Rex Ryan on potentially joining with brother Rob: ‘It would be pretty fun’

The New Orleans Saints parted away — eventually — with defensive coordinator Rob Ryan on Monday, opening up a fascinating posibility.

Could Rob join his brother Rex’s staff up in Buffalo? Rex Ryan didn’t exactly quash it.

[Yahoo Daily Fantasy Football: First place wins $100K in our $500K contest for Week 10]

“We purposely set a path going to different teams,” Rex said, according to ESPN. “I won’t lie to you, I think it would be pretty fun.”

It would. But it might also be awkward.

A quick look at their résumes makes it clear what Rex pointed out, that these twin brothers didn’t want to be known as a package deal in their football coaching careers. After serving together on father Buddy’s staff with the Arizona Cardinals in 1994 and 1995, they’ve been on separated ever since. (Interestingly, they were on rivals staffs in 1998 — Rob at Oklahoma State, Rex at Oklahoma, both as defensive coordinators — which resulted in a 41-26 win for Rob and his Cowboys in the Bedlam Series matchup.)

As Mike Rodak noted, Rob appears to want to take some time away from football before deciding his next career move. If that is indeed joining Rex and the Buffalo Bills, we’d assume it would be in the offseason and not now, even with the Bills in the thick of a playoff race and perhaps in need of another set of defensive eyes for a unit that’s somewhat underachieving.

Bills defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman has been in the NFL for 16 years, many of which were on the same staff as Rex. How could Thurman not take it as a bit of a shot if Rob were to just pop in midseason?

For now, we’re guessing a Ryan brothers reunion isn’t in the immediate offing. But, Rex is right: It would be a blast.

– – – – – – –

Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm