Eagles are interested in Vance Joseph for defensive coordinator vacancy

When the shoe dropped and Jonathan Gannon remained in Arizona to meet with the Cardinals about their vacant head coaching position, we, like so many others, began hanging out in Philadelphia Eagles-centered circles to talk about our theories concerning who his replacement might wind up being. While we knew some of our theories might be wrong, that didn’t stop us from having the discussion. After all, none of us were discussing the possibility of Nick Sirianni being the head coach the last time Philly needed one.

We tossed around theories that included Lovie Smith, but we figured that any promotion would, more than likely, be given to someone who was already on the staff. After all, that seems to be the way that Philly handles things.

Eventually, we came up with a list of candidates. Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie don’t listen to us, but hey, it was fun. Here’s a curveball. It appears that another name has been added to the list, Vance Joseph, the current defensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals. That’s a name that we didn’t have on our list for obvious reasons but one that’s still intriguing.

Josina Anderson reports the Eagles have some interest in Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, but they seemingly have better options.

CBS NFL Insider Josina Anderson has been keeping up with the Jonathan Gannon story for a while, and on the day that he is supposed to be introduced as Cardinals head coach, she’s been keeping us updated.

That was 8:08 a.m. PST. Three hours later, she drew a line connecting Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and the Eagles’ vacant defensive coordinator position.

Vance Joseph wasn’t on our list for several reasons. Here are a few of the most obvious.

• Vance Joseph is currently under contract with the Cardinals.
• This would be a lateral move for him.
• Gannon needs a defensive coordinator too, right?

If the Eagles are interested, this would suggest they want to employ a more aggressive style of defense. Only the New York Giants blitzed more often than Arizona did. Unfortunately, 22 teams earned a higher sack total. 11 teams had a higher pressure rate.

Arizona finished ninth in the NFL in passing yards allowed. They finished 14th in rushing yards allowed. From the outside looking in, it appears the Eagles have better options on staff, Dennard Wilson for instance. Also, if they’re looking to hire externally, Lovie Smith is seemingly the better play.

Still, again, as we mentioned earlier, none of us really have any idea about what this team is thinking. It will be interesting to watch this theory unfold. Keep an eye on this as we move forward.