NFL Network: Bills staff - Rex, OC Roman,DC Thurman/Dunbar?

The inability to develop a quarterback and a consistent offensive attack helped Rex Ryan lose his job with the Jets at the end of the regular season, which means he’s fully aware of the problems that could arise if the Bills follow the same script under his tutelage.

With the benched EJ Manuel at the top of the quarterback depth chart and no first-round pick in 2015, that’s a fairly reasonable concern. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Greg Roman will be charged with making sure that things don’t go down that way.

Schefter reports that Roman is expected to be hired as Ryan’s offensive coordinator in Buffalo. Roman and Ryan spent time together as assistants in Baltimore before Roman went to Stanford and started a working relationship with Jim Harbaugh that took him to the offensive coordinator job with the 49ers.

That job went well for three years as the 49ers advanced to at least the NFC Championship Game each year and went to the Super Bowl with Colin Kaepernick, but they slipped to 8-8 this year with a passing offense that misfired on a grand scale. Roman will have to turn that around in Buffalo whether Manuel or someone else is the quarterback or Ryan’s tenure in Buffalo could play out a lot like his first stop in the AFC East.

More than seven years after they were last colleagues in Baltimore, it appears 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman and Rex Ryan will reconnect on the East Coast.

The Bills will hire Ryan as their head coach and Ryan is expected to name Roman his offensive coordinator, ESPN reported Sunday. Ryan, who interviewed for the 49ers’ head-coaching vacancy Jan. 4, was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator when Roman was an offensive assistant in Baltimore in 2006-07.

After becoming a popular target for criticism for the 49ers’ offensive failings during their 8-8 season, Roman has been a popular coaching candidate. The Buccaneers, Jaguars, Rams and Browns expressed interest in Roman for offensive coordinator openings. Roman had also previously interviewed for Buffalo’s head-coach opening.

Roman, who joined the 49ers in 2011, was their longest-tenured offensive coordinator since Marty Mornhinweg had the position from 1997 to 2000.

Meanwhile, the 49ers could have strong interest in Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, who interviewed for their head-coaching vacancy Friday. Bowles’ agent, Tony Agnone, said he’s heard the 49ers might bring back his client for a second interview, but a follow-up meeting hasn’t been scheduled. Bowles will have a second interview with the 49ers, CBS Sports reported.

In 2014, Bowles, 51, was in charge of a defense that ranked 24th in yards allowed, but allowed the fifth fewest points in the league. In 2013, his first season as Arizona’s coordinator, the Cardinals ranked sixth in total defense and allowed the fewest rushing yards in the NFL.

Bowles has presumably received an endorsement from Hall-of-Fame coach Bill Parcells, who is a mentor of 49ers general manager Trent Baalke.

Bowles received his first NFL job in 2000 when Parcells, then the Jets’ general manager, hired him as a secondary coach. Bowles had the same position with the Cowboys from 2005 to 2007 when Parcells was the head coach. He joined the Dolphins as an assistant head coach and secondary coach in 2008 when Parcells was Miami’s executive vice president of football operations.