Jonathan Gannon's job security seemingly 'complicated', 'cautiously optimistic'

1 week ago 2

The Arizona Cardinals will close out their miserable 2025 season this weekend on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. After that, we will see what the team decides to do with its coaching staff. Will Jonathan Gannon be fired from the job as head coach?

While he has expressed confidence that he will be back in 2026, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, it isn't as cut-and-dried.

That one is complicated, because some within the coaching staff are cautiously optimistic that Jonathan Gannon will get a fourth year, and some within the coaching industry see a path to Gannon potentially staying. Owner Michael Bidwill likes Gannon and can attribute the rough season to injuries and the lack of a hand-picked quarterback for the head coach. The flip side is Arizona is so far away from the other three teams in the NFC West and simply isn't competitive right now.

The injury factor is real. However, we can't ignore the fact that Gannon said multiple times after he was hired in 2023 that one of the biggest reasons he wanted the jobw as because of quarterback Kyler Murray. It is disingenuous to now say a reason why he deserves another year is because he didn't get to pick his quarterback. He quite literally said he picked Murray in taking the job.

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The offense got worse. The defense, despite heavy investments last offseason in money and draft picks, is worse.

Gannon did show growth with the team in his first two seasons, but this year has been an unmitigated disaster. Plus, the roster outlook for 2026 and the quarterback situation doesn't look good. Is Gannon the guy to right the ship, especially when the other three teams in the division have absolute stars as head coaches?

Then again, who could turn things around in Arizona in its current situation? It almost seems like the Cardinals might be better off letting Gannon follow the sinking ship in 2026 and then restart another rebuild in 2027.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on SpotifyYouTube or Apple podcasts.

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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Jonathan Gannon's job security seemingly 'complicated', 'cautiously optimistic'

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