After meeting with Sean Payton on Thursday for nearly the entire day, many believe the Arizona Cardinals have a legitimate shot at landing the offseason’s hottest head-coaching candidate.
Cardinals legend Larry Fitzgerald urged the team to do whatever it took to bring Payton on board while appearing on “The Bickley and Marotta Show” on Arizona Sports 98.7.
Fitzgerald called hiring Payton a “no-brainer” for the Cardinals despite the lucrative contract he will undoubtedly require and the compensation necessary to land him from the New Orleans Saints, who still retain his rights. The 11-time Pro Bowler pointed out Payton’s ability to bring the best out of great players and develop others through the draft.
“Drew Brees turned himself into a Hall of Famer but under the tutelage of Sean Payton,” Fitzpatrick said. “In terms of him drafting great, talented players — not even drafting them — but developing them, you hear a lot of people talking about Sean Payton and his ability to develop talent.”
On Friday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on “The Pat McAfee Show” that the Cardinals were “resetting” things regarding the next steps of their head-coaching search.
“Arizona right now will either work to hire Sean Payton or bring in one of the other candidates for a second interview,” Rapoport said. “If they bring in someone for a second interview, I would say that person probably becomes the favorite, or there’s a good chance he gets the job.”
Along with Payton, the other candidates Rapoport believes might get a second interview with the Cardinals includes Aaron Glenn, Brian Flores and Ejiro Evero.
After Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill and Payton met for almost seven hours on Thursday, hopes were high in the desert. However, shortly after the interview, Payton dashed those hopes slightly. He took to Twitter to deny reports that he was no longer interested in the Denver Broncos job due to issues during his interview.
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