Josh McDaniels and the Green Bay Packers have been linked seemingly since Mike McCarthy was fired, and the Packers have officially asked permission to interview McDaniels.

The Packers want to talk to the Patriots’ defensive coordinator, Brian Flores, as well.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter said the Packers formally requested permission to interview both Patriots coordinators for their head-coaching vacancy. Also, the Browns asked the Patriots permission to interview Flores for their head-coaching vacancy. Even with the shoddy track record of Bill Belichick’s assistants as head coaches, it’s no surprise teams are interested in coaches from his tree this offseason.

If the Packers get permission to interview McDaniels and decide to hire him, hopefully it will end better than the last time McDaniels agreed to a job.

Josh McDaniels left the Colts hanging

Somewhat amazingly, McDaniels’ fiasco with the Colts last offseason isn’t dissuading teams from talking to him this offseason. McDaniels agreed to the Colts’ head-coaching job, then backed out at the last minute, right before he was to get on a plane to Indianapolis. You’d think teams would be wary after that, and how badly McDaniels’ first head-coaching stint with the Broncos went, but they’re not.

Football-wise, McDaniels would give some creative new offensive ideas to the Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and Green Bay desperately needs that. Given that it seemed the Packers would covet an offensive-minded head coach, it’s a little surprising they also want to talk to Flores. Flores is a respected coach and has been in the Patriots organization since 2004, filling a number of roles. He might be a fine head coach, but the trend is shifting to head coaches with an offensive background.

Flores might seem like a more natural fit with the Browns, where perhaps he could retain offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, who had a fine finish to the season after taking over for fired Todd Haley.

Patriots are used to losing coordinators

This is nothing new for the Patriots. They usually get a first-round bye, and their coordinators are often in demand for head-coaching interviews during the bye week. Teams are allowed to talk to assistants from teams with a first-round bye during the bye week.

Given how the Colts fiasco went down, it’s hard to gauge if McDaniels would be more serious about leaving this time around. Flores has been the Patriots defensive coordinator for just one season, replacing Matt Patricia after Patricia was hired to be head coach of the Lions. Patricia went 6-10 his first year in Detroit.

The head-coaching vacancies in Green Bay and Cleveland will attract many candidates, and Belichick’s top assistants are high on both lists.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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