BREAKING: Cardinals Fire Kliff Kingsbury AND GM Steve Keim Steps Down After They Signed Extensions Through 2027 Last Offseason

Well THAT didn't last long. Why you would offer such a long-term extension to a coach like Kliff Kingsbury when every single year his teams collapsed in the second half of the season is beyond me. It really seemed like a pure optics move from owner Michael Bidwill just to maintain the illusion that every key pillar in the Cardinals organization was on the same page. Turns out, it was a mirage.

And I say that because Arizona caved to quarterback Kyler Murray's demands for a second contract and decided they needed to maintain a united front, so they extended Kingsbury and GM Steve Keim as well. Mike Florio reported Kingsbury's deal is guaranteed through 2026, so the Cards will be paying the coach to NOT coach for them for the next four years.

Imagine fucking up that badly. Seems that'll be the case for Keim. The writing was on the wall that he'd already be out, as Schefty highlights in this laundry list of bullshit —not to mention, Hard Knocks during the season! — that Kingsbury dealt with en route to a 4-13 record in 2022.

Keim has been bad at his job for years. Arizona needs a fresh set of eyes to lead the front office, not someone who just acquires an endless gaggle of wide receivers. While DeAndre Hopkins has more or less worked out and AJ Green gave you one solid year, pretty much everyone else? Dubious moves at best.

The aforementioned nosedives the Cardinals took in Kingsbury's three years at the helm preceding their crash and burn this season weren't his only instances of coaching failure. He was far from a success story before this even at the college level.

In Patrick Mahomes' two full years of starting at Texas Tech, Kingsbury posted a losing record. Then, he had two more losing seasons before getting fired. Although he accepted USC's offensive coordinator job thereafter, Arizona decided to go after him and make him their head coach. Seemed like a bizarre move at the time. Now seems like one of the all-time "how could we not possibly see this shit show coming" coaching transactions.

I mean, when you just look at how generally awful college coaches fare in the NFL, that alone should've been a red flag.

I see Adam Schefter forgot about Chip Kelly's 2-14 record in San Francisco, so the only coaches north of .500 lately are Jim Harbaugh and Bill O'Brien. Harbaugh figures to be a hot name on the NFL coaching cycle and is already a target for the Denver Broncos. As for O'Brien, well, given how much of a power trip he went on when he essentially became a coach-GM hybrid for the Texans and fucked it all up, I doubt he'll get another shot anytime soon.

The Cardinals really need someone who can get Kyler Murray in line. When you need a clause in your contract to prioritize film study over video games, something is probably wrong. And here's the thing: I've been super critical of Kyler, because I WANT HIM TO SUCCEED. He's such a phenomenal talent and he's getting somewhere near the least out of his skill set.

I've said this before in documenting Arizona's woes: We're really going to find out whether Kliff was doing Kyler a favor by basically operating his college offense, or if a new coach will go to more of a pro-style system. It's fair to wonder if Kyler is even capable of knowing football that deeply. His recovery from a blown out knee is also a huge wild card, because Kyler's legs and running ability are such a big part of his game.

As for the Cards' coaching search, it'll be interesting to see who they bring aboard as GM, or if an exec and coach will team up for a package deal. You don't want immediate discord between those two spots, so they should hire the GM first, unless they want to give a coach final say over personnel. That often doesn't work out super well. 

Sounds like Kliff is gonna take a loooooong vacation considering, you know, he's fully paid for the next four years.

Sean Payton used to be a Cardinals ballboy back in the day, so maybe he'd be up to turn the franchise around for sentimental reasons. So what if they were located in St. Louis at the time Payton was in that role? I feel like the Broncos are in position to outbid anyone.

Bidwill better open his checkbook — even with the knowledge that he's paying Kingsbury for YEARS — and find a legitimate, Super Bowl-caliber coach to restore the fan base's faith. Because yikes, what a mess.

Hint: Vance Joseph ain't it.

Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok