Aug 26, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (right) walks onto the field at  U.S. Bank Stadium before the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Cards name Kyler Murray a captain: ‘He’s our franchise quarterback’

For the fourth straight season, the Arizona Cardinals have named quarterback Kyler Murray one of their team captains.

Murray joins running back James Conner, left tackle D.J. Humphries, linebacker Kyzir White, safety Budda Baker and linebacker/special teamer Dennis Gardeck.

Coach Jonathan Gannon, entering his first season in Arizona, went with four players with previous experience as captains in Arizona — Murray, Humphries, Baker and Gardeck. His reasoning for Murray was simple.

“He’s our franchise quarterback,” Gannon said. “And everything that I want our captains to be, he demonstrates it.”

Murray, recovering from a torn ACL, will miss at least the first four games of the regular season after starting out on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. And speculation surfaced over the weekend that the Cardinals have financial incentive to keep Murray sidelined for all of 2022.

Reports said the Cardinals would owe Murray $37 million in 2024, $29 million in 2025 and $26 million in 2026 in injury guarantees if Murray cannot pass a physical before March 2024.

But Murray being named a captain, combined with Gannon’s comments, signals that Arizona will roll with the former No. 1 overall pick when he is healthy and ready to play.

The Cardinals will start either journeyman Josh Dobbs, acquired in late August from Cleveland, or fifth-round draft pick Clayton Tune at quarterback Week 1 against the Washington Commanders. That determination has not been made.

Arizona also signed veteran QB Jeff Driskel to the practice squad Monday. Driskel spent time at Cardinals training camp and was cut before the initial 53-man roster was finalized.

–Field Level Media

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon speaks during a news conference at the Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training Center in Tempe on April 11, 2023.

Nfl Arizona Cardinals Team Offseason Program Media Availability 70101188007

Cards, Eagles swap picks to settle coach tampering probe

The Arizona Cardinals self-reported an instance of tampering with their new head coach, former Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, and agreed to give draft pick compensation to Philadelphia “to resolve the matter” Thursday.

Minutes before the start of the 2023 NFL Draft, the teams released a statement explaining that the Cardinals and Eagles agreed to swap third-round picks this season, while the Cardinals will get Philadelphia’s 2024 fifth-round selection.

The Eagles improved their third-round pick by 28 spots — going from the 31st pick of the round (No. 94 overall) to the third (No. 66).

New Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort had a phone call with Gannon “in the days following the NFC Championship Game” on Jan. 29 that the Eagles won, according to the teams’ statement. That was a period where contact was impermissible and considered tampering by the league’s anti-tampering policy.

The Cardinals eventually hired Gannon as their next coach on Feb. 14, replacing Kliff Kingsbury, after Gannon and the Eagles reached the Super Bowl and fell 38-35 to the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 12.

–Field Level Media

May 6, 2022; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nakobe Deean (R) and defensive back Josh Jobe (L) talk with defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon (M) during Rookie Minicamp at NovaCare Complex. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals, Colts move closer to hiring head coaches

The Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts look poised to move toward filling their vacant head coaching jobs, post Super Bowl.

Multiple reports Sunday said the Cardinals are expected to interview Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, 40, as early as Monday. Gannon, whose Eagles are playing in Super Bowl LVII, is the architect of an impressive defense that in 2022 registered a league-high 70 sacks and held opponents to 20.2 points per game.

ESPN said the other candidates still vying for the job are New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.

Gannon’s NFL coaching career began in 2007 with the Atlanta Falcons when he served as defensive quality control coach, and he’s also worked with the Minnesota Vikings and was the defensive backs coach of the Colts before being hired in Philadelphia in 2021.

As for the Colts, ESPN reported Sunday that the Eagles’ other coordinator — offensive guru Shane Steichen — is expected to be named as the replacement for Frank Reich and interim coach Jeff Saturday.

Per the report, the Colts notified the other candidates Sunday morning that they had chosen to go in another direction. The final candidates were Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, Green Bay Packers special teams coach Rich Bisaccia and Saturday, NFL Network reported.

Saturday was 1-7 as the Colts’ interim coach.

The Eagles’ offense ranked first in the league in rushing touchdowns, and the team’s 477 points scored ranked second only to the Kansas City Chiefs — their Super Bowl opponent.

Steichen, 37, joined the Eagles in 2021. He previously held a variety of coaching roles with the Los Angeles Chargers and was offensive coordinator for one season (2020).

These two openings are the final head coach jobs to be filled this offseason. The Carolina Panthers hired Reich, the Denver Broncos tabbed Sean Payton and the Houston Texans landed DeMeco Ryans.

–Field Level Media

Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham (55) answers questions from the media during team availability at Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix on Feb. 7, 2023.

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Attack Mahomes or play keep-away? Eagles mull their options

Brandon Graham has already strip-sacked the greatest quarterback of all time in a Super Bowl. What to do for an encore?

Call 27-year-old Patrick Mahomes the GOAT, too, and try to make it a double.

The veteran defensive end helped the Philadelphia Eagles lock up their first Super Bowl victory five years ago with a strip sack of Tom Brady late in the 41-33 win over the New England Patriots. This Sunday, against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, Graham and the NFL’s top defense is tasked with figuring out the next generation’s exemplar quarterback, Mahomes.

“Man, getting a strip sack on him too, that’d be nice,” Graham told reporters Thursday. “But we’re going to have some fun, man. He’s definitely the GOAT because he’s already won one and you can see he’s been here a lot of times already. And he’s young.”

Head coach Nick Sirianni wasn’t keen on spelling out how his team’s defense is strategizing for Mahomes, whether it will feature an increase in blitzing or focus on keeping the ball out of his hands.

It was pointed out to Sirianni at Thursday’s press conference that in Mahomes’ three career playoff losses, his Chiefs have lost the turnover battle twice and had less time of possession than their opponent in all three defeats.

Sirianni said when he was the Indianapolis Colts’ offensive coordinator and faced Mahomes’ Chiefs in 2019, it became “a little bit of a keep-away game.” That day, the Colts ran the ball 45 times, had possession for 37:15 and handed Kansas City its first loss of the young season, 19-13.

“So we have that in our pocket. We also think it’s important to score points. Obviously I won’t give too much of the game plan away of what we’re trying to do. But we also understand how dangerous Patrick Mahomes is and how good of a football player he is.

“Sometimes when you do play a keep-away battle, per se, you still gotta be good and efficient on third down. You still gotta be good and efficient to extend drives.”

Sirianni’s Eagles have been able to run the ball at will, led by dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts and a deep backfield that features Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott.

Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon put the keys to the matchup simply.

“Not have the ball thrown over our heads and take it away,” he told the Eagles’ team website.

Gannon touted his unit’s adaptability as a foil to the Chiefs’ creativity on offense.

“Every game you turn on, (Reid is) doing something new. We’ve got to be prepared for all of that,” Gannon said. “One of our staples is adaptability. We know that we’re going to have to adapt in game and we’ve got to be ready to make adjustments in game, in real time, and ultimately execute the plan and those adjustments to have a chance.”

But the ultimate strength of the Eagles’ defense is its pass rush, which finished with 70 sacks in the regular season, the third-highest total in NFL history.

“I don’t think you go into this game thinking you are going to get clear paths to the quarterback,” said Haason Reddick, who had 16 sacks in the regular season and 3.5 in the Eagles’ first two playoff games. “They’re going to have something built-in to account for what we do, so it comes down to winning one-on-one battles, or whatever it’s going to be, in this game. You also know that Mahomes isn’t a guy who is going to go down easily. He can buy time with his legs. He can move, even with that ankle (Mahomes suffered a high-ankle sprain against Jacksonville in the AFC Divisional round).

“It’s a challenge and, as you know, I love challenges.”

–Field Level Media