One-quarter of the teams in the NFL have moved on from their head coaches for different reasons.

From Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll to Bobby Slowik and Mike MacDonald, the list of names and possible future fits is intriguing. It is rare to see one marquee name hit the head coaching cycle, much less a handful like we will see to start 2024.

So, which coaching vacancy is the best?

It depends on how you define best. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If draft capital and cap space are your thing, the Washington Commanders becomes perhaps the most coveted opening on the market. If you’re looking for an established star quarterback and intriguing skill players, maybe the Los Angeles Chargers qualify as the best. But in between are teams like Seattle, Las Vegas and Carolina. No matter how bare the cupboard is, or how promising the future might be, a head coaching job in the NFL is coveted no matter what.

Let’s play match-maker and pick the best fit for both sides.

For starters, Bill Belichick is perhaps the biggest fish on the market. Placing him in charge of a team like the Atlanta Falcons, which features a rising defense and a slew of fascinating skill players creates a whole world of intrigue. With Bijan Robinson ready to become one of the NFL’s next greatest backs, the Belichick pairing makes tons of sense. In New England, Belichick’s bread and butter was building a deep defense with versatile players. While the Falcons might not have the sort of depth up front that he is used to, the secondary in Atlanta is shaping up to be quite a good one. We’ve seen what Belichick has done with blue-chip safeties and cornerbacks, which means Atlanta could be enticing for him.

On the other side of the country, there are the Las Vegas Raiders. For different reasons, this job might seem to be good or bad. Between the instability in coaching and in the front office, plus the daunting nature of their division, one could argue the Raiders are not exactly an up-and-coming team. But on the flip side, Las Vegas could become just the sort of reclamation project that a coach like Jim Harbaugh would relish. For Harbaugh, his ties go back to 2002, when he coached the Raiders quarterbacks and helped Rich Gannon put out an MVP season. Looking at what Harbaugh did on the NFL level makes the fit even more intriguing. In his first season as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Harbaugh traded up in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Alex Smith was already the starter, but Harbaugh saw his guy and went after him. The Raiders enter 2024 with quarterback questions, but also a player in Jimmy Garropolo who is under contract through 2026. If Harbaugh is given the reins, it seems all but certain that he’ll make a similar move for a young quarterback in the 2024 draft, even if it means waiting until the second round like he did in 2011. This one makes a lot of sense, even if it seems a little out of the box.

Lastly, we’ll look at the Washington Commanders, since they’re a team that will draw serious interest from one of the many rising coaching candidates. Between the Commanders’ draft selection (2nd overall in the upcoming draft) and their plethora of skill players, this job is easily one of the most enticing. Add in the fact that the NFC East perpetually remains up for grabs, and there’s reason to think that this team can go from worst in their division to first in a very short time. The New York Giants are a perfect example of what can be achieved with the right head coaching hiring. There’s a lot that went into the Giants immediate bounce back under Brian Daboll in his first year, but it started with finding the right coach to mold a young but talented quarterback. This is prime Bobby Slowik territory if he so chooses to leave the Houston Texans.

Bonus: A few teams also need general managers. Often, front offices will look to poach people from successful organizations around the league. But on occasion, familiar faces can find new homes, even after being fired. That brings us to Jon Robinson, the former GM of the Tennessee Titans. While his tenure in Tennessee ended abruptly, Robinson helped architect a few strong Titans rosters over the years. Putting him in charge of a team like the Carolina Panthers could make sense, given their need for a proven commodity as opposed to someone who is stepping into the role for the first time.

Ranking the coaching vacancies:

1. Seattle Seahawks: Stable front office. A solid core of skill-players and some serious defensive talent. Winning culture. Not the easiest division.

2. Washington Commanders: Prime draft capital. Lots of cap space. Potentially elite weapons with diverse skill sets. A winnable division. New ownership.

3. Atlanta Falcons: Enticing skill players under rookie contracts. A winnable division. Draft Capital.

4. Los Angeles Chargers: Bonafide star at quarterback. Solid skill players and an elite pass rush. But the division is only getting tougher.

5. Tennessee Titans: Potential star at quarterback who is under a rookie contract. A few intriguing skill-players. The division just got a lot younger, and more competitive. Still a lot of holes on defense and questions on the offensive line.

6. Las Vegas Raiders: An elite receiver and star pass rusher. An owner who listens to the players but has proven impatient. The division is tough but top-heavy.

7. Carolina Panthers: A young quarterback who could take a leap in the right system. One of the league’s best defensive coordinators and a unit that overachieved in 2023. Not enough skill players. Little draft capital.