Arizona Cardinals will be paying 3 head coaches soon

The Arizona Cardinals made the decision on Monday to fire head coach Jonathan Gannon after three seasons. He went 15-36 and, after showing improvement in two seasons, had the 2025 season fall apart, going 3-14, losing 14 of their final 15 games and ending the season with a nine-game losing streak.

In making this decision, owner Michael Bidwill is going to be paying three head coaches soon.

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Gannon had two years remaining on his contract, announced as a five-year deal when he was hired in 2023.

After Kliff Kingsbury had a contract extension in 2022, his new deal was through 2027.

The Cardinals will pay Kingsbury and Gannon for the next two seasons, minus whatever salary they get in whatever job they have in 2026.

This begs the question — how much will Bidwill be willing to spend on a new head coach? Will he be willing to pay top dollar for the best candidate available?

When asked that question on Monday, whether he is willing to pay a top-of-the-market salary for an in-demand coach, he responded, " I'm not going to negotiate the uh the contract here with you, but we're looking forward to going out there and putting a winning coach in this position and having wins and that's what I'm focused on."

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Will money be a factor when the Cardinals decide on a new head coach? His last five head coaches had not been NFL head coaches previously (although Bruce Arians did have the interim tag in 2012 with the Indianapolis Colts before the Cardinals hired him).

Bidwill promised a "thorough" and "broad" search. We will see what they come up with.

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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals will be paying 3 head coaches soon