Feb. 11, 2026, 10:55 p.m. MT

The Arizona Cardinals made Mike LaFLeur their new head coach. While it took a while, it has largely been looked at positively. It is seen largely as a solid hire, as it seems that anyone who has ever worked for Rams head coach Sean McVay has success.

However, if one report is true, LaFleur was not the guy the Cardinals really wanted.

According to Jason La Canfora, the Cardinals badly wanted to hire Klint Kubiak, now the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after he was the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, the newly crowned world champions.

The Cardinals were willing to wait and were ready to open up the pocketbook and pay him. It wasn’t enough, though.

Arizona was incredibly high on Kubiak, and, like the Raiders, were willing to wait until after the Super Bowl to hire him. The franchise, notorious for being beyond frugal when it comes to coaching expenditures, were also willing to make a significant allotment to his salary and his assistants, but Kubiak chose the Raiders instead, a decision that was not particularly difficult, according to some involved in the process.

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Why the Raiders? Minority owner Tom Brady was a factor. So was having the first overall pick in the 2026 draft. And another factor was being able to get out of the NFC West.

While this report doesn’t come from a large outlet, this would explain the Cardinals’ process. They interviewed LaFleur but really wanted to speak with Kubiak, seemingly hoping to sway him their way.

While it seemed like the whole world knew Kubiak wanted the Raiders’ job, the Cardinals wanted to shoot their shot, ultimately failing.

This isn’t to say that LaFleur won’t work out. The Cardinals just wanted Kubiak more.

Now we will see which coach is able to turn things around better and more quickly.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.