All throughout the 2025 season, Denver Broncos fans have been bracing for the potential offseason loss of defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. The New York Giants got the game of head coach musical chairs started with a blockbuster, hiring John Harbaugh, and now the dominoes will keep falling.
There are a ton of jobs available this offseason in the NFL as more than 25 percent of the league is on the hunt for a new head coach. And with the way the Broncos' defense has performed over the last two seasons, especially in the pass rush department, it has felt like a matter of when Vance Joseph becomes a head coach again, not if.
Broncos insider Mike Klis of 9News in Denver recently put out a post on his Twitter/X that seems to strongly hint about Joseph's next destination.
Arizona Cardinals an obvious and ideal landing spot for Broncos DC Vance Joseph
Although Arizona cannot seek permission to interview Vance Joseph until either after the Broncos' season ends or during the SB bye week, look for Denver's DC to emerge as a strong HC candidate there.
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) January 15, 2026
Joseph had a previous 4-year DC stint with Arizona where he built good… https://t.co/JobaZRaPAz
The NFL coaching carousel can very often be a game of "three degrees of separation". NFL teams like to hire people they know, or have connections to, and that has never really changed.
It's not the case 100 percent of the time, but familiarity is a key factor. And in this case, it might be the most important.
As Klis points out, Joseph has a good relationship with Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell. He last coached for the Cardinals back in 2022 before joining Sean Payton's staff in 2023 with the Broncos. Joseph clearly has not burned any bridges with his past NFL jobs, and that was a huge factor in being able to come back to Denver.
In fact, Joseph probably doesn't get enough credit for facing his past demons and coming back to Denver in a reduced role. It would almost be poetic for him to go back to Arizona, but this time as the head coach and not the defensive coordinator.
Joseph not only has a relationship with owner Michael Bidwell in Arizona, but obviously many of the players there as well. He'd already have a jump-start on knowing how to build that roster around Kyler Murray and if there is tension between Murray and the Cardinals, perhaps Joseph could help ease that tension.
An underrated aspect of Joseph's head coach candidacy is his ability to develop players well. He has been instrumental in Denver in that regard on the defensive side of the ball, and that's something the Cardinals desperately need.
The Cardinals have more than $44 million in available salary cap space and they own the 3rd overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. They've got a solid roster foundation in place and Joseph brings the aforementioned familiarity as well as prior head coach experience.
This has felt like the obvious fit for Joseph from the moment the Cardinals fired Jonathan Gannon, and it might come to pass after the Broncos' season is over, which hopefully won't be until after the Super Bowl in February.