GLENDALE – The Arizona Cardinals were one of four teams to fire their head coach in Black Monday, making it six vacant NFL head coaching job available. The list includes: Arizona, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Giants and Tennessee Titans. All the teams had horrible and disappointing 2025 season but all vary in situations. The amount of job openings allow candidates to have a preference of where to land.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin ranked the six vacant head coaching spots from most to least desirable, with the Cardinals shocking being last on the list.
Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill and general manager Monti Ossenfort speak to the press from the Arizona Cardinals training center in Tempe after the decision to fire head coach Jonathan Gannon on Jan. 5, 2026. Syndication: Arizona Republic
Dubin on why Cardinals job is undesirable:
“Arizona lost 14 of its final 15 games this season and looked incredibly listless in doing so. The Cardinals have an uncertain quarterback situation with Kyler Murray seemingly not long for the team, and they really have no viable path to solving that situation this offseason unless it becomes a three-quarterback draft or the Jets decide to pass on someone like Dante Moore (if he enters) or Fernando Mendoza at No. 2 overall.”
Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill speaks to the press from the Arizona Cardinals training center in Tempe after the decision to fire head coach Jonathan Gannon on Jan. 5, 2026. Syndication: Arizona Republic
The third overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft puts Arizona in a tough position of how to move forward. The benching quarterback Kyler Murray midway through last season essentially killed any hope of the two-time Pro Bowler staying. However, the franchise sits behind two teams that will be looking for a quarterback in the draft in Las Vegas and New York.
The uncertainty at the QB position might turn candidates away. Despite all the teams with vacant head coaching positions having a bad 2025, all five have a clear idea of who their starting QB is going to be next year or have a top two pick to answer that question. The Cardinals don’t possess that guarantee and had the worst scoring defense in the NFL during the second half of the season.
Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort speaks to the press from the Arizona Cardinals training center in Tempe after the decision to fire head coach Jonathan Gannon on Jan. 5, 2026. Syndication: Arizona Republic
Owner Michael Bidwill made it clear in Monday’s press conference that he wants to win. Despite that desire, general manager Monti Ossenfort will have a tough job of leading the coaching search as he can’t make the guarantees that other jobs will make during the process.
The franchise only has $21 million in cap space, so any improvement will have to come from the players already in the building. Ossenfort will have to sell a job to coach a 3-14 team that isn’t expected to many any major changes in the offseason.
Top three candidates to be Cardinals next head coach in 2026 following Gannon’s firing
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Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports
