Dirk Koetter Could Be Headed To A Division Rival

For those of you hoping Dirk Koetter might remain with the Falcons next season, we've got some bad news.

On Tuesday morning, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are considering Koetter as a possible suitor for the team's vacant offensive coordinator position. The article also throws out the recently fired Marc Trestman as a potential replacement considering his prior success working with Tampa quarterback Josh McCown in Chicago.

Since former playcaller Jeff Tedford was released from his contract earlier this month amid health issues that kept him away from the team this year, the Bucs are doing everything they can to lock up an offensive coordinator sooner rather than later. And so it makes sense they'd look to Koetter, who has overseen a productive passing attack that's finished 6th (2012), 7th (2013) and 5th (2014) in total yardage during his three years with the Falcons.

Granted, he's had some talented players at his disposal. But few will heap much blame on Koetter or the offense for Atlanta's struggles the last two seasons.

Koetter is still under contract with the Falcons for the time being. Whether he ends up sticking around in 2015 entirely depends on who the team hires as its next head coach and if he wants to keep Koetter as part of his staff. Judging by yesterday's report from the AJC, in which D-Led notes Koetter and Mike Nolan have already cleaned out their offices, I'd wager Koetter isn't too optimistic about his chances of staying in Atlanta.

If the Falcons wind up hiring a defense-oriented head coach such as Dan Quinn or Teryl Austin, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to see the new head man wanting to keep Koetter around. But that's still a pretty big "if" right now, so we'll have to wait and see what the next week brings to have a better sense of Koetter's future in Atlanta.

I, for one, would like to see him stay. What say you?