The Arizona Cardinals have already made some important moves during the 2026 offseason. Arizona hired Mike LaFleur as their next head coach after a disastrous 2025 season ended the Jonathan Gannon era. Now LaFleur has made a big move, hiring one coordinator who should have a big role on the team.
The Cardinals are hiring Nathaniel Hackett as their offensive coordinator, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.
Hackett was the offensive coordinator under Matt LaFleur from 2019-21 in Green Bay. Now he joins Mike LaFleur's staff in Arizona in the same role.
LaFleur will call offensive plays for the Cardinals.
This is reportedly a pivot for Hackett, who was set to join the Dolphins as quarterbacks coach according to ESPN's Dan Graziano.
Hackett has held several important roles on NFL coaching staffs dating back to 2006. His first time becoming an offensive coordinator was from 2013-14 with the Bills. Hackett was also the OC in Jacksonville from 2016-18 and in New York from 2023-24.
Hackett was also the head coach of the Broncos for the 2022 season.
It will be interesting to see what Hackett's role ends up looking like in Arizona. Since LaFleur will be calling plays, Hackett should be freed up to focus on other areas like player development.
Perhaps the Cardinals will have Hackett, who is regarded as a quarterback whisperer, work closely with Kyler Murray.
It is also possible that Hackett will be responsible for coaching up a different quarterback if the Cardinals move on from Murray. There are rumors heading into the offseason that Arizona wants at least a third-round pick for Murray. That would match the return that Seattle got for Geno Smith last offseason.
Either way, landing Hackett currently looks like a good thing for the Cardinals.
Arizona's options were somewhat limited after LaFleur announced he would be calling plays. The lack of play-calling duties makes a theoretical promotion to offensive coordinator less of an upgrade.
Next up for the Cardinals is finding their next defensive coordinator.
