Firing Kliff Kingsbury Was Cardinals' Best Move This Offseason
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For a team that's consistently been in headlines, the Arizona Cardinals have been relatively quiet this offseason.
The Cardinals have suffered loss after loss, whether it be ringing in a new coaching staff/front office, retirement of J.J. Watt or watching Byron Murphy/Zach Allen leave in free agency.
However, Arizona has managed to make a few different moves that should benefit their rebuild.
In Bleacher Report's article debuting every team's smartest move of the offseason, the dismissal of head coach Kliff Kingsbury headlines an otherwise quiet period of downtime in the football world:
Firing Kliff Kingsbury Was Cardinals' Best Move This Offseason
"The Arizona Cardinals lacked an identity under former head coach Kliff Kingsbury, whom they fired in January. While Kingsbury did help develop Kyler Murray into an above-average starting quarterback, the Cardinals were wise to recognize that this wasn't enough," said Kristopher Knox.
"It couldn't have been an easy decision, as they had just signed Kingsbury to an extension last offseason, but it was the right one.
"Hiring Jonathan Gannon as Kingsbury's replacement was logical in its own right. Arizona's defense, which ranked 31st in points allowed last season, was its biggest liability. The former Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator should help improve that side of the ball quickly.
"While it was smart to go with a defensive coach instead of another offensive guru, the Cardinals picked Gannon over Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. It's fair to wonder whether they'll regret that.
"Like Gannon, Anarumo oversaw a championship-caliber defense. His unit reached Super Bowl LVI, back-to-back AFC title games and ranked sixth in points allowed this past season (Philadelphia ranked eighth) despite having only one Pro Bowler (defensive end Trey Hendrickson) over the past two seasons.
"While it's still unclear whether Arizona made the right choice for its new head coach, moving on from the old one was the correct call."
There was some debate as to whether or not the Cardinals should have fired Kingsbury given the team made the postseason the year prior. 2022 also offered nearly nothing helpful to Kingsbury on or off the field, which included a slew of injuries on both sides of the ball.
However, it was clear the Cardinals needed to move on from Kingsbury in order to turn the overall direction of the franchise around.
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