![\"Quinnen](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2254645472-e1769037881414.jpg\")
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Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. <\/p>\n
If the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> want to make a move on Denver Broncos<\/a> defensive passing game coordinator Jim Leonhard to become their next defensive coordinator, they might need to move pretty quickly.<\/p>\n NFL<\/a> rules state that teams who want to hire another team\u2019s assistant coach \u2014 for whatever role \u2014 can\u2019t speak to those assistant coaches again until after the Super Bowl if their team advances that far.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a distinct possibility for Leonhard and the Broncos, who are the AFC\u2019s No. 1 seed and host the New England Patriots<\/a> in the AFC Championship Game on Saturday.<\/p>\n If Denver wins, it means the Cowboys wouldn\u2019t be able to talk to Leonhard until after Super Bowl LX is played on Sunday, February 8, in Santa Clara, California.<\/p>\n \u201cAn important update from the NFL,\u201d Dallas Morning News reporter Joseph Hoyt wrote on X on Tuesday night<\/a>. \u201cThe timeline for assistants targeted to be coordinator hires \u2014 like Jim Leonhard \u2014 is actually different from HC hires. The Cowboys could talk to Leonhard up until Saturday, but then can\u2019t until after DEN is eliminated.\u201d<\/p>\n Cowboys Interviewed Former NFC Head Coach<\/p>\n DMN\u2019s Calvin Watkins went deeper<\/a> on the Cowboys\u2019 interest in Leonhard.<\/p>\n The Cowboys interviewed recently fired Arizona Cardinals<\/a> head coach Jonathan Gannon<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cJim Leonhard, the Broncos\u2019 defensive passing game\/assistant head coach, remains on the team\u2019s radar,\u201d Watkins wrote. \u201cLeonhard has conducted a virtual interview with club officials but hasn\u2019t come to Texas for an in-person chat. Leonhard\u2019s team is in the AFC Championship Game and, based on league rules, if he does any in-person interviews, they must conclude by Saturday. NFL teams have Tuesdays off during a game week, and if Leonhard were to visit the Cowboys it likely would have been then. Yet, the team interviewed Gannon. So if Leonhard visits the Cowboys, it might happen late Friday or early Saturday so he could get back to Denver in time for Sunday\u2019s game. Of course, if the Broncos get eliminated from the postseason, he could interview for the Cowboys\u2019 job if it\u2019s still available.\u201d<\/p>\n Gannon at Center of Scandal Over Rule in 2023<\/p>\n Gannon, 43 years old, was hired as Arizona\u2019s head coach after spending 2 seasons as the defensive coordinator for the\u00a0Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>\u00a0in 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n Gannon\u2019s tenure with the Cardinals was tinged with controversy from before he even coached his first game. That controversy may have even cost the Eagles a Super Bowl win over the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>\u00a0following the 2022 season.<\/p>\n The Cardinals ended up having to pay a fine and swap third round draft picks with the Eagles \u2014 giving the Eagles the higher pick \u2014 after they were\u00a0found to have negotiated with Gannon<\/a> during the impermissible period for contact before the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n Gannon was fired just 3 seasons into his tenure and a 15-36 overall record capped by a 3-14 record this season.<\/p>\n \u201cHe never reached the playoffs while also never finishing higher than third in the NFC West,\u201d\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Josh Weinfuss<\/a> wrote on January 5. \u201cArizona went 4-13 in 2023 to finish last in the division and 8-9 last season to finish third. Cardinals<\/a> general manager Monti Ossenfort will spearhead the search for a new head coach. Ossenfort and Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill talked last night and then again this morning before informing Gannon that he was being fired.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Cowboys\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. If the Dallas Cowboys want to make a move on Denver…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-695108","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-cowboys","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-dallascowboys","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115936089311079777","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}