The Cardinals’ staff getting picked apart shows the Lions made the right move with Petzing

The Cardinals’ staff is looking pretty good right now.

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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We’re a couple of weeks removed from the Lions hiring former Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. The initial response from many Lions fans was to go full crash out.

After a coupleof weeks, the feeling is a bit different now. All anyone needed to do was learn why the hire was made and how the fit works, and it changed a lot of minds.

Here’s something else that should change minds…

Petzing wasn’t the only Cardinals coach to get hired. Take a look at some of the Cardinals’ staff and where they’ve wound up in the last few weeks, and how many of them got interviews for bigger jobs.

Everyone wants Cardinals coaches

  • Head coach Jonathan Gannon: New Packers DC
  • Assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers: New Bills special teams coordinator
  • OC Drew Petzing: New Lions OC
  • Pass game specialist Connor Senger: Interviewing with the Bills and Packers for their quarterbacks coach jobs
  • Passing game coordinator/receivers coach Drew Terrell: Interviewed with the Falcons and Chargers for their OC jobs
  • Quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork: Interviewed for Buccaneers OC job

This really shows a few things. The first is that it doesn’t look too good for the Cardinals’ front office. Right now, it looks like they had a heck of a staff, but couldn’t get that staff the personnel to get the job done. Outside of Trey McBride, the Cardinals looked to have missed a lot of their other top picks.

Marvin Harrison Jr. has not developed into the receiver everyone expected when the Cardinals took him fourth overall. Kyler Murray is expected to hit the trade market, signalling that using the first overall pick on him was indeed a mistake. Paris Johnson has been fine, but hasn’t really lived up to being the sixth overall pick. It wouldn’t be a shock to see Monti Ossenfort get let go if the Cardinals don’t perform well in 2026.

The other thing is that it’s clear this staff got blood from a stone. The Cardinals have dealt with poor draft picks and numerous injuries, yet they still managed to put up impressive numbers despite these challenges. NFL teams saw that, and they want the guys who can make something out of nothing on their staff. Don’t be surprised if more of these guys are hired over the next few weeks as teams finalize their staff.

The Lions could also add one extra Cardinals coach with the addition of Ben Steele as their new tight ends coach. Steele did some great stuff with McBride, and Sam LaPorta is a very similar player.

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