Today’s practice squad transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
New Orleans Saints
Washington Commanders
Although the NFL expanding to 17 games has an effect here, the Cardinals are likely to match their record for most losses in a season. The 4-12 team faces the 49ers in Week 18; another loss would match Arizona’s 2018 and 2000 seasons (13). It does not look like Kliff Kingsbury will survive such a result.
The Cardinals are expected to dismiss Kingsbury at season’s end, Armando Salguero of Outkick.com reports, noting that such a transaction is “kind of an open secret” by now. This move would come months after Kingsbury signed an extension that runs through 2027. With Steve Keim also rumored to be on the outs months after his extension, this would represent a remarkable course change for the Cardinals.
Kingsbury, 43, took over the Cards after their Steve Wilks-led 3-13 season and made a successful push for Kyler Murray at No. 1 overall. The Cardinals became the first team since the 1982-83 Baltimore Colts to take first-round quarterbacks in back-to-back years. While the Cards were proven right to reinvest via the Murray pick and move on from Josh Rosen, this season marked a significant step back for the dual-threat talent. Murray fell off the Pro Bowl tier and is now rehabbing a torn ACL. Prior to the injury, he and Kingsbury were not believed to be on good terms.
A recent report indicated Kingsbury resigning was possible, but that seemed the less likely conclusion compared to a firing. A resignation would prevent Kingsbury (28-36-1) from cashing in on the extension money he is entitled to by virtue of the deal he inked in March. Little has gone right since the Cards reupped their HC-GM combo, however.
The Cardinals maneuvered through messy Murray situations — the pre-draft extension demand and the fallout from the homework clause included in the five-year, $230.5MM deal — and a report indicated Kingsbury has been “extremely frustrated” with the quarterback he has known since the latter’s high school days. Murray’s deal ties him to the Cards through 2028, which always made him most likely to be the last one standing despite Kingsbury and Keim’s extensions.
Arizona entered the season unable to deploy its newly assembled DeAndre Hopkins–Marquise Brown tandem, due to Hopkins’ six-game PED ban, and Kingsbury then could not use the wideouts together upon the All-Pro’s return because of Brown’s foot injury. It took until Week 12 for the talented pair to see the field together. By that point, the Cardinals were 4-7. Although J.J. Watt has rebounded from another injury-plagued season to record 10.5 sacks in his final NFL campaign, Kingsbury’s team ran into health issues along its aging offensive line and at tight end. Zach Ertz was lost for the season with ACL and MCL tears in Week 10. Murray, who missed two games with a hamstring injury as well, has been out since Week 14 because of his ACL tear.
Kingsbury’s fourth Cards offense ranks 21st in both scoring and yardage — down considerably from the team’s playoff offense last season — and Vance Joseph‘s defense ranks outside the top 20 in points and yards as well. Should this firing commence, it will spell another setback for college coaches hoping to establish themselves at the sport’s highest level. Matt Rhule, Chip Kelly, Greg Schiano and Nick Saban are among the latest who failed to carry their success to the NFL. In Kingsbury’s case, he made the strange leap from being fired at Texas Tech in 2018 to joining the Cards — shortly after he signed on to be USC’s OC. If Michael Bidwill follows through on a firing, it can be safely assumed the owner will select his next coach from the NFL level.
Today’s practice squad transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Indianapolis Colts
Kansas City Chiefs
New York Giants
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Updates to injury questions heading into the Sunday slate of games:
Today’s roster moves heading into gameday:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Washington Commanders
While the prospect of Sean Payton wanting to return to New Orleans would put team brass in a difficult spot, it is not completely known if that is the case. And the Saints’ current coach has backers in high places.
Dennis Allen is likely to stay on for a second season as Saints HC, according to NOLA.com’s Jeff Duncan, who adds ownership and management are still behind Payton’s longtime DC. Allen replaced Payton in February, and while the Saints have taken a step back, Duncan does not anticipate the team making its coach and one-and-done.
A report this week labeled a potential Payton-Saints reunion as the “worst-kept secret,” but ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler noted earlier this month Allen was likely to receive a second season. The cost component in firing a coach after one season is part of the equation as well, per Duncan.
The NFL has certainly condensed its timetables for coaches in this era, but the Saints have not made any coach even a two-and-done since the 1970s. Under late owner Tom Benson, Mike Ditka and Jim Haslett received at least three seasons. The latter coached for six years, despite the Saints qualifying for just one playoff field — in Haslett’s first season — during that time. Payton changed the game for the Saints and stayed 16 seasons, leaving surprisingly in late January. The current FOX analyst has been researching potential opportunities and may well come back to New Orleans at some point, but a reunion appears to be on hold.
The Saints hold Payton’s rights and would be in position to collect a nice compensation package for the Super Bowl-winning HC, in the event he ends up coaching another team. Payton has been connected to working with ex-Saints assistant Vic Fangio somewhere. That partnership coming to pass in New Orleans could leave Allen, who served under Payton during two Saints stints before succeeding him as HC, out in the cold. But Payton will have other options. Though, the top two teams he has been linked to — the Cowboys and Chargers — do not look likely to fire their current coaches. Both teams have clinched playoff spots.
The Saints did finish under .500 five times under Payton, so Allen’s debut (6-9 presently) is not completely out of step. But New Orleans never lost 10 games with Payton. Drew Brees being under center for 15 of those seasons did help protect against that outcome, however. Allen has not been as fortunate, going from Jameis Winston to Andy Dalton this season. The Saints have improved from 28th to 18th in total offense from last season, which featured a worse QB situation. And they rank ninth in total defense, with their win over the Browns keeping them technically alive for postseason play. FiveThirtyEight gives New Orleans only a 3% chance to make the playoffs, though Duncan adds management is happy with the fight the team has shown down the stretch.
While the Cardinals have also been loosely linked to Payton, Duncan notes this pairing should not be expected. The team still has a decision to make on Kliff Kingsbury, who joined Steve Keim in signing an extension this offseason. But with the Cards falling to 4-11 in Kingsbury’s fourth season, the longtime college coach is squarely on the hot seat. With Payton likely to have options upon returning, taking over a team coming off a dysfunctional 2022 would be a tougher sell compared to other opportunities. Kyler Murray‘s ACL tear certainly does not help matters.
As we head into Week 17, a number of players still have key incentives available. Here is a handful of the notable escalators in reach — many involving Smiths — courtesy of SI.com’s Albert Breer.
After surprising the sports world by indicating he would retire at season’s end, J.J. Watt addressed the choice. Watt will retire as one of the most accomplished defenders in NFL history and represents a safe bet for 2028 Hall of Fame enshrinement, but he has returned to a high level of play after missing much of last season.
Despite his quality season for a down Cardinals team, Watt will pass on the opportunity to join a contender in free agency next year. His performance this season reinforced his decision.
“I’d much rather go out playing good football, knowing that I could still play and knowing that hopefully people will remember me playing good football, then to go out limping out and being forced out and knowing that I probably should have done it earlier,” Watt said (via the Arizona Republic’s Bob McManamon), regarding a chance to re-sign with the Cardinals or join a third team in free agency next year.
Watt, 33, joins Lawrence Taylor and Aaron Donald as the league’s only three-time Defensive Player of the Year honorees. He is also the only player in the sack era (1982-present) to record two 20-plus-sack seasons, getting there in 2012 and 2014. Watt seasons rank as the top three tackles-for-loss campaigns in the 21st century. This includes his 2012 season, which featured a staggering 39 TFLs — 10 more than anyone else has recorded in a season since 2000.
The Cardinals gave Watt a two-year, $28MM deal in 2021, signing him shortly after a Texans release — which Watt requested, as Houston was embarking on what has turned out to be a lengthy rebuild — led to a bidding war ahead of unrestricted free agency. The Browns and Colts were in the mix until the end. Watt has 9.5 sacks this season — his most since 2018 — and has tallied 14 TFLs and six pass batdowns.
Although injuries have affected the second half of Watt’s career, he certainly would have been a coveted free agent in 2023. Kliff Kingsbury said he did not know about the imminent retirement, but Cardinals DC Vance Joseph said Thursday that Watt told him of his plans in September.
“There’s some people in the building that have known for a long time,” Watt said of his retirement decision. “Maybe they thought I was joking, but I told people for a long time, ‘This is my last year.’ … Some people tried to convince me to stay.”
Watt finished his third DPOY season (2015) playing through multiple injuries and underwent back surgery the following offseason. He later underwent a second 2016 back surgery, which knocked him out for 13 games that year. A tibial plateau fracture cost him 11 in 2017. The Texans did not bail on the six-year, $100MM extension, as Watt’s 2018 season — a 16-sack slate in which he led the league with seven forced fumbles — led to two more years in Houston. One of them (2019) featured an eight-game absence due to a torn pec. Last season, a play against the Texans led to a litany of upper-body injuries. Watt returned in time to play in Arizona’s wild-card game.
This year, Watt went into atrial fibrillation and underwent a procedure. Although the 12th-year vet played days after that operation, he cited the heart issue as part of the reason for the earlier-than-expected exit.
“It just feels like the right time,” Watt said. “I put so much into the game and the wins and the losses, the mental stress and passion that comes with it, it just weighs on you. It’s just really heavy. Losses are very tough to take. You live with the highs and the lows and I’ve always said I would way rather lives with the highs and the lows than never know the middle. I don’t want to just be ‘blah.’
“But I’ve got a son now, obviously I had a heart scare earlier in the year, so there’s certainly some of that that played into it. But I’m very happy and I’m very at peace with it.”
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves around the league:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Detroit Lions
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
New York Giants
Pittsburgh Steelers
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Chicago Bears
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders