The Patriots got some good news on Tuesday when it was reported by Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports that the Carolina Panthers were finalizing a deal with Baylor's Matt Rhule to take over their head-coaching gig.
From this vantage point, that was the most attractive of the three jobs for which McDaniels was scheduled to interview this week. McDaniels was slated to meet with Carolina first, then the Giants, then the Browns.
There were a number of factors that made the Panthers job an appealing one. Owner David Tepper, a hedge-fund billionaire going through his first head-coaching search, appeared ready and willing to hand over the keys to the castle to whomever was hired.