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Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

Cardinals Closing In On Steve Sarkisian For OC

January 11th, 2019 at 1:24pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Cardinals are nearing a deal to make Steve Sarkisian their new offensive coordinator, according to Chris Moretensen of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

New Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury was hired — in large part — due to his offensive acumen, and he’ll be calling plays in 2019. Therefore, Sarkisian is likely to serve in a more administrative role that will probably include game planning and offensive install.

Sarkisian wasn’t the only candidate Kingsbury and the Cardinals had in mind for offensive coordinator. Initial reports suggested Texas State head coach Jake Spavital could be in line for the position, while the 49ers denied Arizona’s request to interview run game coordinator Mike McDaniel. Former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo will also interview for an offensive job with the Cardinals, and could still presumably be hired down the line.

Sarkisian, a former collegiate head coach at both Washington and USC, was fired by the Falcons last month along with defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel and special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong. Offense was hardly the problem in Atlanta, as Sarkisian’s unit ranked top-10 in scoring, yards, and DVOA.

Now that he’s in Arizona, Sarkisian will be tasked with helping the development of second-year quarterback Josh Rosen. He’ll also work with an offense that includes assets such as David Johnson, Christian Kirk, and — if he’s re-signed — veteran wideout Larry Fitzgerald.

Cardinals Notes: Rodgers, Raih

January 10th, 2019 at 9:21pm CST by Dallas Robinson
  • The Cardinals will retain special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers, tweets Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com. Kliff Kingsbury convinced Rodgers to stay even though he was fielding offers from other clubs, per Darlington. Meanwhile, the Cardinals received permission to interview Packers wide receivers coach David Raih for the same position, per Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Green Bay wasn’t planning to retain Raih, who coached alongside Kingsbury at Texas A&M in 2013.
  • Rodgers’ status with the Buccaneers is still up in the air, but Tampa Bay and new head coach Bruce Arians are well on their way to formulating a staff. In addition to a few hires which were reported yesterday, the Bucs will hire former NFL offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen as quarterbacks coach, reports Greg Auman of The Athletic (Twitter link). Additionally, former Cardinals defensive backs coaches Kevin Ross and Nick Rapone will join Arians in Tampa Bay. Wide receivers coach Kevin Garver is also making the Arizona-to-Tampa trek, tweets Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/10/19

January 10th, 2019 at 8:27pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2019 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Arizona Cardinals

  • WR Bryant Mitchell

Atlanta Falcons

Cardinals, Browns Interested In Chuck Pagano

January 10th, 2019 at 6:32pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Both the Cardinals and Browns are interested in hiring former Colts head coach Chuck Pagano as defensive coordinator, according to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Pagano may indeed be the favorite for the Arizona job, per Somers.

Pagano, 58, didn’t coach last season after being fired by Indianapolis, but he’s generated plenty of interest during the 2019 hiring cycle. He interviewed for both the Packers and Broncos head coaching positions, and has since been mentioned as candidate to take over as the Jets’ defensive coordinator under new head coach Adam Gase. Just today, Pagano interviewed for a defensive backs coach position with the Panthers.

The Cardinals are looking for a veteran defensive coordinator to pair with rookie head coach Kliff Kingsbury, and Pagano — who’s been coaching the NFL for nearly two decades — would certainly fit that bill. He also runs a 3-4 defense, the same scheme which Arizona prefers to deploy. Thus far, the only other candidate that’s been linked to the Cardinals’ DC gig is longtime NFL coach Dom Capers.

Like Arizona, Cleveland also hired a first-time head coach. Freddie Kitchens was a positional coach to open the 2018 season and had never ever served as a coordinator until midway through last year, so he could use an experienced defensive play-caller at his side. After installing Kitchens as their head coach, the Browns parted ways with former interim head coach/DC Gregg Williams and a number of defensive assistants. Cleveland is set to interview former Broncos’ head coach Vance Joseph for their defensive coordinator position on Friday.

Cardinals Won’t Trade Rosen, Draft Murray

January 10th, 2019 at 3:23pm CST by Zachary Links

The Oakland A’s expect Kyler Murray to give up on baseball in order to pursue his NFL dreams. The buzz in the football world is palpable, and speculation has built around a possible union between the Cardinals and the Oklahoma quarterback, with the Cards trading 2018 first-rounder Josh Rosen. Such a scenario is “ludicrous” and “not happening,” a Cardinals source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 

New Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury has referred to Murray as a “freak” in the past and lauded his immense potential. Still, giving up on Rosen so soon in favor of a talented, but undersized, QB prospect, would be incredibly gutsy. You can never say never on anything – particularly when the Cardinals already went way outside of the box to hire Kingsbury – but the odds of this happening do feel unlikely.

The Cardinals have a number of needs to address on both sides of the ball and trading Rosen for pennies on the dollar to replace him with another rookie QB would not make a whole lot of sense. Instead, the Cardinals would probably be best served by going with another position with the No. 1 overall pick, or trading down in order to take care of multiple areas of need.

Rosen, 22 in February, finished out with a 3-10 record in 2018.

Coaching Rumors: Jets, Gase, Cardinals, Lions

January 10th, 2019 at 1:32pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jets likely preferred Baylor’s Matt Rhule to Adam Gase, but as previously reported, things fell apart when Rhule refused to allow the Jets to pick his staff for him. The Jets especially wanted to choose his offensive coordinator and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears the Jets floated Todd Monken to him as an option.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • The Cardinals asked, but were denied, permission to interview 49ers run game coordinator Mike McDaniel for their offensive coordinator position, Matt Barrows of The Athletic tweets. McDaniel is tight with head coach Kyle Shanahan and the team was not prepared to lose him, especially to a divisional rival.
  • “It appears” that Steve Sarkisian and Nathaniel Hackett are in the mix for the Lions‘ offensive coordinator vacancy, Alex Marvez of SiriusXM tweets. The Lions have been looking for a new OC ever since Jan. 1 when they announced that Jim Bob Cooter‘s contract would not be renewed.
  • Sarkisian has also spoken with the Cardinals about their OC job, Marvez tweets. Sarkisian has been on the market since Dec. 31 when he was fired by Atlanta.
  • Both the Cardinals and Browns have sought permission to interview Jets running backs coach Stump Mitchell, a source tells Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The position(s) he’ll be discussing with those teams are unclear, however.

Cardinals To Interview Ben McAdoo

January 10th, 2019 at 11:49am CST by Zachary Links

Former Giants coach Ben McAdoo will interview for a spot on Kliff Kingsbury’s Cardinals staff, a source tells Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). McAdoo could be considered as an offensive coordinator candidate, but he could also be brought on in a “senior position on the offensive staff,” Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter). 

Regardless of who is brought on to fill out Kingsbury’s staff, Rapoport expects him to be surrounded by a lot of experience. That jibes with everything else we’ve heard so far, though Kingsbury has some level of interest in bringing Texas State coach Jake Spavital on board as an offensive coordinator. With no NFL experience, the 30-something Spavital would not fit the bill as a grizzled veteran of the pro ranks.

McAdoo’s run as a head coach in New York proved to be disastrous. By the end, many of his players rebelled and quit on him. However, before that, he was a highly-valued offensive mind who enabled the Giants to finish out with the No. 10 and No. 8 ranked offenses in 2014 and 2015. McAdoo is a long way from being a head coaching candidate, but he fits the profile as a solid OC consideration.

Cardinals To Interview Vance Joseph

January 10th, 2019 at 10:18am CST by Zachary Links

Former Broncos head coach Vance Joseph will meet with new Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury on Thursday to discuss the team’s defensive coordinator position, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). As the first candidate to speak with Kingsbury, it appears that Joseph has a good opportunity to land the job.

Of course, Joseph is still in the mix for the Bengals’ head coaching search, which also includes Eric Bieniemy, Hue Jackson, Bill Lazor, Todd Monken, Darren Simmons, Zac Taylor, and Shane Waldron. Despite Joseph’s lack of success in Denver, he’s believed to have a real chance of becoming Cincinnati’s next head coach.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals are also said to be considering the 68-year-old Dom Capers as a potential defensive counterpart to Kingsbury.

Cardinals Interested In Dom Capers For DC?

January 9th, 2019 at 5:26pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Longtime NFL defensive coordinator Dom Capers‘ name has been “kicked around” by the Cardinals and new head coach Kliff Kingsbury, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Kingsbury is just 39 years old and has never coached at the NFL level in any capacity, leading Arizona general manager Steve Keim to remark that landing a veteran DC would be an “ideal” outcome (Twitter link via Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com). Moreover, given their history and personnel on defense, the Cardinals are interested in hiring a coordinator who will primarily deploy a 3-4 front.

Capers would fit both of those parameters. At age 68, he’s nearly 30 years older than Kingsbury, and he’s been coaching in the NFL since 1986 (with ample collegiate experience dating back to 1972). Not only has Capers served as a defensive coordinator for multiple clubs, but he’s been a head coach at two stops (Panthers, Texans), meaning he could presumably offer counsel to Kingsbury as the latter enters his first pro job.

Capers also runs a 3-4 scheme, and did so during the duration of his most recent NFL gig, a nine-year stint as the Packers’ DC. Green Bay’s defense admittedly struggled near the end of Capers’ run: in 2017, the Packers ranked just 22nd in total defense and 20th in defensive DVOA.

Arizona’s defense, meanwhile, ranked 17th in DVOA last season, and that figure may be even more impressive that it initially looks. Opposing offenses — on average — started their drives against the Cardinals on their own 29.5-yard line, the seventh-easiest starting position in the NFL. Additionally, Arizona’s offense’s drives were the shortest in the league in terms of elapsed clock (two minutes, sixteen seconds on average), meaning the club’s defense was constantly on the field.

Kingsbury will be calling offensive plays, tweets James Palmer of NFL Network, so he’ll need an established defensive mind in place. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, Kingsbury’s collegiate background could mean he doesn’t have the pro connections required to build out a staff. With that in in mind, Kingsbury says he’ll lean on Keim as he formulates his inaugural coaching group, per Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Cardinals’ Kliff Kingsbury Eyeing Jake Spavital

January 9th, 2019 at 12:11pm CST by Zachary Links

If you thought the young and green Kliff Kingsbury would automatically surround himself with a grizzled coaching staff, think again. The Cardinals’ new head coach is eyeing Texas State head coach Jake Spavital as an offensive coordinator candidate, according to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic (on Twitter).

Spavital and Kingsbury coached together at Houston, so they have history together. It’s fair to assume that Kingsbury will be calling the plays in Arizona regardless of who the OC hire is, but there’s no official word on that front yet. Assuming Kingsbury wants to call the plays, the 33-year-old Spavital would fit the mold of someone who would accept an OC gig with lessened responsibilities.

From Spavital’s perspective, this could be an opportunity to take a major step up the coaching ladder. He might not call plays as the Cards’ OC, but other coaches such as Matt LaFleur have used similar setups as a stepping stone to head coaching positions.

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