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Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

Pat Shurmur A Fit In Arizona

January 13th, 2018 at 9:34pm CST by Micah Powell
  • Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is the perfect candidate for the Cardinals head-coaching vacancy, AZ Central’s Dan Bickley writes. Bickley notes Shurmur’s ability to get the most out of his quarterback as the underlying factor. He also thinks the hiring of Shurmur would ensure the return of Larry Fitzgerald. The hiring, however, would go in opposition to former head coach Bruce Arians’ wishes that defensive coordinator James Bettcher get the job.

Brian Flores Still Alive For Cards' Job

January 13th, 2018 at 4:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although finalists have emerged in the Giants and Colts’ HC searches, the Cardinals may be taking a more methodical approach. And despite Brian Flores lacking the coordinator experience others in the mix for the Arizona job do, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets the Patriots’ linebackers coach is very much a live candidate for the job. The Cardinals have interviewed Flores, incumbent DC James Bettcher, Pats DC Matt Patricia, Eagles DC Jim Schwartz, Vikings OC Pat Shurmur, Panthers DC Steve Wilks, Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak and Falcons ST coordinator Keith Armstrong. This franchise has cast the widest net yet in this year’s coaching carousel, so determining frontrunner status is a bit more complicated here than it is in the three other searches. Patricia’s name has been linked as a finalist with the Lions and Giants, however.

Latest On Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald

January 12th, 2018 at 3:50pm CST by Zachary Links

Larry Fitzgerald still hasn’t decided whether to play in 2018. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are still searching for their next head coach. The latter decision, apparently, will weigh heavily on the former. Larry Fitzgerald (vertical)

“I don’t have a head coach right now so there’s a lot going on,” Fitzgerald told the Golf Channel (video link). “I’m going to take some time to figure it out. Our owner and president Michael Bidwill and General Manager Steve Keim are out right now interviewing head coaches. I’m interested to see what’s going to happen. I’ll make a decision shortly after I would imagine.”

As shown on PFR’s Head Coaching Tracker, the Cardinals have cast a wide net in their search:

If the hire is not to Fitzgerald’s liking, he might opt to spend his time on the golf course rather than the gridiron in 2018. The wide receiver did not indicate which candidate is his favorite, but one has to assume that he would like to see Bettcher promoted to the top job.

Cardinals To Interview Steve Wilks Again?

January 11th, 2018 at 1:09pm CST by Zachary Links

Cardinals' Goodwin Interviewing Elsewhere

January 10th, 2018 at 4:44pm CST by Zachary Links
  • Cardinals offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Harold Goodwin has interviewed recently with the Bengals and Raiders for their OL coach positions, Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic tweets. It seems unlikely that Goodwin will return to Arizona in his current role following the retirement of head coach Bruce Arians.

Cardinals Could Lose Harold Goodwin

January 9th, 2018 at 7:22pm CST by Dallas Robinson
  • Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin has set up assistant coaching interviews with multiple AFC teams, reports Mike Jurecki of 98.7 FM (Twitter link). While Arizona defensive coordinator James Bettcher was given a head coaching interview after Bruce Arians retired, Goodwin wasn’t afforded the same opportunity. Goodwin has interviewed for four head coaching positions over the past two seasons.

Cards Set Up Steve Wilks Interview

January 8th, 2018 at 1:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

Steve Wilks has set up three interviews for this week. The Giants will receive the first opportunity to meet with the Panthers’ DC, with ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson reporting (on Twitter) Wilks will trek to New Jersey to meet with the Dave Gettleman-led group on Tuesday before flying to Arizona to meet with the Cardinals on Wednesday. Following those meetings, the Colts will host Wilks on Thursday, Mike Wells of ESPN.com tweets. These aren’t the only teams interested in securing a sitdown with Wilks. The Lions remain interested in doing so as well, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

  • Falcons special teams coach Keith Armstrong‘s Cardinals interview is set for Monday in Atlanta, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com reports. Armstrong is allowed to interview under NFL rules despite the Falcons winning in the wild-card round.

2018 Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Tracker

January 7th, 2018 at 3:25pm CST by Dallas Robinson

While at least six NFL teams are making head coaching changes this offseason, the number of clubs replacing offensive and/or defensive coordinators figures to be much higher than that. In addition to all those teams hiring new head coaches, who may want to bring in their own assistants, several clubs also figure to make changes on one side of the ball or the other after getting disappointing results in 2017. And, of course, the teams whose coordinators landed head coaching jobs will need to replace them.

With reports circulating on potential candidates, interview requests, and actual meetings, we’ll use the space below to keep tabs on all the latest updates on teams hiring new offensive and/or defensive coordinators. This post, which will be updated daily, can be found under the “PFR Features” menu on the right-hand side of the site.

Updated 3-6-18 (5:53pm CT)

Offensive Coordinators

Arizona Cardinals (Out: Harold Goodwin)

Buffalo Bills (Out: Rick Dennison)

Carolina Panthers (Out: Mike Shula)

  • Norv Turner, former offensive coordinator (Vikings): Hired

Chicago Bears (Out: Dowell Loggains)

  • Mark Helfrich, former head coach (Oregon): Hired

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Bill Lazor, interim offensive coordinator (Bengals): Retained

Cleveland Browns (vacant)

Denver Broncos

  • Bill Musgrave, interim offensive coordinator (Broncos): Retained

Detroit Lions

  • Jim Bob Cooter, offensive coordinator (Lions): Retained

Green Bay Packers (Out: Edgar Bennett)

Indianapolis Colts (Out: Rob Chudzinski)

Kansas City Chiefs (Out: Matt Nagy)

  • Eric Bieniemy, running backs coach (Chiefs): Promoted

Miami Dolphins (Out: Clyde Christensen)

  • Dowell Loggains, former offensive coordinator (Bears): Hired

Minnesota Vikings (Out: Pat Shurmur)

New York Giants (Out: Mike Sullivan)

New York Jets (Out: John Morton)

Oakland Raiders (Out: Todd Downing)

Philadelphia Eagles (Out: Frank Reich)

Pittsburgh Steelers (Out: Todd Haley)

Seattle Seahawks (Out: Darrell Bevell)

Tennessee Titans (Out: Terry Robiskie)

Defensive Coordinators

Arizona Cardinals (Out: James Bettcher)

  • Al Holcomb, linebackers coach (Panthers): Hired

Baltimore Ravens (Out: Dean Pees)

Carolina Panthers (Out: Steve Wilks)

  • Eric Washington, defensive line coach (Panthers): Promoted

Chicago Bears

  • Vic Fangio, defensive coordinator (Bears): Retained

Cincinnati Bengals (Out: Paul Guenther)

Detroit Lions

  • Paul Pasqualoni, defensive line coach (Boston College): Hired

Green Bay Packers (Out: Dom Capers)

Houston Texans (Out: Mike Vrabel)

  • Romeo Crennel, assistant head coach (Texans): Hired

Indianapolis Colts (Out: Ted Monachino)

  • Matt Eberflus, linebackers coach (Cowboys): Hired

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Gus Bradley, defensive coordinator (Chargers): Retained

New England Patriots (Out: Matt Patricia)

New York Giants

Oakland Raiders (Out: John Pagano)

  • Paul Guenther, defensive coordinator (Bengals): Hired

Seattle Seahawks (Out: Kris Richard)

  • Ken Norton Jr., former defensive coordinator (Raiders): Hired

Tennessee Titans (Out: Dick LeBeau)

Chiefs Expected To Trade Alex Smith

January 7th, 2018 at 10:41am CST by Rory Parks

Just yesterday, we learned that the Chiefs would be open to trading QB Alex Smith this offseason, but that they would not actively seek out trade partners.

Alex Smith (vertical)

But a lot can change in a day. Ian Rapoport, who reported yesterday that Kansas City would be willing to listen to offers on Smith, says today that the Chiefs, who suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Titans less than 24 hours ago, are likely to deal the Utah product in the coming months (video link).

As Rapoport observes, Smith’s value is as high as it can be after a strong 2017 campaign. He set several career-highs in 2017, including passing yards (4,042) and touchdowns (26). He also completed 67.5% of his passes and threw only five interceptions, leading to some early-season MVP rumblings. He also led the league in quarterback rating (104.7).

Plus, Smith has a very tradeable contract, as he is owed a relatively low (for a good QB) $17MM in 2018, the last year of his current deal. Rapoport notes that any new team would need to give Smith a new contract, but money should not be an obstacle to actually acquiring him.

Rapoport named a number of teams that could be interested in Smith in yesterday’s report, but today he specifically mentioned the Browns as a potential landing spot — new GM John Dorsey has already traded for Smith once in his career — and he named the Cardinals as another logical destination. Mike Jurecki of 98.7 FM confirms that Arizona will indeed have interest in Smith, though they would still likely draft a QB even if they land him (Twitter links).

Smith himself is not ready to talk about his future, as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk (citing the Kansas City Star) writes.

Latest On Steve Wilks

January 7th, 2018 at 9:28am CST by Rory Parks

Add the Cardinals to the list of teams looking to get a crack at Panthers DC Steve Wilks, who is arguably this offseason’s hottest head coaching candidate. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Wilks — who is coaching Carolina’s defense in its playoff tilt against the Saints this afternoon — will spend the coming week trying to fit in interviews with Arizona, the Giants, the Lions, and the Colts (Twitter link).

Steve Wilks (vertical)

The Cardinals have already interviewed a few candidates for their head coaching gig, including their own DC, James Bettcher, and Patriots’ DC Matt Patricia. But they plan to at least sit down with Wilks to see what the hype is all about.

As Rapoport notes in a brief segment with colleague Mike Garafolo (video link), all four of the above-referenced teams are waiting to hire a new head coach until they have had the chance to meet with Wilks (which is interesting, because we heard just yesterday that the Lions are expected to hire Patricia). Rapoport adds that, despite the fact that the Panthers have fielded an impressive defensive unit this season, it is Wilks’ leadership ability, even more so than his prowess as a defensive coordinator, that has him in such high demand.

Garafalo notes that new Giants GM Dave Gettleman is anxious to get Wilks in front of team ownership, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that Wilks will interview with Big Blue on Monday. How many interviews he takes beyond that will depend on the outcome of today’s playoff matchup.

The Bears also requested to interview Wilks, but as of yet, there has been no word as to whether Wilks will meet with Chicago.

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