The 2025 NFL season has gone nothing like the way Arizona Cardinals fans thought it would. Last year, they doubled head coach Jonathan Gannon's win total from his first season, and they started out 2-0 during this campaign. It seemed like the Cardinals had their coach of the future.
But those early-season victories feel like lifetimes ago now, as Arizona has won just one of its last 11 games. Neither side of the ball is performing particularly well, the Cardinals don't have a premier draft pick, and they have only a handful of intriguing offensive weapons. The future is bleak in Arizona.
That has called into question Gannon's job security, as many fans are ready to give up on the experiment at the three-year mark. In a sense, plateauing is okay, and marginally getting worse can be a part of the typical NFL variance. But not falling off a cliff.
ESPN insiders outline safety scenario for Cardinals' Jonathan Gannon
However, ESPN's Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler recently discussed all the buzz that they are hearing around the league as the season approaches its final quarter. When it came to Gannon's job security in Arizona, there was a consensus that fans won't like.
"The Falcons and Cardinals had higher preseason expectations than what has been delivered (though I lean toward Arizona keeping its coaches and letting them try to develop a quarterback post-Kyler Murray)," Graziano wrote.
Graziano's assertion that Gannon and his staff will be given a chance to develop a quarterback is a bit frustrating. They have a perfectly good quarterback in Kyler Murray, but that relationship has been completely ruptured. Fowler echoed Graziano's sentiment, but at least he provided an exit ramp.
"I'm with you on the Cardinals. Keeping Jonathan Gannon is a sensible play for owner Michael Bidwill," Fowler wrote. "But Arizona is staring at a potential 1-14 finish. The team is miserably bad right now and finishes the season with the Texans, Falcons, Bengals and Rams. Gannon might need to win one, maybe two games to reach solid footing."
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Cardinals fans are weirdly clinging to the bit of hope that if Gannon does not win at least two games, he could be out the door. It's hard to deliberately root for your team to lose, but this is a "take one step back to take two steps forward" kind of situation.
The franchise has seemingly already scapegoated Kyler Murray, which may also indicate that Gannon's job is safe. Those close to the situation seem to as well, even if there is a chance that Gannon still gets fired with a 3-14 record and 1-14 finish.
But a prospective head coach could be intrigued by a core of Trey McBride, Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson, and James Conner, as well as a fair amount of salary cap space and a premier draft pick. It's certainly something for Bidwell to think about.