Kliff Kingsbury could return in 2023…unless he resigns

There is a path to his return but people close to Kingsbury wonder if he will just walk away from the final five years of his contract.

The future of the Arizona Cardinals is very much in the air. General manager Steve Keim is on a health-related leave of absence from which he might not return. That clouds the future of head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who is leading a 4-10 Cardinals team, one that was expected to be playoff and perhaps title contenders in 2022.

While cleaning house could be in the team’s future, according to an ESPN report from Jeremy Fowler and Josh Weinfuss, firing Kingsbury is not a foregone conclusion.

Per the report, “multiple team sources see a path where Bidwill gives Kingsbury another year, due in part to injuries ravaging the roster and a personnel department in flux.”

That would make some sense. It would allow Kingsbury to try and get out of the mess that was this year’s team, put together by Keim. That would require a somewhat quick decision about the future at general manager — whether Keim returns or whether he is replaced internally or externally.

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But retaining or firing Kingsbury might not be the only possibility.

The situation with the team has people close to Kingsbury wondering if the head coach would just walk away.

Kingsbury is described as “miserable” this season.

“Maybe Kliff will just resign,” a source close to Kingsbury speculated, “tired of the B.S.”

His relationships with Keim, owner Michael Bidwill and quarterback Kyler Murray have soured to some extent this season.

He has five years remaining on his contract. That would be a lot of money to walk away from.

If he were to do that, it would show just how bad things are as an organization.

There is almost no way for the organization to look bad following this season.

If Kingbury walks away, it looks bad. If he is fired less than a year after getting a five-year extension, the team looks foolish. If he is retained, people won’t be happy.

It is just the state of the Cardinals at the end of 2022.

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