NFC Notes: Cardinals, Cowboys, Redskins

Cardinals

• According to Josh Weinfuss, Cardinals DC James Bettcher has been drawing interest from other teams to be their defensive coordinator, so there’s no guarantee he’ll return to Arizona under new HC Steve Wilks.
• There’s talk that Wilks could hire Panthers LBs coach Al Holcomb as the Cardinals’ new defensive coordinator. (NFLTR)
• Some offensive coordinator targets to watch for Arizona including John DeFilippo, Mike McCoy and Darrell Bevell. (NFLTR)
• Jason La Canfora reports that Panthers OL coach Ray Brown is among a group of coaches headed to the Cardinals to work under Wilks.

Cowboys

Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones admitted that WR Dez Bryant‘s sideline demeanor can be a distraction for the team.

“The other thing that we all see and it is certainly visible to anyone who watches our games, watches our sideline, is Dez is certainly a fiery guy who plays with a lot of emotion both on and off the field,” Jones said on the Cowboys’ Hangin’ With The Boys podcast, via the Dallas Morning News. “Sometimes that can be a distraction. It can be a distraction for Dez, it can be a distraction for other teammates. And we just have to really get our hands around when you put all the full body of work together where that’s headed.”

There has been a lot of speculation about Bryant’s future with the team and whether the Cowboys could approach him about a pay cut this offseason, given that his production hasn’t been in line with his compensation.

“Of course we pay Dez a lot of money, and he knows that. He’s as aware of it as anybody,” Jones said. “He knows when you get paid that kind of money there’s high expectations in terms of the productivity. … Those are all things we have to look at as a team, as an organization when we start to put our team together for next year.”

Redskins

• John Keim writes that it’s hard to see Su’a Cravens remaining with the Redskins, given that Washington really likes Montae Nicholson a lot.
• Beyond that, Keim believes it will be hard for the Redskins to trust Cravens again after he walked away from the team last year.
• Keim adds that he always got the sense from Washington’s coaches that there was a reluctance to bring Cravens back and that hasn’t changed.
• As for what’s likely to happen this offseason, Keim expects Cravens’ agent to meet with the Redskins, possibly at the Combine, and see what can be done.
• Cravens has said that he wants to resume his NFL career and Keim could see the Redskins either attempting to trade him or releasing him this offseason.