respected enough to get the shot to call plays with the Giants. He did a good enough job with Eli Manning calling plays with the Giants to become the head coach there, and then even after that, he goes to Dallas and re-establishes his name, and then he winds up calling plays in Carolina."

"This is a guy who has a lot of experience, has worked in good systems, has worked with Tom Coughlin and worked under Mike McCarthy, worked with Eli Manning, worked with Aaron Rodgers. He's just seen a lot of things, and I think giving Alex Van Pelt another voice in the room -- somebody he's familiar with, somebody who speaks the same language as him, and somebody who can help him build what he's going to build here -- makes all the sense in the world."

McAdoo has nearly two decades of NFL experience after starting his career with the New Orleans Saints in 2004. He won a Super Bowl with the Packers in 2010 as Green Bay's tight ends coach and has experience with seven NFL teams. The Patriots could use as much experience as possible on the offensive side of the ball as they overhaul a group that averaged just 13.9 points per game last season, tied for last in the NFL.

New England's front office clearly is aware of that fact if they bring in McAdoo along with Van Pelt, another seasoned NFL coach. Both McAdoo and Van Pelt spent significant time with the Packers, which could hint at Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf -- who worked in Green Bay from 2004 to 2017 -- having a significant role in the front office.

Check out the video below for more from Breer on McAdoo, and how Wolf could factor into the general manager conversation.

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