Report: Bruce Arians Expected To Accept Cardinals Head Coaching Job

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports that the Arizona Cardinals have extended Bruce Arians an offer to become their next head coach and is expected to accept.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Arians will receive a four-year deal that includes a team option in year five.

Arians has been meeting with the Cardinals for the last two days and it became pretty clear that he was their main target. Arians reportedly had a plan in mind for his coaching staff, which may have been why a deal wasn’t finalized earlier.

Arians was one of the hottest coaching candidates on the market after he filled in for Chuck Pagano while he was battling leukemia. The young Colts team responded by making the winning 11 games and ultimately making the playoffs. There’s no question that Arians is in the running for coach of the year.

There were reports that the Cardinals job wasn’t all that appealing given the fact they are currently without even a serviceable quarterback on their roster and the fact that they play in arguably the league’s toughest division. Still, there are only 32 of these jobs available and it’s hard to imagine Arians stock being any higher than it currently is.

Jason La Canfora adds that Eagles DC Todd Bowles could be brought in to run Arizona’s defense if he’s let go by Philadelphia.

This is interesting because Ray Horton is currently under contract with the team and was a candidate for the job.