Sean Payton to Cardinals 'Unlikely' According to NFL Insider

The Arizona Cardinals are no longer favorites to land head coach Sean Payton after hiring general manager Monti Ossenfort, according to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero.

The Arizona Cardinals once were thought to be strong contenders to land Sean Payton. 

After firing Kliff Kingsbury last week, the Cardinals currently have their fourth opening in the last decade at head coach. Payton was initially one of four candidates to either be aligned for interviews or have requests in to interview, joining the likes of Vance Joseph, Brian Flores and DeMeco Ryans, 

Payton to Arizona made sense: He has a good relationship with ownership and wanted to go to a place with a franchise quarterback already set. The roster - though not quite Super Bowl ready - could quickly be turned back into a playoff contender sooner rather than later. 

However, there were questions on both sides.

Payton's presence would require significant draft capital and a salary of $20 million with his fingerprints heavily involved in organizational control. The Cardinals hoped to hire a general manager prior to finding a head coach, and Monti Ossenfort's arrival to the desert may have put a damper on those hoping Payton would soon arrive after. 

NFL Media's Tom Pelissero says: "Arizona was a possibility too and they have permission to speak with him. But once they hired Monti Ossenfort as the general manager, that made it seem pretty unlikely. Sean is going to want to set a program his way and having the GM hired first and running the coaching search is probably not exactly how he would draw it up himself."

The Cardinals have received permission to interview Payton but haven't organized an interview that is known at this time. 

After Ossenfort was officially announced as the new general manager on Tuesday, Arizona reportedly interviewed Frank Reich and put a request in for Ejiro Evero. 

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