Cardinals Likely To Retain Jonathan Gannon
Earlier this week, Jonathan Gannon was viewed as being on a hotter seat compared to GM Monti Ossenfort. Despite the Cardinals taking a major step back from last season, it appears ownership is planning to stick with both power brokers.
With no real buzz about Ossenfort losing his job surfacing, a few Gannon reports have come out. Gannon is likely to see a fourth season on the job, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero note. A chance for Gannon and Ossenfort to nab their own quarterback — as a split with Steve Keim/Kliff Kingsbury-era addition Kyler Murray is widely expected — is on track to come with a fourth season. Two years remain on both contracts, SI.com’s Albert Breer adds.
[RELATED: Gannon Expects To Keep Job For 2026]
Michael Bidwill has generally given coaches a bit more time. Kingsbury received four years, though it is worth noting Bidwill fired him months after extending him. Bruce Arians retired after five, while Ken Whisenhunt was on for six seasons.
Though, it is worth mentioning Kingsbury and Whisenhunt had made playoff berths by Year 3. Bidwill, who took over as the Cardinals’ controlling owner in 2007, did fire Steve Wilks after one season. Gannon finishing (at best) with two 4-13 seasons in his first three seasons and making it to Year 4 would be rare, but Breer adds Bidwill still likes his HC and believes a turnaround can happen.
The much-criticized owner not wanting to pay three coaches also plays into this decision, according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. Kingsbury signed a through-2027 extension in 2022, with Gannon also under contract through 2027. Offset language regularly exists in these deals, but Kingsbury’s Commanders salary is south of where his Cardinals HC AAV. An offense dealing with injuries also could save Gannon, per Jones, despite the HC’s primary unit regressing. Gannon and DC Nick Rallis have overseen a production drop on defense, with that group ranking 29th in scoring and 26th in yardage after placing 15th and 21st in those categories last year.
Arizona’s offense has played most of the season without Murray, though some of that portion is due to an organizational choice to shut down a player no longer in the long-term plan, with James Conner and Marvin Harrison Jr. suffering injuries as well. Next year will be crucial for the Cardinals’ power duo, as a Murray trade (or release) will precede a true investment in a replacement. Gannon and Ossenfort had offered consistent praise for Murray for years, but the seventh-year passer wore out his welcome in 2025.
Staff changes should be expected, Breer adds. This could mean OC Drew Petzing is elsewhere. It would be interesting if Gannon fired Rallis, who came over from Philadelphia with him in 2023, and Petzing’s unit ranks higher (23rd points, 19th yards). Petzing came over from the Browns in 2023, but HCs on hot seats regularly turn to coordinator firings. It would seem Gannon staying would mean at least one of these two staffers will be out.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/3/26
After the final standard gameday practice squad elevations of the 2025 regular season, the three-game elevation limit resets for the postseason, so only players getting signed to the 53-man roster because of the limit will be noted today. Saturday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed from practice squad: WR Tejhaun Palmer
- Elevated: CB Jaden Davis, WR Steven Sims
Atlanta Falcons
- Elevated: P Trenton Gill
Baltimore Ravens
- Elevated: WR Keith Kirkwood, CB Amani Oruwariye
Buffalo Bills
- Elevated: LB Keonta Jenkins, DE Matt Judon
Chicago Bears
- Elevated: TE Nikola Kalinic, LB Ty Summers
Cincinnati Bengals
- Elevated: DT Howard Cross III, CB Bralyn Lux
Cleveland Browns
- Signed from practice squad: LB Edefuan Ulofoshio
- Elevated: TE Sal Cannella
- Placed on IR: LB Carson Schwesinger
Dallas Cowboys
- Activated from IR: RB Phil Mafah
- Activated from reserve/PUP: CB Josh Butler
- Signed from practice squad: LB Justin Barron
- Elevated: G Nick Leverett
- Placed on IR: G T.J. Bass, RB Malik Davis, RB Javonte Williams
Denver Broncos
- Elevated: LB Levelle Bailey
Detroit Lions
- Elevated: TE Zach Horton, OL Chris Hubbard
- Placed on IR: OL Trystan Colon
Green Bay Packers
- Signed from practice squad: WR Jakobie Keeney-James, G Lecitus Smith
- Elevated: TE Drake Dabney, LB Jamon Johnson
- Placed on IR: OL Donovan Jennings, WR Savion Williams
Houston Texans
- Elevated: DT Leki Fotu, S Kaevon Merriweather
Indianapolis Colts
- Elevated: QB Seth Henigan, TE Sean McKeon
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Elevated: TE Patrick Herbert
Kansas City Chiefs
- Elevated: WR Jason Brownlee, WR Jimmy Holiday
Las Vegas Raiders
- Elevated: LB Jamin Davis, T Dalton Wagner
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed from practice squad: S Marcus Maye
- Elevated: G Branson Taylor, QB DJ Uiagalelei
- Placed on IR: CB Nikko Reed
Miami Dolphins
- Elevated: LB Derrick McLendon, RB Jeff Wilson
Minnesota Vikings
- Elevated: WR Jeshaun Jones, LB Sione Takitaki
New Orleans Saints
- Signed from practice squad: TE Treyton Welch
- Elevated: QB Jake Haener, RB Nyheim Miller-Hines
New York Giants
- Signed from practice squad: CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse, WR Xavier Gipson, RB Dante Miller
- Elevated: TE Tanner Conner, DT Casey Rogers
- Placed on IR: CB Cor’Dale Flott, DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches Sr., WR Wan’Dale Robinson
New York Jets
- Signed from practice squad: QB Hendon Hooker, DE Kingsley Jonathan, G Kohl Levao
- Elevated: RB Raheem Blackshear, CB Samuel Womack III
- Placed on IR: RB Isaiah Davis, OL Xavier Newman-Johnson, TE Mason Taylor
Philadelphia Eagles
- Elevated: LS Charley Hughlett, S Brandon Johnson
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Elevated: CB D’Shawn Jamison
San Francisco 49ers
- Elevated: LB Eric Kendricks, T Brandon Parker
Seattle Seahawks
- Elevated: RB Cam Akers, CB Tyler Hall
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from IR: OLB Ali Gaye, WR Bryce Oliver
- Signed from practice squad: CB Kemon Hall
- Elevated: TE Cole Turner
- Placed on IR: CB Jalyn Armour-Davis (story), WR Van Jefferson
Washington Commanders
- Elevated: DT Ricky Barber, WR River Cracraft
The Browns made it known yesterday that they were shutting down Schwesinger and tight ends David Njoku and Harold Fannin Jr. for the final week of the season, but the Defensive Rookie of the Year-favorite is the only one to land on IR.
In Dallas, Williams failed to practice this week as he dealt with shoulder and neck issues. With Davis also being placed on IR, the Cowboys will rely on rookie fifth-rounder Jaydon Blue and the recently activated Mafah, a seventh-round rookie, in Week 18. The team used their eighth and final IR activation to bring Mafah back for a potential NFL debut.
Because Green Bay didn’t elevate recently signed practice squad quarterback Desmond Ridder, it appears either Malik Willis will be healthy enough to back up Clayton Tune or Jordan Love will serve as the potential QB2 for the Packers in Week 18.
Judon is set to make his Bills debut in the team’s regular season finale after signing to their practice squad two weeks ago.
With Saints backup quarterback Spencer Rattler not practicing this week with a finger injury, Haener gets the call to back up rookie Tyler Shough.
Hall in Tennessee had already been called up as a standard gameday practice squad elevation three times this season. In order for him to appear in the Titans’ regular season finale, the move to the 53-man roster was necessary.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/2/26
Friday’s minor moves and a couple standard gameday practice squad elevations for Saturday’s lineup:
Arizona Cardinals
- Placed on IR: WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
Carolina Panthers
- Elevated: CB David Long, LB Jacoby Windmon
Miami Dolphins
- Signed off Commanders’ practice squad: RB Donovan Edwards
- Placed on IR: TE Darren Waller
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed from practice squad: DT Taki Taimani
New Orleans Saints
- Signed from practice squad: WR Ronnie Bell, DE Fadil Diggs, WR Samori Toure
- Placed on IR: CB Michael Davis, TE Zaire Mitchell-Paden, TE Jack Stoll, WR Mason Tipton
After missing several games down the stretch of the season as he dealt with appendicitis, Harrison returned to play in the Cardinals’ past two games with far fewer snaps than his usual starter’s share. Ahead of the team’s regular season finale, Arizona has shut last year’s No. 4 overall pick down for the small remainder of the regular season.
The same is being done for Waller in Miami. The veteran tight end was able to make his return from retirement with the Dolphins after sitting out in 2024, but injury limited him to only nine contests. He was extremely effective in the short time he played (six touchdowns), but the injuries that bookended his short stints of activity will certainly be brought up in any contract negotiations for him in the future.
The Panthers are choosing not to activate guard Robert Hunt or wide receiver David Moore for tomorrow’s game. If Carolina is able to get into the postseason, an activation could still happen next week.
Diggs had already been elevated three times for New Orleans this season, so the team needed to sign him to the 53-man roster in order for him to appear in the regular season finale.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/1/26
2026’s first practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Released: G Tyler Cooper
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: P Trenton Gill
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: S Mark Perry
- Placed on practice squad/injured list: TE McCallan Castles
New England Patriots
- Signed: CB Miles Battle, C Brenden Jaimes
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/1/26
Here’s our first minor NFL transactions of the 2026 calendar year:
Arizona Cardinals
- Claimed off waivers (from Vikings): LB Austin Keys
- Placed on IR: S Kitan Crawford
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed from practice squad: DE Khalid Kareem
- Placed on IR: CB Mike Hughes
Baltimore Ravens
- Waived: G Ben Cleveland
Miami Dolphins
- Signed off Raiders’ practice squad: QB Cam Miller
New England Patriots
- Signed from practice squad: CB Kobee Minor
Philadelphia Eagles
- Activated from IR: T Cameron Williams
After suspending him three weeks ago, the Ravens have finally removed Cleveland from the 53-man roster. The former third-round pick out of Georgia has never lived up to his draft stock and, despite struggles with the interior line in Baltimore, failed to ever earn a role on offense. Legal trouble in the offseason didn’t stop the team from re-signing him to a one-year deal, but whatever the cause for the suspension, it seems it was severe enough to end the contract. It’s unclear if they’ll look to retain Cleveland on the practice squad.
After miss two games earlier this year, Hughes has sat out of the Falcons’ last three contests with an ankle injury. The starting cornerback coming back from injury for a meaningless regular season finale doesn’t make much sense, so Atlanta has placed him on injured reserve to free up a spot on the 53-man roster.
Williams, the sixth-round rookie out of Texas, may not make his NFL debut this weekend, unless, maybe, on special teams, but his activation ensures he doesn’t spend nearly his entire rookie year on IR.
Cardinals Place DT Walter Nolen, CB Garrett Williams On Injured Reserve
JANUARY 1: Both Nolen and Williams have undergone surgery, Gannon said (via Urban). Gannon declined to confirm whether or not Nolen suffered an ACL tear, but in any case his attention will be focused on rehabbing during the offseason.
DECEMBER 30: Nolen underwent surgery on his left knee, according to ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss. Neither the severity nor extent of the injury have yet to be reported.
DECEMBER 22: The Cardinals are placing defensive tackle Walter Nolen and cornerback Garrett Williams on injured reserve, head coach Jonathan Gannon (via team reporter Darren Urban).
Both defenders went down in Arizona’s loss to the Falcons in Sunday. Nolen suffered a non-contact injury to his left knee, while Williams is believed to have suffered an Achilles tear. Gannon only confirmed the areas that were injured for each player but did not elaborate on the specifics.
Nolen, 22, was drafted in the first round of April’s draft (No. 16 overall), but spent the first eight weeks of the season on the PUP list with an calf issue. He debuted in In Week 12, Nolen went down with a knee injury early in the game and missed the next two contests. It is unknown if he injured the same knee on Sunday afternoon.
Nolen has only played 169 snaps this year, so the Cardinals defense is used to playing without him. They have five other defensive tackles on the roster who could fill the rotation for the rest of the year, thought they could call on Zachary Carter or Wyatt Bowles from their practice squad.
Williams, 24, took over the Cardinals’ slot cornerback job midway through his 2023 rookie season. He carried that role into 2024 and allowed completions on just 56.5% of his targets. He also finished as the league’s 10th-ranked cornerback with 5.3 yards per target.
That performance built hype for his third-year effort, but he landed on injured reserve after just two games with a knee injury. Williams missed five games and returned to the field in November, but he has not been able to replicate last season’s results. He has allowed a 79.3% completion rate and 8.3 yards per target as part of a Cardinals defense that has generally struggled to stop opposing offenses this year.
Arizona moved safety Jalen Thompson into the slot during Williams’ absence earlier this year and brought Dadrion Taylor-Demerson in to fill Thompson’s snaps. The Cardinals could use the same approach or reconfigure their secondary to give younger defensive backs some playing time at the end of the season.
Cardinals DL Calais Campbell To Contemplate Retirement
Week 18 will mark the end of Calais Campbell‘s 18th NFL season. It could also represent the final game of his career with another round of retirement thoughts looming. 
For several years now, Campbell has given thought to hanging up his cleats during the offseason. The decorated Cardinals defensive lineman will, to no surprise, do so once again shortly. A lengthy process on that front should not be expected.
[RELATED: Campbell Among Players Pursuing Performance Incentives]
“The last few years I’ve been through this process I’ve known pretty quickly that I’ve wanted to play again,” Campbell said (via Darren Urban of the team’s website). “It didn’t take me that long – within a month or so, I knew I wanted to play football again. We’ll see… Even if I decide not to play again, I want to have the ability to say no, rather than them saying, ‘See you later.'”
At the age of 39, Campbell has remained an impactful player on defense and special teams. The 2010s All-Decade Team member has recorded 6.5 sacks while also tacking on a blocked field goal and extra point attempt. Returning for another season would add to his impressive career totals, which will include 278 regular season appearances after Sunday’s game. The all-time record for defensive linemen is 282, held by Jim Marshall.
The 2025 offseason saw Campbell return to the Cardinals – the team with which he spent his first nine seasons – after single campaigns in Atlanta and Miami. The six-time Pro Bowler also enjoyed productive spells with the Jaguars and Ravens before re-joining Arizona. In August, Campbell said he expected this season to be his last. Coming off another healthy campaign, though, it will be interesting to see if he changes his mind.
The Cardinals have fallen well short of expectations this season, but signs have pointed to both head coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort remaining in place for 2026. Stability on that front could help the chances of Campbell spending another year in Arizona (provided he continues playing), although he would presumably have a notable free agent market otherwise.
Cardinals Place CB Kei’Trel Clark On IR
Kei’Trel Clark‘s season is ending a bit early. The Cardinals announced today that they’ve placed the cornerback on injured reserve.
Clark popped up on the injury report last week with a back injury that ultimately forced him to miss Sunday’s loss to the Bengals. Now, that injury will also keep him off the field for the season finale, with Clark now representing the 23rd Cardinals player on injured reserve.
A 2023 sixth-round pick, Clark got an extended look as a rookie, collecting 43 tackles while starting half of his 14 appearances. He got into 15 games as a sophomore but played the majority of his snaps on special teams, and he was trending towards a similar role in 2025. However, injuries to the Cardinals secondary forced the third-year player back into a defensive role, with Clark finishing the season with 201 defensive snaps played.
The Cardinals cornerbacks room has been snake bitten in 2025, with all of Garrett Williams, Sean Murphy-Bunting, and Starling Thomas currently residing on IR or NFI. The team has also had to deal with absences from Will Johnson and Denzel Burke. The organization will likely have to dig deep into the depth chart for Week 18, with the likes of Darren Hall and Jaden Davis in line for more defensive reps.
To fill the open roster spot, the Cardinals announced that they’ve signed tight end Rivaldo Fairweather off the Cowboys practice squad. The Auburn product has spent the majority of his rookie season in Dallas.
Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon Expects To Keep Job
While Jonathan Gannon‘s Cardinals appeared to take a step forward in 2024, the organization took a major step back in 2025. Naturally, the head coach has found himself on the hot seat. While Gannon won’t have much say in the matter, he’s confident he’ll be back in Arizona in 2026.
While speaking with reporters yesterday, the coach answered “yeah” when asked if he’ll be around for the organization’s postseason press conference. While Gannon said he didn’t want to “get into all that” when asked pointedly about his job security, he did admit that he feels “good” about keeping his job. The third-year coach also acknowledged that he’s had productive conversations with owner Michael Bidwill.
“I kind of do the same process as I’ve done the last two years: I try to take detailed notes, try to have a pulse of what’s going on, but you can’t let that … I do have to think about the future a little bit, obviously the seat that I’m in, but my focus is really on L.A. and that there’ll be a time to look at all of that and have those conversations and make changes,” Gannon said (via ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss). “No one’s happy. I’m not happy. Players aren’t happy. Through adversity, you’ve got to change. So, I got to change, and we got to change some things, but we’ll get to that.”
Gannon parlayed his success as Eagles defensive coordinator into the Cardinals head coaching job ahead of the 2023 campaign (although he had to overcome claims of tampering during the hiring process). The Cardinals struggled during the coach’s first season at the helm, finishing with a 4-13 record. However, the team slightly rebounded in 2024, finishing with an 8-9 record, and there was hope the franchise could build off that momentum in 2025.
Instead, the organization is on track to have their worst showing in more than five decades. Kyler Murray appears to be on his way out, leaving the team without an answer at a key position. Gannon’s leadership has also been questioned, especially following a midseason incident with Emari Demercado when the coach appeared to hit the RB in the stomach following a costly fumble. The Cardinals fined Gannon $100K for that incident.
Other than Steve Wilks‘ one-year stint as head coach, the Bidwill family has recently given their head coaches relatively long leashes, with each of Kliff Kingsbury, Bruce Arians, and Ken Whisenhunt all sticking around for at least four seasons. Despite Gannon’s confidence, it remains to be seen if the current head coach will be afforded the same amount of patience.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/30/25
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Released: TE Messiah Swinson
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: WR Mecole Hardman
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: TE Ross Dwelley
Denver Broncos
- Signed: OL Calvin Throckmorton
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: RB Damien Martinez
Houston Texans
- Signed: DE Solomon Byrd
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: S Wyett Ekeler
- Released: OL Zachary Thomas
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: LB Kam Arnold, DT Marcus Harris
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: S Brandon Hill
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: DT Simeon Barrow Jr.
New England Patriots
- Signed: TE Marshall Lang
- Released: RB Jashaun Corbin
New York Giants
- Signed: CB Myles Purchase
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: LS Charley Hughlett
- Released: DE Titus Leo
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: RB Josh Williams
- Released: RB Michael Wiley